“JESUS’ DISCIPLES—A MOTLEY CREW”
YEAH! CHURCH - SUNDAY, JANUARY 30, 2022
"Doing Life with Jesus”
Today’s Lesson - “Jesus’ Disciples—A Motley Crew”
Video Story/Resource:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUjhubUEY9c (IATTM – The Twelve Apostles – good for adults and older children)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKjWlETMYxc (Saddleback Kids – The Apostles and the High Council)
Jesus had many disciples, both men and women, from respectable backgrounds and some not so respectable. From these disciples, he chose twelve to be apostles.
Jesus Chooses the Twelve
Luke 6:12-16 – “One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
14 Simon (whom he named Peter),
Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
15 Matthew,
Thomas,
James (son of Alphaeus),
Simon (who was called the zealot),
16 Judas (son of James),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).”
Were the twelve men that Jesus chose the ‘best of the best?’ No! In fact, he knew that one of them would betray him—Judas Iscariot. And some of the others were also questionable. Simon the Zealot—was it really wise to have an extremist in the group? And what of Simon, who he renamed Peter? The man was always putting his foot in his mouth. Not to mention Andrew, James and John—they were just fishermen and we know that the brothers, James and John, also struggled to control their tempers. And let’s not forget Matthew; as a tax collector, no one in the group would have been overly fond of him. The Bible doesn’t tell us much about the others, but we know that this group of twelve men sometimes struggled to get along.
We don’t know why Jesus chose these particular twelve men for the special designation of ‘Apostles,’ but we can be certain that those he chose were picked for a reason. Jesus had prayed all night and, by morning, God had shown him who he was to invest his time in most heavily. We may not know why these twelve men were chosen, but we do know that the Apostles were the ones who were to continue to grow the Church once Jesus was gone. It wasn’t an easy job, but they continued to serve Jesus and teach others what they knew and lead the other disciples in sharing the Good News with everyone.
Engage:
• Many people followed Jesus, but only twelve were chosen to be ‘apostles.’ Can you name them?
• They weren’t perfect people and the Bible records some of the many mistakes they made. So, why do you think they were chosen?
• When Jesus returned to heaven, it was the Apostles’ job to give leadership to the others who would become part of the Church. Why would they have been suited for this job?
• Today, we can continue to follow Jesus as his disciples. What special work does he want us to do? …for you to do?
Weekly verse:
Romans 12:2, NLT – “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Prayer – Dear God, thank you that I can be a disciple of Jesus. When you chose the twelve apostles, you showed that we don’t have to be perfect, but we do have to want to obey you. Help me to always follow you…loving God and loving others.
2022 Theme verses:
Colossians 2:6-7, NLT – “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”
~ Pastor Jane