Meals with the Master
2nd Course
Have you ever thought that God might be leading you to take a step of faith in an area where you felt inadequate? And even as you contemplated what it might look like for you to take that step, you weren't sure if perhaps God had made a mistake and you quietly asked, "God, You want to use ME?"
In this second course of our Meals with the Master series, we're going to be introduced to some more people that others might have looked past, beginning with one of the oddest men in the Bible, John the Baptist. We'll also examine how Jesus Himself prepared to do great things for the Father, and how He chose 12 ordinary men to follow Him everywhere.
As we do, we see how God uses ordinary people to set the table for what He wants to do next. In this section called New Table, New Year, New You, we'll spend time each week looking at how God doesn't call the qualified. Instead, He takes time to deliberately qualify the called, and He does so by calling us to obedience and then blessing our steps.
Week One—January 9
When You’re Asked to Set the Table
Luke 3:1–20
John the Baptist comes on the scene to set the table for Jesus’s ministry, and we are called to do the same thing—preparing the way for God to work in our time and in our settings with people who are hungry for Him.
Week Two—January 16
How to Get Prepared for What God Has Planned
Luke 3:21–4:15
Nothing significant happens in the plan of God without preparation and obedience. Jesus laid the groundwork for His ministry by getting baptized and then enduring temptation after a significant time of fasting.
Week Three—January 23
Hell’s Kitchen and Heaven’s Response
Luke 4:14–44
The world in which Jesus ministered was an intimidating place filled with prejudice, spiritual hostility, and needy people—a place that might cause others to walk away. But Jesus was God with skin on, and when He walked into any hellish situation, He held the authority and power to do what was needed. And He gives His followers today the same opportunities.
Week Four—January 30
Choose the Master Over the Meals
Luke 5:1–11; 6:12–16
The invitation from Jesus to His disciples was simple and profound—stop fishing for food and instead fish for men. Stop simply pursuing a living, and instead, pursue a life filled with purpose and significance. The disciples chose to follow the Master when He called instead of just pursuing their next meals…and the question comes to every follower, will you follow when He calls?
