The Walk of Servanthood

Who wouldn’t want to be considered GREAT!?!  For some, greatness is winning a championship as a professional athlete.  For some, greatness is having thousands of fans cheer while you are performing on stage.  For some, greatness is making money as the CEO of a large corporation.  For all of us, greatness is ascending up a ladder of success, popularity, or authority as high as possible.  We want to be singled out as the one on top or the winner.  We want to be elevated to places of honor or recognition. We want power and authority to control or influence others.  While this is the definition of greatness for some, is it possible that such a desire is what prevents us from becoming truly great?  What if greatness is a descent down rather than an ascent up? Jesus Christ took a different path to become great.  How did Jesus become great?

READ: Matthew 20:20-28

Living life in the same way as Jesus did requires becoming GREAT through SERVANTHOOD!  Jesus defines greatness and becomes great Himself in a very different way than anyone would expect.  Jesus, using His own life as an example, said the He, “came not to be served but to serve”.  In a great reversal, Jesus declares greatness is not a selfish process of ascending higher in order to be honored, admired, or served by others, but instead a sacrificial process of descending lower in order to serve others.  Jesus willingly exemplified this by exchanging His greatness for our worthlessness, “giving His life as a ransom for many”.  As a ransom (the price paid to buy a slave’s freedom), Jesus served us by purchasing our freedom as sinners with His blood.  That is true greatness and the type of greatness that we should be striving to emulate.

TRANSTION:  How do we become great through servanthood? 

Greatness through servanthood is NOT craving a POSITION or AUTHORITY (Mt. 20:20-21, 25-26a) - We do not like to be told what to do, we like to be the one in charge telling others what to do.  James and John’s mother asked Jesus if her sons could, “sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom”.  She wanted her sons to be given positions of importance and authority in Jesus’ kingdom.  Jesus rebukes this request later saying that they should not want to be like the “rulers” and “great ones” who “lord” and “exercise authority” over others.  Being higher and above others are not indicators of true greatness.  Power and authority only feed our selfishness, pride, and mistreatment of others.  Beware of needing to be in front, on top, and in charge, this craving is a major hindrance to us becoming truly great.

Greatness through servanthood is NOT confidence in OURSELVES (Mt. 20:22-24) – The Little Engine That Could is known for his attitude of “I think I can, I think I can”.  The story encourages us to be optimistic, believe in ourselves, and work hard.  Not bad qualities, but NOT what makes us great.  James and John answer Jesus’ question, “are you able to drink the cup I myself am about to drink?” with a confident, “we are able”.  James and John did not realize that when Jesus used the phrase “drink the cup” He was referring to the suffering of God’s wrath that He would endure on the cross for sin (Mt. 26:39).  James and John had an entirely different idea of what it meant to be great in mind and were overly confident in their own ability.  Our greatness does not depend on our ability, our talent, our personality, or our skill.  Beware of trusting in our own ability, this self-confidence will prevent us from becoming truly great.

Greatness through servanthood is a choice to SERVE and ENSLAVE ourselves to others (Mt. 20:25-28) – Servants and slaves in Jesus’ day were the lowest, most insignificant members of society because their job was to do anything and everything that someone else told them to do.  Doing what someone else tells us to do is hard, degrading, and humiliating.  According to Jesus, being “great” and being “first” among others requires living the life of a “servant” and a “slave”.  These are characteristics of lowering ourselves and willingly putting ourselves under the authority of others.  These are not characteristics that seem like they lead to greatness, but according to Jesus they are the only path to becoming truly great!

CONCLUSION:

Jesus said in Matthew 23:11-12 that, “the greatest among you shall be your servant.  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted”.  Servanthood requires humility.  If we reject servanthood and choose a different path to greatness, a day will come when we will be humbled and our greatness will be exposed for what it really is.  But if we humble ourselves and walk as a servant as Jesus walked, a day will come when we will be exalted and considered truly great!  Are you willing to humble yourself in order to become a servant?

The Walk of Obedience

Dogs are man’s best friend, right?  Why?  A big reason is because dogs are obedient.  A dog can be trained and they seem to naturally want to do what their master commands.  A dog can learn to sit, roll over, crawl, and play dead.  A dog can be trained to balance food on their nose and only eat when they are given permission.  A dog can be trained to go through an intricate and complex obstacle course.  Dogs seem to have a natural instinct, more than other animals, to want to obey and follow the leading of humans.  In contrast, human beings do not have a natural instinct for obedience.  We want to be independent, self-sufficient, and not have to submit to anyone’s authority besides ourselves.  Obedience is a desirable characteristic and yet it is a characteristic that does not come naturally at all to humans. And yet, . . .

