Follow (1) – Jesus Says

Happy Chinese New Year!  We are so glad you are here worshiping with us.  I recently met up with up an old friend of mine who is about to become a pastor of a local church.  You can probably imagine our conversation centered around the topic of Christianity and church, and the challenges of being a pastor. One of the most difficult he told me, was when you try to apply what the Bible says in real life scenarios. For example he asked me, if a person who was not a Christian divorced and later becomes a Christian and wants to re-marry another person, would you officiate his/her wedding?  Doesn’t that make your head spin and want to say, “help, Jesus?”

It is so easy sometimes to hear people in church say, “just do what Jesus says.”  Jesus says to pray.  Jesus says not to look over there.  Jesus says to be nice.  Jesus says to get up early and read your Bible.  Lots of people think Christianity is all about doing what Jesus says.  And even if it is, if we are honest, we are not even that consistent with doing what Jesus says.  But what if doing what Jesus says isn’t what Jesus says to do at all?  That’s what we are going to talk about starting this series.  Regardless of what you believe. Regardless of how you behave.  Jesus invites you simply to follow him.

Moving Forward

At the end of the day, the question isn’t how spiritual you are, but whether you’re following Jesus. Begin tomorrow morning with this prayer: “Lord, where you lead, I will follow.”

Discussion Questions

1. Talk about one of your favorite bosses, coaches, or teachers. What made it easy for you to follow that person?

2. Did you grow up in a church that emphasized doing what Jesus says over following him? Or if you didn’t grow up going to church, did you assume that’s what Christianity was all about? How has the “Jesus says” mindset affected your spiritual journey so far?

3. How is the idea that Jesus wants everyone to follow him regardless of what they believe or how they behave comforting? How is it challenging?

4. What are some things that make it difficult for you to follow Jesus?

5. What is one thing you can do this week to begin to follow Jesus or to follow him more closely? What can this group do to support you?