Sermon Notes | 8.18.24
Matthew 4:18–22
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
[18] While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is 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] And 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. (ESV)
What we find here is true of any human endeavor capable of giving significance to our lives. We are touching upon a general principle of human life. It’s true for the public speaker or the musician, the teacher or the surgeon. A successful performance at a moment of crisis rests largely and essentially upon the depths of a self wisely and rigorously prepared in the totality of its being—mind and body.
In other words, no one ever says, “If you want to be a great athlete, go vault eighteen feet, run the mile under four minutes,” or “If you want to be a great musician, play the Beethoven violin concerto.” Instead, we advise the young artist or athlete to enter a certain kind of overall life, one involving deep associations with qualified people as well as rigorously scheduled time, diet, and activity for the mind and body. – Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines
The PRIMARY Threshold
from Christian to Disciple
Why do they drop everyhing?
Location
Education
Bet Sefer – “House of the Book”
Bet Talmud – “House of Learning”
Bet Midrash
What will the rabbi say to you?
Invitation
“Follow me…”
[4] But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. – Galatians 4:4-5
Our Participation
Will you accept the invitation of Jesus?
MOVING FROM RESTLESSNESS TO REST
The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who…are identified as “Christians” will become disciples—students, apprentices, practitioners—of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence. – Dallas Willard, The Great Omission
A Prayer for Salvation
“Heavenly Father, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but through your Son Jesus I can be more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you that he lived the life I should have lived and paid the debt and punishment I owed. Receive me now for his sake. I turn from my sins and receive him as Savior. Amen.”