Being a Disciple IS Worth It - Childrens's Sermon

Good morning Church!

Well if you are new here or if you are not new here and you just haven’t been paying attention, you may not know that here at LFB we dedicate all of the 5th Sundays to celebrate families with a focus on our children because we absolutely love our kiddos and we want them to know how much they are loved by us and by God and that they too have a place of service in the church their family calls home.

So, you may have noticed when you came in this morning that you were greeted by some of our youngers, and that many aspects of this morning’s service will be handled by them, and geared toward them as well. We don’t want any child in our church family to ever feel invisible and so we choose to elevate them on every 5th Sunday. What really ends up happening is they lift US older folks up by their unadulterated service to us all. Amen!

Now, you may be wondering why we are celebrating the 5th Sunday of September on the 4th Sunday of September. Well, there are a few logistical reasons that really don’t matter, but I can tell you that I’m glad because Donna and I won’t be here next Sunday, and we did not want to miss this. So blame it on us if you want to!

So all summer we have been talking about being disciples or apprentices of Jesus Christ. What that might look like and we have looked at some practical ways in which we can move towards being a congregation of folks who spend time with Jesus, learn to become like Him and to do the things He would do if He were in our place facing our life circumstances.

And I hope that if you have been with us through most of these messages, and you have begun to establish some habits in your life like silence and solitude, Bible study and worship, celebration, service, prayer and some of the other practices we have talked about, that you have come to realize that being a student and follower of Jesus is better then anything else you have ever experienced. I pray that has been true for you.

Well this morning, I am gonna do what I always do on Family Sunday, and that is I am going to invite all of our kiddos to come on down here and spend a little time with me on the steps.

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Good morning!

Well, all summer I have been talking to the folks here about being true disciples of Jesus and what that means. Many of you know that a disciple of Jesus is really a student of Jesus. So if you could imagine that instead of your teacher at school or you teachers here at church, Jesus would be your teacher. How many of you think Jesus would be a good teacher to have? Me too. Sometimes I wish that I could just sit around with Jesus and have Him teach me things about how to have the best life possible because no one knows that better than He does.

I will tell you another thing I like to do. I like to spend time in my woodworking shop building things. I am not very good at it yet like your Dad is Finn, but I love to spend time practicing and learning to do it better. And to tell you the truth, if I could pick one thing to do every day it would be that.

Let me ask the rest of you. How many of you have a hobby or maybe a sport that you just love to do. Something that if you could just do it as much as you wanted to, every day even what would that be? Maybe you like to cook or go fishing or play a certain sport or maybe there is a special group you like to hang out with. That thing that you would do all day every day if you could. What would it be?

That’s great! Now, what would you do if someone told you that you had to give up that thing you really enjoy doing, just drop it all of a sudden? You might be a little sad, right? But what if they told you that by letting go of that one hobby you love, you would be really great at doing something different? It might be hard to imagine what could be better than your favorite thing, right?

Sometimes we lose our favorite things without much choice, actually…but I want to share with you the number one thing we should be focused on. Do you have any idea what it might be?? It’s Jesus!

The scripture that was read in the Gospel of Mark a few minutes ago is about when Jesus first began to preach and to call his very first students. It says

Mark 1:14-20 NLT - 14 … Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God's Good News. 15 He said…"The time promised by God has come at last!. "The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!"

So, Jesus here tells the people that a special time had come. A time when He would begin to share what living in the Kingdom of God would be like. And then we see Jesus begin to call His very first students.

16 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 17 Jesus called out to them, "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!" 18 And they left their nets at once and followed him.

19 A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee's sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. 20 He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

So, Jesus was gathering His group of friends, His disciples. Usually, a disciple (or student) would be the one to try and find a good teacher. But in this case, the teacher was finding His students. Some of the learners Jesus chose were fishermen.

We see four guys named Simon, Andrew, James and John who are all fisherman. I heard somebody say they liked to go fishing. That is what they did every day was go fishing, Not a bad thing eh? What you think Emma, wouldn’t you like to go fishing every day?

Jesus came and found them fishing, and He told them to follow Him. He told them He would make them fish for people! That sounds a little weird, doesn’t it?

But I want you to notice what these four guys did. They didn’t ask Jesus to wait until they were done fishing. They didn’t ask Him to come back another day. They didn’t even ask what Jesus meant about fishing for people. These guys left their fishing gear and their jobs, and just went with Jesus.

The Bible says they “immediately” left their nets and followed Him. Now, it’s likely they had heard about this Jesus guy, and knew He was something pretty special, someone they would WANT to follow.

I mean, even if they loved fishing, it’s possible, like me with my woodworking, they weren’t all that good at fishing to begin with. But the point is, they left what they had and what they were doing, and they went with Jesus. They didn’t know every detail of what life would look like following Him.

But they knew that following Jesus was the most important thing that they could do. They were willing to take the risk, to set aside all other priorities, and to spend time with Jesus while they could. They knew it was better and more meaningful than anything else they would do.

In your life, sometimes you might need to give something up to follow Jesus. Maybe even your favorite thing. If your favorite sport is always happening on Sunday mornings when church happens, you might have to skip a season so you can attend Sunday School. Later on as you grow up and have a family and get a job, one day your boss may want you to do something that goes against God’s rules or hurts your family, you might have to find a different job. If your hobby is taking up so much time and attention that it takes the place of prayer and worship, it might be time to set that aside.

We need to put Jesus in the top spot in our lives. We need to be willing to let go of some things, so that we can serve Him with our whole heart.

And you know what? It’s worth it! Life with Jesus is better than anything else we can do or even imagine. Following Him isn’t always easy, but it brings us true joy and peace and everlasting life.

Jesus promises to be with us and to provide for us. He uses us to share His love and good news with others. So, as one of your pastors, as someone who really loves you, I encourage you to trust Jesus. Trust in His word, and be ready to obey and serve Him, whatever it might take. It’s worth it!

And know this. Here at this church, we love you and we want the very best for you.

I will share one more quick thing with you. Last night there were some men sitting right over there praying. We prayed about a lot of things but one of the things we prayed for was all of you. And one of the prayers was that not one of you would ever feel invisible or unloved in this place.

When I was a little boy, I often felt like I was invisible. Like I did not matter and was not noticed much by anyone. I remember when I was about the same age as some of you, I think I was 9 or 10, my mom took me to church every Sunday. And there was this man in the church that I really liked and looked up to. I wanted to be like him. I didn’t know His name and I was pretty sure HE never even noticed me. But one Sunday as he walked by me, he just gave me a little pat on the shoulder. He did not say anything, just patted me on the shoulder as if to say, “ I see you and you matter to me” I never forgot that.

Jesus used that man to let me know that I mattered to Him. So, I am an old guy and I forget names and get them mixed up sometimes but I want you to know, you all really matter to me. And if I ever walk by and just pat you on the shoulder, that means that I see you and you matter to me.

That’s what Jesus wants you to know about Him. He sees you and you matter to Him. And He wants to be your teacher and He wants you to follow Him all of your life.

Okay? I love you guys. Now get off the steps and go back and sit with your folks!

Father, Thank you for your Word. It helps us to understand and follow you. Help us all to follow Jesus more fully, even when it’s hard. Thank you for being with us no matter what. Thank you for your love. Thank you for this outstanding church family you are assembling here at LFB. We love you.

I pray this all in the STRONG name of Jesus. Amen!