When Jesus told the disciples, “Follow Me,” He wasn’t inviting them to live in isolation with the Son of God. Quite the opposite, actually. They quit their jobs, left home, and became participants in the miracles and work of Christ while literally following in His footsteps. They experienced change, fear, hope, and more—all experiences that became part of the process of being changed by Jesus and joining in the advancement of the gospel.
When we answer Jesus’ call to follow Him, we immediately join in the charge to spread the gospel. But what if we don’t know enough? What if we’re not ready to change? Or what if our faith isn’t strong enough? We’re not supposed to have it all figured out—we’re supposed to learn as we go, all the while being made holy. That’s the process.
In Follow Me, we’ll revisit six life-altering encounters the disciples had with Jesus to find out what we can learn about Him through those encounters, and how those moments impact our own story of following Him.
What’s the last thing God said to you? What if He went silent after those words and you never heard from Him again? It wouldn’t be the first time. After centuries of dreams, visions, and words from prophets, the Lord went silent. He said nothing for 400 years. The last word God spoke to His people, before the New Testament, is recorded in the Book of Malachi. And it wasn’t good news.
Malachi is a book about unfaithful priests, half-hearted religion, and blemished sacrifices. It’s about people who lived by checklists, performing spiritual acts without the engagement of their hearts. Blemished points out how many Christ-followers are following in the footsteps of the people in Malachi’s day.
Blemished can motivate Christ-followers to remember that God desires a deep level of obedience from His people who are still called to bring unblemished sacrifices before Him.
In a poll result highlighted by CNN Headline News and USA Today, nearly half of nonchurchgoers between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine agreed with the statement, "Christians get on my nerves." Now, researchers behind the larger study present Lost and Found, a blend of dynamic hard data and modern day parable that tells the real story of an unchurched generation that is actually quite spiritual and yet circumspect, open to Jesus but not the church.
As such, Lost and Found is written to the church, using often-surprising results from the copious research here to strike another nerve and break some long established assumptions about how to effectively engage the lost. Leading missiologist Ed Stetzer and his associates first offer a detailed investigation of the four younger unchurched types. With a better understanding of their unique experiences, they next clarify the importance each type places on community, depth of content, social responsibility, and making cross-generational connections in relation to spiritual matters.
Most valuably, Lost and Found finds the churches that have learned to reach unchurched young adults by paying close attention to those key markers vetted by the research. Their exciting stories will make it clear how your church can bring searching souls from this culture to authentic faith in Christ.
Those who are lost can indeed be found. Come take a closer look.
