Being With Jesus

Scripture reading comes from Matthew chapter 4. Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin,

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

or your own Bible. In Matthew 4 verse 13 we read,

Matthew 4:13

And leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capnum by the sea in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.

Then in verse 17 we read, From that time Jesus began to preach, saying,

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

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. And he said to them,

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 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. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom,

and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Amen. This is the word of God.

Great. Well, good morning, Watermark. It is wonderful to be with you again.

If you are new to the Watermark family or the church, my name is Kevin,

and it is wonderful to be with you this morning and for us to be able to look at the scriptures together.

Thank you, Gary and Kathy, for reading from Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

The scripture we read this morning, it says this,

that when Jesus is walking along the Sea of Galilee,

he sees these two brothers, Peter and Andrew,

casting the net into the sea for their fishermen,

and he says to them,

Follow me.

Follow me.

One of the most fundamental descriptions of what it means to be a Christian is to be a follower of Jesus.

In fact, right in the beginning, when the church was started,

the disciples were not called Christians.

They were called followers of Jesus.

Some believe that the word Christian, which only came about a couple of decades later,

was actually meant to be an insult.

It was used by those that were mocking these followers of Jesus to say,

Hey, you guys are talking about Christ.

You are like mini Christ.

You are Christians.

And so they came up with this word, the Christians,

as an insult, an offense to these followers of Jesus.

But in the early days, the disciples were known as followers of Jesus.

This morning, I want us to look at this question.

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

When we think of followers of Jesus,

we might think of people that walk the dusty roads of Jerusalem or Palestine,

or those that walked with Jesus on the hilltops of Galilee,

or maybe those that listened to Jesus' teaching in the synagogues and the temple courts.

But what does it mean to follow Jesus today in 21st century Hong Kong?

What does it look like to be a follower of Jesus?

Not just for one hour on a Sunday morning,

but as you're riding on the MTR on the way to work,

when you're out having a meal with a friend,

when you're on your way to work or to school.

And most importantly, what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus

when you're at home with your parents,

with your spouse, with your children?

Maybe if you stay at home on your own,

what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus in those times and those moments?

To answer that question,

we're going to go back to the very first century,

and we're going to look at what did it mean when Jesus called a bunch of men to follow Him.

We're going to look at what did it mean for them,

and then we're going to come back to 21st century Hong Kong

and ask the question,

what does it mean for us?

So that's where we're going today.

Now, when Jesus said to these very first disciples,

these fishermen,

follow me,

Jesus wasn't the first or the only man to say,

follow me.

In fact,

that phrase was a very common phrase.

It was something that was used regularly.

It was a well-known phrase.

Everyone would have known what it meant.

And the reason is because this is the way that the culture or society worked in first century Israel.

In first century Israel,

children at the age of four or five would go off to school,

a school called Beth Sefer,

which meant the house of the book.

And they would typically go there for six, seven years.

They would learn things like basic writing,

reading,

basic maths.

And at the house of the book,

all children from four or five up to the ages of 12 or so

would spend a couple of years studying the book.

And what they mean by the book is the Torah,

the first five books of the Old Testament,

Genesis through to Deuteronomy.

And so children would all go to Beth Sefer,

the house of the book,

and learn how to read,

learn how to write,

learn basic maths from the book of the law.

But one of the things is that by the time children reach this age of around 12 years old,

almost all children would have memorized almost the first five books of the Old Testament,

the Torah,

learned it off by heart.

By that stage,

the age of 12,

most of the education was finished.

A lot of children would then leave school.

Young girls would go and follow their mother,

learn how to be a young woman in society.

Some of them would go off and get married.

The men would join their fathers as apprentices to their fathers,

learn the family trade,

and would follow their father in the family business.

For the very best and brightest students,

those who had really done well or shown great promise,

they would be admitted to secondary school called Beth Talmud or Beth Midrash,

which means the house of learning.

And for the next four or five years,

from the age of 12,

13,

up to 16,

17,

the best and the brightest students would go to the synagogue every day.

They would have a hired rabbi,

a tutor,

that would come for the best students of the town,

and they would learn the rest of the Old Testament scriptures.

They would study the prophets,

the writings,

the wisdom,

the history books.

