Holy Interruptions:
Saying Yes to the Call of Jesus

Sermon Summary

Pastor Caleb Seibert, opened by honoring the men and women who have walked with this church for decades and by reminding us of the holy momentum that has been building here for more than thirty years. Using the picture of grabbing a running start and jumping on the back of a shopping cart, he made a simple point: momentum only carries you so far before friction slows you to a stop. To keep moving forward, you need another push. In the kingdom of God that push is not striving or gritting our teeth. It is surrender, a fresh willingness to be obedient to Jesus. 

From there we opened Matthew 4, where Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee and calls ordinary fishermen with two words: "Follow Me." Caleb helped us feel the weight of that invitation by explaining what discipleship meant in that culture. A disciple, or talmid, followed a rabbi so closely that he became a copy of his teacher, adopting his words, his thinking, and his way of life. The blessing spoken over young students was, "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi." So when Jesus looked at fishermen and tax collectors, people who were not the religious elite, and said "Follow Me," He was inviting them to leave everything, their work, their plans, and their assumptions about the future, and to become like Him. 

Caleb called these moments "holy interruptions," and he showed us that they are not just origin stories. They become the pattern of a life that follows Jesus, a lifestyle of abiding where God is free to lead us wherever He wishes. Then he named six honest barriers that can keep us from being interrupted by God: we may not trust Him, we may be distracted, we may not want Him to speak into a certain area of our lives, we may have stopped listening, we may not think we can hear Him, and we may not think He can use us. The message closed with a reminder and an invitation, "How does God want to interrupt you, and are you willing?"

Key Scriptures

Matthew 4:17-22 (NASB1995)

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NASB1995)

Thus says the LORD, "Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD. For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit."

Mark 4:18-20 (NASB1995)

And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.

Luke 14:33 (NASB1995)

So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

John 10:27 (NASB1995)

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

Instructions for Groups

Choose a few of these questions from the various categories to go deeper in the sermon and put the truths of Scripture into practice. You don't need to answer every question. Select the ones that will best help your group engage with God's Word and apply it to your lives.

Discussion Questions

Scripture Study and Deeper Understanding

1. In Matthew 4:18-22, what were Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John doing when Jesus called them, and how does Matthew describe their response? Notice the specific detail the text gives about what each pair left behind. What stands out to you about the timing and the setting of these calls?

2. Caleb explained that in the first century a disciple (talmid) followed a rabbi in order to become a copy of him in every way, and that the invitation to follow was usually reserved for the most elite students. With that background in mind, what would the words "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" have communicated to working fishermen? 

3. Read Mark 4:18-20. What three things does Jesus name that enter in and choke the word, and what does the passage say happens to that hearer compared with the one who receives the seed on good soil? What does the imagery of thorns and soil reveal about how the word grows or fails to grow?

Encouragement, Challenge and Personal Testimony

4. Caleb described six barriers that can keep us from being interrupted by God: not trusting Him, being distracted, keeping certain areas off limits, having stopped listening, doubting we can hear Him, and doubting He can use us. As you look back over that list, which one did the Holy Spirit highlight for you, and what does it reveal about where God may be inviting you to grow?

5. Caleb shared his own wrestling in the prayer room between "success in the eyes of the world" and "intimacy with God." Drawing from his testimony and from Jeremiah 17:7-8, what do we learn about the character of God that makes Him worthy of the kind of trust that says yes before every answer is clear?

6. Jesus called fishermen and tax collectors, the common and the ordinary, rather than the religious elite. Caleb said many of us quietly believe God could never use someone like us. Where have you seen God use unlikely, ordinary people, and what hope does that give you about your own life?

Putting It into Practice

7. Caleb asked whether we are living in a way that gives God permission to interrupt us. As you prayerfully listen to the Holy Spirit, what is one specific "no-fly zone" or distraction you sense Him asking you to surrender this week, and what would surrendering it actually look like in your daily life?

8. Holy interruptions often begin small, a nudge to pray for someone, to reach out, or to give. What is one concrete step you can take this week to grow in sensitivity and obedience to those small promptings of the Holy Spirit? How can your group check in with you on it next time you gather?

Prayer

9. Listening to the Holy Spirit We're going to take focused time to listen to the Holy Spirit and what He wants to speak to us personally based on our time in Scripture and discussion tonight. Let's sit in silence for 60 seconds and ask the Spirit to speak to each one of us.

[After the minute of silence] What do you sense the Holy Spirit highlighting or speaking to you as we prayed?

10. Prayer Requests from Tonight's Study What prayer requests come up for you based on our Scripture study and discussion tonight? How can we pray for you as you seek to apply what God has shown you?