Acting Out The Messages Of Mark and John
Lenten Dialogues For Lectionary Cycle B
Roger E. Timm

At our mid-week Evening Prayer Services during Lent last year, our congregation used Pastor Timm's dialogues from his first book Acting Out Matthew's Messages. These lively, inspiring presentations were met with a great deal of affirmation and enthusiasm by members of the congregation. We anxiously await next Lent when we can use the dialogues in this publication as a part of our worship experience. In this book Pastor Timm has found fresh ways of presenting old texts from the gospels of Mark and John. Through some humorous and yet profound approaches, he offers fresh insights into familiar stories from scripture. I am sure these new approaches will awaken the power of these texts to affect people deeply. Although these dialogues are written to be presented as a part of corporate worship, I find that they lend themselves to personal reading and reflection as well. God speaks to us anew every day and every time we gather for worship. May these creative dialogues be among the ways God finds to speak to you and your congregation.
Rev. Lyn Langkamer, Interim Pastor
St. John's Lutheran Church, Emmaus, Pennsylvania

Pastor Timm's creative and original Lenten dialogues were so relevant and powerful when we first heard them that we encouraged him to publish them, and we are delighted that he did. The dialogues are extremely easy to use. At our soup suppers Pastor Timm would ask two people to be the characters, give them the scripts, practice once in the sanctuary (to be sure the microphones and inflections were good) and we were ready to go. All of the lessons were always well received by the congregation. Besides being user friendly, the dialogues are extremely meaningful. Each lesson had a contemporary feel: we felt that we were actually eyewitnesses to the events in Jesus' life. After each dialogue, there was always a powerful period of reflection as to what the dialogue means today for us as followers of Christ. Having been a member of Bible studies for decades, Pastor Timm's dialogues gave me a greater insight to the lessons than any other study guides. Your congregation will find that using this material will deepen their understanding and life in the gospel.
Diane Balin, Ph.D., and Jerry Balin
Members of Ascension Lutheran Church, Riverside, Illinois

How do we keep Lenten midweek worship alive? Pastor Roger Timm was unwilling to succumb to the growing trend of doing away with midweek Lenten worship. Instead, he developed series of short dialogues based on the Mark and John gospels for midweek worship. As one who participated in the dialogues and also was a part of the worshiping congregation, I can say that midweek Lenten worship took on a new meditative meaning. Each of the dialogues took on contemporary meaning as Pastor Timm ably took ancient words and made them feel as if they were being spoken today. Any pastor who is looking for something new and meaningful to be used during midweek Lenten worship should give these dialogues a try. As a former bishop I know the struggles that pastors go through trying to keep midweek Lenten worship alive. Acting Out the Messages of Mark and John will provide an excellent Lenten resource.
Pastor Paul Landahl
Former Pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church, Riverside, Illinois
Former Bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

It is rare when an author presents a collection of dialogues that so poignantly captures the power and simplicity of the gospel. Roger Timm has done just that. Acting Out the Messages of Mark and John, Lenten Dialogues for Lectionary Cycle B offers readers an opportunity to hear some of the most central narratives told throughout the chapters of Mark and John. A journey through Timm's dialogues delivers a fresh perspective to the Lenten season, allowing time and space for study and reflection before arriving at the Passion narrative.

Useful for a midweek Lenten gathering, a Sunday worship service, a retreat setting, or private and group devotionals, Acting Out the Messages of Mark and John relies on simple dialogue and staging as it introduces us to biblical characters such as Peter and his wife, Anna; St. James the Less and his parents, Alphaeus and Mary; Nicodemus; Jairus; and Mary of Bethany. Timm imagines each character's response to their immersion into the often-surprising narrative of God's kingdom, and he reveals ancient questions that many within today's church still ponder: Who is this man named Jesus? What is our response to divine forgiveness? What does Jesus' resurrection mean for us?

This collection of dialogues does not fall short in its call to believers as it urges them to live among God's people and respond to the word of God. It is only in this response, after all, that we can proclaim the truth of the gospel and pursue justice and peace throughout all the earth.

Table of Contents
The Secret Journal of St. James the Less
Week 1: The Healing of the Paralyzed Friend (Mark 2:1-12)
Week 2: Teaching in Parables (Mark 4:1-20)
Week 3: The Feeding of the Hungry Crowds (Mark 6:30-44)
Week 4: What the Rich Young Man Lacked (Mark 10:17-31)
Week 5: The Misguided Disciples (Mark 10:32-45)
Easter Sunday: The Frightened Women (Mark 16:1-8)

Generation One:
The Impact of the Gospel on the First Generation of Believers -- and Us
Week 1: Do You Understand My Teaching in Parables? (Mark 4:1-20)
Week 2: What Does Jesus' Healing Touch Mean for You? (Mark 5:21-43)
Week 3: Who Do You Say That I Am? (Mark 8:27-38)
Week 4: What Does the Glory of Christ Mean for You? (Mark 9:1-13)
Week 5: How Do You Respond to the Empty Tomb? (Mark 16:1-8)

Johannine Interviews
Week 1: Interview with Nicodemus (John 3:1-17)
Week 2: Interview with a Samaritan Woman (John 4:1-30)
Week 3: The Adulterous Woman -- An Interview (John 7:53--8:11)
Week 4: An Interview with Jairus, the Man Born Blind (John 9:1-38)
Week 5: An Interview with Mary of Bethany (John 11:1-44)

Affirming Our Baptismal Promises
Week 1: To Live Among God's Faithful People (Hebrews 10:19-25)
Week 2: To Hear the Word of God and Share in the Lord's Supper (Romans 10:10-18)
Week 3: To Proclaim the Good News of God in Christ Through Word and Deed (Matthew 5:13-16; Luke 8:19-21)
Week 4: To Serve All People, Following the Example of Jesus (Luke 22:24-27)
Week 5: To Strive for Justice and Peace in All the Earth (Micah 6:6-8)

The Rev. Dr. Roger E. Timm retired in 2011 after serving eleven years as pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Riverside, Illinois. From January 1993 to November 2000 he was pastor of St. James Lutheran Church, Naperville, Illinois. Timm served in various campus ministry positions from 1973 to 1992 at Carthage College, Kenosha, Wisconsin; Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania; University Lutheran Chapel at UCLA; and Concordia College, Bronxville, New York. Timm's first pastorate was at St. John-Concordia Lutheran Church in the south Bronx, New York, from 1970-1973. He received his M.Div. degree from Concordia Seminary and an M.A. in philosophy from Washington University, both in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1970. Timm received a Ph.D. in religious studies from Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, New York, in 1975. Pastor Timm and his wife Marilyn have two adult daughters and two grandchildren.