Living life in the same way as Jesus did requires perfect OBEDIENCE to GOD’S WILL!  Hebrews 5:8 says that, “although (Jesus) was a Son, He learned obedience”.  The greek word υπακοη translated “obedience” means “to RESPOND with SUBMISSION to a spoken word”.  Throughout His entire life, Jesus Christ listened to the Father through prayer and did exactly what He was told.  The only moment we get any impression that Jesus debated His Father was in the garden of Gethsemane the night before He would be arrested and crucified when He said, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”, but even then He responded with submission saying, “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Mt. 26:39).

What does it mean to live a life of obedience to God?

Obedience is doing NOTHING on our own WITHOUT God (John 5:19, 30, 8:28) – Very early on, children want to start doing things by themselves . . . “I do it, I do it”.  This attitude of independence and self-sufficiency continues with us throughout our lives.  In contrast, according to John 5:19, 30 and 8:28 Jesus did “nothing” independent of God.  He never spoke or acted without listening to God and doing exactly what He was instructed to do.  We are utterly incapable of making it through life without God.  Obedience begins with the recognition that we are not independent or self-sufficient but rather desperately dependent on God.

Obedience is doing things that are PLEASING to God (John 8:29) – There are some individuals who are people pleasers.  People pleasers are individuals who always want to make others happy and never want to offend anyone.  Jesus Christ was a God pleaser, He “always” did things that were “pleasing” to God.  No matter how drastic of a people pleaser we might be, we will never be able to do enough to please God.  Romans 8:8 says, “those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”  It is impossible to please God in the flesh.  It is only the Holy Spirit in our lives that will produce the righteous thoughts, words, and actions that will make God happy!

Obedience is how we show the WORLD that we LOVE God (John 14:31) – Gary Chapman wrote a popular book called “The 5 Love Languages”.  In the book Gary explains how everyone has a preference of how they would like others to show them love including words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch.  Does God have a love language?  1 John 5:2-3 says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.  And his commandments are not burdensome.” God’s love language is obedience.  Jesus Christ displayed His perfect love for the Father by “doing as the Father commanded”.  If we want the world to know that we love God, we must be willing to submit ourselves to God’s will and do whatever He commands.

CONCLUSION:
Philippians 2:8 says, “being found in human form, (Jesus) humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”.  Not only was Jesus obedient enough to become part of the sinful world, He was even obedient to die a sinner’s death on the cross.  Jesus obeyed His Father’s will His whole life, all the way to the cross!  Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father so that we could be saved from the eternal consequences of our disobedience.  Are you willing to suffer in order to be obedient to God’s will in your life?

Our Response to Jesus Invitation to Follow Him

Have you ever been astonished by anything?  Astonished in the English dictionary simply means to be “greatly surprised”, “impressed”, or “amazed”.  I was astonished in Jr High when my family took a vacation to the west coast.  During our trip we traveled through Arizona to see the Grand Canyon.  It was breathtaking to stand on the edge of such a vast chasm.  It’s hard to imagine anything more astonishing than that.  I was astonished in 1999 on a mission trip to the east coast.  On the way to New Hampshire we stopped by Buffalo, New York to see Niagara Falls.  I was in awe of the power and the deafening sound of the rushing water flowing over the falls.  I was astonished in 2008 when I lead a mission trip to Guatemala where the orphanage we stayed at was high on a cliff overlooking a beautiful lake and active volcanoes in the background. One evening there was a thunderstorm that came through and we witnessed lighting in the clouds below the elevation we were standing.  It was awe inspiring!

It takes a lot for us to be astonished.  To be greatly surprised, to be impressed, or amazed.  Jesus Christ is the only one worthy of following with our lives.  Jesus attracts us to Himself by initiating a relationship with us and revealing Himself to us.  The second part of Luke 5:1-11 gives us an example of what it means to respond to Jesus' invitation to follow Him.

