Jump In!
[Valorous Matters - Week III]

Notes

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

We’ve been called to show what it looks like for a life to be lived for God. Everything we do should show people the love and acceptance of God that we know. The pull of the world is enticing, so it is critical that we as the Church understand why getting involved with sharing God’s life-changing love is so important.

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

Jesus called, and Matthew followed. Matthew was a Jewish tax collector, someone despised as a traitor by his own people and seen as a second-class citizen by the Romans. His life was comfortable and he was wealthy, but something about Jesus compelled Matthew to walk away and follow Him.

In the US, many people have fallen into comfortable Christianity; we love the idea of God, but we don’t want Him to impede on our everyday lives. But when Jesus opens our eyes, we see that He’s not afraid to challenge us, to call us to walk away from what makes us comfortable. The work of the Holy Spirit in us begins with bold obedience; following God whenever and wherever He calls us.

Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”
At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

What holds us back from knowing Jesus in this way? This is an uncompromising faith in who Jesus is. This type of faith continues to follow no matter how hard it gets, because nothing can compare to following Jesus.

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

This is the purpose of the Church. We are here to equip each other, by using our gifts, to go out and serve the world, to show the world what a life of faith looks like. These works of service build people up so that all of us are united in our faith and knowledge of Jesus, so that as His disciples we can stand up to the enemy’s lies.

As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival. But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. So they went on to another village.

The disciples weren’t perfect, and neither are any of us. Following Jesus and being a part of His Church is not about being perfect, having your life together, or having all the answers. It’s about responding to the call of God on your heart, and jumping in to get involved with what He is doing right now in the world.

Group Questions

• How can we actively participate in serving others and showing the love of God in our community?
• What practical steps can we take to use our gifts to contribute to the work of the Church and serve others?
• In what ways can we encourage and support one another in getting involved with God's work in the world?
• How can we overcome challenges to getting involved and serving others and sharing the message of Jesus?

Prayer

Thank you for your call on our lives, even when we face challenges along the way. Help us to boldly obey you like Matthew, and to have uncompromising faith like Peter as we participate in your work and serve others with your love.