Come And Follow Straightway. Let Straightway Be Your Slogan

Jan. 22, 2012 Mark 1: 14-20 Come and Follow Straightway. Let Straightway be your Slogan

Time for a math lesson; Rate of Speed=distance divided by time

Give an example: Walk to Jerusalem would be about 6000 miles, so how fast would we need to walk if we wanted to get their by Easter.

Rate of Speed= 6000/68 days from Feb 1st.= 88 miles per day….3.67 miles per hour

Doug: go ahead and get started now and you will have an extra couple weeks.

But suppose we all helped Doug… 100 people walked a little each day for Doug, then he would only have to walk – What? A little less than a mile each day. Or about 6 miles each week.

Now, some people will walk much more than that while others maybe can’t walk that much but the average will help the overall total. We work together.

I'd like to do this program in our church....tracking how much we walk each week by each person that would like to join in...give everyone a pedometer...it would help us to thing about carry the cross to Jerusalem. it would be a tool that people would ask us about... a witness tool.

Last Week: Remember - Come and See

Find ourselves in Mark-shortest of the Gospels _getting Jesus to the cross ASAP

• Tell the Story: Jesus tells the Good News

o Time has come

o Kingdom is near

o Repent

o Believe

• Andrew and Simon - Come & Follow Me

o At Once- Straightway they left nets

• James and John – w/o delay Jesus called-

o Straightway they left their father/workers

o Followed Jesus

Straightway! Mark 1:18 KJV

18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

+ Mark loved this word… 19 out of 42 times in the entire Bible, trying to get to the point straightway.

Mark loves the word :"Straightway" ... I love this world straightway...there is no hesitation, no beguile, no personal prejudices...nothing but God. Straight from the heart.

Straightway can have several meanings but I want to talk about two of them.

1. Straightway can mean "time" --

Immediate, instantaneous, abrupt, urgent, in need of attention, on the spot… no delay…placed first.

or

A straight path… a “straight way” a straight line is always quicker. Distance or journey.

Matt 7:14 KJV Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Let's talk about Straightway in Time first:

The disciples left what they were doing straightway and they followed Jesus. They drop everything and left w/o packing a toothbrush.

How many times do we hesitate or make excuses why we can't "Straightway" make a decision for the Lord, to do something for the Lord, to be involved for the Lord.

Not Now: Emmaus, Bible Study, Sunday School, scripture reading, personal devotions, helping others, visiting the sick and shut-ins. These are all examples and manifestations of our faith and salvation in Christ.

Rationalize: that's the pastor's job, someone else will do it, I'll volunteer later, I don't have time, I don't like those people, I don't have the money, I can't do that...

Paul tells us w/o works we have no faith.- should me a person who has works and I'll show you a person who has faith.

No works-no salvation no works- no love of God no works- no hope

Let's talk about "Straightway" as distance or direction.

Our journey to heaven should be a straight course but sin takes us on detours or u-turns.

Go thru sin which is not a straight path, may have to return thru the muck and mire.

Illustration of home invasion with parishioner from Scott's church.

Couple are going out and as they leave, two teenagers see them. they wait for them to drive away and ten they break into their house. The woman had left her purse on the table so they grabbed that and ran. Once they opened the purse they saw her cell phone and she had been text messaging about go to a birthday party and they knew she would not return for quite a while. They went back and cleaned out the house, guns, rifles, laptop, (anything of value). When coulpe returned home, they were so upset and called the police... the state police came and brought in tracking dogs and the scent lead then right to the door of the two that had broken in...their scent lead the dogs right to them. What a surprise?

You leave a crooked path and sin causes you to go off course and to get back to the rigt path sometimes requires going back through the murk and mud.

1. Take a Map- can we go anywhere in a straight line? It is very difficult. GPS now helpful but still no straightway.