Pastor Blaine continues in Matthew 9 as he preaches through the passage where Jesus calls Matthew the tax collector to follow Him, showing how Jesus turns sinners into disciples. Matthew 9:9-17 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” Sermon Notes: Main Idea: Jesus Makes Sinners into Disciples I. Disciples Are Not Prequalified by Righteousness II. Disciples Are Not Measured by Mere Ritual Discussion Questions: 1. Disciples are not prequalified by righteousness. What does our spiritual sickness (death) say about everyone’s need for a Savior? How does this change our view and evangelism? What about our need for world missions? 2. Pastor Blaine said that disciples are not measured by mere ritual. If this is so, then what are the marks of a true disciple? 3. Rituals are not a bad thing. What are some rituals Christians practice today? What is the purpose of these rituals?