3. The Call

FLASHBACK

What did you experience with God this week?
In the last few days, did you have the opportunity to share an experience with God with someone close to you that doesn’t know Jesus yet? Or could you pray for them or help them practically?
Do you need God‘s help in an area of your life?

■ Pray together: Give thanks for your experiences, ask God for help where you need it.

■ Pray together to learn new things about God and that your relationship with God deepens and gets stronger.

BIBLE STUDY

Read the passage silently. What words or phrases stick out?
One person reads the passage out loud.
One person retells the passage in his/her own words (Bibles closed).
If necessary, the others complement what was said (Bibles closed).

Matthew 4:18-220

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

1 Kings 19:19-21

¹⁹ So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. ²⁰ Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.”

“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

²¹So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.

Everyone by themselves:
- What words or phrases stick out now? Are there any differences to what you noticed before?
- Why do you feel drawn to those words or phrases?
- What can you learn about people?
- What could God be telling you?
Share in the group.

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS & ACTION STEPS

What similarities about calling do you see in those two stories?
How did Jesus call you to be his disciple? (Share in groups of three how Jesus called you and how you decided to follow him)
What does it mean to be a disciple? Read also Matthew 10:24-25a .
What experiences have you had following Jesus on your campus, university, or community?
What is the aim of following Jesus here on earth? Are you ready to commit to that?

■ Silent prayer (everyone for themselves). Ask Jesus whether there is something that keeps you from fully trusting and following him (e.g. a habit, a false commitment, an attitude, a relationship, a certain way of thinking). Share it with someone in the group right now and give him/her permission to hold you accountable.

■ Pray in groups of 2-3. Express your devotion to Jesus that you trust him fully also on your campus, university or community. Proclaim that he is your number one priority and that you want to do what he will tell you.

■ Write down 5 people you want to pray for, so they give their life to Christ and start following him. As a praying aid, write their names on post-it notes and put them on your bathroom mirror, the frigde, etc, or you can write them on a bookmark, set a reminder on your smartphone, etc.

■ Pray in groups of 2-3 for these people.

SCRIPTURE COMMENTS

Following Jesus first and foremost requires us to cut all ties to things that keep us from doing that. It means to start a relationship with him, to be with him constantly and to let him form you, to learn from him, to learn how to move in the dimensions of his kingdom. Our “training” as his disciples also has a clear purpose: we should become fishers of men. We are called to connect people to Jesus and make them his disciples as well ( Matthew 28:19-20 ).

OTHER LANGUAGES