As Jesus moves into this new phase, He knows HE must listen carefully to His Father for the movement to expand according to the Father’s master plan. So Jesus called an isolated (maybe even secretive) meeting with His disciples from every area He has been in over the past two years. Probably some 120 disciples move quietly to the mountains of Naphtali just northwest of Capernaum. As they arrive fr...  Read More

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This 6th “fishing trip” is impressive and a bit astonishing. This guy is living in Capernaum– He is well-off, well-dressed has it all. He is, in fact, the son of the powerful Alphas and commissioned, trusted, and protected by Rome to collect taxes from the people of Israel. He may have been following Jesus from afar and weighing carefully the call to leave everything and follow. But there is so mu...  Read More

After this last "fishing trip," the movement is snowballing. Did you catch how the movement of multiplication is beginning to pick up momentum? Mark notes that during this time in the ministry, the leper "went out and began to talk freely, spreading the good news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from every...  Read More

As Jesus moves throughout the Galilee of the Gentiles, sharing who He is, He comes across a man covered from head to toe with a fatal disease. What will happen, and how will this lead to a teaching experience and a “fishing for men” trip? Let’s go!Read Luke 5:12-16, Matthew 8:2-4: Mark 1:40-45Where is Jesus “Fishing”?Who is He fishing for?What is Jesus modeling about “Fishing for men” in a city?Ho...  Read More

Okay- So far, we've seen Jesus "fishing for men" at a synagogue and Peter's house. Jesus and his disciples planned the first, and the other was spontaneous. What kind of "fishing trip" will be next? When we left Jesus yesterday, under the direction of the Father, Jesus went to Peter's house with His disciples (or at least some of them) for the surrounding villages to train His young Ministry Team....  Read More

We are in the process of looking at the first six “fishing trips” Jesus goes on with his young ministry team. We are doing this for two reasons, do you remember what they are? Jesus' goal was to 1. train the ministry team and 2. reach the masses. Although Fridays trip was well executed, today’s “fishing trip” may surprise you. When we left Friday, Jesus had healed a demon-possessed man of an evil ...  Read More

Jesus is now ready to begin what will be another year and a half of fishing expeditions with His disciples. We will be looking at the first six expeditions. These are the first six outreach events that Jesus does in order to train His young ministry team to reach the masses with the good news that He is the Messiah. There is a progression to these fishing trips, a good pattern for us to follow, an...  Read More

Jesus leaves Jerusalem and makes His way back up north to His new home in Capernaum. He most likely heads over to the shores of the Sea of Galilee to meet up with some of His early followers, who had returned home as well to their parents, wives and families. He arrives early in the morning, just as the sun breaks over the horizon. These fishermen have just come off of a long night of fishing and ...  Read More

This is a big day for Jesus! Today he will appear before the religious leaders in Jerusalem. He is bring brought up on two very serious charges.Charge #1: Jesus broke the Sabbath by healing the man and then telling him to carry his mat (working).Charge #2: Jesus was claiming that God was His real Father and that He and God the Father were equals. Yikes! This is going to get tense!Read John 5:16-47...  Read More

After moving to Capernaum, Jesus makes the long trip down to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Jews. (Some believe this was the second Passover that Jesus attended. Some believe it was the Feast of Tabernacles, thus placing the following two events about 6-7 months later.) Remember what happened last year at the Passover (John 2)? Jesus definitely shook things up then! I wonder what will happen this ...  Read More

Jesus now moves into a period of transition in the ministry. After preaching in Nazareth in his hometown synagogue and being rejected by the people, Jesus moves. Where will He go and how will the ministry change? His fame is becoming widespread now and people are coming from all over looking for Him.Jesus, during this time,  will make four transitions that we want to point out before we look at ho...  Read More

These next two phases in Jesus’ life are what we have called Ministry Training and Expanded outreach. We do this because we see Jesus doing two things here at the same time. As the movement of multiplication grows, Jesus issues His next call:“‘Come, follow me’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’” (Mark 1:17)This is the third call. It is made to those He has already called: “come and ...  Read More

Jesus now moved back to His hometown of Nazareth, the place where he had grown up. Remember what it had been like for Jesus from your study in Psalm 69? Jesus may have suffered here in His youth at the hands of the elders who had constantly ridiculed him and his family,and the town drunkards who seemingly made up songs about Him. Now he was retuning to teach in their synagogue on the Sabbath. What...  Read More

As Jesus and His followers leave Samaria and head back to Galilee, the news about Him has already reached the people and the talk in all Israel is about the new prophet on the scene–Jesus of Nazareth. As His hometown tries to sort through their emotions about who Jesus really is and how they could have missed it, Jesus makes His way a little north, to the town of Cana. Remember Cana? Jesus had bee...  Read More

Jesus leaves His best friend John at the River Aenon and heads back down into Judea where He had left His first followers to continue testifying about Him and baptizing the people (John 4:1-3).Do you remember what baptism meant? Jesus’ early followers were helping the people to identify with the person and work of Jesus. This was why they were baptizing them. Jesus collects his followers and begin...  Read More

You may have a hard time finding  Aenon on the map. It is believed to be about 8 miles south from the Sea of Galilee. This is a very important place, and we need to ask the question- Why was John the Baptist near Samaria? What was he doing there? Up until this time, he had spent his time preparing the way for the Messiah among the Jewish people, like a voice crying in the desert, making straight t...  Read More

Jesus’ display of passion in the temple during the Passover must have raised many eyebrows, but Jesus was then launched onto the stage of popularity in His day. The Bible says, “when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there”. (John 4:45) But before that, Jesus had a meeting with a man name...  Read More

Jesus sleeves the wedding ceremony and heads up to Jerusalem with His disciples and family for the feast of the Passover. This seven-day Jewish feast has its roots in God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt under the Leadership of Moses. Jesus entered the feast and becomes very, very impassioned. What gets Jesus’ blood pressure soaring? As you read this story, ask yourself if you are passionate...  Read More

After you have challenged your family and friends to come and check out Jesus, you must begin to explain to them what the Bible says about Him. You must tell them who He is. There is a lot that the Bible says about who Jesus is, so where do you begin? We learned yesterday that Jesus began where the people were, where they would best understand, and he used the Bible- the Word of God. Let’s see whe...  Read More

After more than forty days in the wilderness, Jesus comes through the time of temptation and marks on a mission to start making disciples. He begins by calling people to “come and see”, to come and investigate the facts of who He is. He then opens their eyes to the truth that He is the promised Messiah they have been waiting for. As they believe, He  changes His message to “Follow Me”. Two calls- ...  Read More

God the Father opens the heavens and speaks to Jesus, telling him that He loves Him, claiming Him as His own, and telling Him that He is pleased with him. What a moment in Jesus’s life! Immediately following this event, the Bible says that the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness. Why? What For? What would be waiting for Jesus in the wilderness? Let's have a look!Luke 4:1-13, Matthew 4:1-11...  Read More

 Luke 3:21-2321 One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.[a]” 23 Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. Jesus was known as the son of Joseph. J...  Read More

The Father spent the first thirty years of Jesus’ life preparing Him to be the model leader and the shepherd of His people. Thirty years of living as a human being– tempted, suffering, experiencing the life growing up in a dry land that was under occupation by a strong Roman force. Jesus was prepared by the Father to emerge as the leader of leaders. There has never been, nor will there ever be a l...  Read More