Young People's Group

THE CALL TO FOLLOW JESUS

by Pastor Mitch
January 21, 2007

The Lord’s Call For Disciples

“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. Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'”
Matthew 4:18-19

One man alone by himself cannot reach the world with the gospel of the kingdom. The Lord Jesus knew that. He planned that others would be trained to reach the world. When Jesus was on this earth, He called people to be His disciples. They were going to go through the process of being specially instructed and guided for the purpose of soul-winning work. The challenge was for them to follow the person of Christ. They were to follow His teachings and His example. They were to cultivate a deep relationship with Christ. And as they followed Him, He would enable and transform them into good soul winners.

Answering The Call To Follow Jesus

“They immediately left their nets and followed Him… He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”
Matthew 4:20-22

Peter and Andrew answered the call to be “fishers of men”. They were willing to sacrifice much in order to be trained. James and John also left their boats and their family to focus on one important endeavour… to follow Jesus. Young people, the Lord is calling us to be His disciples today. He wants us to be serious about following Him. Can we respond by answering that call to be true disciples of Jesus?

Following Through With Being Disciples Of The Lord

Many are good starters but few are good finishers. The disciples of Jesus did not just start following Him. They also followed through with the training. They went through three years of an intensive discipleship programme. All except one became good servants of Christ. When Peter preached the word in the text ofActs 2, thousands came to know the Lord. When the religious leaders saw the boldness of Peter and John, they realised that “they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Young people, if we want to start this path of discipleship, we must be committed to follow through with the programme. Let’s determine not just to start on this path of discipleship but to be faithful to the very end.

Showing Support To One Who Is Being Specially Trained

Student Pastor Christopher Lai has answered a general call to follow Jesus some years ago. Today, he continues to be trained and guided. He will be going back to Perth next week to be installed as the Resident Pastor at Bethel IPC. We will be having a special farewell for him this Saturday at 3pm. Let’s take time to show our support for him as he seeks to be a good disciple of Jesus. Let’s give him every encouragement we can.

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