And by the age of 16,

17,

18,

almost all of these students that were considered the best and the brightest of the town,

would memorize almost the entire Old Testament scriptures.

They would not only know what it said,

but they'd understand the meaning and the depth and the interplay between the various scriptures.

And so for many of those students,

by the time they get to 17 or so,

they know the whole Old Testament,

and they would then graduate from Beth Talmud,

join the family practice,

join the family business as apprentices to their dad.

Some of them would then get married,

and life would begin.

Now,

for some students,

for the very best and the brightest of those that had graduated from Beth Talmud,

those that the rabbi thought had what it took,

had the goods to become a real leader in society,

a religious leader,

the rabbi would approach them and say,

I think you have what it takes to become a religious leader yourself,

a rabbi yourself.

And they would encourage them to go and find a rabbi in society,

another leader,

one who they respected,

one that they looked up to,

one who they thought that they could emulate and become like.

And those students,

those 16,

17 year old boys would go and find a rabbi that they really respected,

and attach themselves to the rabbi,

to become his apprentice,

his Talmudin,

or his disciple.

And so what they'd do is,

having looked at all the various rabbis,

think,

who do I really respect?

Who can I become like?

They would go to a rabbi and ask if they could be his apprentice,

his disciple.

The rabbi would then grill them,

give them one of the most intensive job interview processes you can imagine.

They'd ask him all sorts of questions.

What do you understand about this?

What do you think of this rabbi's teaching?

What did Jeremiah say,

mean when he said this?

What about Moses here?

And you'd go through a rigorous job interview process.

And if that rabbi thought that you had the goods,

if he thought you were good enough to become like him,

if he thought that you had the potential to grow to the place where you could emulate him

and become as good as he was,

he would turn around and say these famous words,

come and follow me.

Come and follow me.

And so these apprentices,

these Talmudin,

these disciples,

would then dedicate the next 10 years of their life

following in the footsteps of their rabbi leader.

And their job wasn't just to know what the rabbi knows.

A student just wants to know what his teacher knows to pass the exam.

An apprentice,

a Talmudin,

a disciple,

wants to learn everything he can.

He would live with his rabbi.

He would sleep in the same room as his rabbi.

He would eat with him.

He would even learn to speak like his rabbi.

His mannerisms would be the same as the rabbi.

The job of a disciple,

of an apprentice,

was to become a carbon copy version of your rabbi,

of your leader.

And so the essence of what it meant to be a disciple

is to be so close to your teacher,

to spend so much time with him,

learning from him,

that ultimately you became like him.

And so as a Talmudin,

as a disciple,

your life revolved around these three things.

To be with your teacher,

to become like your teacher,

and then ultimately to do the things that your teacher did.

And so after years of following your teacher,

eventually your teacher might think that you have grown enough

where there's no more that you can do to become like him.

You speak like him.

You act like him.

Your mannerisms are the same as him.

There's nothing more that you can do to grow in your emulation of him.

Eventually your rabbi would turn to you

and commission you and send you out

to go and find your own disciples

and to train them and disciple them

and teach them in the manner

in which you had been taught.

This is what first century discipleship was all about.

Now, we don't live in first century Palestine,

but what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus

in 21st century Hong Kong?

Dallas Willard,

who's one of the most brilliant thinkers,

Christian thinkers of the last generation,

said this,

The New Testament defines a disciple as someone

who is with Jesus,

learning from Jesus how to live their life

as if Jesus would live their life,

as if he were in their place.

In other words,

a disciple of Jesus is someone who's saying

if Jesus lived in my life,

in my place,

in 21st century Hong Kong,

if Jesus was doing homeschooling with the kids,

if Jesus was on the way to this board meeting,

if Jesus was studying

or having this conversation

or having this relational difficulty with this person,

how would Jesus do it?

And learning from Jesus to live their life

as if Jesus would,

living my life in my place.

What Dallas Willard is saying

is even today,

in 21st century Hong Kong,

followers of Jesus are those

who are to be with Jesus

in order to learn

how to become like Jesus,

in order to learn,

what does it mean

to do what Jesus did?

Over the next few weeks,

we're going to look at these three things.

Being with Jesus,

becoming like Jesus,

doing the things that Jesus did.

And today,

I want us just to think about the first one.

