CONTENTS
1. Vision introduction
2. Come to Jesus Daily devotional
MONDAY – “Come to me”… Bring your needs to the one who can help
TUESDAY – “COME TO ME” … This means leaving everything
WEDNESDAY– “COME TO ME”… He will teach you through storms
THURSDAY– “COME TO ME”… He will teach you to trust
FRIDAY – “COME TO ME” … He will grow your vision and worship
3. Community Group/Family Study
For links to the message go to our website,
1. VISION SERIES INTRODUCTION
Whilst praying about this vision series I felt led to the gospel of Matthew. Matthew wrote because he wanted to bring people to Jesus - the promised Saviour. Matthew wrote,
‘She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).’ (Matthew 1:21-23)
God’s wants us to know that in Jesus, forgiveness and His presence are available to you, me, to anyone! This gospel ends with Jesus’ direction to take this Good News to the whole world,
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19-20)
Jesus invites you, and through you, He wants to invite your friends to, “Come to me”.
LET’S OWN THIS VISION TOGETHER
Vision is something that we need to ‘own’ together. Therefore, I encourage you to commit to three things:
1. Make Sunday special by coming to church each week.
2. Get along to a Community Group so as to learn with others.
3. Use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily’ devotionals each day.
May we, like Matthew, respond to Jesus’ call to “follow me”,
‘As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.’ (Matthew 9:9)
Let’s whole-heartedly respond to Jesus’ invitation to “come to me”.
Matt Beaney September 2019
VISION AND GOALS AT CCP
Our vision at CCP is, Bringing people to Jesus - Myself, One-another, Non-believers. Two key texts have shaped this,
John 7:37-38 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Matt.11:28-30“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Bringing people to Jesus is to share in God’s greatest ambition. This is a vision with eternal worth that invites us to give our lives for the worlds’ greatest need.
HOW DO WE BRING PEOPLE TO JESUS?
Bringing people to Jesus involves three different relationships:
1. MYSELF
Goal to help me to bring myself to Jesus: I 'come to Jesus daily' by setting aside quality time daily in prayer and worship out of the bible (20 minutes, using the ‘coming to Jesus daily’ blog is a good start)
2. ONE-ANOTHER
Goal to help bring one-another to Jesus: Every member is in an amazing Community Group.
3. NON-BELIEVERS
Goal to help us to bring our non-believing friends to Jesus: Hospitality Week – on the first week of each month, we ‘invest and invite’ through 'Hospitality Week'.
2. COME TO JESUS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
One of our goals as a church is to,
'Come to Jesus daily' by setting aside quality time daily in prayer and worship out of the bible (20 minutes, using the ‘coming to Jesus daily’ blog is a good start)’
Jesus promises rest for the weary and burdened (Matt. 11:28-30) and ‘living water’ (John 7:37-38) if we will come to Him. During our devotionals in this vision series, we will seek to learn from the Gospel of Matthew how, what it means, and what happens to those who come to Him.
MONDAY– “COME TO ME”…BRING YOUR NEEDS TO THE ONE WHO CAN HELP
Today, we will be covering quite a lot. In Matthew 8:1-17, we have 3 accounts of people coming to Jesus. Let’s look at and learn from each meeting with Jesus.
1. Healing of a man with leprosy
Read and meditate on Matthew 8:1-4
In 8:2 we read, ’A man with leprosy came and knelt before him…’
Immediately after coming down from teaching on the mountain, Jesus heals a man with leprosy. Such a person was ceremonially unclean and was considered cursed by God (Num. 12:10). This man must have seen or heard of Jesus’ healing power (see 4:24) and so comes to seek healing. He has a measure of faith (not complete faith as we see with the Centurion in the next episode) however, He knows that Jesus can, but is not convinced that He will heal him. We read,
‘A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”’ (Matt. 8:2-3)
What are we to learn from this incident?
- This, as all healings, are a ‘sign’; Matthew wants us to see and believe that Jesus is the Son of God - God in the flesh.
- Jesus is always ready to hear our prayers, no matter how big.
- Jesus can heal any disease.
- Jesus was ‘willing’ to heal this man, and we should come expectant that He will heal when we ask.
- Fifthly, this event is symbolic of the way that Jesus cleanses us from our sin when we come to Him. This man was ‘unclean’; anyone touching him would become defiled (Lev. 13-14); Jesus reaches out and cleanses him. Likewise, we we come to Him, He (spiritually) cleanses us.
2. A centurion comes to Jesus, and brings his servant in prayer to Jesus.
Read and meditate on Matthew 8:5-13
The next example of what happens when someone comes to Jesus is that of a centurion, ‘A centurion came to him, asking for help.’ (Matt. 8:5).
When Jesus offers to come with him to perform the miracle, the Centurion expresses his faith in Jesus, “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Matt. 8:8). Jesus praises the centurion’s faith, ‘When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.’ (Matt. 8:10)
What are we to learn from this example?
