January 15, 2023

Blessed: Invitation

IMPORTANT NOTE TAKING NOTES

  • You can take notes on this page and email them to yourself at the bottom of the page
  • If you navigate away from this page before you email yourself, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR NOTES
  • You may take notes anytime and email them to yourself as much as you'd like :)

Blessed: Invitation

Message Outline

Matthew 4:12-25 (NIV)


12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 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. 21 Going 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, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. 23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

The Invitation


1. Come.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”


Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world?

2. Follow me.

At once they left their nets and followed him.


Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior, trusting in his grace and love?

3. Be blessed and bless.

“and I will send you out to fish for people” …healing every disease and sickness among the people


Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love?


For Jesus, the healings were signs of the new thing that God was doing through him. God’s kingdom—God’s sovereign, saving rule—was at last being unleashed upon Israel and the world, through him. How could this not bring healing in its wake? Soon the fishermen found themselves, not placidly working at their family craft beside the lake, but at the center of bustling crowds. Jesus’ mission was well and truly launched, and they were caught up in it. N.T. Wright, Matthew for Everyone Part 1


“Our spiritual journey is not our setting out (by gathering information and applying it correctly) to find God (as an object "out there" to be grasped and controlled by us). It is a journey of learning to yield ourselves to God and discovering where God will take us.” 

― M. Robert Mulholland Jr., Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation