Follow Me
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Announcements
Announcements
Does anyone have any announcements?
Saturday, April 16 at 9am Mike Swenson and crew will be grinding the stumps on the side of the church so we can beautify that area.
April 24 is Baptism Sunday. We have 4, maybe 5 brothers and sisters that have felt the Holy Spirit’s call to be baptized. After the service we will have an Agape Feast (potluck).
Wednesday April 27 at 6:30pm is the men’s graduation at the Christian Aid Center and our own Mike Swenson will be graduating! In fact, there are a total of 4 men graduating the Life Transformation program that day!
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome to FCC, where we worship God is Spirit and in Truth, one verse at a time, one book at a time.
Thank you for that message of music and for your faithfulness each week!
Thank you to all who serve at various capacities and for the great work you are doing at home, work, and in your communities!
We have come as far as Matthew 4:17, so let us open our Bibles there ad read our text for today.
Read Matthew 4:18-22
Read Matthew 4:18-22
Prayer
Prayer
“Lord, thank you for this time you’ve given us to open your Word and discover who you are and for all the gifts, graces, and blessings you have so freely given. Thank you that you don’t leave us in the dark about who you are and what you are doing in the world, but that you have revealed yourself and your will through the Word. Lord, we need wisdom as we study your Word this morning. In James 1:5, you said that if we ask for wisdom that you would give it, liberally, and without reproach. So Lord as you have given your church this promise, please give us your wisdom now as we approach your Word. Help us discern the truth of this text and through your Spirit apply it into our lives. Help us not rely on our own understanding, but to lean on Yours. Thank you God for the clarity, encouragement and hope your Word brings.
In Jesus’ Name We Love You, Amen.”
Review
Review
In looking back to the last few weeks we discovered that Jesus was baptized and immediately led into the wilderness to be tempted and tried. He had an encounter with the Devil.
Then we see Jesus go to the desperate, the downcast, and the broken, the Galilee of the Gentiles. We also learned that he did not go to the center of religious activity which was Jerusalem, or the rabbinic schools, but rather he went into a dark place where people had need of a Physician and they knew it.
And her in today’s text, we see Jesus call 4 of his disciples.
Jesus was tempted by the devil.
Jesus went to the desperate that were in the dark.
And today, we are going to look at Jesus calling his disciples.
In last weeks study we see the Light of the world step into darkness, and then we pick up here in verse 17.
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Jesus went to the dark places church, that other Rabbi’s would not go1
And there are some of us sitting here today that the Lord has called and equipped you to go to some dark places that others will not go.
But there is also some here today, that the Holy Spirit haas been prompting you to go, go, go and you are paralyzed by fear and insecurity. Today, is the day of salvation church!
Because God’s calling is God’s enabling!!!
If He calls you to go, go, go into some dark place, weather it be local or global, he will equip you to do the work that he has called you to do!
When Jesus began his preaching ministry he did not start by telling everyone he loved them, or that he was going to bless them, even though He did!
He preached, “Repent!” For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” The Kingdom has arrived church, but in order to receive it, Jesus says repent, repent, and repent!
Can you imagine, a long awaited Messiah comes and preaches on repentance.
Repentance is something we all need church, each on of us has things in our lives that need to be repented of!
Preach-kēryssō (kay-roos'-so)-to herald and to proclaim always with the suggestion of formality, gravity and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed.
Jesus preached with authority church and the Word of his first sermon sets that tone for his entire earthly ministry.
Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
Jesus’ ministry headquarters was set up in Capernaum and we see that Jesus loved the outdoors because he was walking by the Sea of Galilee.
Geologically, the Sea of Galilee is located below the headwaters of the Jordan, which flows downhill from the Upper Galilee region, empties into the lake, proceeds out the south end, and finally arrives at the Dead Sea.
It is also known in the Bible as:
Lake Tiberias
Sea of Tiberias, John 6:1
Lake of Gennesaret, Luke 5:1
Lake Chinneroth, Numbers 34:11
Kinneret
The Sea is known by many names and is referred to by Israelis as the “Kinneret,” which is Hebrew for “violin,” considered to be the shape resembled by the lake.
It's the largest freshwater lake in Israel — 64 square miles, nearly the size of Washington, D.C.
So as Jesus is walking by The Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew.
Saw-eidō- to perceive with the eyes, to discern, to examine, to pay attention to church.
I think there are a couple things that we could glean from this wonderful text:
Jesus did not go to the local Rabbinic School, to the local Bibel College or Seminary to recruit his disciples, but rather he went to ordinary unlearned men and gathered those who would take the gospel to all the world and turn the world upside down.
