Jesus calls His disciples

Opening Prayer

Introduction

Transition

Read Matthew 4:18-22

Matthew 4:18–22 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.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 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. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Point #1: Following Jesus requires an immediate response.

Observation:

Peter and Andrew, James and John were engaged in their profession when Jesus came.

Jesus approached them.

In Jesus’ day Rabbis did not approach people they waited for people to come and ask to follow them.

You can see this in John’s account regarding two of John the Baptist’s followers leaving him to follow Jesus.

Read John 1:37

John 1:37 NASB95

37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

The response of Peter, Andrew, James and John to Jesus’ call to follow Him was immediate.

Interpretation:

Unlike other religions and belief systems, we do not work our way to God, God comes and approaches us!

Salvation is a work that is completely God’s.

Our response to Jesus’ call is immediate obedience.

There is no reason, no situation that should cause us to delay. We will unpack this further in a couple of weeks when you look at Jesus’ teaching on being His disciple.

The point Matthew is trying to make is that there is no priority higher than that of total obedience to God.

Illustration:

God calling me into the ministry. Ready to go, but forced to wait. When He said go I backed up and went.

Application:

Is God calling you now to follow Him?

What excuses are you making for why you are not following Him?

Transition:

Read John 1:35-45

John 1:35–45 NASB95

35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated 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 is translated Peter). 43 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Point #2: Following Jesus elicits a desire to bring people to Him.

Observation:

When John’s disciples heard his proclamation of who Jesus was they immediately left John and began following Jesus.

Andrew was one of the two disciples.

His following Jesus, created in him a desire for his brother, Peter, to come and meet Jesus.

So he FIRST went and found his brother and brought him to Jesus.

Read John 1:40-42

John 1:40–42 NASB95

40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated 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 is translated Peter).

As a result Peter has a life changing encounter with Christ, setting the stage for the passage we read previously.

Philip follows in kind. When Jesus calls him to “Follow Me” he goes and brings Nathanael to Jesus.

John 1:43–45 NASB95

43 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Both men, unprompted by Jesus went and brought someone else to Jesus.

Interpretation:

Like Andrew, when we come in contact with Jesus, the Savior, it should create in us a desire to bring others to Him.

We should be so captivated by our Savior that we can’t help but talking about Him.

Illustration:

I think about the different couples that i know who have gotten engaged. How they have no qualms about telling people that they got engaged or showing people their engagement ring.

Application:

When was the last time you introduced someone to Jesus?

Do you feel confident sharing the Gospel with others?

Sign-up for the 3 Circles Evangelism Training Class, beginning in March. Call the church office or sign-up online.

Transition

Read Matthew 4:19

Matthew 4:19 NASB95

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

Point #3: Following Jesus means we are tasked with gathering people to follow Him.

Observation:

Jesus was doing a play on words.

Peter and Andrew were Fisher Men who fished for fish.

Jesus was tasking them with fishing for people.

What Jesus meant by this was not deception or trickery, but a gathering of people to follow Him.

Jesus further drives home this command in the Great Commission “Go and Make Disciples”

Interpretation:

We are tasked with gathering people who want to follow Christ.

This doesn’t mean we go move church people from one church to another.

It means we are actively proclaiming that “we have found the Son of God, come and see!”

There is no you are too young or old to do this clause.

Or you are too new to the faith clause or I’ve done my time clause.

To live in active obedience it requires that we as Christians are about the business of gathering people to Christ.

Illustration:

I think about the imagery of fishing. How if my profession was a fisherman and my livelihood and family depended on me catching fish, how that would change my approach to fishing from that of a leisurely fisherman. I would fish until i caught a fish. Do we approach our sharing of the Gospel with that kind of intensity, that we are going to keep trying until i get a bite (someone responds).

Application:

In March we will have Business Card invite cards. My challenge to us church is that every child would invite one friend to our Easter Service (or any service in March), that every Adult would invite 3 people, each Deacon is responsible for inviting 5 people and I am responsible for inviting 10. Now you can obviously invite more, but that is what the challenge is.

How much effort are you going to spend inviting people to church?

Are you going to invite people who you know are already planning on coming?

Are you going to take some cards with no intention of passing them out?

May we be excited about returning inside for worship, may we be excited about the future of our church, may we be excited about hearing about the hope of our Savior that we exhaust ourselves inviting people to come and see our Lord!

Remind: Applications

By way of reminder here are your applications points for this week:

Has Jesus said to you “Follow Me”, and you’ve responded not yet, or your fighting obedience.

What is keeping you from either giving your life totally to Christ and following Him.

Or following in obedience today.

Are you actively sharing the Gospel?

If you are not sure how, need a refresher or lack confidence then join our training beginning in March.

Do you desire to bring people to Jesus?

Who are you going to invite to church in March?

Write their names down.

Start praying for them to respond to your invitation.

Pick up your invite cards

Deliver your invite cards.

Respond

If you want to begin a new life with Christ, get baptized or join this church - click the Respond Button and fill out the short form.

If you need prayer - click the Need Prayer Button and tell us how we can be praying for you.

Closing Prayer