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Sermon: I Was Invited

Scripture: Mark 2:13-17 (NLT)

Mark 2:12 (NLT) 12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

Mark 2:13-14 (NLT) 13 Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him. One could argue that Jesus constructed the most important team ever assembled. He chose specific individuals for specific roles. He chose the unlikely and developed them to reach their potential. And He chose an odd player—Matthew—to add to the mix. Matthew was a hated tax collector, despised because he and his ilk seized money for the Roman government—traitors in the eyes of most Israelites.

• Jesus' insight allowed Him to invite the unloved, who showed little promise.
• Jesus invited people who showed promise.
• When you hear the invite, can you, in an instant, follow with unquestioned obedience?

Mark 2:15-17 (NLT) 15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees[a] saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum? 17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

• Don’t shut yourself up with your Christian family.
• We must seek out, hang out, and invite people to church.
• We need to take the initiative to guide them into a discipleship relationship.
• Who will you invite?

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