Golden Bells
#414
Following Jesus
The 12 D Peter & Andrew I have 2 names – Simon & Peter. This is Andrew my
brother and my work partner. We are fishermen. The Sea of Galilee is an excellent spot to catch fish so we used to go there all the time. One day when we had just thrown out the nets, Jesus came walking past. He saw what we were doing and said, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men’. Immediately we left our nets and followed Him.
James & John We are James and John.
Thomas
Judas 2
James 2
Simon
Can you tell we are brothers? Our father is one of the best fishermen in all Galilee. We used to work for him in the family business. He has been taking us fishing and teaching us the tricks of the trade ever since we were little kids. One day when we were sitting in the boat fixing our nets, Jesus came walking along the shore. He called out to us and straightaway we left our father and our boat and followed Jesus.
Disciples Matthew Philip & Nathanael I am Mathew
and I was a Tax Collector. My job paid me very well and I lived in a nice, big house. One day when I was at work counting money, Jesus came past my office. There were crowds of people around but when Jesus saw me He stopped and said, ‘Follow me’. So I left my job and followed Jesus.
My name is Judas.
Judas
I pretended to be a disciple. I sold Jesus to His enemies. I am false.
My name is Philip. Jesus found
me and called me to follow Him. I did. Then I went to find my friend Nathanael.
I am Nathanael
I was just sitting under a fig tree when Philip came to tell me he had met Jesus. At first I wondered if it was really true but when I met Jesus I was amazed. He knew all about me! My name, what I was like and what I had been doing! But Jesus told me He was even greater than that. He was the one who brought people to God. I followed Him and discovered He was true.
A disciple is one who is called to follow
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OBEY the call LEAVE old things behind
A Disciple Must Obey
Luke 9:59-62
Jesus said ‘Follow me’, and the disciples did. They did not ask any questions. They just obeyed.
Not everyone Jesus called did just as He asked. When Jesus said ‘Follow me,’ one person said, ‘Let me first go and do something’. Another person said, ‘Oh just let me fix this up first’. These people never ever become Jesus disciples. There was something that was more important to them – something else that came first.
Disciples Leave Old Things
Luke 14:25-34
The disciples had to leave their jobs, their money, their families and all their plans. Jesus needed them all for Himself. Once when there were crowds of people following, Jesus turned around and said to them all, ‘Those of you who do not leave all that you have, cannot be my disciple’. What this means is that we must want the Lord Jesus more than anything else in the world.
Activities
1
12Disciples We watched Jesus go back to Heaven
James
7
Simon “Rabbi, is it I?”
2
Judas
3
Nathanael
Read the references at the bottom and find out who said each of these quotes, or which disciple the clues apply to. Enter the correct disciples number or numbers in the squares provided.
4
John
5
Thomas
6
Andrew
4 poi
nts
I committed suicide
“Lord you know all things. You know that I love you.” I am a Tax Collector “Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” I sat under a fig tree
“Lord show us the Father and it is sufficient for us” I was a Zealot “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands... I will not believe it.” We were on the Mt of Transfiguration “Rabbi. You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.” We are Fishermen CLUES: John 14:8; John 20:24-25; John 1:49; Matt 26:25; John 14:22; John 21:17; Matt 17:1-2; Acts 1:9-14; Matt 27:3-5; Matt 4:18-22; Matt 9:9; John 1:48; Luke 6:15.
8
Peter
9
Judas Iscariot
10
James 2
11
Philip
12
Matthew * Clues are colour coded for your convenience.
12 Dis
Colo
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ouring
4 6 poi
nts
poi
nts
What did Jesus say to His disciples before He went back to Heaven? To find out, turn the letters below into words by adding vowels (a, e, i, o and u). Can you work out the Bible reference and look it up?
J_S_U_S S_ _D, “G_ _ND M_K_ D_SC_PL_S _F _LL N_T_ _NS, B_PT_S_NG TH_M _N TH_ N_M_ _F TH_ F_TH_R _ND _F TH_ S_N _ND _F TH_ H_LY SP_R_T, _ND T_ _CH_NG TH_M T_ _B_Y _V_RYTH_NG _ H_V_ C_MM_ND_D Y_ _.�
4
Verses:
Chapter:
In the book of...
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21 - 2 = ? and
15 + 5 = ?
