Matthew 4:18-22 - Discipling (Send Graceland)

I hate feeling lost. Thankfully to modern technology , I don’t have to be lost very often.

Hilary and I were in Louisville a couple months before we got married.

We were volunteering in the bookstore at a Christian conference.

We had to get there around 6:30AM and be there until around 11:30PM

We had just punched our vouchers in at the bookstore and spent around $200.

We’re carrying 75lb of books and begin to walk to the car, then realize…we don’t remember where we parked.

In downtown Louisville, at midnight. No clue where we left the car 15 hours ago.

I didn’t know where we were or where we were going.

Maps are helpful because they give both of those answers.

Maps reveal where you are, where you need to be, and how to get there.

Pathway series reveals Graceland map from taking

Exploring through worship

Committing to the Church

Growing in groups

Discipling

What we are going to see today is that Jesus calls us to follow Him and that:

Big Idea: Following Jesus means making disciples. (helping others follow Jesus)

Stand to read

Matthew 4:18–20 ESV

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Leader: This is God’s Word

Everyone: Thanks be to God

Context

It’s important to note that this is not love at first sight.

This is not the first time that Peter and Andrew met Jesus.

Similarly this was not follow at first sight.

John 1:40–42 ESV

40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

Peter, Andrew and likely James were already believers in Jesus for about a year at this point.

This wasn’t an invitation to believe, but an invitation to take the next step and become disciples.

Similarly, with us:

Jesus calls us to follow Him.

Everyone has a next step in following Jesus.

Gospel presentation

Jesus has called each of us into a saving relationship with God through Him.

Jesus was God coming into the world to draw us near to Him.

We have all sinned against God and in our lives rebelled against Him.

Yet, God was merciful to us

He didn’t cast us away.

He didn’t leave us or forsake us.

He had every right to.

He sent His Son, to be the perfect sacrifice for us—

The wrath of God was poured out entirely onto Jesus and He took the punishment instead of us.

He traded us our sin for His righteousness, so that we would have the right to become children of God through faith in Jesus!

Jesus was raised three days later, showing that He had triumphed over our death.

Jesus was resurrected to give us assurance of eternal life in Him.

Now through faith, you and I can be saved from the judgement of God and receive the grace of God, that He pours out onto His people!

If you’re not a Christian, you can be a follower of Jesus!

This salvation is yours in Christ!

Turn from your sin, and live through faith in Jesus.

Jesus is calling you and me today to follow Him!

What this means is that He is going to transform us over time to be His disciple.

We have been given the privilege and pleasure to participate in His Kingdom now!

The church is a beautiful gift from God and God’s plan A to redeem the world.

Through the Church, the Lord is going to continue to work His plan of redemption.

Which means through us, the Lord is going to call people to leave their sins behind and follow Him.

What we see in our text is that:

Following means fishing

Following Jesus inevitably results in discipleship.

Matthew 4:19 ESV

19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

“Fishers of men.” What the heck does that mean??

Instead of gathering large amounts of fish for trade

We gather people to introduce them to God.

The world we live in is separated from God.

There are people who are dead in sin, experiencing a living death.

We need the gospel!

Every Christian is called to follow AND fish

The more we grow in our love and devotion to Christ, the more He’s our treasure—the more we desire others to love and treasure Him!

We hold tightly to Jesus and invite others to come with us.

“Well, that’s not for me.”

Making disciples is not an optional add-on.

Making disciples is a mark of spiritual maturity.

“I don’t know how to make disciples.”

Jesus tells us that if we follow Him, He’ll teach us.

We rely on Jesus to grow us and to send us.

Last week I said that we grow as Christian through deep work over time in community.

“Follow me and I will make you..” (v. 19b)

We need Jesus to teach us how to disciple people.

He does so through the local church and discipleship.

Watching other Christians make disciples.

That moment, they knew nothing about making disciples for Jesus.

But they responded with enthusiasm.

They were going to be taught by Jesus how to lead people into God’s Kingdom.

How did you come to know Jesus?

Some called to you and gave you an invitation to follow Jesus and you responded in faith.

Someone that was following Jesus went fishing for Jesus.

They came to you.

So if following means fishing, then:

Fishing means approaching

To make disciples of Jesus requires us to live our lives intentionally.

We don’t hope that people fall into our lap. Fish don’t jump into your bucket.

Look at what Jesus did:

Matthew 4:18 ESV

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

Matthew 4:21 ESV

21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.

• Jesus reverses the model of other Jewish rabbis.

Normally, pupils would apply to the rabbi.

They would have to be accepted by the rabbi in order to follow.

Jesus doesn’t accept applications.

• Jesus approached these would-be disciples.

This is an active, not a passive stance.

And this model of initiating and approaching people is what God has done throughout human history.

All throughout Scripture God has pursued and initiated a relationship with His people

God is continually initiating relationships with His people.

He’s allowed us to get in on this!

We get to be agents of grace and introduce people to this life-changing savior!

Every Christian is called make disciples.

“Bo is discipling people—He’s got it.”

No, you get in on this too!

When you follow Jesus, He will make you a fisher of men.

It’s not about position within the church, it’s about obedience to and reliance on Jesus.

I went to a symphony yesterday.

Picture of symphony

I sat there and watched the Conductor lead this brilliantly gifted orchestra in Mozart’s composition of The Marriage of Figaro.

I was amazed.

The Conductor made absolutely no sound, but the whole orchestra was looking to him for direction and pace.

What an amazing picture of the church.

According to Eph. 4, my job is to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

Meaning that my job is not to do everything, but rather equip, empower, and support your ministry!

I am not the church. WE are the church.

My job is to lead and resource you in making disciples!

Everyone has a circle of influence

You have influence into someone’s life that I do not have.

You have relationships with people that I don’t have.

God has placed that person in your life for a reason—that you can tell them about Jesus.

Invite them to dinner, invite them to church.

You can speak into people’s lives in ways I can’t!

When everyone in the church seeks to use their gifts and time to make disciples, the church sounds like a beautiful work of art.

This tells me that:

You are called to follow Jesus and make disciples.

There are so many people in your life that are lost and have no idea where they are spiritually or where they need to be.

They are lost, in the dark, without a pathway; without a map.

There’s no hope in themselves of finding the way.

The Lord has sovereignly put you in the lives of your coworkers, neighbors, friends, and family to help them take the next step toward a live with Jesus.

It can imply start with inviting people to church.

“Hey, I started going to this church and I think you should check it out.”

Step 1 on our pathway is exploring through worship.

Our Sunday gatherings are a premiere spot to begin discipleship.

From there, the Lord will work in their heart and their mind and they’ll become committed to the gospel and to the church.

Step 2 - Committed.

They’ll begin finding friends and community here and begin growing in their faith

Step 3 - Growing/groups

Then they’ll want to get more people in on this.

Step 4 - Discipling.

You have been called to follow Jesus. This is deep work and it takes time.

Everyone has a next step to take toward Jesus.

Let’s go together.