READ:  Luke 5:8-11

We must RESPOND to Jesus Christ out of our ASTONISHMENT of Him!  As a result of Jesus initiating relationship and revealing Himself to Simon, James, and John through an enormous catch of fish they were all “astonished”.  The word translated “astonished” in verse 9 is from the two greek words “θαμβος” which means to be “alarmed” and “περιεσχεν” which means to “encompass”.  Together they mean to be completely overwhelmed with a sense of shock or fear.  No matter how astonishing of an experience we have had, there is nothing that is more astonishing in all existence than Jesus Christ.  There is no scenery, no event, no experience that can top who Jesus is and what He has done.

Astonishment is the foundation of our response to Jesus Christ.  Responding to Jesus is more than intellectual knowledge, but a personal experience with the God of the universe who initiates relationship with us and reveals Himself to us.

How are we to respond to Jesus taking initiative to reveal Himself to us?  One way we must respond to Jesus taking initiative to reveal Himself to us is by . . .

WORSHIP and REPENTANCE (Luke 5:8-9) – In 2014 our youth group went on a mission trip to Mississippi. The Wednesday night of our trip we were planning to go to the beach for a campfire, but it was raining so we were forced to stay inside.  Our worship and prayer time began with a “shout out” time when students had the opportunity to encourage others in the group.  I began our prayer time by saying, “we’ve spent a lot of time shouting out to each other this week, I think it’s only appropriate that we spend some time shouting out to God and thanking Him for who He is and what He has done in our lives.”  I gave a few more instructions and we began to pray.  Students began to pray and within a few minutes the prayers go very real and emotional.  Students were praising God, confessing sin, asking for help with struggles, and praising God for literally feeling His presence in the room.  I never looked at a clock, but I am confident we prayed for 45 minutes to an hour.  After I closed our time in a final prayer we gave one another a big group hug.  That night 5 students came to me and said they wanted to get baptized.  Within a 24 hour period, 10 students said they wanted to be baptized.  That night our students genuinely experienced worship and repentance.

As a result of Simon’s obedience they “enclosed a large number of fish”.  The fish were jumping in the boat like the lake was on fire and the boat was the only place of comfort.  There were so many fish their “nets were breaking”.  There were so many fish they needed to call another boat out to “help them”.  There were so many fish that both boats were filled and “began to sink”.  For a moment Simon forgot Jesus was even in the boat as he and all who were with him were “astonished” with the catch of fish they had just made.  I can picture Jesus in the boat watching as Simon is caught up in trying to collect all of the fish.

It’s in that moment of astonishment that Simon realizes that the reason they were able to collect so many fish was Jesus Christ.  In that moment of astonishment Simon responded with worship by “(falling) down at Jesus knees”.  In that moment of astonishment Simon responded with confession by saying “depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”.  In that moment of astonishment Simon recognized WHO Jesus was.  It was no longer about the fish but about WHO He was in the presence of.

Simon’s response was similar to a few other characters in the Old Testament . . .

READ: Exodus 3:1-6

God astonished Moses through a burning bush.  He was “keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro” when an “angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” (God initiated).  At the moment that the Lord saw that Moses had “turned aside to see, God called him out of the bush” (God revealed).  Moses was instructed to take his sandals off because he was standing on holy ground.  As a result of God entering into Moses’ life and revealing Himself to him he, “hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God”.  Moses worshiped God out of fear and reverence for who He was.

READ: Isaiah 6:1-7

God astonished Isaiah through a vision.  In a vision Isaiah saw the Lord “sitting upon a throne . . . the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke”.  As a result of the Lord revealing Himself to Isaiah through a vision he said, “woe is more! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts”. Isaiah confessed the sin of His lips out of being in the presence of the Lord.

If we are ever going to genuinely worship and repent of our sins we need to be astonished at who God is!  We can manufacture worship, we can fake repentance, but if it is ever going to be real we must have a moment when we are blown away at who God is and what He has done for us through Jesus Christ.  We will never fully follow Jesus Christ if we haven’t been astonished by God and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is the only one worthy of us following.

Simon’s initial response was worship and repentance, but there was one other response yet to be made.  Jesus did not just want a one time experience, a mountain top high.  Jesus wanted a long-term whole life commitment.  Another way that we must respond to Jesus Christ when He takes initiative to reveal Himself to us is by . . .

