Following Jesus
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Irene Sentosa, from the CBC English Prayer Ministry Core Team, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
#harvestseries
Watch full sermon here
Amos 9:13, CEV: ”You will have such a harvest, that you won't be able to bring in all of your wheat before plowing time. You will have grapes left over from season to season; your fruitful vineyards will cover the mountains.”
Amos 9:13, MSG: “Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.” God’s Decree. “Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills.”
The City Blessing Church theme for 2023 is “Harvest”
Harvest is a joyful time
Harvest of Souls and Harvest of Resources
Harvest of Souls
Heaven is real but hell is also real. Some people are living in a hellish situation even now. They may be living in shame, guilt, condemnation, they are hiding, or feeling like they do not measure up. They may have frustration, anger, bitterness, are emotional, or feel heavy-laden. God is going to set them free and bring breakthrough to all of them.
Harvest of Resources
In the midst of turmoil, God is going to use all of us to reap the harvest of resources (it could mean connections and human resources, an open door in businesses, or knowledge, wisdom, understanding, or creativity) to bless others. You will not be chasing the blessings, but because you are following the Lord, blessings will go after you. Blessings will be commanded by the Lord because of the unity that we have with the Lord and His body.
God is preparing us to be able to live prepared for the coming season—to live boldly and to live with confidence. A lot of people cannot have confidence in their lives because they have timidity or inferiority, and their timidity is often times, the result of not being sure of who they are, where they are, and what they have (what is available to them as believers). God wants all of us to know who we are and what He has prepared for us as believers.
Pastor Paul continued the month of January’s “Harvest” series with a sermon entitled, “Following Jesus.”
Mark 1:17, NKJV; “Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
Jesus sent us an invitation to us to follow Him and He will make us fishers of men. How? Our part is just to follow Jesus.
Pastor briefly reviewed what he shared from last week’s sermon and about how “nets” were used by fishermen. In the Bible, there are several different contexts in which “nets” are used:
Washing the nets – Dirty nets need to be washed.
Mending the nets – From time-to-time the net becomes ripped and broken when catching many fish and the net would need to be fixed, repaired, or mended.
Casting the nets – Jesus said, “Go cast your nets.”
Sometimes after being saved, we forget that God wants to use us as “nets” and that from time-to-time we need to be washed by the water of God’s words and mended so that we all can be cast to reap many harvests of souls.
When Jesus called the disciples, He did not first call them to be apostles and prophets, teachers and healers. He did not call them to do all kinds of supernatural signs and wonders.
He basically walked to where they were at their place of business and made one simple statement: “FOLLOW ME” without anything promised to them in return.
He called them into follower-ship because it was in follower-ship that spiritual transformation would take place
The same goes with us as Christians, God just wants us to simply follow Him all the way, but sometimes we tend to be casual in our follower-ship with God.
We treat God as an “add-on” and as a “transaction” (if God does what we ask, we will do something in return for Him).
We live in a world today with social media that is full of followers, following and unfollowing, inviting people to be friends, unfriending people, blocking people, etc. We follow celebrities who we will never meet or follow certain personalities to just get a little tidbit of information to gossip, or maybe to get insight into their lives. Some people want to be a follower of certain people even though they do not know them. The same happens with many people who go to Church, but they do not know Jesus.
Pastor Paul shared about his experience before he received Christ and how he attended Church for about 10 years. He knew what it meant to be in Church, but still lived in sin and be in trouble because nobody taught him what it meant to be in Christ. He did not know what it meant to be born-again and thought that as long as he showed up on Sunday and sat in the pew, he would hold on until Jesus came. He did not know how to live triumphantly in Christ or what that even looked like.
What Does it Mean to Be a Devoted Follower of Christ?
Following Jesus is both sacred and serious.
Following Jesus is an invitation; it is an honor.
It is not casual, was never intended to be.
John 8:32, NASB: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Daniel 11:32, NJKV: “The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.”
When Daniel wrote this, he was in captivity and went through tough times, yet he made a statement that in the midst of turmoil, chaos, or shakings, the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
The Hebrew word for “knowing” God is “yada,” which means an intimate, interactive, and submissive relationship with God.
Unlike social media, when at times you are following people who you do not really know, following God involves knowing Him intimately, having an interaction, and being in submission.
This is similar to “ginosko” in the New Testament: “… that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings…” (Philippians 3:10).
“Ginosko” means the intimate knowledge of God (you have an intimate relationship with the One you follow)
Another word for “sufferings” here is “passion.”
When we truly know God, we are passionate about the same things He is passionate about.
What Does It Really Mean to Be a Devoted Follower of Christ?
If we would take a survey and ask this question across this room today, we would receive many answers because some would have their answers be based on convenience, some based on conviction, and some based on traditions—they attend Church because their parents attended Church. What would be your answer?
John 8:32, NASB: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
It is the Truth that will transform us and change our lives.
There is a process: There are some things that you may have been set free from and there are still some things you are still struggling to get free from, but the more you become intimate with Truth, the more you become free in your life.
Following Jesus Is Not a One-Time Decision
This is VERY IMPORTANT for us as Christian to always remember!
There are going to be multiple times in your life where you will have to make a personal decision to follow Jesus. You will need to follow Him continually.
