Follow Together

๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐—  ๐—จ๐—ฃ

โ€ข If you could spend the day with a famous person or someone you look up to. Who would it be and why?

โ€ข What is one thing that you think would make your life complete if you had it?ย 

โ€ข Think of something that someone influenced you into buying or doing. What is it and why did you believe the person?ย 


๐—ช๐—ข๐—ฅ๐——

. . . ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜š๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, โ€œ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ; ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ.โ€ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ต ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ.ย ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ž๐—˜ ๐Ÿฑ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ


Being a Christian is hard with all of lifeโ€™s tough battles ahead of us and the many things we have to do for our families and our work or school. Thatโ€™s why itโ€™s 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? Letโ€™s 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?


๐Ÿญ. ๐——๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—›๐—ถ๐—บ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ณ.

. . . ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜š๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, โ€œ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ; ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ.โ€ ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ž๐—˜ ๐Ÿฑ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ


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 ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ, 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 6:13โ€“16). 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 


๐Ÿฎ. ๐—™๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—›๐—ถ๐—บ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜€๐—ฒ.ย 

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ต ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ.ย ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ž๐—˜ ๐Ÿฑ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ


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 wouldnโ€™t 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 Jesusโ€”our desires, our needsโ€”pales in comparison. Following Jesus isnโ€™t easy, but He is worth it. What does Jesus say in Luke 18:28โ€“30? What does this verse say about valuing Jesus and His kingdom more than anything or anyone in this life?


๐Ÿฏ. ๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†.ย 

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ต ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ.ย ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ž๐—˜ ๐Ÿฑ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ


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?


๐—”๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก

โ€ข 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?

โ€ข 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 todayโ€™s lesson help you do this?ย 

โ€ข 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?


๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ

โ€ข 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 

โ€ข 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.

โ€ข 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