FOLLOWING Jesus with our LIVES (Luke 5:10b-11) – During my early teenage years I tried to live my life as a Christian (I wasn’t into drugs, alcohol, etc) but it was obvious by my priorities that I was into myself and not 100% on Him.  I loved athletics (played baseball, basketball, golf), especially the game of baseball.  I spent nearly all of my time and energy practicing or playing the game of baseball.  My dream for my life was to pursue playing baseball as far as my talent and my effort would take me.  It was my dream to one day be a professional baseball player.  That is what I wanted for my life.

But at the age of 16, during my sophomore year, God made it clear to me that He wanted me to LEAVE BEHIND playing baseball and FOLLOW Him with my whole life.  He made this clear to me through a man named John Cox who invited me to be a counselor at the Bible Camp where he was the director that I grew up attending.  John’s invitation led to a crisis of belief because high school baseball was during the summer.  Playing baseball and God’s will for my life conflicted and I had to make a choice which one I would do.  Although John extended the invitation, it was through these circumstances that I knew it was God who was calling me to leave everything behind that I had been living for and follow Him completely.  I remember distinctly feeling God saying, “you can either live the rest of your life for yourself or for me!”  I debated my response for a season and questioned if God knew what He was doing, all the while knowing what I should do.  I knew trusting and following God meant letting go of my own life and letting Him have His will for me.  Not knowing what the future would hold, or what the rest of my life might look like, I told God that I trusted Him and that He could do whatever He wanted with my life.  I gave up all of my own personal aspirations in life for His sake, I gave up my pride and confidence in myself and put my confidence in Him and decided not to play baseball and worked at Bible camp the next 4 summers.  I ended up going to Bible college and going into ministry where I’ve been for 22 years!

The purpose of Jesus’ encounter with Simon, James, and John was for much more than a momentary emotional response.  Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”  From that powerful moment on, their lives were to be different.  The text says they, “left everything and followed Him.”  This was a commitment that involved their whole selves for their whole lives.  They were no longer living their lives for their own purpose but for the purpose that God had for them.  As a result of their astonishment of Jesus, Simon, James, and John followed Him with their lives!

Verse 11 says Simon and his partners “left everything”.  Fishermen made a better-than-average income, so leaving their job is an act of radical commitment that they would expect to adversely affect them economically.  Stop and think about that for a minute.  Why?  These men’s livelihood depended on their nets, their boat, their being fishermen, and yet they were willing to walk away from it all in order to follow Jesus with their lives.  They understood that there was something GREATER than them, their livelihood, their identity.  Jesus was inviting them to be a part of the ultimate purpose for a human life.

Do we want to be living for the ultimate purpose that can be experienced in human life?  When we have been astonished by Jesus our life’s purpose changes.  For these 3 men For a police officer this would mean “putting people in jail for Jesus”.  For a teacher this would mean “instructing pupils about Jesus”.  For a doctor this would mean “providing the medicine of Jesus”.  When we have been astonished by Jesus we follow Him personally and completely.

CONCLUSION
There are many who have been astonished by Jesus at some point in their lives, . . . but it has faded.  You are no longer worshiping God and repenting of your sin.  John writes to believers in 1 John 1:9, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”.  When we have a personal and powerful encounter with Jesus Christ, our lives are changed!

There are others who have been astonished by Jesus at some point in their lives, but you’ve never responded by following Him with your whole life!  In Luke 9:23 Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.  What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”  Maybe this is the moment that God is convicting you of something that you need to leave behind and commit to living your whole life for Him.  Remember, He is the only one truly worship of following with your whole life!

Finally, there are some who have never been astonished by Jesus.  He’s initiated a relationship with you, He’s revealed Himself to you, you’ve heard the message that Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, and rose again three days later in order to confirm who He was, but you’ve never responded with worship and repentance.  John 3:16 says, “for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life”.  Maybe this weekend is the moment that you have been astonished by Jesus Christ and respond with worship and repentance in order to be saved from your sins.

Jesus Christ: The One Worthy of Being Followed

You’ve heard of the story of the Pied Piper, right?  Does anybody actually know anything about the details of the story? In 1284, while the town of Hamelin, Germany was suffering from a rat infestation, a piper dressed in multicolored clothing appeared, claiming to be a rat-catcher. He promised the mayor a solution to their problem with the rats. The mayor in turn promised to pay him for the removal of the rats.  The piper accepted and played his pipe to lure the rats into the Weser River, where all but one drowned.