What does it mean

when Jesus calls us to follow Him

to be with Jesus?

Now,

one last thing before we dive in

to what that looks like.

In Matthew chapter 4,

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

when Jesus arrives in Galilee

and begins His ministry,

in many ways,

He's doing this exact thing.

He's doing so in line

with traditional Jewish practice.

He's gaining disciples

to come and follow Him,

to be with Him,

and to become like Him.

And so when Jesus says

to Peter and Andrew,

follow me,

this is exactly what they would have

understood Jesus to men.

Jesus wasn't just

some random person.

This is why they can follow

everything.

They can leave everything

and follow Him.

Jesus wasn't just some stranger

walking along the street

saying,

hey, follow me,

and they say,

okay,

and they leave the family business.

They would have understood

the context

that this was a rabbi

calling them

to be His disciples.

But there's two distinct,

two radical differences

between the way Jesus does it

and the ordinary practice

of His day.

The first one is this.

Look at what Jesus says

in verse 17.

Gary read it to us earlier.

Jesus says,

repent,

for the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

Jesus comes

and He arrives on the scene

as a religious leader,

a rabbi.

He's calling these disciples

to follow.

But at the same time,

He's not just a rabbi.

He's not just a religious leader.

He's coming

as heaven and earth's true king.

He's calling people

to follow Him,

to join His ranks,

not just as a rabbi,

not just with some new brand

of spiritual teaching.

He's coming as one,

not just who has come

to shake things up.

Jesus Christ comes

as heaven and earth's true king

and He's inviting

all sorts of people,

not merely to learn from Him,

but to experience life

in His kingdom

with Jesus as king.

All the other rabbis

of the day would have,

part of their discipleship

would have said,

well, you know,

let's look at the scripture.

Moses says this

and Rabbi Hillel says this

and Rabbi Akhtar says this,

but what do you guys think?

Jesus says,

you've heard that

it has said

this and this and this,

but I say to you,

this is what God says.

Jesus comes with

unique authority

because He's not

merely a religious leader.

He's heaven and earth's

true king.

Jesus comes to invite

His followers

into His kingdom.

But notice the second thing.

Remember what I said

is that who are the kinds

of people

that were eligible

to be disciples,

apprentices,

of the rabbis?

It was those

who were top of the class,

those who excelled,

those that were

A-grade students

that had beaten

everybody else.

It was those

who had sought out

the very best teachers

of their day

and had gone through

this grueling interview process,

past interview process,

answered all the questions

perfectly,

those that the rabbi

thought they had the goods,

what it took

to become their follower.

Having passed

this rigorous process,

being considered good enough

and having what it takes,

finally the top of the top,

the very best of the best

are admitted

to be disciples.

or apprentices

of the rabbi.

It's kind of like

the Hong Kong

schooling system,

right?

Anyone,

any parent

that has high school students,

you know what it's like.

No place for third,

fourth place

in the Hong Kong

schooling system.

You're either top

of the class

or you know one.

That's the way it feels.

But notice

who are the people

that Jesus calls

to be his disciples?

It's the fishermen.

Later on,

as Alan reminded us,

it's the tax collectors.

It's political writers.

It's insurrectionists.

Those who would

never,

ever,

ever be considered

good enough,

anywhere near

worthy enough,

Jesus comes to them

and says,

hey you,

come and follow me.

Jesus doesn't wait

for the top of the class

to come to him.

Jesus goes and finds

those that have been

overlooked in society,

those that nobody else

would consider good enough

and he says,

I want you

to come and be with me

and follow me.

Being fishermen

with their father,

it probably meant

that Peter and Andrew,

James and John

were those that

maybe they went to

Bethsefer Primary School

at 12 years old.

They probably would have

finished their education

and joined the ranks

of being apprentices

to their father,

learning the family trade.

Jesus comes to them

and none of them

engage in this

rigorous interview process.

None of them

send in their applications.

Jesus is the one

who goes to them

and he finds them

and he says,

I want you

to be part of my team.

I want you

to be my followers.

Friends,

you know what this means?

Jesus calls those

that others

would never have considered

in a million years

to be his followers.

And what this means

is that being a follower

of Jesus

is entirely,

absolutely

by grace.

It's all by grace.

