Follow Me: Relationally
Follow Me Relationally:
Immediately upon conversion, Saul moved to connection! Saul connected with the believers in Damascus, in Jerusalem, and throughout the Roman Empire as he served not people but churches for the rest of his life.
Saul’s connection to the church was immediate, but also instructional. Without the church, it would have been easy for Saul to veer into wrong theology or get arrogant about what he had accomplished.
Finally, Saul’s connection to the church was imperative. It literally saved his life in Damascus, Jerusalem, and Ephesus. Saul needed the help of others to continue to do his work.
While we are called to follow Jesus personally, the call was never intended to be done privately. Your faith is not a private matter! It ought to be shared. To those close to you. Those near you. Those you love!
The big illustration used in this sermon was the church ought to hold the rope for one another. It has been interesting how multiple people from outside our church (and any church for that matter) have commented to me about how meaningful that illustration was to them. I could tell that is what they hope the church would be…and even a church they might be interested in attending!
Here is my challenge this morning: Will you move from around to involved? From sharing a space to sharing life?
This is not done simply for the sake of checking another box, appeasing me, or appeasing God - but for the sake of experiencing all that God has for you.
Following Jesus always leads us into relationship—never into isolation.
What step do you need to take today towards relationship? Trust? Honesty? Involvement? Connection?
Follow Me: Personally
Follow Me Personally
For the month of February, we have looked at the life of Saul from conversion to complete surrender. In Saul/Paul, we get a beautiful picture of what it looks like to follow Jesus.
On February 1st, we looked at Saul’s road to Damascus encounter with Jesus. Remember, Saul was on this road fully devoted to serving God as he was seeking to destroy any blasphemy that others would teach. Saul was passionate and living as perfectly as he could under the law.
Then he met Jesus.
In this meeting, Saul came face to face with the fact that he had missed the Savior in his midst, all the while praying and pursuing God! He had become so focused on religion that he missed the Savior right before his eyes!
Saul was faced with a choice on the road to Damascus - Trust everything I have known or Trust Jesus!
Saul did not waver in his choice and from that moment on he lived a life fully devoted to Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
What about you? When Jesus invites you to come to him…to trust him as Lord and Savior…are you willing to let go of what you have grown accustomed to?
Like Saul on the Damascus road, many of us are extremely religious yet completely wrong—pouring our zeal, our rules, our church attendance, and our sincere efforts into a direction that never actually reaches Jesus.
That is why He says to every one of us, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-25).
The call is not “try harder” or “be better”; the call is “surrender.” It is the moment you stop trusting in what you can do for God and start trusting in what Jesus has already done for you.
Today Jesus is offering you the same rescue He gave Saul: not shame, but mercy; not a checklist, but a relationship. Will you let go of the life you’ve built, the identity you’ve earned, and the religion you’ve mastered—so you can truly follow Him? The call that changed everything for Saul is still echoing: “Follow Me.” Answer it personally, today.
Do what you didn’t do!
This week I challenged you to live missionally. You hopefully felt convicted as well as encouraged. I also hope that you put into action the action steps I gave. But here is the truth—I bet there are one or two that you forgot or avoided. It’s natural—because of fear or busyness.
Rather than adding something else to your plate, I’m going to remind you of the steps I offered in order to encourage you to pick up what you failed to practice.
Day 1
One thought to consider:
What if the most important thing God needs from you right now is not more knowledge, but simply your willingness to be available?
One Action Step: Write down one sentence about what Jesus has done for you recently (mercy, peace, forgiveness, help). Practice saying it out loud once today—prepare your heart to share it naturally when the moment comes.
Day 2
One thought to consider:
What if the most important thing God needs from you right now is not more knowledge, but simply your willingness to be available?
One Action Step: Write down one sentence about what Jesus has done for you recently (mercy, peace, forgiveness, help). Practice saying it out loud once today—prepare your heart to share it naturally when the moment comes in the normal places of life!
Day 3
One thought to consider:
What might happen if you prayed for the people in your mission field more than you tried to “say the right thing” to them?
Action Step: Pick one person you are around that you care about. From now until Sunday, pray one specific thing for them each day (e.g., peace at home, healing, openness to God, strength in a struggle). Let prayer do the heavy lifting.
Day 4
One thought to consider:
If being a witness simply means “telling what you’ve seen,” what is one small thing you’ve genuinely seen Jesus do in your life lately?
One Action Step: Write or record a 2–3 sentence version of that moment. Keep it simple and honest. Rehearse saying it naturally (not as a speech) so it’s ready when God opens a door.
These should now read smoothly and cleanly while still sounding exactly like you. Let me know if you’d like Day 5 expanded with a closing encouragement or prayer, or if you want any other tweaks!
Throwing Parties and Telling Stories
I shared on Sunday that one missionary described his job as “Throwing Parties and Telling Stories.” What if we thought of being a witness for God in a similar way?
What if we stopped feeling the pressure to be perfect and started focusing on simply being present in the moment and pointing to Jesus in natural ways? What if we focused on including people in our lives rather than living privately and hoping not to be bothered?
We see this pictured in Scripture in Luke 5. Read this:
Luke 5:27–29
27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.
Matthew’s life was completely changed when he started following Jesus—so you know what he did? He threw a party that would allow him to tell the story!
He wanted all of his friends and former associates to hear about how great Jesus was! He couldn’t help but invite everyone he knew—he served delicious food to entice them—and then shared about the One who came for sinners!
One thought to consider:
If being a witness simply means “telling what you’ve seen,” what is one small thing you’ve genuinely seen Jesus do in your life lately?
One Action Step:
Write or record a 2–3 sentence version of that moment. Keep it simple and honest. Rehearse saying it naturally (not as a speech) so it’s ready when God opens a door.
Pray First and Everyday
As I call you each day this week to live missionally, I bet you are a bit overwhelmed and anxious about the thought. Even if I repeat every day that missional living is more about availability than ability, that it is about being faithful more than knowing all the facts, we still get nervous.
Here is what I want you to do to combat that anxiety: PRAY!
Pray for God to work in and through you with this calling to missional living. Don’t attempt to muster the courage on your own!
This is not only my recommendation; in fact, this is what Paul encourages:
Colossians 4:2–6
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
One thought to consider:
What might happen if you prayed for the people in your mission field more than you tried to “say the right thing” to them?
Action Step:
Pick one person you are around that you care about. From now until Sunday, pray one specific thing for them each day (e.g., peace at home, healing, openness to God, strength in a struggle). Let prayer do the heavy lifting.