The Call & The Cost

First All Catalyst Meeting: Sunday, February 22

Here is just a quick recap of what we went over on the first All Catalyst meeting.

The Call
Mark 2:13-17 - Here is the Call
The call was simple. All Jesus did was go up to these men look at them and say "Follow Me" and guess what, they followed. But this following isn't something like follow the leader where they just walk behind Jesus as He does all these miracles and ministers to all these people. This following or this Call of Christ to "Follow Him" is an invitation to walk with Him. Christ invites us to walk with Him. There is no special requirement to following Christ. You don't have to be a grade A student or a popular person for Christ to say to you "come follow me." This invitation is laid out there for all of us willing to respond. But here is the really cool part... This invitation to follow Him is an invitation to change. We are invited to: become more like Him, To walk in freedom, To live Holy lives, and most importantly to be transformed. As we follow Him Christ doesn't leave us the same way as when we came to Him. As well follow Christ we are transformed and given freedom to walk in the abundant life that He freely offers us. Guess what. This call, costs something.
In Matthew 4:18-22 we see that when Jesus called them these men literally got up and left behind their jobs and their families immediately.

The Cost
Mark 8:34-38, John 12:25, John 14:15
"If you love Me, keep my commandments."
John 14:21 "He who has my commandments and keeps them it is he who loves Me. And He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love Him and manifest Myself to him."

As we are called to follow Christ we are called to leave everything behind and stick with Him no matter what. When I was in Australia a lady by the name of Shirley, whose husband oversaw the base in Perth, spoke about the Call and what she said is really relevant. "There will always be a point of tension when you follow the call and the tension is when you don't do the easy thing, the worldy thing, the popular thing or what God has called you to do." "You are not in a popularity contest." If doing ministry and following Christ is all about making yourself popular or getting yourself in front of people STOP! Stop what your doing and re-evaluate the situation. God has called us to serve Him to glorify His name and not our own. Ask yourself this question: Do you love Him? John 14:15 says that if we love Jesus then we will keep His commandments. I have been struggling with this a lot lately. I find that rather than loving Jesus I love myself and insteand of doing the things that I know are right I do what I want to do to please myself. There is a problem with seeking my own selfish ambition. It makes me have to ask myself the question of whether or not I really love Christ because if I love Him I will pursue Him and seek after Him and do what He asks me to do. This is not to say that I will never fail or make a mistake but my main goal should be to follow Him no matter the cost. But, is that my goal. Do I really love Christ. So what I want to do is leave you with this question to ask yourselves.
Do you really love God?
John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My Commandments."
If we love Him than we have to respond.

- B.

Welcome to Catalyst - The Experiment

So here it is; Catalyst. We have finally started a new season in our student leadership development ministry. I think a much smaller way to describe Catalyst could simply be our Discipleship ministry. The great thing about this ministry is that it is constantly in a state of growth and change. To some this may seem unstable or chaotic, which it can be at times, but as the Little Country Church High School Ministry grows and the Catalyst leadership changes so must the ministry itself grow and change. I'm pretty sure that was a run-on sentence. Don't mind my bad grammar I am only a senior in college.

In this new season Catalyst is centered around small groups. If you look at the profile you will notice that to be in Catalyst one of the requirements is that you are in a small group. Within these small groups you will be going through two books, Jesus with Dirty Feet and Messy Spirituality. These are good books, at least I think so, which is why I picked them. So in general here is what this season of Catalyst is all about.

What it means to be a follower of Christ
Living out what it means to follow Christ

We believe that God has called us to be
Authentic in Influence
Uncompromising in Integrity
Passionate about God
Intentional about Community
Courageous in Calling
Engaged in Culture

As the Body of Christ we are called to Grow together, to Live out our faith together, and to Love one another as Christ loves us.

Any more questions? Feel free to ask

-Brandon Allen