Living It - 1 - Living Risky

Before we start delving into what the disciples did it would be good for us to spend a little while thinking about who the disciples were. How many of the disciples can you remember the name of, as a group can we name all 12?

So now that we have got all of their names, let’s find out a bit more about them. Each of you take a character and talk through their profile.

So now that we know a bit about the people let’s take a look at their first meeting with Jesus in Mark 1 : 16 - 20.

We see the first disciples meet Jesus simply walking down beside the lake. He invites them to join him.

What’s interesting is what happens next, they drop everything, even their expensive fishing nets and go and follow him, without any question.

Then, straight after they choose to follow Jesus the go and put their faith to action straight way. As we see in Mark, the very next verses after meeting Jesus they go and cast out demons (impure spirits) from people in a nearby town Mark 1: 21 - 28.

Even from the very beginning we see that the disciples knew that faith is more than thinking it is about doing. The gospels are full of examples of Jesus and his disciples doing practical things to demonstrate the love of God, rather than just talking about it.

Practical faith does not have to be big things like casting out demons, it can be lots of little things instead. What examples can you think of.

Following Jesus, being a disciple is more than just believing in Jesus, it is about acting upon this belief as well.

Quite often there was a lot of risk involved in being a disciple. In the Bible we see many examples of the disciples choosing to take a risk in order to trust Jesus. A risk that sometimes means putting their life on the line.

A famous example of this can be found in Matthew 14 : 25 - 33. Here we see Peter choosing to get out of the boat, in the middle of a storm and walk on water, something he knew humanly speaking that he wouldn’t be able to do.

As we see in this example the experience gets too much for him, and he starts to let fear creep in, and he starts to sink. He cries out to Jesus who reaches out his hand and saves him.

This shows us that God wants us to live outside our comfort zones, to push the boundaries of what we know to be safe to follow him. He knows that sometimes we might struggle, but that is why Jesus remained there in the water, ready to reach out his hand when things got too tough.

We are going to play a game now, and there are sweets on offer to those of you willing to take a risk.

You will each be given a card, inside it will say either “Forfeit” or “Prize”. You need to decide whether you want to take a risk of getting a forfeit to have the possibility of having a prize. Or stay safe, not open it and have no chance of having a prize.

Can you think of any times when you have had to make a decision like Peter. A decision between what is safe and comfortable (staying in the boat), and something new and challenging (stepping out).

Another well-known example of where the disciples chose to simply follow Jesus’s direction, even when it seemed crazy was at the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 that we will read in Matthew 15 : 32 - 38>.

Two events where through Jesus’s power they were able to provide food for thousands of people, when starting with just enough to feed a handful. Humanly this sort of feat would have been impossible, even attempting to feed a crowd this size with a small hamper of food would have seemed foolish.

However, they trusted Jesus and they did as he said. Then as we see in both cases not only did the people all get fed, but there was plenty left over. Illustrating Gods willingness to abundantly provide for those willing to step out and trust him.

We will be continuing to look at the disciples, and how we can live like them next week. But for now let’s close in prayer.