What will it take to follow Jesus?
by Robert Krumrey
We just started our new spring sermon series “Follow”. It’s all about following Jesus - Why we should follow Jesus and How we should follow Jesus. One of the most critical “hows” of following Jesus may surprise you. This how is the necessity of family. Think of this moment when Jesus asks his first followers to leave their nets and follow him.
“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.”
When Jesus asks Peter and Andrew to follow him, he’s not just inviting them into a 1 to 1 relationship with the Son of God. He’s also inviting them into a group, the 12 disciples. Jesus says “follow me” to Peter and Andrew and then walks up to Philip, John, Thomas, James, Judas! . . . and also says “follow me”. I wonder if this was surprising to these disciples. Jesus was calling them not only to himself but also into a family. Things haven’t changed. Jesus is still calling people to follow him and to do so in a family of followers. That family of followers is called the church and has always been plan A for God’s design for discipleship.
If you’ve never joined up with a local church and with a small group of committed disciples who are following Jesus, you’ve not yet experienced the proper context for growth as a disciple. This has always been Jesus’ plan for discipleship. He infuses it into the very ordinances that he commands every Christian to participate in - baptism and communion. Here’s his command to baptize new disciples:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
Think of the implication of this command from Jesus. The person entering into being baptized is getting a new name. They are now under the name (singular) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (plural). They have made a radical shift in their identity. That identity is not only attached to the triune God but is also attached to his people. One cannot baptize themselves upon becoming a Christian. They must seek to join themselves to the church and the church must agree to that union.
The same is true regarding communion. The Apostle Paul says this to the church at Corinth:
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
How does one “proclaim the Lord’s death” through communion if they aren’t in fellowship with others. There is no other way to do it but to do so in the church. If you are not an official member of MERCYhouse, we encourage you to come to one of our MEET MERCYhouse classes this semester to find out more. The content of these classes includes a bit about the history of our church, basic beliefs, beliefs about baptism, vision and mission of the church. You can rsvp for this class by emailing Meghan at meghan(at)mercyhouse365.org. There are three options for this class this semester:
Sunday, February 23, 11am-2pm
Saturday, March 28, 9am-2pm
Saturday, April 25, 9am-2pm
Not only do you want to be in the church, but you also want to commit yourself to a few others in the church for the purpose of growing in discipleship. We see Jesus using this model as well. He was interacting with large crowds, with medium sized groups (the 72 in Luke 11 for example), but mostly with the twelve. Jesus intentionally formed a small group of people for the purpose of disciple making. We at MERCYhouse are doing the same.
If you haven’t noticed, we are calling everyone who is willing to join a discipleship group. These are small groups of 3-4 who meet weekly to share life, discuss the Bible, and encourage one another in what it means to be disciples of Jesus.
The steps for joining are as follows:
Come to our February 5th, 6pm, Kickoff at MERCYhouse - at this kickoff event you’ll find out who your facilitator is and fellow group members. The 3-4 of you will look at your schedules that night to figure out your weekly meeting time. You’ll also be able to buy the discipleship materials for 10 dollars.
Got Questions? Reach out to Tommy at tommy(at)mercyhouse365.org.