April 8th, 2018
“Following Christ: Joining God on the Journey” - Matthew 4: 12-23
Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com
Monday: “Might be Fulfilled” - Matt. 4: 12-16
Different Gospel writers reach out to their audiences in different ways. In the words of this weeks scripture passage, they fish for people using different baits and lores. Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience - those who know the proclamations that the Messiah is coming. Those who already know the scriptures, so he shows those he is writing too that Jesus is in fact the Messiah, the very fulfillment of scripture.
This week’s passage opens with scripture from the prophet Isaiah, speaking about how Jesus left his hometown after the arrest of John the Baptist, to live in Capernaum, in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. The prophet goes on to say that this was a light for a people who were once in darkness.
We, as Christians, often speak of Jesus as being the light of the world. We, too, point to scriptures about how his coming changed everything, in our own lives and for this very world, as he fulfilled the word of God.
How is Jesus a fulfillment of scripture?
Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for how your ways are greater than all of our ways. It is is sometimes hard for us to wrap our minds around how you spoke about Jesus through the prophets long ago, as they proclaimed his coming. Let us, too, proclaim the way of the Lord. Amen.
Tuesday: “Kingdom” - Matt 4: 17
Whenever people in the time of Jesus heard the word Kingdom they had very particular things that came to mind. First, they thought about Kings and military. Who was in charge. Who occupied the land. Which often brought these particular folks to thoughts of overthrowing the Romans who were occupying their land, who they paid taxes too.
For them, the Kingdom of Heaven, would have been tied exclusively to a military Messiah who was coming to free them from all that they faced that was unjust and unfair. Yet, that wasn’t the type of Kingdom that Jesus was talking about. We only need to look a few chapters ahead to the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus spoke of a different type of Kingdom - one that prioritized peace and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Jesus was telling folks to repent - or change their ways, because this type of Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, was about to change everything.
When images or words come to mind when you hear the word “Kingdom”?
Prayer: Precious Lord, sometimes we can be like those believers so long ago. We can let our own thoughts about the word Kingdom get in the way of truly embracing your Kingdom for all that it is. Help us to proclaim the true word of the Kingdom of Heaven, we pray. Amen.
Wednesday: “Follow Me” - Matt. 4: 18-19
Growing up, we often joked that my parents read The Bernstein Bears Learn about Strangers to me a few too many times, and as a result I wasn’t too keen of people that I didn’t know. I wasn’t going to follow someone who I didn’t trust, didn’t have a relationship with.
Yet, that is exactly what happens with the disciples. They may have heard whispers about this Jesus who was calling for people to repent, but up to this point in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus hasn’t had a public ministry. He hasn’t healed folks or taught in the synagogues. He would have effectively been a stranger to the disciples, yet they still left everything when he called for them to follow him.
Why? What was so compelling in Jesus’s statement that they were willing to leave everything behind? Was it the thought of being fishers of people? Or simply the fact that he invited them? And what made us respond to the call of Jesus when he called us as well?
What made you follow Jesus?
How can you share your story of following Jesus with others?
Prayer: Lord, we don’t fully know why those first disciples followed Jesus, but we are so glad that they did. We are also eternally grateful that Jesus called us to follow him as well. May we live lives that show our gratitude for that calling, by inviting others to comes and follow Jesus as well. Amen.
Thursday: “Immediately” - Matt. 4: 20-22
The word we find coming up repeatedly in today’s scripture is “immediately”. Immediately, Simon and Andrew left their nets and followed him. This was no small task. Those nets were the way that they earned a living. They would have spent time repairing them. They were the tool of their trade, and yet the simply abandoned them at the invitation of Jesus.
In the next first we find Jesus coming across James and John, and they too, immediately left their boat and their father, their lively hood and their family, all to follow Jesus in this adventure of making fishers of people.
With what eagerness to we respond to Jesus’s call on our lives? Do we respond immediately? Or do we have to work out all of the details? Are we willing to take risks or do we want following Jesus to be risk-free?
What are we willing to risk in order to follow Jesus’s call?
Prayer: Lord, we admit that we live in a world where we want a sure thing. We want all of the costs calculated out and the details are sured up. We struggle when Jesus calls us to simply follow. May we respond with eagerness and immediately follow where Jesus leads. Amen.
Friday: “Proclaiming the Good News” - Matt 4:23
Somewhere along the way we got a bit confused. We have come to believe following Jesus is about us - what we can gain, and in most instances eternal life, specifically, when really Jesus called the disciples for what they could give. They went with Jesus as he proclaimed the Good News - the same Good News that they would proclaim after his ascensions.
Were the disciples personally blessed by following Jesus? Absolutely. But that wasn’t known when they responded to the call. They simply went to learn from and follow Christ.
What motivates us to follow Christ?
What are we willing to give and where are we willing to go for the sake of the Kingdom?
Prayer: God, may we respond to your call for the sake of others. May we be willing to risk it all for the Kingdom. Amen.
Saturday: Preparing for the Word
You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “Following Christ: God Wants You” - Eph 5: 1-2
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