God calls us to be disciples of Jesus, building community through
service and fellowship and sharing the love of Christ with all.
“The United Methodist Church of Westford is an open and welcoming community of Christian
Faith. Without any exceptions, we welcome anyone who seeks to love and to serve God.” Learn More
The 9:30 am worship service will be held tomorrow morning, Sunday February 25, as usual. There will be no Coffee Hour afterward, and Youth Choir practice has been cancelled.
In Matthew 4, Jesus does not begin his ministry by searching for model disciples or spiritual experts. He walks along the ordinary shores of Galilee and calls fishermen who are busy doing what they have always done. There are no interviews, no tests of readiness, no assurances of perfection. Jesus does not ask them to understand everything or to promise faithfulness forever. He asks only one thing: “Follow me.”
The first disciples were not called because they were exemplary. They were called because they were willing. Their first act of discipleship was not getting it right, but letting go - leaving their nets behind. Those nets represented more than a job; they were security, identity, routine, and control. And yet, to follow Jesus meant trusting that life would be found not in what they held onto, but in the One who was calling them forward.
This story invites us to ask what nets we are still holding. What keeps us anchored to the familiar, even when it limits our freedom? What do we cling to out of fear, habit, or comfort, even as Christ stands nearby offering life? Discipleship begins not with perfection, but with release - with the courage to loosen our grip and step into what God is unfolding before us.
“Leaving nets” is not about loss for its own sake. It is about discovering life - life shaped by grace, purpose, healing, and hope. Jesus calls us, just as we are, from ordinary places into a journey where light breaks into darkness and the kingdom of God comes near. And still today, the invitation remains: not to be model disciples, but to be willing followers, trusting that in leaving our nets behind, we may finally find life.