Note: When Jesus called His first disciples. Neither were they in a position of authority or power, nor did they possess wealth or financial security. They were out in the working world.
This is not to de-emphasize the importance of religion or of learning, but it does teach at least two things:
First, position and power, wealth and security, religion and learning can hurt and keep a person away from God.
Such things can make a person so self-confident and assured that he becomes useless to God. God is unable to work His power through him.
The man’s own abilities and energy block God’s gifts and power from flowing through him.
Second, God can use and call anyone who is really available, whether religious or nonreligious, learned or unlearned, ordinary or extraordinary. The main ingredient is to be available and willing to respond.
1. The first men called .
a. Were brothers who worked together.
b. Were industrious workers.
c. Were called to follow Jesus—at once.
d. Were called to another work.
e. Were responsive and available.
When Jesus showed up church, they did not make excuses about this or that, they jumped into the game from the sidelines...
Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
Before I expound this text, I wanted to share a parable that comes out of an old Presbyterian theological journal church that serves as an illustration to where we are at in the text, but also how the church has evolved and a warning to us as his disciples:
“On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude, little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there as only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little life-saving station. So it became famous.”
“Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and their money and their effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought, and new life-saving crews were trained, and the little life-saving station grew. Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was no crude and poorly equipped. They felt a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots and beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully, and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as sort of a club.”
“Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club’s decorations, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club held its initiations. About this time, a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in loads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin and some had yellow skin.”
“The beautiful new club was considerably messed up. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where the victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside. At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’slife-saving activities as being unpleasant, and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose, and pointed out they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told if they wanted to save the lives of various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast a little ways, which they did.”
“As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old one. It evolved into a club, and yet another life-saving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.”
What a simple and striking illustration of the history of the church.
But the work of life-saving and the work of evangelism is nonetheless, the purest and the truest and the noblest and the most essential work the church will ever do.
The work of evangelism, the work of fishing men, as it were, out of the sea of sin.
The work of rescuing people from the breakers of hell is the greatest work the church will ever do. It is God’s great concern.
First John 4 tells us, “We love Him only because He first loved us.” John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave.”
The greatest work in the heart of God, the greatest concern in the mind of God is evangelism. Winning the lost is God’s great concern. It is also Christ’s great concern.
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The work of winning the lost is God’s concern and Christ’s concern, and also the greatest concern of the Holy Spirit. For it is the Holy Spirit who comes, according to John 16, to convict men of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
It is the Holy Spirit who comes upon the church, and after we have received the Holy Spirit, we are made witnesses, Jesus said, “Unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth.”
The great concern of God is evangelism. The great concern of Christ is evangelism. The great concern of the Spirit is evangelism, saving the lost.
Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
Jesus spoke and they listened and did what he had asked him.
You know the Word of God teaches this simple truth over and over church:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Jesus said Follow Me!
Jesus said I will make you fishers of men!
Jesus did not say they they would make themselves fishers of men or send them to the local school of evangelism.
He just simply said Follow Him and the natural by-product of following Jesus, of loving Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength church would be fishing men out of the darkness, out of pit of despair, out of depression, out of oppression, out of addictions and slavery.
But wait, what did it mean for the boys to follow Jesus?
When a rabbi asked someone to follow him, it was an incredible honor. This invitation was an offer of unlimited access to the rabbi—a chance to become a perpetual student.
It not only gave them complete access to ask the teacher probing questions, but they also lived alongside the rabbi, experiencing firsthand how the Scriptures should be lived out.
Becoming a disciple required an unwavering commitment to submit to the rabbi’s authority, but it also meant that everyday was full of opportunities to learn new things about God.
Disciples went where their rabbi went. They slept where their rabbis slept. They ate what their rabbi ate. And largely, they shared their rabbi’s passions and beliefs.
As a rabbi, this is the kind of relationship Jesus invited the disciples to experience. For them, following Jesus included sharing his enthusiasm for declaring the good news. This meant taking short-term trips to share his teachings (Luke 10), and eventually, spreading those teachings throughout the world.
But wait!
At first they thought they were just following another Rabbi church, but they eventually realized he was the Messiah...
It also meant that they would lay their life down for their friends like Jesus church:
They would be martyred!!
Peter was crucified upside down
And Andrew was crucified
When they immediately left there nets church and Followed Jesus, they did not understand what they were getting themselves into, but leaped out if faith because what they were doing was not working.
