Session 2

Invitation

Matthew 4:12-25

Memory Verse: Matthew 4:19-20

Jesus calls people to follow Him.

Many young people struggle with what they should do with their lives
as they approach the end of high school or college.
Determining a vocation and how to develop the skills necessary
for it can challenge young adults with life-changing decisions-
and some difficult sacrifices.

Years later, as they approach middle-age, many of these same adults experience mid-life crises
as their earlier dreams fail to materialize.
Sometimes, they may even wonder what life might have been like if they’d chosen differently.

Life choices are best made in the context of knowing and doing God’s will.
Jesus calls people to follow Him.
Answering Christ’s invitation to discipleship positions us to continue in His will moving forward.
Keeping His call firmly before us helps make daily decisions much easier.

FIRST THOUGHTS

An apprenticeship is a process for training others in a trade or a profession.
Usually, it involves on-the-job training.
The goal is that sometime down the road the apprentice can do the job with the same skill level the master teacher has.
Christians are called to apprentice themselves to Jesus. It’s called being a disciple.
Each of us is called to apprentice ourselves to Jesus. (PSG, p. 20)

Ask:

• What are some jobs today where you might find apprentices? What would be some advantages to becoming an apprentice in one of those jobs? (PSG, p. 20)

ENGAGE

Say:

Believers are called to apprentice themselves to Jesus.
A more common way of saying this is that we become His disciples.
It’s not a commitment to take lightly because it’s a commitment that lasts a lifetime.

Context:

This session picks up Matthew’s description of Jesus’s early ministry.
Briefly review Jesus’s baptism and His temptation in Session 1.

Overview:

Use Pack Item 1 (Map: Jesus’s Ministry Around Galilee) to
locate Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
This city was an important economic hub on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee
and that Jesus’s ministry in this area fulfilled prophecies spoken by Isaiah seven centuries earlier.
Note that Galilee-including Capernaum-had a large Gentile population,
highlighting Jesus’s desire for the gospel to be shared with all people.

Transition:

Galilee is also important because it was the home of Jesus’s first followers.
As we examine their lives, we can learn more about what it means to be Jesus’s disciples.