- Firstly, Jesus loves to see faith - trust in who He is.
- Matthew is using the faith of this Centurion - a gentile (non-Jew) – to challenge his Jewish readers to put their faith in Jesus (look again at 8:8-12).
- Thirdly, Jesus heals according to our faith! As Jesus said to this centurion, ’“Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment’ (8:13). True faith always gets the object on which it is focussed. For example, Matthew writes
’Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer”’ (Matt. 21:21-22).
This centurion had a ‘gift of faith’ - he knew that Jesus could and would heal his servant. When we experience such conviction (a gift of the Spirit), we too, should pray into what God is promising us. However, most of the time, in my experience, one prays in ‘partial faith’ - we believe that Jesus can but not necessarily that He will do something. So, we must all pray according to the measure of faith that God had given us.
- This account anticipates the churches’ mission to all nations. Jesus’ Kingdom embraces all nations. None are excluded from salvation (See Acts 10:28). Jesus says,
“I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (quoting Isaiah 25:6).
To enter the Kingdom of God, it’s faith not race that is important.
- Let’s remember that although this man came to Jesus, he is actually bringing his servant to Him, as he goes to Jesus on his behalf.
3. Many are brought to Jesus and healed
Read and meditate on Matthew 8:14-16
Oftentimes, people come to Jesus because someone brings them. Either physically, or in prayer (as the centurion’s servant) it is often the responsibility of Christians to bring people to Jesus. Our final account begins,
‘When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him…’ (8:16)
Matthew continues to highlight Jesus’ healing ministry,
‘When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick’ (Matt. 8:16).
Matthew is very keen that the readers of his gospel understand that Jesus ‘fulfilled the law and the prophets’ (5:17) - He is the one that the entire Old Testament pointed to. Here, Matthew points to Jesus’ healing ministry as fulfilling the promise of Isaiah 53:4, “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” Again, as with the previous two episodes, Matthew wants us to see Jesus’ authority over the spiritual and physical.
What are we to learn from this account?
- We are to believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah of Isaiah 53.
- I think we should avoid using this verse as a promise that all people should get healed. Matthew is pointing to what Jesus is doing at that point in history, and, whilst believing that Jesus can still heal, it’s not wise to use this quote as a guarantee that he will heal everyone.
- These healing accounts foreshadow what will happen at the end of history when all things are renewed and restored. Not everyone will get healed in this age, but, have no doubt, at Jesus’ return all sin and sickness will be removed!
- Jesus has power to heal, so let’s pray for the sick. as we read in James 5, ‘Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven’ (James 5:13-15).
TUESDAY – “COME TO ME”…THIS MEANS LEAVING EVERYTHING
Read and meditate on Matthew 8:19-20
During this ‘come to me’ series, our daily devotionals are based on episodes in the Gospel of Matthew that show what happens when people, ‘come to Jesus’. Today we will see what a happens when, ’A teacher of the law came to him’ (8:19)
When anyone comes to Jesus they will be challenged to the core. To become a Christian requires that we come face-to-face with our sinfulness and need for Jesus to save us from our sin. But the challenge doesn’t stop there! Throughout our lives the Lord continues to refine us of our sin.
This ‘teacher of the law came to him’. This is a man who thought had his life together. He knew how to live, he was respected, his identity was as a giver of spiritual wisdom rather than a receiver. Bruner writes of this incident,
‘When listened to carefully his remark has overtones of ‘Jesus, this is your lucky day: I have decided to be your disciple.’
In his self-confidence he tells Jesus, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ This sounds like a radical offer, however, Jesus knows that he is insincere. Jesus responds, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ (5:20). Jesus knows that this man is not really prepared to pay the price of following Him. Jesus seeks to ’bursts the bubble’ of his spiritual pride. If this ‘teacher’ will allow Jesus’ wounding to make him ‘poor in spirit’ (5:1) then there is hope for him.
RESPONSE
Have we seen that to be a Christian is to ‘follow’ Jesus. This is to give up the dream life and go wherever Jesus leads us! This is a costly path, but it is actually the path of rest and joy. It’s only as we come to Jesus, are yoked and learn from Him, that we find rest and and ‘rivers of living water’. (Matt. 11:28-30; Jn. 7:37-38).
We must seek to avoid this scribes self-confidence, expressed in his statement, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Rather, we are to see Jesus’ righteous life and lifestyle as out of reach. We are to ‘mourn’ our sin (5:4) and ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’ (5:6), knowing that such people ‘will be filled.’ As we put our faith in Jesus, He give us (imputes) His righteousness as a gift; but He also imparts His righteousness so as to enable us to live, by the Spirit, the sacrificial life of a follower.
