New episodes of The All Terrain Podcast are usually released on the last Friday of the month on Apple Podcasts, Podbean and Spotify. The third episode of season 3 will be available a day earlier, on 23 December. Sketch notes and group questions that support each episode can be downloaded from the podcast’s webpage at salvationarmy.org.uk/ youth-and-children.
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about attending therapy with a mental health professional. In episode 15 she says: ‘If we try and ignore suffering – whether that’s mental health, a persistent bully at work, physical pain – nothing changes. If we pretend it doesn’t exist or fail to deal with the root causes, it doesn’t go away. The only way to deal with suffering is to face it head-on.’ CROSSING STORMY SEAS Anyone living in Israel would have known how dangerous it could be to cross the Sea of Galilee in a boat at night. Yet during his tour of the 10 cities known as the Decapolis, Jesus has his disciples do just that, four times (see Mark 4 to 8). In the first of these crossings, a violent storm suddenly occurs and batters their boat. The disciples, including experienced fishermen, fear they will drown. They wake Jesus who rebukes the wind and waves, calming the sea. And he asks, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ (4:40). Following Jesus will involve us metaphorically travelling across stormy seas while fearing death, so he expects us to recognise that he’s with us on the journey and to have faith that he will protect us.
RIGHT THERE WITH ME In episode 14 of The All Terrain Podcast, Territorial Commander Commissioner Anthony Cotterill shares how helping in the aftermath of the Lockerbie plane bombing in 1988 influences his ability to cope with suffering today: ‘Walking into that horrendous suffering is helped by an understanding that this isn’t about God abandoning us... He makes it very clear in his word that there is going to be trouble, tribulation, flooding, fire, bereavement, sickness ... but “I promise to be with you”. ‘Now, if I get that into my heart, it makes it possible for me as a Salvation Army officer to actually face up to all kinds of horrendous stuff. I can face that suffering, knowing that God is right there in the midst of it with me.’ GETTING CLOSURE The footnotes to the final chapter of Mark will tell you that most ancient manuscripts end at verse 8. Scholars believe that the two alternative endings printed in most Bibles – written in a distinctly different tone – were added later. So, after the women who visit the tomb receive angelic instruction to tell Peter and the others that Jesus is risen,
the original ending of Mark concludes: ‘Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid’ (16:8). While I appreciate this being dubbed something of an anti-climax, for me it makes for the more authentic ending to a Gospel that encourages us to consider how we move through suffering. As happened to the women who visited the tomb, suffering can confuse us, terrify us and make us feel lost at sea – yet we all will experience it at some point in our lives. Whereas Matthew’s Gospel, with its question of how we face change, mirrors the transitions of autumn, Mark’s Gospel represents the long, dark nights of winter. It can be the most painful of the four paths, and with no end in sight it can be easy to lose hope. But we can face that suffering, knowing that Jesus is right there in the midst of it with us, and that he calls us gently – but firmly – not to give up hope. Spring is coming. MATT WORSHIPS AT SUTTON AND WRITES THE ALL TERRAIN PODCAST SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS Salvationist 11 December 2021
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