The Disciples

According to the Gospels the name of one disciple of Jesus of Nazareth was -

Peter

Describe what happened in one incident from the life of Jesus when he called a person to become his disciple.

• Jesus met his first followers beside Lake Galilee.
• Discipleship refers to following Jesus and his teaching.
• One day two fishermen named Simon and Andrew were fishing. They followed Jesus when he said "come with me".
• Further along, two more fishermen named James and John were mending nets in their father's boat.
• They also began to follow Jesus.
• All four disciples changed their way of life to follow Jesus.
• It is clear from the Gospels that Jesus had a large number of followers.
• He picked 12 to work closely with him.
• Jesus wanted his disciples to learn from him and follow his examples.

Outline two examples of the sacrifices that were involved for the first Christians in being disciples of Jesus.

• The first Christians suffered at the hands of those he didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
• Within a short time, the persecution of Jesus' believers became even more severe.
• Stephen was a senior member of the Christian community.
• Stephen was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin because he was accused of blasphemy for believing in Jesus.
• He was sentenced to death by stoning.
• Stephen became the first Christian martyr to die for his faith.
• The first Christians had a total change of heart.
• Unlike before, they always put God first in their hearts.
• They even left their families and they were always travelling.
• Many first Christians escaped and fled Jerusalem to escape to Damascus because they were being persecuted.
• Saul was an enemy of the Christians and he led house to house searches throughout the city of Jerusalem to capture Christians.
• Saul followed the first Christians to Damascus and brought them back to Jerusalem to face trials.

Explain one challenge that Christians today face in being disciples of Jesus.

One challenge faced by Christians today in being disciples of Jesus is living in a world where materialism exists.

• Materialists challenge the beliefs of Christians.
• Materialists believe that God isn't real and this may lead Christians to doubt themselves and their faith and beliefs.
• Materialists claim that only material things are real and material things can be seen, heard or touched.
• God is totally spiritual and humans communicate to God in spiritual ways such as praying.
• Materialists believe that this is impossible because humans are not spiritual beings.
• The materialist outlook is very persuasive and their knowledge and beliefs are based on scientific perspectives on life.
• The materialist outlook can cause a Christian's confidence to be undermined and lose their faith in God.

Peter was one of the first Christians. Name another person who was one of the first disciples of Jesus.

Simon