25/01/2026
‘Jesus said: “Follow me.”
Moneyreagh Non-Subscribing Presbyterian church
Address – Sunday 25th January 2026
Friends, recently I posted something on Facebook. Or to be precise, I posted 21 ‘Affirmations of Faith’ on our church page as an answer to the question, ‘So what do those Moneyreagh Non-subscribers believe?’. These have been very well received, and I am grateful to all those who emailed me to express their approval.
One of these was this. Jesus said, “follow me”. He never said, “sign this”. Now, this is as important as it is true. To be a Christian means to be a follower of Christ. Someone, who is a on a journey. Someone, who is looking, listening and learning all the time.
Some think doctrine comes before discipleship. This idea is absurd, and yet this very error is one common place in much of the Christian family. The error which says, only if you first believe this, and this and this (and even sign this!) can you call yourself Christian. That somehow, you need to possess all the religious answers before you can claim the name. What nonsense!
Jesus came to teach. He came in fulfilment of prophecy to lead humanity from darkness to light. He never insisted his followers must know before they followed. He said, instead, follow and then you will know. Christianity, discipleship is about the journey of faith.
Our first reading was Isaiah 9:1-4 (NLT):
‘Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.’
So begins this well-known passage. It will be familiar to you as it is often heard as part of the traditional Christmas Service. But it is also one of the recommended readings from the Lectionary for this Sunday. Why? The answer lies in the prophecy it sets out, that from Galilee will come salvation, through the Jews, to the entire world. Prophecy, Christians believe, is fulfilled in Christ:
‘The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder.’
Enlarge the nation of Israel! How true that is. For salvation has come to the world through Israel, through the Jewish people, the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, Son of Man and Son of God, transforming lives, transforming the world then, transforming lives and the world still:
‘For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.’
Christianity is about liberation. Freedom from all forms of oppression. Christian discipleship, sincerely expressed, can only ever be a journey away from oppression, and a journey towards freedom. Where oppression is, Christianity is not. Where oppression is challenged, Christianity is, going to the root cause of all evil. To human pride. To human prejudice to Sin itself.
Our second reading was Matthew 4:12-23 (NLT):
‘When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.’
Here then, the past and present are connected. Christ from Galilee is the light predicted by the Isaiah. And in that light, through that light, we are told to turn from Sin:
‘This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah: “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined. From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
So, Jesus’ ministry begins. He talks to people as they are, sharing a simple, powerful message of the need for repentance and then calling on those who will listen to follow, and that then knowledge follows discipleship:
‘One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers - Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew - throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him.’
Note again, how this pattern is repeated. Jesus doesn’t ask questions of His disciples before calling them. No, he says simply, come follow me and then you’ll understand:
‘A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. Jesus travelled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.’
Friends. Here then is my message for today. Then and now, Jesus says ‘come as you are’. Jesus says, ‘come with me, and then you’ll learn’. So don’t worry if you have doubts, questions, just take the first step.
Follow the Master! And you’ll grow in faith and, knowledge. For being a Christian meant only and ever being a disciple of Christ; not thinking that we know it all before we follow. But rather understanding, that we learn each, every day by walking with Christ. Just like those first disciples did all those millennia ago. Amen.
Reverend Christopher Wilson, MA – 15th January 2026.