WEDNESDAY – “COME TO ME”…HE WILL TEACH YOU THROUGH STORMS
Read and meditate on Matthew 8:23-27
Today, we continue to consider what happens when we come to Jesus. For the rest of this week, our devotions will be inspired from the account of Jesus stilling the storm. After the episodes of healing we have been looking at, we read,
‘Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him’ (8:23).
All that’s about to take place is because Jesus ‘gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake…’ (8:18). Jesus wants to cross the lake, but, most importantly, He wants to teach them on lake, and to teach all generations of Christians through what happens on this lake-crossing.
As they are on the water it says, ‘Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat’ (8:24a). It’s not that storms happen even to Christians; rather, storms happen because we are Christians! These waves are sent not to destroy, but to test and teach.
Jesus teaches in different ways
As we have seen through Matthew, Jesus teaches in different ways. In 5:1-7:29, Jesus sat with His disciples on the mountain to teach them in a didactic fashion. However, any teacher will tell you that we learn much more outside of the classroom! Here, Jesus is teaching His disciples through the challenges of life. What one learns ‘on the mountain’ (sat reading or being taught the bible etc.) must be reinforced through application in life.
For example, in chapter 5, Jesus taught on prayer saying, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?…Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I guess the disciples could have memorised this, passed the test, got the certificate… but their response to the storm, reveals that they worry. Jesus is teaching them so much through this trial.
RESPONSE
David could sing, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” (Ps. 119:71)
Do you believe that Jesus is sovereign (He reigns) over all things? Do you understand that He has much to teach you? Are you in danger of cynicism because life is hard and unexpected? Have no doubt, God is wanting to teach you to know things in the head and heart, and this is only possible through the application of truth in the storms.
THURSDAY – “COME TO ME”…HE WILL TEACH YOU TO TRUST
Read and meditate on Matthew 8:23-27
The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” (8:25)
We can come to Jesus in great honesty. These disciples were full of faith…that they were going to drown! Mark quotes them as also saying, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38)
Can you imagine writing a worship song based on these words:
“Jesus, don’t You care that we are perishing? We’re going to drown!”
No, you may say with a chuckle, however, for many, it’s the tune they sing everyday! Of course, we can come with great honesty, however, as we do so, if we truly come to Jesus, He will correct our perspective.
The Psalmist sung, ‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.’(Psalm 46:1-4)
It’s in the dark that we need a torch. It’s whilst we are in the dark that we learn to use the ‘light’ of the word of God. When all is going well, we often learn very little. In fact, in seasons of ease we can feel self-confident, believe that our faith is great, believe that we are mature, believe we have something to teach others…however, it’s only when the waves and darkness hit that our true spiritual health is revealed; it’s when we are hurt that we learn if we are truly forgiving; it’s when we lose our job that we learn if we are trusting and generous; it’s when we feel depressed that we learn if we trust in the love and grace of God; it’s when we lose that we find who we truly are and what we truly believe about God!
RESPONSE
How is life going for you at the moment? Is it a season of ease or of darkness and storm? Are you enjoying the boat-ride with Jesus as you punt through the beautiful countryside on a spring day? If so, give thanks. Let’s never be entitled or ungrateful. Maybe, like these disciples, it’s like you’re on the Titanic. Life has hit an immovable problem that threatens to capsize you. Remember, Jesus may seem to be sleeping, but He’s as active as He sees fit. You are going to make it to the other side! He is with you. Pray to Him. Express your trust in Him. Refrain from accusing Him.
FRIDAY – “COME TO ME”…HE WILL GROW YOUR VISION AND WORSHIP
Read and meditate on Matthew 8:23-27
Today we will complete our meditation on the disciples, in a boat, in a storm with Jesus. Like them, as we come to Jesus, He will take us through storms according to His good purposes.
Worship is expressing the worth of someone or something. It’s right to give worth to things that are most worthy; that’s why it’s righteous for God to command our worship - He is most worthy and, ultimately, as all things of true worth are, most satisfying for us.
These disciples are on a journey on which they are learning about the worth of Christ. This event is orchestrated, principally, to teach them, and us as readers, about the great glory of Jesus.
All of us have seeds of slander against Jesus in our hearts and minds. Like them we can distrust him - “We are going to drown…Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?” (Mk. 4:36).
The journey to worship of Habakkuk
Like these disciples in the storm, Habakkuk is taken on a journey from perplexity to worship. This book is a dialogue between Habakkuk and God in which we see Habakkuk’s anger and confusion replaced by trust and worship
A summary of the book of Habakkuk:
- Habakkuk begins by complaining about God’s, apparent, inaction over the state of the nation (Habakkuk 1:2-4).
“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?" (Hab. 1:2)
- God reveals that He is going to use the Babylonians to discipline His people.
