For a CD of over 100 of sermons by Darrell Stetler II (most complete with handouts), please e-mail darrellstetler2@sbcglobal.net.
Last week, we talked about the first step. . . preparing to be a follower of Jesus. “Honestly consider Jesus’ claims”. . .
Now, I want this to be a series that’s encouraging to you.
If you’re like me, then you sometimes feel discouraged about your Christian walk. You’ve thought things like:
“Man, I’ve blown it again.”
“I know Jesus wouldn’t act like that. . . maybe I should give up.”
“There is SO much I don’t understand about being a Christian.”
“Will I ever learn my lesson?”
“Can I really be a Christian if I’m so easily tempted?”
Well, guess what? I’VE GOT GOOD NEWS!!!
Jesus never asked anyone to
• get their act together before following Him.
• fix all their past mistakes before following Him.
• Get a theological education before following Him.
• untangle the messes in their life before following Him.
Jesus’ call was always this: Why don’t you start following me today, and then we’ll straighten your life out?
In fact, even the 12 men that he chose as his closest followers didn’t look anything close to perfect. In fact, they were closer to morons! Let me give you some examples of the kind of people that we’re talking about:
1. They were proud.
Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you argued among yourselves on the road?" But they kept silent, for on the road they had argued among themselves who would be the greatest. (Mark 9:33-34)
2. They were overconfident.
Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble." (Matthew 26:33, NKJV)
3. They were wimps.
Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled. (Matthew 26:56)
For all the guts that they THOUGHT they had, when the chips were down, and it was going to cost them something to stand up with Jesus, they all ran away.
Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve done that. Pressure is on at work or school or in the family, or at a friend’s house. And suddenly, you make your decision
4. They didn’t understand what Jesus was trying to teach.
Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. (John 10:6)
But they did not understand. . . and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. (Luke 9:45)
So they didn’t understand, but they didn’t want to look stupid, so they just kept their mouths’ shut.
Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve felt like you were the only one who didn’t understand that sermon. . . or you didn’t understand something in the Bible. . . or you’re trying to figure out: “What is it that God wants me to do in this situation?” And you think: “I can’t really do this Christian thing. . . I don’t have the education for it.”
5. They were vengeful.
“They entered a village of the Samaritans... but they did not receive Him. . . And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?" (Luke 9:52-54)
Oh, great attitude guys! Does this sound familiar to you? Not necessarily that you’d call fire down. . . today it would be more like, “Lord, you want us to go kick their teeth in?”
What’s my point with going through this list of the disciple’s faults? Simply this:
If you’ve struggled to become and really stick with it being a Christian, BE ENCOURAGED! These guys were the ones that Jesus chose to walk close to him, and spend time with him. They weren’t perfect, but they had responded when Jesus called them to forsake the old life and follow Him!
These men were Christ-followers. That’s really what a Christian is – not just a person who has gotten saved, or joined the church, or anything else. It’s a person who has been forgiven of their sin, and become a Christ-follower. And you have to have both. . . if you’ve been forgiven in the past, but you haven’t made the decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ, you’ve missed the main point of being forgiven. And if you haven’t made a decision to follow Jesus, then I know you’ve found out how hard it is to keep from going back to the old life.
You know what? Jesus still calls you to do the same thing. He doesn’t say, “Instantly be a Bible scholar.” He does say, “Leave everything else behind and follow me.”
And he’s saying that to you right now. I want to give you four practical steps of how you can answer his call, and then I’m going to give you a chance to come forward, and say, “I want to be a 100% committed follower of Jesus.”
My theme for this month is this very simple statement. If you don’t get anything else I say, understand this: 95% commitment to Jesus Christ is 5% short.
So how can I do that?
I want to give you four conditions you must meet if you want to be a Christ-follower:
I can be a Christ-follower if I will forsake the old life to follow Him.
I can be a Christ-follower if I will spend time getting to know Jesus.
I can be a Christ-follower if I will put Him first. (Rich young ruler)
I can be a Christ-follower if I will not be stopped by failure. (Peter)
Today, I want to talk to you about the first one.
I can be a Christ-follower if I will forsake the old life to follow Him.
Read this Scripture with me:
Mt 4:18 ΒΆ 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.
19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21 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. He called them,
22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
Matthew 9:9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him.
Luke 18:28 Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."
How to forsake the old life and start a new life:
1. Realize that Jesus is calling you to follow Him.
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)
I think some people never make a commitment to follow Jesus because they never realize that HE is calling THEM!
They think that the call of Jesus is one to attend church, or just kinda be a good person. No. He is calling you to leave behind the way things used to be, and totally commit yourself to following him.
2. Seize the moment.
“They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:20)
Jesus doesn’t ask you to wait until you have everything together to follow Him.
I love this attitude. They immediately left their nets and followed Jesus – no delays. They realized that they had just been offered the chance of a lifetime, and they seized the moment.
Today, Jesus is calling to you through me. He wants you to follow Him, and he’s saying, “Come on! What better time? Seize the moment, make your choice, and come follow me!”
Did I ever tell you about the young Zoad?
Who came to a sign at the fork of the road
He looked one way and the other way too
The Zoad had to make up his mind what to do - Well, the Zoad scratched his head,
And his chin, and his pants.
