Followers

Message Title: Followers

Sunday, June 30, 2013

➢Jesus says: “Follow me”

Matthew 16:24 (NIV)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Matthew 16:24 (Message)

24-26 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?

Premise: Following Jesus is really a pursuit of Jesus and is only possible via the aid of the Holy Spirit

➢Jesus also says: “If you don’t follow me...”

Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:38

And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.Luke 14:27

Following Christ:

Go: Move behind in the same direction

Observe: Monitor 

Proximity:

Apply oneself to a practice of calling

Accompany

Succeed:

Accept: The followed Hitler...accept as a guide...give allegience

Conform: Follow orders. Follow advice.

Copy: They follow the latest fads and styles

Succeed: Come next after another...to inherit rank or title (endure); turn out well; favorable result.

Probably originally a compound, *full-gan with a sense of "full-going;" the sense then shifting to "serve, go with as an attendant" (cf. fulfill). Related: Followed; following. To follow one's nose "go straight on" first attested 1590s. "The full phrase is, 'Follow your nose, and you are sure to go straight.' " [Farmer].

1. Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
2. Matthew 8:22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
3. Matthew 9:9 [ The Calling of Matthew ] As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
4. Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
5. Matthew 19:21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

1. John 21:19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

1. John 21:22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

Challenge/Next Steps:

• Who or what you pursue determines your measurement of success
• Those who don’t follow Christ or are not followers of Christ
• God’s word is our GPS and points us to Jesus. We need a navigation system
• The Holy Spirit is our fuel for pursuing Jesus
• The only way that God is really with us if we follow...He cannot come any closer!!!