Seguir a Jesus
Seguir a Jesus é o convite mais transformador da Bíblia. Jesus chamou pescadores, cobradores de impostos e pessoas comuns para deixar tudo e segui-lo. Esse chamado continua vivo hoje.
O chamado de Jesus
Jesus disse: 'Segue-me'. Esse convite simples e poderoso mudou a vida de pescadores, publicanos e pessoas comuns ao longo da história.
Jesus called out to them, "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!"And they left their nets at once and followed him.
Jesus Calls Matthew
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Come, follow me."
The Cost of Following Jesus
As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go."
But Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head."
He said to another person, "Come, follow me."
The man agreed, but he said, "Lord, first let me return home and bury my father."
But Jesus told him, "Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead!Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God."
Another said, "Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family."
But Jesus told him, "Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God."
O custo do discipulado
Seguir a Jesus exige renúncia. É preciso tomar a cruz diariamente, deixar tudo para trás e amar a Cristo acima de qualquer outro vínculo.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
"If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
Then Peter began to speak up. "We’ve given up everything to follow you," he said.
"Yes," Jesus replied, "and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News,will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then."
Caminhar com Cristo
Quem segue a Jesus não anda em trevas, mas tem a luz da vida. Ele nos convida a crescer nele e a servir como Ele serviu.
Jesus, the Light of the World
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."
Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.
For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.
He never sinned,
nor ever deceived anyone.
He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God.