And he said to himself, "I’ll be taking a chance.
If I go to Place One, that place may be hotSo how will I know if I like it or not.
On the other hand, though, I’ll feel such a fool
If I go to Place Two and find it’s too cool
In that case I may catch a chill and turn blue.
So Place One may be best and not Place Two.
Play safe," cried the Zoad,
"I’ll play safe, I’m no dunce.
I’ll simply start off to both places at once.
And that’s how the Zoad who would not take a chance
Went no place at all with a split in his pants.
Don’t wait around and let the sense of God’s presence slip away from you. When Jesus walks by and you can sense him calling you, that’s your chance – seize the moment!
3. Recognize which parts of your life need to change.
As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9)
There were some things they had to leave behind in order to follow Jesus.
The tax collectors were generally crooked. They would overcharge people for their taxes, then pocket the extra. That’s why they were hated so much by everyone.
This guy couldn’t continue to be what he was and follow Jesus. He had to take a hard look at himself, and say, “What do I need to leave behind?”
This step is called repentance. Changing your mind about sin, and demonstrating it by changing your actions. It’s a crucial step in beginning to follow Jesus. What if this guy had said, “Jesus, I believe in you, and all that. . . really want to follow you, man!” And then he had continued to live the way he was, cheating others out of their money?
If you are considering following Jesus today, or starting over again following Jesus, I want you to pay attention right now. Not just to what I’m saying, but to what the voice of God is saying in your heart right now. I want you to tune in to that. He’s telling you some things about your life that will need to change. The things you’re thinking of right now. . . it might be a habit, or an attitude. It might be drunkenness or lust or dishonesty, or greed. It might be 100 other things – but God knows what to talk to YOU about.
It might not be something that sounds GOOD to give up. But here’s my challenge to you: the adventure of following Jesus is worth anything it costs you.
4. Don’t let anyone or anything stop you from following Jesus.
“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. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:21-22)
Commitment to follow Jesus will always cost you something. For these guys, they left their jobs, in order to devote themselves to Jesus. It may cost you a friend. Family members might decide not to go with you (notice that they left their father – apparently, he didn’t wish to follow Jesus.). Girlfriends may decide that it’s not for them. Boyfriends may decide that you’ve gone crazy. Husband or wife may never be at church with you.
It cost her something to follow Jesus. And it will cost you.
But Jesus stands calling you today, and says, “Never mind about ‘will they’. . . the question is ‘will you?’”
But now, he’s in the twilight years of his life. My grandmother (his wife) recently passed away with cancer. I stood a few feet away as he said “goodbye” for the last time, and could hear him say, “I love you, dolly. I’ll see you soon.” He would look you in the eye today and tell you in his weakened voice that he doesn’t regret one single step of the journey of following Jesus Christ, and he looks forward to taking the next step to join Jesus in heaven.
Chrysostom was the church leader of Constantinople in the fourth century when Rome was persecuting the Church. The Roman emperor had him arrested and charged with being a Christian.
If Chrysostom did not renounce Christ, then the emperor would have this Christian leader banished from the kingdom. Chrysostom responded to the threat by saying that the emperor could not do so, “because the whole world is my Father’s kingdom.”
“Then,” replied the emperor, “I will take away your life.” To which Chrysostom said, “You cannot, for my life is hid with Christ in God.”
Next threatened with the loss of his treasure, this saint replied, “You cannot, for my treasure is in heaven where my heart is.”
The emperor made one last effort: “Then I will drive you away from here and you shall have no friend left.” But again Chrysostom responded, “You cannot, for I have one Friend from whom you can never separate me. I defy you for you can do me no harm.”
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HANDOUT
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How to Make A New Start
If you’re like me, then you sometimes feel discouraged about your Christian walk. You’ve thought things like:
• “Man, I’ve blown it again.”
• “I know Jesus wouldn’t act like that. . . maybe I should give up.”
• “There is SO much I don’t understand about being a Christian.”
• “Will I ever learn my lesson?”
• “Can I really be a Christian if I’m so easily tempted?”
Be encouraged! Jesus’ 12 followers weren’t anything close to perfect:
1. They were _____________.
Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you argued among yourselves on the road?" But they kept silent, for on the road they had argued among themselves who would be the greatest. (Mark 9:33-34)
2. They were ___________________.
Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble." (Matthew 26:33)
3. They were __________.
Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled. (Matthew 26:56)
4. They didn’t ________________ Jesus’ teaching.
Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. (John 10:6)
But they did not understand. . . and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. (Luke 9:45)
5. They were _________________.
“They entered a village of the Samaritans... but they did not receive Him. . . And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?" (Luke 9:52-54)
These men were not _________________, but they were ____________________. _______% commitment to Jesus Christ is _____% short.
How to forsake the old life and start a new life:
1. Realize that Jesus is calling _________ to follow Him.
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)
2. Seize the _________________.
“They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:20)
3. Commit to make the necessary ___________ in your life.
As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9)
This step is called _________________. Changing your __________ about sin, and demonstrating it by changing your ______________
.
4. Don’t let ______________ or ______________ stop you from following Jesus.
“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. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:21-22)
When Jesus calls you he says, “Never mind about ‘will _________’. . . the question is ‘will _________?’”
