Nature of discipleship- stories
- Calling of the disciples
- Sending out of the twelve
Nature of discipleship- calling of the disciples- what it tells us
- “Fishers of men”- go out and spread good news
- Leave family
- Jesus took precedence in their lives
- Included outcasts (Levi was a tax collector)
- Jesus didn’t choose well educated, religious men
Nature of discipleship- calling of the disciples- importance to Christians today
- Anyone can be a follower of Jesus, no matter of background
- Followed without question
- Recognised Jesus’ authority immediately
- Gave up belongings and family
Nature of discipleship- sending out of the twelve- what it tells us
- Gave disciples power over sickness and evil
- No material possessions
- Accept first hospitality offered
- Don’t spend time with those who will not listen
Nature of discipleship- sending out of the twelve- importance to Christians today
- Trust in God who will be there in times of need
- Christians should be among those who would welcome the apostles
- Don’t push religion onto others
- Material belongings have no value to God
Costs of discipleship- stories
- True family
- True greatness
- Rich man
- Parable of the tenants
Costs of discipleship- true family- what it tells us
- Be prepared to give up everything, even family
- Prioritise Jesus over family
- Form bonds with faith as strong as family bonds
- Doing God’s will means you are part of his family
Costs of discipleship- true family- difficulty
- Jesus rejected his blood family in favour of his spiritual family
- You should love your family despite their beliefs
- Breaks commandment of honour your father and mother
- Family life is key in Catholic faith-contradictory
Costs of discipleship- true greatness- what it tells us
- Self-sacrifice
- Can’t expect reward for their work on earth
- Must accept all outcasts
- Must go against human nature
Costs of discipleship- true greatness- difficulty
- Involves a lot of self-sacrifice
- Too much temptation
- Disciples arguing means we have no hope
- People have prejudice which makes this difficult
Costs of discipleship- rich man- what it tells us
- Be prepared to leave everything
- Commit entire lives to Jesus
- Being good is more than keeping the Ten Commandments
- Riches prevent entry into heaven
Costs of discipleship- rich man- difficulty
- Churches spend lots of money unnecessarily-hypocritical
- How do Christians know when they are ‘too rich’?
- Are we all too rich to enter the kingdom of God?
- Many modern Christians don’t keep the Ten Commandments
Costs of discipleship- parable of the tenants- what it tells us
- Involves suffering and death
- Must be completely committed
- Should do what’s right in the eyes of God
- Obey God without question
Costs of discipleship- parable of the tenants- difficulty
- Not prepared to lay down their lives for their belief
- Not prepared to give up everything
- May think God’s command are unreasonable
- People may use ‘following God’s command’ as an excuse
Problems of discipleship- stories
- Jesus casts out a spirit boy
- Parable of the sower
- Rivalry and service
- Peter’s denial
- Prayers at Gethsemane
Problems of discipleship- Jesus casts out a spirit boy- problems
- Hard to have enough faith
- Should give up any beliefs except those taught by God
- Father had faith not the boy so faith could save those around you
- Not everything in discipleship is easy, even with faith
Problems of discipleship- Jesus casts out a spirit boy- difficulties
- It is hard to have enough faith, as even the disciples didn’t
- The fit could be medically explained
- It’s worrying that Jesus believed in demons
- Could have stopped as a coincidence
Problems of discipleship- parable of the sower- what it tells us
- Path- people who hear God’s word and forget it straight away
- Shallow soil- people who listen and believe for a while, but forget it when times are hard
- Thorns- people who hear God’s word, but are preoccupied with pleasure and wealth
- The disciples didn’t understand the parable, so Jesus had to explain it, but only to them
Problems of discipleship- parable of the sower- problems
- If disciples didn’t understand, we have no hope
- Goes against heaven being open to everyone as only those who have had spiritual nurture can enter
- May only have been written to comfort early Christians
- Could encourage discrimination against other religions
Problems of discipleship- rivalry and service- difficulty
- Expected to place themselves in danger
- Putting others before you can be difficult
- If everyone is a servant then there’s no one to serve
- Hard to be a servant in some jobs as bosses
Problems of discipleship- rivalry and service- what it tells us
- Must serve others
- Mustn’t laud it over others
- Expect no reward on earth
- Follow Jesus’ example
Problems of discipleship- Peter’s denial- what it tells us
- Must be prepared to accept failing
- Peter had trouble and he was the closest to Jesus
- Stand up for beliefs even if it puts you in danger
- Don’t allow emotions to overcome you and get in the way
Problems of discipleship- Peter’s denial- difficulty
- If the disciples fail, what chance do we have?
- Peter should have listened to Jesus
- Peter became Pope so should have been faultless
- Don’t want to die for their faith
Problems of discipleship- Peter’s denial- reassurance to modern Christians
- God will forgive you if you do wrong
- Peter became the first Pope so we can all go on to greatness
- Weakness is an acceptable human flaw
- Shows Peter was only human
