This Is Us WK-2

Matthew 4:18–19 NASB95

18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was 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.”

As we continue on in this series, This Is Us - I want us to take a look at three strategic actions God has called every believer to take, and specifically calling Living Faith to champion as we pursue the vision of seeing “The Gospel In Every Home”. These actions are found right here in the call Simon and Andrew in verse nineteen of Matthew chapter four.

Matthew 4:19 NASB95

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

Such a short verse, one could easily be overlooked and forgotten in the context of the Gospels - however this verse has great meaning and significance and I think we will find throughout this month of March, speaks to heart of how you, as a piece of the Living Faith Church family can participate in the vision every day of your life - even while about your daily routines.

Movements

This passage shows three movements that we are going to look at.

Follow me is the first movement.

Secondly, Jesus says “I will make you…”. This is growth language, this is speaks to the fact that you are here, but if you follow me in the process you will grow beyond where you are today.

The third movement includes this new trade - “…fishers of men”. This is not just a description of what Jesus is going to make them into, the is more than that. Jesus is equipping His disciples for leadership works in His kingdom.

See, it’s easy to put a vision statement on the front of a sign a sign and say - “this is what we are about”. But it is a whole lot harder to put your boots on in the morning and get to work being about that very vision. When we say we exist to get the Gospel in every home - approximately 33,000 housing unites scattered across Umatilla County, we could very easily become overwhelmed by the magnitude of 33,000 homes. We can’t predict salvation or sanctification - but what we can predict is movement!

Invite To Jesus

Let’s talk about this first movement - “Follow Me”. The follow me call is an invitation from Jesus.

It’s an invitation to friendship

it’s an invitation to a new life

it’s an invitation to a new call in life

It’s an invitation to a growing community

Lastly, it’s a call to discipleship.

“Follow Me...” is a call to partnership in Kingdom mission rather than attendance at a location. I want to suggest to you today that if you call yourself a Christian, telling others about Jesus is not optional, it is required. I would go as far as to say that Biblically you cannot say you are following Christ if you are not sharing your faith - because everyone who came in contact with Jesus couldn’t stop talking about Him. You don realize, that the early church had the opposite problem that modern church as.

The Condition Of Modern Church

Too much of the church today is overly comfortable with their own salvation, while simultaneously being indifferent to the fact that 80% of Umatilla county is lost to Jesus.

Thom Rainer’s national research found that 82% of unchurched people would attend church if someone simply invited them — yet only a tiny fraction of believers ever extend that invitation.

Research shows that only about 2% of Christians invite an unchurched person to church in a year — even though many unchurched people would go if asked. At the same time, Barna finds that roughly half of practicing believers feel responsible to share their faith. But 70% of unchurched people say they’ve never been personally invited. The harvest is huge — the invitations are too few.

But the early church on the other hand was so vocal about Jesus that the Sadducees told the early apostles:

Acts 5:28 NASB95

28 saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

It is vital for us to be reminded that just as Jesus invited Andrew and Simon to follow Him, so we to are called to invite others. If we are truly going to live like Jesus - we must cultivate an invitation culture - meaning inviting people to Jesus is as natural as breathing. It is the very natural byproduct of a changed life.

John 1:46 NASB95

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

The Samaritan woman at the well, after hearing Jesus words ran into town saying:

John 4:29 NASB95

29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”

Life Questions

I have four questions I want you to ask yourselves today. My prayer is that these questions will move you beyond apathy and into missional engagement. I want to be clear, Living Faith has no interest in building crowds. Everywhere you go one thing is consistent, crowds are hard to manage. No! We are building the Church.

The Church heard the call

The Church responded to the call

The Church endured persecution for the call

The Church propagated the call

1. Am I cultivating an invitation lifestyle?

John 1:41 NASB95

41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).

Andrew didn’t attend a class on evangelism. He met Jesus — and went looking for someone.

When I look at the call to “follow me” - one thing I notice - fishing is never accidental. it is a cultivated skill.

Matthew 4:19 NASB95

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

How Do You Cultivate It?

Pray daily for those unsaved people in your life.

Keep lost friends in your schedule.

Share your story naturally.

Invite them to Jesus.

Expect God to open doors (Colossians 4:3).

2. Is my community growing, stagnate, or shrinking?

Luke 19:10 NASB95

10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

One of the greatest challenges believers deal with is an ever shrinking community of unbelievers. As our church community grows, often our secular community shrinks. Yet, the Jesus model maintains a close proximity to lost people.

Luke 19:10 NASB95

10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

If we are following Jesus, we will be near who He is near.

If you cannot immediately think of someone far from God in your daily life, you may have built a Christian bubble instead of a missional life.

Matthew 5:13 NASB95

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

Salt only works when it touches something.

Who in your life would miss your spiritual influence if you moved away?

Who are you intentionally investing in?

3. Have I become comfortable in my salvation, and not expanded to "the gospel in every home?"

2 Corinthians 5:14 NASB95

14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;

Salvation is not a recliner. It’s a commissioning. If love controls us, indifference cannot.

Ed Stetzer has written repeatedly that the biggest barrier to evangelism in North America is not persecution — it’s comfort and distraction. He often frames the issue as a “mission drift”

Comfort and distraction dull urgency. When we outsource evangelism to ministries, to social media adds and signage - listen church - it is no different that expecting the public school system to raise your children. These things are not bad - but they cannot replace the missional call from Christ to step into the world He has placed us in and say - Come and see Jesus!

4. What part of my past am I clinging to, that may keep me from "following Christ"

Philippians 3:13 NASB95

13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

Sometimes what holds us back is:

Fear of rejection

Past church hurt

Shame

Old identity

Unforgiveness

Desire for comfort

You cannot follow Christ forward while clinging backward. Jesus has already promised us that there is a harvest.

Matthew 9:37 NASB95

37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Closing We don’t invite people to church hoping they meet Jesus. We invite people to Jesus.

When people meet Jesus before they meet church - the paradigm of church shifts from church is the answer, to Jesus is the answer.