Skip to main content

What's it Like to Become a Disciple - Part 4

As we've studied through this story of what it's like to become a disciple of Jesus, let's recap some of the bigger picture applications in this story from John 1:43-51.

One day Jesus decided to go to Galilee.  He found Philip there and said to him, "Follow me."  Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
Nathanael:  "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
Philip:  "Come and see."
Jesus saw Nathanael coming and said to him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"
Nathanael:  "How do you know me?"
Jesus:  "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
Nathanael:  "Rabbi, you are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!"
Jesus:  "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe?  You will see greater things than these.  Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

- Disciples have an encounter with Jesus.  Philip and Nathanael were just ordinary men living their regular lives until they had an encounter with Jesus, but this was just the beginning of their walk as disciples.  Philip was called directly by Jesus while Nathanael was called through the outreach efforts of Philip.  We encounter Jesus in different ways, but its important that we have an encounter with Him.  Disciples Path says, "There's no template for receiving the call to follow Jesus.  There are no magic words you have to say and no amount of steps you must follow in order to officially be considered a Christian.  Instead, followers of Jesus are simply those who respond to His call."

- Disciples are transformed by Jesus.  How was Philip transformed about he met Jesus?  He sought out people that he cared about and told them about Jesus.  He didn't say, wait I have to study and learn a lot to become a mature Christian first.  He began telling others what he did know about Christ.  Look at Nathanael.  He was a little more resilient to the gospel message at first.  But once he had an encounter with Jesus, that all changed and Nathanael began worshipping Him.  Have you had that kind of transformation in your life?  Do you remember it vividly?  If not, maybe now is your time to seek Jesus and have that encounter with Him.

- This encounter and transformation was just the beginning for Philip and Nathanael.  They each went on to serve faithfully in the church, grow in their knowledge of Jesus, and were eventually martyred because of their faith.  They continued to grow and mature throughout their lives, and we should be doing the same.  Learn more each day about our Lord, trust in Him more each day then the day before.  The encounter is just the beginning, but it's the first step to greater things.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2020 is Hindsight...Finally!

Wow, what a year! 2020 could literally be an entire decade, maybe more, of history, change, and lessons rolled up into these twelve months. While many aspects of 2020 were kind of sucky and we would like to forget them, it will certainly be a year to remember. And it will be enlightening when this year is looked back on in 10, 25, or 50 years to be discussed. I wonder if we'll seem like geniuses or idiots? Probably both to some extent! While there is so much that I could consider and analyze about this year, I'll try to break some of it down into four dimensions - Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Social/Emotional. These are events and happenings from my world and perspective and I'm trying to be open in sharing and would love to hear from others on events you found most transforming. Physical When COVID cause gyms to close, that messed me up. Our town and state were late to be hit with severe cases and therefore later than many across the country to close up shop. I'm n...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Pray - The Object of Our Prayer

In our College & Career Sunday school class this week, we started a series titled, "How to Pray."  I plan to try to and share the lessons each week in case anyone wants to follow along with us here...or you can come join us Sunday mornings at Tabernacle at 10 AM in room 218. Any good speaker, teacher, or presenter knows that the #1 rule of public speaking is to know your audience.  You don't want to prepare a discussion about retirement for preschoolers and a presentation themed with Disney princesses most likely wouldn't spark the interest of a group of businessmen.  In order for someone to prepare a dynamic and engaging presentation, they must know their audience, who they're preparing to talk to. The same is true in our prayer life.  The Point of this week's study is: "A right view of God fuels how we pray."  The conversations we engage in with our friends about are often focused on topics that interest them: their favorite team, favorite ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Waves of Change

I often hear older people talk about the "good old days" or "back in my day" and they wish that things would go back to the way they were back then. That will never happen. And sadly, many of us in the millennial generation may even make the same statements one day, if we haven't already.  A.W. Tozer said this, " Regardless of where you look these days, change is inevitable. Things are not what they once were. I am not one that bemoans the past for the simple reason that the past was not as good as we remember." People, technology, industry, work, laws, morals, relationships, social media, privacy and so many other things will always be changing. If you want to survive the storms of change in your life you must have some constant that holds you on course.  There is only one things that never changes, that has never had to change because He has always been good and perfect - God.  Malachi 3:6 reads, "For I the Lord do not change......
Post a Comment
Read more