Being a follower

of Jesus

is all by grace.

Right from the beginning,

Jesus doesn't pick

the biggest

or the brightest

or the smartest.

Jesus doesn't pick

those with the credentials.

Jesus chooses

those that are overlooked,

those that are despised,

those that dropped

out of school.

Jesus chooses those

that nobody considers

are good enough

and he says,

I want you to come

and follow me.

Friends,

we live in one

of the most

performance-orientated

societies and cultures

in the world

where your value

and your worth

and your identity

are all tied

to how well you perform

but not so with Jesus.

Right from the very beginning,

Jesus comes and he says,

the way into the kingdom

of God is all by grace.

It's not by merit.

It's not to be earned.

It's not for those

that are most dedicated,

the smartest,

the brightest.

It's by grace.

It's all by grace.

And if you don't get that,

you'll always feel insecure.

You'll always feel like

you haven't done enough

or you're not good enough

or you haven't performed

well enough.

Friends,

every one of us

need to realize

Jesus calls us

into his kingdom

but it's all by grace.

Now,

what does that all mean?

It means when Jesus says,

come and follow me,

he's inviting us in grace

to come and learn

what life looks like

under his ever-present reign

as king.

He's inviting us

to be with him,

to learn with him,

to become like him

but not just as a sage,

as a rabbi.

Jesus is inviting us

as heaven and earth

true king

to learn to live our lives

as apprentices of Jesus,

disciples of Jesus

under the rule

and the reign

of the ever-present rule

of King Jesus.

Now,

I know that

that sounds very

philosophical and ethereal

and as Hong Kongers

we like things

that are practical

and pragmatic.

We like to be told

what are the ten steps

that I must do

to be a follower of Jesus.

Jesus has a lot to say

about the way

that we should live our lives.

In fact,

the next three chapters

of Matthew's Gospel

after this passage

that we read

is the Sermon on the Mount

and the Sermon on the Mount

is kind of like

Jesus' kingdom manifesto.

It describes

what life in the kingdom

looks like

for followers of Jesus.

And as you read

the Sermon on the Mount

you're going to see

that Jesus says

that life in the kingdom

looks like holiness.

It looks like purity.

It looks like compassion.

It looks like generosity.

But the point

that Jesus is making

is this.

The life of a follower

of Jesus

is not simply

a list of do's and don'ts.

Rather,

it is a life

that lived in fellowship

or maybe followership

with Jesus as king.

And so this is the big idea

for today.

If you only get one thing

this is it.

When Jesus calls

men and women

to follow him

the very first thing

that that means

is to come and be with him.

To orientate our lives

around him.

And out of that relationship

to learn to become

the kinds of people

that he's calling us to be.

Jesus is not primarily saying

come and do a bunch of things.

His primary calling is this.

Come and be with me.

In Mark's gospel

when Jesus calls

the disciples

or the apostles

this is what it says.

Mark chapter 3.

Mark 3 · chapter mention

He appointed the twelve

those whom he also

named apostles

that they might

be with him

and that he might

send them out to preach.

The first thing

Jesus says to the apostles

is come

and be with me.

In the book of Acts

which Luke writes

the apostles

are arrested in Jerusalem

because they do

the very thing

that Jesus

has asked them to do.

They go out

and they preach

and they're turning

the city upside down.

They fill in Jerusalem

with the message of Jesus.

The religious leaders

aren't so happy about this

so they arrest the apostles

and throw them in jail.

And Luke records this.

It says

when they

that's the religious leaders

when they saw

the boldness

of Peter and John

and they perceived

that they were

uneducated

common men

they were astonished

and they recognized

that they had been

with Jesus.

Friends,

I wonder

for how many of us

that would be

the distinctive

defining mark

of our lives.

For how many people

when people think of us

the defining mark

of our life

is not our education

it's not how well

we've done in our careers

it's not where we live

or our dresses

it's not our natural

brilliance

or our gifting

that the distinctive

feature of our lives

is that we are those

who though ordinary

are those who

there's a marked

consistency

we're those

who've been with Jesus.

Jesus calls us

as followers of Jesus

to come and be with Him

to live

in communion with Him

day by day

hour by hour.