Despite the piper's success, the mayor reneged on his promise and refused to pay him the full amount. The piper left the town angrily, vowing to return later to take revenge. On Saint John and Paul's day while the Hamelinites were in church, the piper returned dressed in green like a hunter playing his pipe. In so doing, he attracted the town's children. One hundred and thirty children followed him out of town and into a cave and were never seen again. Three children remained behind: One was lame and could not follow quickly enough, the second was deaf and therefore could not hear the music, and the last was blind and unable to see where he was going. These three informed the villagers of what had happened when they came out from church.

What most people remember about the story is the irresistible attraction that the children had to follow the Pied Piper wherever he went, even to their death.  Obviously, the Pied Piper was not someone that the children should have followed.  There are lots of “Pied Pipers’” in life that we must resist following, but there is One person that we must follow in life.

READ:  Luke 5:1-7

JESUS CHRIST is the only one worthy of us following with our lives!  The greek word “ακολουθεω” translated “follow” means to “go behind”, to “go along with”, or to “go in the same way/direction”.  The childhood game of follow the leader is really a pretty good example of what it means to follow Jesus.  We copy or emulate His movements.  We reduplicate the places He goes and the things He does.  Jesus invitation to follow is much more than a physical game of follow the leader, but an invitation to get close to Him, to get near to Him, and to imitate His life.

There are a number of people and things that we can follow after in life.  Some of us are following after popularity, we simply copy or emulate the clothing, the hair style, the lifestyle of the most recent fad in an effort to get as many people as possible to like us and want to be our friend.  Some of us are following after achievement or success, we copy or emulate our favorite athlete, musician, or artist in an effort to get others to acknowledge the greatness of your accomplishment.  Some of us are following after security, we work hard, make money, buy nice things in order to feel safe or important.  These are things, that at least at this stage of our lives, we are depended on, they are the oxygen we breathe in order to be alive and have purpose.  Are these things that we are following after worthy of our lives?  I would suggest that there is ONE THING, ONE PERSON, that is worthy of our following with our lives.  Whatever it is that we are following is a gigantic waste of time compared to following Jesus Christ . . .

Jesus does some specific things in His relationship with Simon, James, and John that can help us see why He is worthy of us following Him and understand how He relates with us.  What is it that Jesus Christ does to attract us to follow Him?

Jesus INITIATES (Luke 5:3-5) – The word initiate means to “cause a process to begin”.  To take initiative means to make the first move, to move from a state of doing nothing to a state of doing something.  Taking initiative is important in almost every area of life.  We need to take initiate in our school work, we need to take initiative in our job, we need to take initiative in relationships, we need to take initiative in order to learn any new skill.  We cannot just wait for things to happen or nothing will ever happen.  We cannot just sit back and hope that things will get accomplished or nothing will ever get accomplished.  Being an initiator is extremely important in life.

When it comes to our relationship with Jesus Christ, He is the one who takes initiative.  We are not the initiator of our relationship with God, He is.  Colossians 1:16-19 explains how Jesus Christ is the initiator of all initiators, “by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together . . . in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through the blood of His cross.”  What does all of that mean?  Jesus is the beginner, the starter, the initiator of everything in all existence.  Nothing in all existence exists or comes about without His initiation!  Jesus is the initiator on a massive universal scale and He is the initiator on a more minor, but no less significant, scale.  Jesus, the Creator and Initiator of the universe, takes the initiative to come to the worksite of 3 professional fisherman, Simon, James, and John.  Very simply, He shows up in their real lives.  Obviously, fishing was these 3 mens’ occupation.  They probably went fishing 6 days a week to provide for themselves and their family.  Fishing was important!  On this particular day when Jesus shows up they had been “toiling all night” and caught “nothing”.  Do you think these guys were in a good mood?  Do you think they were No way.  No fish.  No income.  No food.  Exhausted.  Frustrated.  Disappointed.  Jesus shows u

Interestingly, this wasn’t their first interaction with Jesus.  The night before, Jesus had been at Simon’s house.  Luke 5:38-39 says, “Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to Him on her behalf.  And He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them”.  Not sure how many other interactions Jesus had with Simon and the other 2 men, but the point is . . . Jesus showed up in their real lives.

