BIG IDEA
We are invited by Jesus to follow Him.
READING
Matt. 4; John 3
THOUGHTS
Between 25 and 30 AD, Jesus began to travel through ancient Israel, inviting people to follow Him—to leave all they were doing and those they loved to be with Him, to sleep where He slept, to travel where He travelled, and to learn what He taught (Matt. 4:17–22).
Jesus invited the imperfect, sinful, hurting, confused, and rejected. He promised to provide these first followers healing, meaning, and purpose in this life and eternal life after death (Matt. 11:28–30; Mark 2:17; Luke 4:18–21; John 3:16–18, 10:10–11).
As Jesus encountered those who wanted to obtain His promise to them, He emphasized to them that there was only one way to acquire it. They would have to stop believing and living the way they had always believed and lived. They would then have to exclusively follow Him—His way of thinking and way of living (Matt. 10:37–39, 16:24–26; Luke 9:57–62, 18:18–30; John 14:6).
Today, Jesus still invites us to follow and commit our lives to Him. This invitation is centred around four key ideas that serve as a summary of Jesus’s message.
1. WE ARE CREATED WITH PURPOSE AND MEANING
God creates us with great purpose and meaning, which can only be fulfilled through a right relationship with Him.
I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. John 10:10
2. SIN DESTROYS
To sin is to try to live independently from God, who is the giver and sustainer of life. As we move away from God, we experience less and less life. When we try to live on our terms, we experience levels of death. We all have sinned. Sin prevents us from experiencing the life God created for us.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Isa. 53:6
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious way. Rom. 3:23
3. LOVE SAVES
Jesus died to remove the result and power of sin in our lives. He experienced our death for us (Matt. 27:32–56; 1 Tim. 2:3–6).
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Rom. 6:23
For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
4. A NEW LIFE AWAITS
Jesus offers us an exchange of His life for our lives. If we give Him our sin and death, He will provide us with His life. That includes the power to live this life now and eternal life after death.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. It is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. Rom. 10:9–10
STARTING
The way to get in on this message is to put your faith in Jesus. As you declare to Jesus your commitment to turn from sin and trust Him fully, you begin the journey toward all He has promised (Matt. 10:32; Rom. 10:9–10; 1 John 1:9). Here’s a simple prayer you can use to do that.
“Jesus, thank you for loving me. I recognize that I am a sinner. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. Today, I ask you to lead my life. I give you control. I surrender my life to you. Amen.”
DISCUSSION
- Describe times you tried to live life on your terms. What does it mean to move away from dependency on God?
- Do you see yourself as a disciple of Jesus?
- Discuss with each other your journey of faith and questions that you have about the main message.
Q & A
AREN’T ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME? DON’T THEY ALL TELL US TO BE GOOD, AND IF WE ARE, WE WILL GO TO AN AFTERLIFE?
While many religions share similar ethics, such as peace and love, they all have exclusive claims about how one obtains salvation and who is responsible for it. Christians believe that Jesus is the only one who can offer us salvation. He freely offers salvation by grace to those who put their faith in Him.
DOES GOD SEND PEOPLE WHO DON’T ACCEPT JESUS TO HELL? IF SO, HOW CAN HE BE LOVING?
Since God is the source of life, the moment we walk away from Him, we experience less and less life. Since God is also the source of love, H e allows us to experience the ends of our decision. If we choose to walk away from Him, we are the ones who decide on an afterlife without Him. If He would step in and intervene and force us to be with Him, He would not be loving .
WHY IS THERE EVIL IN THE WORLD?
Love requires choice. Since God is loving, He gives us and others the freedom to hurt each other. Since we introduced sin into the world, it has caused havoc in nature (Genesis 3; Romans 8:18-20). We are promised ultimate justice in eternity and God can create good from the evil we create (Revelation 21). God also gives us the freedom to make our world better and asks that we do our part to make this world a better place.
HOW ABOUT PEOPLE WHO NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO HEAR THE MESSAGE?
It’s impossible to know if a person has heard the message of Jesus or not in their lifetime. There are many different stories of people to whom Jesus has personally appeared (Acts 9:1–4). The good news is that God has a history of responding to peo- ple who want to know Him (Acts 10). We also find the promise that God reveals Himself to every person in different ways (Rom. 1:19–20).