There's a very famous

example of this

in the 17th century

there was a man

by the name of

Nicholas Hermann

he was a Parisian

a Frenchman

he joined the army

as a young man

and he fought

in a number of battles

he was captured

as a spy

at one stage

and released

he fought some more battles

he got badly injured

and so he was dismissed

from the French army

and he went to go work

as a footman

a valet

a servant

in a big aristocrat's house

but he wasn't very good

at that

and so he was dismissed

from that

after a couple of years

and eventually decides

I'm going to go work

in a monastery

and so he signs up

in this monastery

and he becomes

a lay monk

which means he's a monk

but he's not

an ordained monk

he can't participate

in many of the things

and so he's assigned

the job

as to being cook

in the kitchen

in the monastery

he takes this name

Brother Lawrence

he's now known

famously as

Brother Lawrence

and so Brother Lawrence

is the chef

in the monastery

but one of the things

that Brother Lawrence does

is he says

maybe I can't preach

maybe I can't do other things

but one thing I can do

is I can live my life

consistency

in the presence of Jesus

he called it

practicing the presence of God

and so this is what he says

this is one of his famous quotes

he says

the time of business

does not differ

for me

or with me

from the time of prayer

in the noise

and the clatter

of my kitchen

while several persons

are at the same time

calling for different things

I possess God

in as great tranquility

as if I were knees

before the blessed sacraments

my friends

as a Catholic monk

in the 17th century

that's an incredible thing

to say

you know how

highly valid

the sacrament was

the body

and the blood of Jesus

the communion

was considered

to be the actual body

and the blood of Jesus

and he has this man

who says

as I'm going about

my day to day duties

I'm as aware

of the presence of God

and the closeness of Jesus

as if I'm on my knees

in the cathedral

at the time of worship

when Jesus Christ

was on the way

to the cross

in John's gospel

he's giving his disciples

one of his final teachings

and he's teaching them

about the fact

that he's going to die

on the cross

after he's going to

ascend to heaven

and he says

I'm going to leave you

but I won't leave you

as orphans

I'm going to send

the Holy Spirit

to be with you

so John chapter 14

John 14 · chapter mention

and John chapter 16

John 16 · chapter mention

are these amazing teachings

about the person

and the work

of the Holy Spirit

wonderful

wonderful

rich teachings

but standing in between

John 14

and John 16

is this incredible teaching

very famous teaching

of John chapter 15

John 15 · chapter mention

look at what Jesus

says here

Jesus says this

remain in me

even as I remained

in you

I'm like a vine

and you are like branches

whoever remains in me

and I am him

they will bear much fruit

but apart from me

you can do nothing

if anyone does not

remain in me

he's like a branch

that is thrown away

and withers

it does

but if you remain in me

and my words remain in you

ask whatever you wish

and it will be done for you

that's an incredible promise

right

by this

my father is honored

is glorified

that you bear much fruit

and so prove

to be my disciples

my apprentices

my tilmudim

as the father

has loved me

so I have loved you

friends just think about that

for a second

Jesus the son of God

says as the father

has loved me

so have I

loved you

with all your failures

with all your sin

with all your brokenness

with all the things

that you get wrong

as the father

has loved me

so I have loved you

oh my goodness

what an incredible promise

Jesus

remain in my love

stay in my love

dwell in my love

as Chris has told us before

don't air be and be

in my love

dwell there

abide there

remain there

put down your roots

live in this place

in constant

communion

in fellowship

with me

let my love

and my grace

wash over you

day by day

Andrew Murray

was the great

Scottish preacher

commenting on this

he says this

when Jesus said

come to me

what he meant was

come

and remain

in me

Jesus did not

call you

to refresh you

for a few short

hours

after your conversion

with the joy

of his love

and then send you

out to wander

alone

no he destined you

for something greater

than just a short

lived blessedness

rather he called us

to

a short time

to be enjoyed

only in times

a special earnestness

or prayer

and then pass away

that's not what

Jesus called us to

as if we had to

as we return

to the ordinary

duties of life

no friends

Jesus called you

to abide in him

to remain with him

where your whole life

and every moment

of it might be spent

with him

and in him

when Jesus calls us

to follow him

he means for us

to bring our lives

to be deeply

infused with him

like a branch

is infused

into a tree

so that day by day

hour by hour

as you're at work

and at home

and as you're going

like the ordinary

duties of life

there in that place

we get to experience

the closeness

and the presence

and the wonder

of Jesus

this is what Jesus

meant when he said

remain in me

come and follow me

Jesus calls his followers

to be with him

to remain in him

Dallas Willard

said this

are we disciples

of Jesus

or merely Christians

by some modern notion

of what that means

Christians do devotions

that's good

but do we live

a life of devotion

Christians pray

that's good

we most certainly

should pray

but do we know

how to have a life

of prayer

friends Jesus calls us

to come and live

with him

to be with him

when Claire and I

first got married

living in Cape Town

South Africa

there was a very

clever system

where the health

insurance

and the life

insurance company

that we were

signed up to

said that if you

attend the gym

a certain number

of times each month

they would pay

90% of your gym

fees

your subscription fees

and also your health

and life insurance

premiums would drop

and it's a clever

business model

because they say

if we can keep you

healthy and fit

that'll be cheaper

for us than paying

your medical bills

and so they want

to encourage everyone

to go to the gym

regularly

and as everybody

pretty quickly

worked out

in the first year

you go to gym

you do your

five or six

or eight times

a month in the gym

but after a while

you start getting

a little lazy

and you don't go

that often

and so everyone

in the last few

days of the month

drives up the gym

walks into the gym

taps the membership

card

and walks out again

and the next day

would drive up the gym

taps the membership

card

and walks out again

just to go

and to maintain

their membership

friends

Jesus doesn't

call us

Christianity

is not about

going and tapping

your membership

card to maintain

your membership

Jesus calls us

to live a life

of walking

with him

day by day

when Jesus calls

people from

first century fishermen

to 17th century

soldiers

to 21st century

Hong Kongers

to follow him

Jesus is not

asking us

to add him

to our really

busy schedule

of life

Jesus is not

asking to be

an addendum

to squeeze

him into

our lives

he's calling us

to a life of

constant communion

with him

to live aware

of his presence

to be secure

in his grace

to be anchored

in his love

to center our lives

around who he is

and so what that

means is

whether you're

leading worship

at our family

worship service

like Alan

led us so well

this morning

whether you're

serving food

to families

that don't have

much food

in a part of

Hong Kong

whether you're

on the MTR

on the way to work

or you're doing

classes online

at HKU

or some university

friends

whether you're

playing basketball

with friends

in the neighborhood

or whether you're

going to a board

meeting

or whether you're

reading documents

in your legal

chambers

friends

whether you're

pitching for

new business

or asking

for seed capital

whether you're

changing your

children's diapers

at night

friends

whether you're

catching up

with a friend

in a coffee

shop

or you're

visiting family

over new

year's reunion

meals

friends

whether you're

having dinner

with your family

or you're

tucking your

children in

at night

in that very

place

Jesus

wants us

to be walking

with him

to be aware

of his presence

to be drawing

on his grace

to be anchored

in his love

Jesus wants us

to know

that those places

are no less

sacred

no less

important

no less

an opportunity

to encounter

his grace

and to experience

the reality

of Christ

in our lives

than whether

we're in CG

or prayer meeting

or some

regular activity

because for Jesus

when he said

follow me

he designed

that all of life

to be lived

quorum Deo

in the very

presence

of God

listen to how

King David

put it

David said

this is Psalm

16

I have set

the Lord

always before

me

when I'm on

the MTR

when I'm at

school

when I'm with

my children

when I'm on

a date

I've set the

Lord always

before me

God is at

my right hand

I will not

be shaken

my heart

is glad

my whole

being rejoices

my flesh

dwells secure

you God

make known

to me

the paths

of life

in your

presence

there is

fullness

of joy

at your

right hand

are pleasures

forevermore

friends

for so many

people

not understanding

that the

call of Jesus

to come

and be his

