I LOVE stories! I love to hear them, I love to tell them, and I love to tell them again. A good story never grows old. This summer at Currey Creek we have been retelling some of “The Greatest Stories Ever Told.” While our faithful Children’s Ministry volunteers had a few weeks of rest before jumping into a new school year, our Pastors offered us a Family Series for children of all ages and adults alike. They have been refreshing and so good for the soul. This past Sunday’s really spoke to me in a simple yet PROFOUND way. I thought I would share some of it’s truths.

“As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman. “”Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little further, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.” Mark 1:16-20

These guys got up AT ONCE, the word says, and followed Him. They didn’t ask questions…they simply followed. Two brothers even got up and left their dad behind and followed Him. Wow! Are we like them? Will we drop everything and go? I love what the footnote of my bible says about these verses. It says, “We often assume that Jesus’ disciples were great men of faith from the first time they met Jesus. But they had to GROW in their faith just as all believers do. This is apparently not the only time Jesus called Peter, James and John to follow him. Although it took time for Jesus’ call and his message to get through, the disciples followed. In the same way, we may question and falter, but we must never stop following Jesus.”

Our Associate Pastor, Jared Patrick, gave us a wonderful analogy of his love and time shared with his own father. I share his actual message below, and I invite you to carve out some time to listen. While he shared his own story of his childhood, our oldest was focused in and writing down thoughts of her own. As a mom, there is nothing sweeter than seeing your babies understand the Gospel. She was getting it! I leaned over and said, “That’s like you and daddy with tennis isn’t it?” She nodded her head with a smile.

When you love someone, you want to KNOW them and spend time with them. She spends time with her daddy a lot. They started early when she was in Elementary school, and they would walk across the street to the tennis courts to hit balls and play together. What started off as something to do to spend time with him turned into a passion and a heart for tennis. He taught her how to swing the racket and she would watch and mimic him. Now her swing looks like her daddy’s. She bends her knees like him and follows through firmly too. This is what happens to us when we spend time with our Heavenly Father…we start to KNOW Him, understand His character, learn from Him and then we start to look like Him. We become His disciples.

What is a disciple? “A disciple is a person who has been reconciled into relationship with God through new birth by trust in the Gospel and subsequently growing in a love for God and love for others.”

Here are the Characteristics of a Disciple:

1. KNOW – We know him intimately! We long to know Him! (Psalm 42:1)
   “God doesn’t want something from us, he wants US.” C.S. Lewis
   Spend time with the Father! Get to know Him!
2. TRUST – We trust him completely! We KNOW who he is! (Proverbs 3:5-6)
   “You don’t realize that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”
   “Don’t let your happiness be in something you could lose.” C.S. Lewis
3. OBEY – We obey him sacrificially! Knowledge and trust lead to obedience.
4. Proclaim – We become the church!
   “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

I love that each of these characteristics grow as you become more intimate with Him. The more you know Him the more you will trust Him. The more you trust Him the more you will obey Him, and the more you obey Him the more you will PROCLAIM Him. These were His last words to His disciples. We know them as The Great Commission! GO and make disciples!  Are you one of His? Wherever you are today, you can drop everything and follow Him. His word stands, it never fails and when all of this world fades away, His word and LOVE still remains! We are invited to be a part of building His Kingdom. It’s an invitation I have accepted and I LOVE to tell the story! It is the GREATEST story ever told! #gloryup