Helping People Find And Follow Jesus Series

HPFFJ: Helping People Find and Follow Jesus

2 Kings 5:1-19a

#HPFFJ

INTRODUCTION

Two people left the same parking lot after church. Both turned right. Both got on the same highway. For the first ten miles, they could see each other. One was headed home. The other was headed out of town. At the first fork, one took the ramp marked North. The other stayed South. From a distance, it looked like nothing changed—same speed, same road, same direction. But a few miles later, one was pulling into a familiar driveway while the other was crossing a county line.

If you had asked them at the beginning, “Are you going the same way?” they would have said, yes.

If you asked them at the end, the answer would have been obvious… no.

Going in the same direction for a while is not the same as going to the same destination.

THREAD: The purpose of Cincinnati Christian Church is to “Help People Find and Follow Jesus.”

This statement is not only direction for our church, but the destination to which we are called as a church family. It is where we end up. Before we ring in the New Year of 2025, I would like us to pause and focus on the purpose of our Church. We always do this at the beginning of each calendar year. It is important to gather as a church family and orient ourselves all in the same direction… the purpose of Cincinnati Christian Church is to “Help People Find and Follow Jesus.” As I reflected on this statement and the word “direction,” I think I like the word “destination” a little better. Every single thing that we do needs to fall under this umbrella statement of purpose and direction. Everything... because it is our destination as a church family.

A KEY CONCEPT OF THIS PURPOSE STATEMENT IS “WITNESS”

A key outward concept in the purpose statement of our church is that each of us should make sure that on a regular basis each of us is being a witness for Jesus. That is the “find” part of the statement. “Witness” is a word the Bible uses when it comes to sharing faith. A witness tells about Jesus Christ. A witness is one that testifies on evidence that they have seen and heard.

Jesus Christ says in Matthew 10:16-20

READ MATTHEW 10:16-20 (ESV)

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for My sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

Jesus, in describing His disciples making their way through the world, encourages them to be witnesses of their time with Jesus. He even tells them that the Holy Spirit will give them the words needed when they need it.

THREAD: The purpose of Cincinnati Christian Church is to “Help People Find and Follow Jesus.”

A KEY CONCEPT OF THIS PURPOSE STATEMENT IS “DISCIPLESHIP”

A key inward concept in the purpose statement of our church is that each if us should make learning to live like Jesus a priority on a regular basis. That is the “follow” part of the statement. A follower of Jesus is a disciple of Jesus. Another name for this is “believer.” You can also use the term “Christian” if you want but sometimes that word does not mean what we think it means. A disciple is a believer in Jesus who seeks to follow Jesus each day.

A disciple is “one who responds in faith and obedience to the gracious call to follow Jesus Christ. Being a disciple is a lifelong process of dying to self while allowing Jesus Christ to come alive in us” (Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials, page 24). Or to put it another way, “A disciple is simply someone who believes in Jesus and seeks to follow him in his or her daily life” (Billy Graham, kansascity.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/billy-graham/article77272832.html).

Jesus Christ describes following Him in Matthew 16…

READ MATTHEW 16:24 (ESV)

“Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”

THREAD: The purpose of Cincinnati Christian Church is to “Help People Find and Follow Jesus.”

This is who we are.

TRANSITION

I would like us to focus on an Old Testament passage as we think about our church mission statement. This is a little odd since “Helping People Find and Follow Jesus” is not even a possible thing until the birth of the church in the book of Acts in the New Testament, but the principles of “finding and following” God are 100% present in the Old Testament. “Witness” and “follow” is in the Old Testament.