One final observation, in both of these instances Jesus shows up in the midst of difficult and hardship.  First when Simon’s mother-in-law was ill and second when they’d had an unproductive night of fishing.  In a few moments when these men were scared and anxious, Jesus takes initiative and shows up in their lives.

Jesus is the one who takes initiative to relate with us, not us!  Jesus jumps into the boat of our lives and relates with us.  Jesus often initiates relationship with us in moments of difficulty and hardship.  In moments of difficulty and hardship we tend to respond in one of two ways 1) we blame/reject God and turn away from Him or 2) we embrace God and turn toward Him.  Times of difficulty and hardship are crucial moments in our lives, they are moments when God initiates relationship with us.

What difficulty and hardship have you experienced?  Who in your life has experienced hardship or difficulty?  In those moments when we experience hardship and difficulty we need to look for Jesus Christ because we can be confident that He is doing something to take initiative and show up in our lives.

A second thing that Jesus does to attract us to follow Him is . . .

Jesus REVEALS (Luke 5:6-7) – One thing that makes Christianity distinct from other religions is the fact that God has revealed Himself in the flesh.  No other religion claims what we celebrate on December 25, Immanuel (God with us).  In all other major religions God reveals Himself through a prophet, enlightenment, or rational thought.  John 1:14 says, “(Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us”.    Hebrews 1:3 says that, “(Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature.”  When we look at Jesus Christ, we are looking at God.

READ:  Romans 1:16-20

The gospel, the message of Jesus Christ, reveals to us the righteousness of God.  In verses 16-17 Paul says he is, “not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed”.  The gospel is the good news of the historical reality of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection.  God revealed His righteous character . . . His perfection, His power, His holiness, His love, His grace, His mercy, His compassion, His glory, through the person of Jesus Christ.  None of us can make the excuse that God is unknowable, we have seen Him in the testimony of the incarnate Christ in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Another way that God reveals Himself to us is through creation.  According to Romans what can be “known” about God is “plain” to us because God has “shown it to (us)”.  God made known his “invisible attributes” (things we cannot perceive or see) through the “creation of the world” (something we can “clearly perceive” and see)!  When we consider any aspect of creation we are taking a glimpse into God’s “eternal power” and “divine nature”!  Since we all have access to observe creation, we are without excuse, God’s amazing creation is sufficient evidence of His reality.

Jesus revealed Himself to Simon, James, and John by asking them to trust Him with something important in their lives.  Simon, James, and John were professional fisherman and they had been fishing all night and caught nothing.  It would have made more sense that these men would have rejected Jesus request to “put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch”.  Instead of arguing, debating, or flat our saying “no thanks” Simon was obedient and trusted Jesus Christ with the request.  The men were probably tired, they were probably almost done with the clean-up process, and yet they head back out onto the water and trusted His “word”.  As a result of their trust and obedience God revealed Himself to them in a miraculously powerful way.

If we will trust God in moments of hardship and difficulty and be obedient to what it is He is leading us to do we will get to experience the miraculous power of God in our lives!  God is not going to force His way into relationship with us.  We must respond with some level of belief in order to experience a fuller revelation of Himself that He wants to give us.  No matter how difficult or how hard our lives might be, we must be willing to trust God, to be obedient, and when we do, He will reveal Himself to us in new and powerful ways that will inspire us to follow Him with our whole lives.

CONCLUSION
Satan and His power within the world is like the “pied piper” who entices us to follow Him with our lives.  If he can get us to follow ANYTHING, worship ANYTHING other than Jesus Christ, he wins.  We must see through Satan’s deception and see the truth of who Jesus is and be willing to leave behind anything and everything this world has to offer and follow Him!  When we have a personal and powerful encounter with Jesus Christ, our lives are changed!

Jesus Christ is the One in all existence worthy of following.  Satan will do his best to tempt us with other people and things, but there is only One worth abandoning everything, giving up everything, sacrificing everything to follow, and that is Jesus Christ.  Unlike the Pied, Piper, Jesus Christ is no mythical character that we learn a moral lesson from.  He is the real God of the universe who has taken the initiative to reveal Himself to each and every one of us.  There is no doubt that He alone is worthy of being followed!