They would see people resurrected, healed from every form of disease, sight given to the blind, the lame walk, and the deaf hear church.
They would share the gospel and see thousands bend the knee and confess Jesus as Lord.
Could you imagine?
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
This is what they did and they went to the rabbinic school of Jesus and helped establish the kingdom that Jesus was proclaiming.
They simply followed Jesus.
What does it mean to follow Jesus?
Declare Jesus as Lord:
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
The first step to following Jesus is believing that he is who he says he is.
2. By declaring Jesus is Lord and being baptized in his name, we make the first steps of obedience in following Jesus.
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
3. Obey- We are to study to show thyself approved and the teaches that we learn we are to apply in our lives.
This is why we teach the Bible verse by verse.
Jesus said, sanctify them by your truth, your Word is truth.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
4. Find your place in the Body of Christ.
We all have gifts, talents , and abilities that God has given us and the body is paralyzed church when we do not use them.
5. Be a disciple- a disciple is a pupil, a learner, an apprentice of Jesus.
Have you been discipled or discipled others?
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. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
So Jesus, Peter and Andrew head out to fish and get what?
Two more fish are caught:
James
John
James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;
bo-an-erg-es>>> bon ar gaes
The nickname given to James and John, the sons of Zebedee, by the Lord.
The name seems to denote fiery and destructive zeal that may be likened to a thunder storm.
Lets stop and think about this?
Peter had the foot and mouth disease as he spoke too much and was quick to react.
James and John had fiery and even destructive zeal that was liked to a thunder storm?
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
God choses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise!
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
The men called by Jesus were brothers who worked together.
I am guessing the had great parents that taught them to work together side by side and to not be like Cain and Abel.
The second men called .
a. Were obedient sons working closely with their father
b. Were industrious, frugal, mending their own nets.
d. Were willing and responsive: left their livelihood and family.
Church Jesus did not go to the Rabbinic schools to call his first disciples but rather to the working class that struggled each day to make it.
But if you think about it, it would make sense.
Fishermen have:
Faith
Patience
Perseveracne
Courage
Fortitude
Strength
and certainly the can be rough and tough.
I close this section of Scripture with the Three Callings I see here in this text and throughout Scripture.
The call to Salvation- we must come to Jesus as we are and confess him as Lord and according to the Scriptures we shall be saved.
The call to Sanctification- when we surrender our lives to the Lordship Jesus Christ, a hunger and thirst for righteousness rises up inside of us and it is here that we begin to study and apply God’s Word and desire discipleship. It is here that we are made holy, for he is Holy.
The call to service- when Jesus called the disciples church, he did not call them to be pew potatoes, or to sit on the sidelines, but rather to get into the game. As we step into the sanctification process and natural by-product in a believers life is serving others.
And we are all called to serve a t different capacities like:
Being a greeter with Mike
Like Cleaning the chruch
Like teaching a Bible Study or classes
Like mowing the church lawns and the lawns around the church
Like being on the worship team
Like stepping into your gifts
The list goes on .
The bottom line is that Jesus said follow Me to these men because he knew that they would follow him unto death!
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Are you tired of holding on to your life? Are you ready to surrender?
Because after all Jesus says, Whoever loses his life for His sake will find life!
There are some here today that are holding on to your nets and Jesus is asking you to let them go! Nets like:
Your past mistakes, failures, and regrets
Your hurt, rejection, and abandonment
Your old lifestyle
Pride and selfishness
Not being teachable or having accountability in your life
The net of anger, resentment, and unforgiveness
The net of addiction and isolation
THE NET OF SAFETY AND SECURITY OUTSIDE OF JESUS
What is your net?
Jesus is saying today,
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
JESUS IS SAYING, “FOLLOW ME, NOT THE WAYS OF THE WORLD CHURCH, AND HE WILL MAKE US FISHERS OF MEN!”
LAY DOWN YOUR NETS AND FOLLOW JESUS!
PRAYER
PRAYER
Lord, we praise you for your Word for it is living and powerful, sharper than a two edged sword and we thank you for speaking to us today. Lord, if we were all honest we all have nets we need to let go of to follow hard after you. So please Lord empower us to let the nets go and follow you whole heartedly. Because your Word has taught us that we must lose our lives for You, in order to have life. Thank you also for calling Peter, Andrew, James and John who were just common folks like us. Make us more like Jesus today and open the door for us to proclaim the gospel this week by word, thought, and deed!
In Jesus Name We Love You, Amen!
Benediction
Benediction
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
THE LORD BLESS YOU!
YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW!