Follow Together
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข If you could spend the day with a famous person or someone you look up to. Who would it be and why?
โข What is one thing that you think would make your life complete if you had it?ย
โข Think of something that someone influenced you into buying or doing. What is it and why did you believe the person?ย
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
. . . ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ; ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ.โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.ย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฑ:๐ญ๐ฌ-๐ญ๐ญ
Being a Christian is hard with all of lifeโs tough battles ahead of us and the many things we have to do for our families and our work or school. Thatโs why itโs sometimes tempting to just go to church yet not be involved in ministry and other church activities. But what does being a disciple of Christ truly mean? How does it affect our lives and our relationships? Letโs look at the lives of the disciples on how their relationship with Jesus grew as He set them apart and called them to follow Him. What does it mean to follow Jesus and walk with Him?
๐ญ. ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ.
. . . ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ; ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ.โ ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฑ:๐ญ๐ฌ
Simon, a.k.a. Peter, and the other disciples had probably heard about Jesus and the miracles He had done. They believed that He was the promised Messiah, the Holy One of God. What a unique privilege it was to be approached by Jesus as He was going about His ministry. After getting into their boats and helping them miraculously catch a ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ช๐ด๐ฉ, Jesus invited them to follow Him and take part in His ministry. This was their chance to get to know Jesus, who He is, and what He could do, and to see how the promise of God could be fulfilled in Jesus. They were personally invited to follow Jesus closely, and some of them were even hand-picked to be His apostles (Luke 6:13โ16). In the same way, our call to be Jesusโ disciples is a call for us to be in a relationship with Jesus. Recall the time Jesus called you to Himself. What made you decide to follow Him?ย
๐ฎ. ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ.ย
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.ย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฑ:๐ญ๐ญ
The disciples responded to Jesusโ invitation without hesitation. Other Gospels even highlight that they immediately left their boats to follow Him (Matthew 4:20). This seems illogical. Fishing was mostly what the disciples knew. Without it, they wouldnโt have a stable livelihood for their families. But at Jesusโ word, they left everything else. They saw and focused not on what they could lose, but on who they would gain. Everything else in light of Jesusโour desires, our needsโpales in comparison. Following Jesus isnโt easy, but He is worth it. What does Jesus say in Luke 18:28โ30? What does this verse say about valuing Jesus and His kingdom more than anything or anyone in this life?
๐ฏ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐.ย
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.ย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฑ:๐ญ๐ญ
While the invitation Jesus gave to the first disciples was personal, it was also clearly communal. Throughout Jesusโ ministry with the disciples, they were following Him together and doing things together. Their journey with Jesus was lived out in community. They saw how Jesus interacted with each one of them and how they each responded to Jesus. Even the lessons Jesus taught them was a shared experience. Following Jesus is a shared journey with others. How has this been true in your life? What have you learned by sharing life with other believers closely?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Why is it important to have a personal relationship with Jesus? What steps can you take to grow and be more intentional in your relationship with Him?
โข What are some things that you have given up in order to follow Christ? Are there still things that you need to set aside in order to value Christ above all? How will todayโs lesson help you do this?ย
โข Who are you following Jesus with? With whom can you extend Jesusโ invitation to follow Him? In what ways can you help this person start their discipleship journey?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His personal invitation to know Him and journey with Him through Christ. Pray for sensitivity to His Spirit as you intentionally pursue Him and grow in your relationship with Him.ย
โข Ask God to open your eyes to things you may have given more value over Christ. Pray for the grace to revere Christ above all in your thoughts, words, and actions.
โข Thank God for the people He has placed in your life. Pray that you would be able to help each other follow Jesus and fish for men together.ย