WestGate Church Teaching

If you’ve been around Christian circles for a while, and ever heard someone preach on Matthew 4 and the calling of the disciples, chances are you *might* have heard it subtly implied that “leaving your nets” and “following Jesus” means 1. becoming a missionary to far-off lands - but if you can’t hack that, then at the very least, becoming 2. A pastor. Steve and David examine this (faulty) line of thinking - and why the narrative given to us by Matthew of Jesus calling these ordinary young men to follow Him is both far more comforting to us AND far more challenging to us than we originally expected.

What does it mean to “live the good life?”  What is happiness, really?  Our culture often posts pics of people on fancy vacations or owning cool stuff while using #blessed.  But what does it mean, according to Jesus, to be someone who is “blessed?”  In chapters 5-7 of the Book of Matthew, often referred to as the “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus starts by outlining what it means to truly find the blessed life.  And the picture is not at all what we might think.

If you’ve been around Christian circles for a while, and ever heard someone preach on Matthew 4 and the calling of the disciples, chances are you *might* have heard it subtly implied that “leaving your nets” and “following Jesus” means 1. becoming a missionary to far-off lands - but if you can’t hack that, then at the very least, becoming 2. A pastor. Steve and David examine this (faulty) line of thinking - and why the narrative given to us by Matthew of Jesus calling these ordinary young men to follow Him is both far more comforting to us AND far more challenging to us than we originally expected.

Toward the end of chapter 4, Jesus makes a dramatic invitation to two pairs of brothers to follow Him and join Him in His work. It’s a dramatic moment, with all four young men leaving the family business as fisherman to join Jesus. But as we examine the very human element of this story, we see that Jesus’ call to these ordinary tradesmen is actually exceptional news for us - and we see Jesus making the same invitation to us, to “lay down our nets” and “follow Him.” An invitation that makes demands of us, yes, but also is filled with a promise of a life far beyond anything we could have previously imagined as we walk behind and beside God Himself.

Toward the end of chapter 4, Jesus makes a dramatic invitation to two pairs of brothers to follow Him and join Him in His work. It’s a dramatic moment, with all four young men leaving the family business as fisherman to join Jesus. But as we examine the very human element of this story, we see that Jesus’ call to these ordinary tradesmen is actually exceptional news for us - and we see Jesus making the same invitation to us, to “lay down our nets” and “follow Him.” An invitation that makes demands of us, yes, but also is filled with a promise of a life far beyond anything we could have previously imagined as we walk behind and beside God Himself.

If you’ve been around Christian circles for a while, and ever heard someone preach on Matthew 4 and the calling of the disciples, chances are you *might* have heard it subtly implied that “leaving your nets” and “following Jesus” means 1. becoming a missionary to far-off lands - but if you can’t hack that, then at the very least, becoming 2. A pastor. Steve and David examine this (faulty) line of thinking - and why the narrative given to us by Matthew of Jesus calling these ordinary young men to follow Him is both far more comforting to us AND far more challenging to us than we originally expected.

Toward the end of chapter 4, Jesus makes a dramatic invitation to two pairs of brothers to follow Him and join Him in His work. It’s a dramatic moment, with all four young men leaving the family business as fisherman to join Jesus. But as we examine the very human element of this story, we see that Jesus’ call to these ordinary tradesmen is actually exceptional news for us - and we see Jesus making the same invitation to us, to “lay down our nets” and “follow Him.” An invitation that makes demands of us, yes, but also is filled with a promise of a life far beyond anything we could have previously imagined as we walk behind and beside God Himself.

If you’ve been around Christian circles for a while, and ever heard someone preach on Matthew 4 and the calling of the disciples, chances are you *might* have heard it subtly implied that “leaving your nets” and “following Jesus” means 1. becoming a missionary to far-off lands - but if you can’t hack that, then at the very least, becoming 2. A pastor. Steve and David examine this (faulty) line of thinking - and why the narrative given to us by Matthew of Jesus calling these ordinary young men to follow Him is both far more comforting to us AND far more challenging to us than we originally expected.

Toward the end of chapter 4, Jesus makes a dramatic invitation to two pairs of brothers to follow Him and join Him in His work. It’s a dramatic moment, with all four young men leaving the family business as fisherman to join Jesus. But as we examine the very human element of this story, we see that Jesus’ call to these ordinary tradesmen is actually exceptional news for us - and we see Jesus making the same invitation to us, to “lay down our nets” and “follow Him.” An invitation that makes demands of us, yes, but also is filled with a promise of a life far beyond anything we could have previously imagined as we walk behind and beside God Himself.

If you’ve been around Christian circles for a while, and ever heard someone preach on Matthew 4 and the calling of the disciples, chances are you *might* have heard it subtly implied that “leaving your nets” and “following Jesus” means 1. becoming a missionary to far-off lands - but if you can’t hack that, then at the very least, becoming 2. A pastor. Steve and David examine this (faulty) line of thinking - and why the narrative given to us by Matthew of Jesus calling these ordinary young men to follow Him is both far more comforting to us AND far more challenging to us than we originally expected.