Follow Me and You Will Fish

Matthew 4:18-22

“While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions:
  • What is your desired or chosen profession? How might Jesus use your passion to accomplish even more than you imagined in scope and impact? 
  • What would it feel like to be chosen by Jesus and singled out for a special purpose? Is it possible that he already has? 

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you
Explain – what does the passage mean?
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today?
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

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Focus this Week – Ordinary Men in Jesus’ Hands

Luke 6:12-16

“ In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.”

This week as you learn about the disciples, recognize how ordinary they were. Jesus did not call them because they were awesome. He called them because He wanted them. Jesus mentored, rebuked, and spent a lot of time with his disciples so that they would carry on what He had started. They had to be changed and trained, just like us.  

Here is an excerpt from a resume about the disciples. “Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew had been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.”

Those ordinary people with a bad reputation followed Jesus and changed the world. Jesus called them and they said yes. 

Use the HEAR method as you spend time with today’s scripture.

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you
Explain – what does the passage mean?
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today?
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

Today’s post is by Pastor Stephen Williams

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Sunday Edition

Good morning! We hope you’ll join us for worship today.  

On-Campus – Contemporary worship 9am and 11am, Blended 9:45am. 
Streaming online 9am and 11am at mybelmont.org/sermonsonline or facebook.com/mybelmont/live 

Verses for the week:

  • Monday – Luke 6:12-16
  • Tuesday – Matthew 4:18-22
  • Wednesday – John 6:5-10
  • Thursday – John 6:66-69
  • Friday – Luke 5:27-32

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How to Live and Love Pt 6 & Group Guide

Matthew 7:15-29

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

Talk is cheap. Whether applied to another’s life or your own, faith is shown through obedience, not just the words that we say. We can gauge our spiritual walk and maturity with the simple question, “am I living and loving like Jesus?” Jesus’ teaching astounded his audience, and his life and ministry complemented and lent credibility to the words that he spoke. 

As we’ve spent time this week focusing on Jesus’ sermon on the mount, we’ve seen example after example of what it means to live and love like Jesus. 

As you share with your small group how God has spoken to you through this week, comment on the truths that have impacted you most in this season of your life. 

Go through the HEAR structure as a group with the goal of applying these truths this week. Our faith must stretch beyond the words that we read or the words that we say. It must permeate our actions and attitudes, and our reactions and relationships. 

Have a wonderful time with your group this week. If you still haven’t connected with a small group, we’d love to help you find one. You can go to mybelmont.org/smallgroups or contact jon@mybelmont.org

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you
Explain – what does the passage mean?
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today?
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

Today’s post is by Jon Price

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How to Live and Love Pt 5

Matthew 7:1-14

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Use the HEAR method as you spend time with today’s passage. 

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you
Explain – what does the passage mean?
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today?
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

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How to Live and Love Pt 4

Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions:
  • What does this passage tell you about anxiety? 
  • What does it tell you about God? 
  • So what are you to do according to these truths? 

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you
Explain – what does the passage mean?
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today?
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

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