“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians…” (Hab. 1:5-6)
- Habakkuk is perplexed by God’s actions - how can He use a nation like the Babylonians? (Hab. 1:12-13)
“…You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil…” (Hab. 1:12-13)
- God assures Habakkuk that He will punish Babylon In His own time (Hab. 2: 2-4)
“For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Has. 2:3)
- Haggai is given a great vision of the end of time
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab. 2:14)
- Haggai comes to a place of expressing worship and trust (Habakkuk 3:1-19)
‘Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!’ (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Habakkuk was in a ‘storm’ of national crisis, but He is enabled to worship as he gains greater vision God.
Terry Virgo wrote of the need to ‘praise God with understanding’.
‘Often people are not praisers because they are actually not very impressed with God. The more we sing songs that tell us who God is and what He has done, the more we will understand and begin to praise.
I lived in the USA for two years. At first I didn’t know anything about American football. When I first watched it, I thought ‘this is so boring’. The other men watching were all shouting, but I had no understanding of the play and failed to recognise the skills on display. To me it was a boring game that kept on stopping and starting. I saw nothing to praise.
After living there for two years I began to understand some of the players’ phenomenal ability and flair. Then I began to praise. Praise isn’t a matter of bullying people, ‘come on what’s wrong with you this morning?’ It may be that we still haven’t got hold of enough truth or that we are singing songs with no content.
I was absent when Stuart Townend first introduced his song ‘In Christ Alone’ in our church. People were raving about it. When I heard it on tape in my car, I couldn’t hear all the words, so I wondered why everybody was so excited. But the next Sunday I was in the meeting and felt the impact of the truth in it. Don’t keep singing songs that have no content. Sing songs that absorb your mind and expand your understanding of God.’
Worship is about ‘seeing’ God - appreciating who He is and what He’s done and then praising Him in response. Worship involves the mind and the heart. However, much worship has been reduced to a personal emotional experience.
Jared Wilson in his book, The Gospel Driven Church, expresses his concern over much of modern church ‘worship’. He writes,
‘Many people evaluate spiritual growth and the work of the Spirit based solely on how they felt during the service. You’ve probably heard these comments like,
“The energy in the room was incredible!” “I’ve never experienced anything like that.” “I wish I could stay here.” “I cried a lot.” “I had a real moment.” . . . “I really felt good…”’
He adds,
'Let’s take care that the adjectives we use to describe our worship do not communicate that the worship is really for the worshipper. It’s not the experience of worship that the worshiper is worshipping.’
RESPONSE
We cannot praise what we don’t know. Too often our trust and worship are dependent upon things going well for us or on how we feel. We even find ourselves saying “Wow that was an amazing time of worship, I felt so moved”. This is not to say that emotions aren’t good; however, a good time of worship is about seeing and praising the glory of God.
It’s in the storms that we learn to see Jesus in a new and glorious way. Matthew writes of this account,
‘Jesus replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:26-27).
weak faith leads to fear. In this account, the truth of the glory of Jesus begins to dawn on them. Like them we are to ask the question, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” To which we should be able to answer with words like Paul,
‘The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn (firstborn means to be in authority) over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.’ (Colossians 1:15-17)
Are you ready for the ‘Suddenly a furious storm came’ moments of life? Do you know who Jesus is? Worship prepares us to stand in trials, sustains us through trials, and greater worship will be the fruit if we will come to Jesus and learn from Him.
3. COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY STUDY
COME TO ME…TOGETHER PT. 1
Let’s begin by reminding ourselves of our vision which is… BRINGING PEOPLE TO JESUS. We do this in three relationships: Myself, One-another and Non-believers.
Please read Matthew 8:23-27
This week we are focussing on bringing ‘one-another’ to Jesus - the vital place of church community. This episode begins, ‘Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.’ (8:23) It’s easy to think of this account, and the Christian life, individualistically; however, the disciples are in the boat together, as well as being with Jesus. Jesus calls us to learn from Him, to follow Him, with others.
Discuss together:
- The main point of this narrative is to teach us about Jesus. What does this account teach us about Him?
- What kinds of ‘sudden furious storms’ come into our lives?
- Why is the Church family helpful when we are in the ‘storms’ and do you have any personal examples that you’d like to share?
- What do the disciples think is going to happen to them, and what does this express about their faith in Christ?
- Faith (through understanding) and action are inspired and matured in Church community. What does Acts 2:42 say about this process?
- Our goal for bringing one-another to Jesus is: ‘Every member is devoted to building an amazing Community Group. (Meeting weekly is a good start)’. In their poor faith, they believed they were going to drown! Likewise, we can believe that giving our time to church community and a Community Group, will damage our lives in various ways. This goal requires faith. Storms will come - ‘I don’t like that person…it’s boring…I’m too busy… I’m too tired…’ faith makes a way! (Of course, there are legitimate reasons for not being in community as much as you’d like). What scriptural texts would you use to build faith for this goal?
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