You will come to an intersection or crossroad (when your will and God’s will crosses), and you will need to make a decision on whether:
You decide to submit based on His will or
You decide that it is as far as you want to follow Him and you decide to just to park and set up camp, staying there until Jesus comes
Psalm 23:1-3, NKJV: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.”
How Does God Lead Us?
The question is, “Do we want to follow His lead?”
He leads us by influencing our decisions. That is why if we make decisions and never acknowledge Him, we cannot have His leadership (because we are the one who leads and not God).
We will never change our lives until we learn how to make decisions. We learned how to walk, how to follow Him, and when God influences our decisions, quit looking for all kinds of spectacular things to happen.
We have to learn to allow the indwelling Christ through the voice of the Holy Spirit to speak to us continually about how we make decisions.
We need to learn how we make choices, and we have to learn to trust that voice that is inside of us based on the words of God and not based on emotions or cultural pressures.
We need to learn to recognize when the Lord speaks to us, and how He leads us, and learn to follow His leadership.
Sometimes in our walk with Jesus, we get into familiarity with Him and we cannot hear Him anymore. The longer you make decisions based on familiarity, you quit thinking about it, and this voice inside of you does not get louder because God does not scream at you. If you ignore God’s voice, He will not force you to hear Him, instead, God’s voice will get quieter the more you cover Him up with cultural pressures, so that you cannot hear Him anymore.
Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice and another they won't follow.” What does that mean? It means the longer you walk with Jesus, the more you know His voice.
To follow Jesus is not about getting somewhere—it is about becoming someone. We become like Jesus—we will have the passion and compassion that He has.
Romans 1:16, NKJV: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”
Pastor Paul shared a video about the story behind the song, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”. Many of us may know this song, but never knew its origin. Two hundred years ago, a revival took place in Wales, England and as a result of this revival, many missionaries felt called to go to the foreign mission fields. Many chose, as their place of service, to go to North India, described as a “savage” land. These tribes were primitive and aggressive head-hunters.
The lyrics of this song is based on the last words of Nokseng, a man from the Garo tribe of Assam, India. He was a newly converted man whose family was martyred due to their faith in Jesus.
Although the tribe was hostile and aggressive, a missionary from the American Baptist Missions was successful in converting one family; a man, his wife, and two sons. Their faith in Jesus proved contagious and many villagers began to accept Christianity. The tribal chief became angry and summoned all the villagers. He then called this man’s family to renounce their faith in public or face execution. The man was asked to renounce his faith or his sons would be killed. The man loved his sons but could not renounce Jesus and moved by the Holy Spirit, the man stated:
“I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back.”
Enraged at the refusal of the man, the chief ordered his archers to shoot down his two sons. As both boys laid on the ground dead, the tribal chief gave the man another chance and asked, “Will you deny your faith? You have lost both your children. Renounce Jesus or you will lose your wife too.” The man loved his wife but knew he had to acknowledge Christ before men and replied:
“Though none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back.”
The chief was beside himself with fury and ordered the archers to kill the man’s wife. In an instant, she joined her two children in death. Now, the tribal chief asked for the last time, “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.” In the face of death, the man stated the final memorable lines:
“The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back.”
The tribal chief gave the orders and this man was killed like the rest of his family, but with their deaths, a miracle took place. The chief who had ordered the killings was moved by the faith of the man. He was speechless and wondered, “Why should this man, his wife and two children die for a Man who lived in a far-away land on another continent some 2,000 years ago? There must be some remarkable power behind the family’s faith, and I, too, want to taste that faith. This Jesus must be real.” In a spontaneous confession of faith, he declared, “I, too, belong to Jesus Christ!” When the villagers heard this come out from the mouth of their tribal chief, the rest of the tribe accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
The conversion of this tribe happened because of the faith of one man and how he and his family were willing to stand up and say:
“I have decided to follow Jesus, though none go with me, still I will follow. The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back. No turning back.”
(The story can be found here.)
Are we following Jesus or are we undercover Christians? Following Jesus is costly, not a one-time decision. It was never intended to be a casual relationship. It is harvest time. It is an opportune time. Do not be undercover Christians. It is time to follow Jesus.
Prayer Points:
Pray for understanding that we are the “nets” that need to be washed by the water of the Word of God, mended so that we all can be cast to reap many harvests of souls.
Pray that we do not focus on the noise of the world, but focus on the voice of God, the Holy Spirit, and learn to recognize God’s voice.
Pray that we do not just hear His voice occasionally when we are in need, but we learn to allow the indwelling Christ through the voice of the Holy Spirit to speak to us continually on how we make decisions. That He would lead us.
Pray to be in a follower-ship with Christ so that spiritual transformation would take place
Pray to “know Him” and have an intimate, interactive, and submissive relationship with God.
Pray against familiarity spirit that hinders us from hearing and getting closer to the Lord, or worse by making us not be able to hear God’s voice anymore.
Pray all of us as the Body of Christ to answer “yes” to His invitation to be fishers of men, to follow Him all the way even though it is costly.
Pray to not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ
Pray that CBC will be ready and be prepared for the harvest
To be willing to embrace the change and process in transition
To have courage and boldness to leave our comfort zone or the place of familiarity
To move forward with God.
Pray that CBC would be ready to shift, change, and cross over into the new place God will bring us into in 2023.