follower

is a call

to be with

him

to remain

in him

to remain

in his love

means that

for many

people

being a

follower

of Jesus

gets reduced

to

religious

duties

attending

church

on Sunday

reading

our

bible

once

or twice

a week

friends

for many

people

following

Jesus

gets reduced

to tapping

our membership

card

once a week

in order

to retain

our membership

but friends

that's about

as far

away

from

following

Jesus

as any

other

pagan

religion

you can

call that

uber

uber

religion

you can

call it

anything

you want

but don't

call it

christianity

don't

call it

the gospel

because that

has got

nothing to

do with

following

Jesus

new testament

christianity

knows nothing

of once a

week going

and tapping

our membership

card to

retain our

membership

new testament

christianity

is a life

that's orientated

around the

beauty and the

wonder of who

Jesus is

living

remaining in

him

abiding

with him

following him

walking

with him

Jesus

never called

anyone to

simply tap

their membership

card

he called

us to

be with

him

to follow

him

and so

even the

last couple

of weeks

as we've

looked at

stuff like

gospel

orthodoxy

all that

stuff

if that's

just a

theory

is nothing

if it

doesn't

lead us

to

relationship

with

christ

our

justification

is not

so that

we can

pass

some

theology

exam

justification

by grace

alone

is that

we can

walk with

christ

and know

him

adoption

doesn't

just

mean

yes

i know

that

i'm

god's

son

it

means

we get

to

experience

the

reality

of god's

love

in our

life

redemption

means

that we

get to

be

redeemed

out of

our

old

life

and walk

with

jesus

in the

reality

of life

24 7

7 days

a week

friends

gospel

orthodoxy

is nothing

if it

doesn't

lead you

to

loving

and

trusting

and

obeying

and

walking

with

jesus

that's

what

christianity

is about

that's

what the

god is

the

gospel

and

what he

said

is that

justification

is true

but it's

going to

lead us

to

relationship

with

jesus

the

gospel

is not

just a

theory

it's

a

person

it's

the

person

of

the

lord

jesus

christ

it's

the

person

of

jesus

who's

full

of

grace

and

full

of

love

the

one

who

made

the

starry

hosts

and

everything

calling

us

to

walk

with

him

friends

are you

walking

with

jesus

are you

walking

with

jesus

friends

if your

christianity

is simply

a matter

of going

through

the

motions

you

might

not

be

a

follower

of

jesus

at

all

jesus

didn't

call us

to go

through

the

motions

he

called

us

to

come

and

be

with

him

to

be

with

him

now

as

we

come

to

a

close

what

does

that

actually

mean

so

what

does

this

actually

mean

for

our

lives

what

should

we

do

one

of

us

two

very

simple

things

very

very

simple

the

first

one

is

this

seek

to

center

your

life

on

jesus

intentionally

when

we

read

the

gospels

one

of

the

things

that's

amazing

to

see

is

that

jesus

christ

god's

own

son

the

second

person

of

the

trinity

constantly

withdrew

himself

from

the

ordinary

duties

of

life

to

spend

time

and

pray

and

that's

an

incredible

thing

you'd

think

if

jesus

is

god

why

does

he

need

to

pray

but

jesus

regularly

withdrew

from

the

busyness

of

life

to

times

of

silence

solitude

sabbath

to

spend

time

with

his

father

and

pray

friends

if

jesus

needed

to

withdraw

to

spend

time

and

pray

you

better

believe

you

and

i

do

as

well

look at

some of

these

scriptures

mark

chapter

one

after

busy

day

of

ministry

says

this

rising

very

early

in

the

morning

while

it

was

still

dark

he

departed

and

went

out

to

a

desolate

place

and

there

he

spent

time

and

pray

after

busy

day

of

ministering

healing

a bunch

of

people

even

more

the

report

about

him

went

abroad

and

great

crowds

gathered

to

hear

him

and

to

be

healed

of

the

infirmities

the

crowds

are

gathering

around

Jesus

pressing

him

there's

so

much

stuff

to

do

there's

not

enough

hours

in

the

day

so

what

does

Jesus

do

he

would

withdraw

to

a

desert

place

and

spend

time

in

prayer

Luke

6

says

the

same

thing

he

says

in

those

days

he

went

out

to

the

mountain

to

pray

all

night

he

continues

in

prayer

to

God

the

father

and

when

the

day

comes

he

then

calls

his

disciples

and

he

chooses

from

them

twelve

that

he

names

apostles

before

Jesus

called

the

apostles

he

spends

all

night

in

prayer

friends

can I

ask

you

are

you

spending

your

day

are

you

starting

off

your

day

in