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Follow
BELIEVE
Disciples Believe
LEARN & PRACTICE His word WITNESS
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John 6
The Lord Jesus had lots and lots of people following Him because of His amazing miracles. He had just fed 5000 of them with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 little fish. Everyone was very impressed by His power. But Jesus had something even more important than miracles for the people who wanted to follow Him. Jesus explained to them, ‘I have come from God – you must believe in me’. When the people heard this, many of them stopped following but the 12 disciples stayed. Jesus said to them, ‘Will you also go away?’ Peter said, ‘We believe and are sure that you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God’
Disciples Learn & Practice
When the 12 became disciples, they also became learners. They called the Lord Jesus ‘Rabbi’, because He was their great teacher and they were His students. Following Him each day meant listening, learning and doing everything He said. That is what Jesus was talking about when He called the crowd to follow saying, ‘Come…take my yoke upon you and learn of me’. Matt 11:28-30
TO
A Disciple is a Witness
Acts 1
The disciples had been with Jesus right from the beginning. They had seen His miracles, heard His words, watched Him die and most importantly seen Him alive again. When Jesus went back to heaven, the disciples were left to tell the world everything they had seen and heard – what an important job! They spread the Gospel message and made many more disciples from countries all over the earth. We are the disciples of Jesus in 2008. We also have the important job to tell everyone we can about Him.
Y C P
Called to
Witness Acts 1:3-11
The Lord J e s u s wants us to be true followers. Not just people who say they believe in Him but people who will love Him more than anything else. People who believe what He says, behave as He wants and who let the world know they belong to Him. This is true discipleship. It is not easy. All around us people are living for themselves, disobeying God and ignoring His word. The disciple is prepared to pay the price for being different and live for their Lord.
When He left this world, Jesus left His disciples behind with an enormous task to do. They had to tell the world about Him. Read Acts 1:3-11 where the Lord prepared the disciples to do His work and be His witnesses. There were 5 important things they had to know – the facts of their faith.
1
The fact that Jesus is alive
He showed Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs (v3). Christ
was seen alive on many different occasions by many different people. The disciples saw Him, heard Him, touched Him and ate with Him. There was no mistake. No part of Him was dead. Jesus Christ was alive - a real man.
Significance? Christ fully paid the penalty for sin. Christ died. However, death was not the end. He rose again, reversing death, breaking its power over people and destroying it forever. Christ introduced new life and immortality (deathlessness) into the human race and made it available to all through the Gospel.
2
The fact that Jesus is now in heaven
While the disciples watched, He was taken up from them into heaven (v9&11). The Lord had been coming and going from them for the last 40days but this was different. He had gone for now to sit and stay at the right hand of God. The disciples would not see Him again on earth. Significance? Everything the Lord Jesus did on earth was perfect. God was pleased and took Him up exalting Him to the highest position in the universe. What God has done has shown us
without doubt that the man Jesus is the Son of God, the same as God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
3
The fact that Jesus is coming again
This same Jesus‌ will come again in the same way as you have seen Him go into heaven (v11). He will come in the same physical body. It will be real and unmistakable. It will be in power and great glory and the whole world will know when it happens. Significance? When He comes everyone will have to answer to Him. What have they done about their sins? Have they repented? Are they forgiven or are they still guilty before God?
4
The fact that the Holy Spirit has come
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (v8). To be a disciple and a witness they all needed supernatural power – power from outside of themselves. They needed the power of God. Significance? The Holy Spirit has come to continue the cause of Jesus Christ in the world. He is the Chief Witness and we are His helpers. The Holy Spirit empowers the message and convicts people of sin. It all began in Acts 2 when the disciples preached the Gospel for the first time. God is working in the world today through the
Holy Spirit. To refuse the Holy Spirit is an unpardonable sin.
5
The fact of the Kingdom of God
The Lord explained the Kingdom of God to the disciples (v3). The disciples knew that one day He would be the King of the earth. He would get rid of evil, put all wrongs right and rule in righteousness. They thought it was going to happen straightaway but Jesus told them not yet. Significance? He had just started His Kingdom by dying on the cross. By His death sinners would be forgiven and made fit to enter the Kingdom. When someone is saved they are set free from the Kingdom of Darkness and brought into the Kingdom of God. Today God is seeking subjects for His Kingdom. This is the message disciples must tell the world. Note: In just 40 years, with no technology and no modern transport, the 12 disciples had spread the message to the whole of the known world! If you are a disciple today, get firmly established in these the truths of Christianity and go tell the world!
The Back Page Disciple Song Jesus called them one by one, Peter, Andrew, James and John, Next came Philip, Thomas too, Matthew and Bartholomew. Yes, Jesus called them Yes, Jesus called them Yes, Jesus called them He called them one by one. James the one they called the less, Simon, also Thaddeus, Twelfth apostle Judas made, Jesus was by him betrayed. Sing this song to the tune of ‘Jesus Loves Me’ *Bartholomew is another name for Nathanael *Thaddeus is another name for Judas (not Iscariot)
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