Jesus believes in you

Speaker: Nicola Watson

Notes

Jesus called the disciples to "Come and follow me." (Matt 4:18-22)

Becoming a rabbi was every Jewish boy's dream - they were the "best of the best". After studying and learning the Scriptures, those who were good enough were called to follow a rabbi, to get covered in his dust.

The disciples in Matt 4 had already been rejected as not good enough - that's why they were fishing - but Jesus came along and called them.

When Peter walked on the water (Matt 14:22-32) he had to have faith and believe in Jesus. Jesus believes in us and calls us to him whatever we are like. We didn't choose him, he chose us (John 15:16)

With thanks to Rob Bell and Ray Vander Laan www.followtherabbi.com

Application

Try out the learning the Scriptures game - quote one verse and the others have to give the verse before and the verse after. Better choose some easy ones though, unless your group is full of Bible scholar geniuses. Maybe John 1:2, Rom 8:38, Psalm 24:8. Or do it with well-known songs just for fun.

Jesus called the fishermen even though they had failed at rabbi-school. Do you ever feel like you've been rejected by the world's way of doing things, only to be accepted and called by Jesus? To what extent do you think Jesus' acceptance of us is conditional on how we are? How should that affect the way we are with other people? Do you find some people harder to accept than others? Or some types of behaviour?

Posted: 27 Jan 2008