The Walk of Prayer

Human beings are communicating constantly!  We communicate with parents, siblings, friends, neighbors, teachers, even random strangers, etc.  Except when we are on our phones, we are constantly communicating with others in relationship.  We communicate by asking lots of questions . . . How are you doing? What are you doing this weekend?  We communicate lots of emotions . . . uugggh, happiness, sadness, excitement, frustration, anger, confusion, disappointment.  Every once in a while we will even communicate something thoughtful like . . . I love you.  I miss you.  Great job!  I’m sorry.  Jesus’ whole life revolved around relationship.  There is one particular relationship that Jesus made a priority of communicating with.  Who did Jesus regularly take time to communicate with?

READ:  Luke 5:16; Mark 1:35

Living life in the same way as Jesus did requires communicating with GOD through PRAYER!  The gospels record 33 different times when Jesus communicates with God through prayer.  Christ began His ministry in prayer (Lk. 3:21) and His life ended in prayer (Mk. 15:34-39).  Jesus prayed all night before calling the 12 disciples (Lk. 6:12).  After intense moments or days of ministry Jesus prayed (Mt. 14:23).  The night before Jesus went to the cross He prayed (Mt. 26:36; Mk. 14:23; Lk. 21:41-44).  Prayer was Jesus’ way of renewing His energy and determining His next step.  The more demanding Jesus’ life became, the more He prayed.  Prayer was central to who Jesus was and central to His being fully human.

TRANSTION:  Jesus Himself prayed frequently and He told His disciples the importance of praying as well.  In Matthew 21:22 Jesus said, “whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”  In Matthew 7:7-11 He said, “ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened to you”.  Jesus’ disciples knew that communicating with God was important to Jesus, that’s why they did not ask Jesus to teach them how to do miracles or how to preach, but instead they asked Jesus to teach them to pray.  How did Jesus instruct us to pray?

READ:  Luke 11:1-4 (cf Matthew 6:9-13)

PRAISE God (Lk. 11:1) – Prayer is simply an opportunity for personal worship.  Praise is an opportunity to make thoughtful statements to God.  To tell Him you love Him.  To thank Him for his attributes of grace, mercy, and kindness.  A time to express our reverence and awe for who HE is and what He has done in our lives.  Praising God is an opportunity to thank Him for all the things He has done for us from our physical life to our spiritual life.

Ask God, “What the PLAN?” (Mt. 6:10) – Prayer is an opportunity to ask and listen to God for His will for a particular need in your life.  Romans 12:2 says, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable, and perfect.”  God has a specific “kingdom will” for each and every one of our lives.  He wants His Kingdom to be experienced in and through us.  We should communicate with God concerning any and every decision we make.  There is no aspect of our lives that is too small or too big to not talk and listen to God about.

Ask God for daily PROVISION (Luke 11:3) – Prayer is an opportunity to express our dependence on God for what we need.  Whether we realize it or not anything and everything we possess is a result of God graciously granting it to us.  We don’t need much.  1 Timothy 6:8 says, “if we have good and clothing, with these we will be content.” There is a big difference between what we need and what we want.  Prayer is not like a genie lamp that we ask whatever we wish and “poof”, it happens.  Asking God for daily provision is recognizing that God is the source of everything and we should be in constant dependence on Him for everything.

Tell God we are PENITENT (Luke 11:4) – Prayer is an opportunity to receive and give forgiveness.  To be penitent is to be remorseful or repentant.  1 John 1:9 says, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  As a Christian, sin continues to be a part of our lives and so repentance is more than a one time event when we come to Christ.  It is continually being aware of our own sin and God’s forgiveness that allows us to have an attitude of forgiveness toward those who sins against us.  Colossians 3:13 says, “forgive each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”  It is talking and listening to God that allows us to be right with God and be right with others.

Ask God for spiritual PROTECTION (Luke 11:4) – Prayer is an opportunity to ask God to help us avoid sin and evil that is constantly pursuing us.  1 Corinthians 10:13 say, “no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and he will not let your be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  We do not have to give into temptation.  There is not temptation you will ever experience that God won’t give you the strength and courage you need to overcome.

CONCLUSION:
If communicating with God through prayer was a priority in Jesus’ life, then it should be a priority in our lives.  Life is full of demands that challenge our humanity, and just like Jesus, we need to communicate with God in order to gain the energy, strength, and direction we need.  How important of a priority in your life is communicating with God through prayer?