Dynamics of Effective Discipleship
Acts 20:1-12
Intro: What is discipleship? Some of the last words Jesus spoke to His followers was for them to make disciples. What did that mean for them and what does it mean for us? It helps us to review how Jesus made disciples.
-Rob Bell speaks on the selection process that Jewish Rabbis would use to choose their disciples. At the Age of 6, children would begin to learn the Torah, this training was called Bat cipher, from 8 to 10 they would have the Torah memorized (Gen. – Deut.); by the end of bat-cipher, most kids would go and learn their family trade, but the best of the best would advance to the next level. The ones with the most natural ability would then memorize (Gen to Mal); after this the best of the best of the best would then apply to a rabbi to become his disciple.
-What did Jesus do with the 12 disciples? Well, He called them to follow Him and to become fulltime students under His tutelage. It was an honor to be chosen by a rabbi for fulltime instruction. It meant that he saw something in you that told Him it would be worth his time to invest his life in you. As the disciples followed Jesus, they learned by watching Him, listening to Him, imitating Him, making mistakes, studying the Scriptures in light of His instruction, asking questions, and so on.
-We believe that Jesus wants us to be disciples and to make disciples. We all need to commit ourselves to being lifetime learners of God and His word, the Bible. We also need to discover how to pass it on to others. How do we get involved in the teaching, training, and transforming of people into mature disciples who love God and others?
-We will be looking at some dynamics of effective discipleship today. However, before we jump in, consider this statement:
Prop: The positive impact we have on others is directly related to how effective we are in being and making disciples.
Int. Sentence: In light of that, how should we approach discipleship?
TS: Let’s look at a few marks of effective discipleship.
I. Effective Discipleship Is Marked by a Positive Team Approach (Acts 20:1-6)
1 When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia. 2 He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, 3 where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. 4 He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. 5 These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. 6 But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.
-It appears that Paul may have arrived in Troas on Easter Sunday or Monday. Luke chose not to break up his narrative with any comments about the 5-days journey between Philippi and Troas, nor about anything that happened during their 7 days in Troas. Nevertheless, we can look at the big event of this passage and at the very least appreciate the fact that Resurrection Day, or First Fruits, had just come and gone, reminding them all that Jesus had conquered death, having risen from the dead. These details are just part of the background of the story, but they are of interest.
-Let’s focus for a moment on Paul’s model of discipleship. As was his custom, he got together with the disciples at Ephesus and encouraged them. After bidding them farewell, he went off to Macedonia to encourage other disciples. See, Paul knew that it was not all about him. He knew it was all about Jesus and that it took a team approach to carry out the great task that the Lord had called them to.
-Luke lists 7 godly men who were part of the team. We won’t stop to comment on each one due to time, but each one was a faithful Christ follower and helped make the team effective. BTW, vv.5-6 show us that Luke is traveling with Paul during this time. He uses “us” and “we” to show that he was with Paul as a firsthand eyewitness.
-So Paul approached discipleship by gathering believers together as a team and then encouraging them all along the way to spread the good news about Jesus and to honor and obey Him each day.
-What does this mean to us? We need to remember that we are all on the same team. We also need to realize that we can be much more effective at being and making disciples if we will get together as a team and encourage one another. There probably isn’t a person in here who would say they are not busy. We’ve all got things going on in our lives that eat up our time and energy. We’re busy, but are we busy making disciples? I believe that we can begin to link our lives together more effectively so that we can approach discipleship as a team. Teams practice together, work together, plan together, laugh together, win together, and get together.
-None of us can be as effective alone as we can when we are part of a team effort. So, let’s rethink any independent mindset that makes us think that we don’t need to give and receive support from others in the body of Christ.
-TS: That leads us to the 2nd dynamic of effective discipleship:
II. Effective Discipleship Is Marked by a Sense of Spiritual Community (Acts 20:7)
7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.
-Possibly one week after the commemoration of Resurrection Day, Paul and the believers at Troas were gathered together on the first day of the week. This could have been Saturday evening to us, since the evening marked the beginning of the next day in that culture. In fact, there is a Jewish gathering called the havdalah ceremony, which marks the end of the Sabbath Day, and welcomes the coming of the new week. Havdalah means division or distinction. Most Jews and some God-fearing Gentiles attended Synagogue during the Sabbath and rested at home, reading portions of Scripture. At the end of Sabbath, they would gather with some friends for this havdalah ceremony. It is my theory that this “built-in” gathering time was the time the early Christians came together to break bread.
-Remember, the first day of the week began some time around 6PM on Saturday evening- or whenever it was dark. By the way, most Bible scholars consider the breaking of bread to be what we know as communion. So, it is likely that early believers gathered at the conclusion of Sabbath and had communion together to honor the Lord of the Sabbath, proclaiming His death till He comes.
-Again, all of these background facts are interesting to me, but the really important thing we need to see here is found in these 3 words from v.7: “we came together.”
-Why did they come together and what was the nature of their gathering? They came together to break bread. They came together for a spiritual purpose – to remember the Lord’s death, and to thank Him for what He did on the cross. They also came together for the same reason we gather together on a day like today. They came together for fellowship, worship, ministry, and discipleship. They realized that they needed one another and they needed the ministry that would take place as they interacted together. They also knew that if they wanted to share the good news about Jesus with others through their lives during the coming week, then they needed this time of connection and encouragement. This sense of spiritual community played a huge role in developing disciples.
-We need it too! Not just Sunday morning church, but “spiritual community.” Community is everywhere everyday. Community is interconnectedness. Community is acceptance and a place to belong. Community is a team working together toward a common cause. We need to develop a greater sense of spiritual community so that those who follow Christ can continue to grow and develop into what God wants them to be. We need genuine spiritual community so that others will want to become disciples of Jesus.
-TS: Well, the next few verses show us one essential trait of an effective disciple.
III. Effective Discipleship Calls for a Complete Trust in God (Acts 20:8-12)
8 There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. "Don’t be alarmed," he said. "He’s alive!" 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
-Sometimes things don’t go the way we think they should. This scene had all the makings of a bad day (or night) on it. Here is a young disciple who falls asleep, falls out the window, and dies. That could really ruin a good meeting in a hurry!
-Paul, however, refused to take death for an answer. He did not rebuke any demons or blame the devil. He just ran down and embraced the young man, and with complete and total confidence in God, he offered reassurance to those around him that everything was okay. "Don’t be alarmed," he said. "He’s alive!" Why was he alive? Because Paul prayed for him! Paul trusted God to breathe new life into Eutychus, and God did!
-I find it interesting that a resurrection would take place within a week of the commemoration of Resurrection Day. It was one thing to think about the resurrection of Jesus and hear the story about everything that happened. It was another thing to actually see somebody raised from the dead by the power of God. Yet, even the greatest miracles often leave the skeptic a skeptic. It is harder to believe than not to, so there will always be a reason to doubt for the skeptic. However, for those who follow Jesus Christ as disciples of His, their faith is strengthened each time they hear of an answer to prayer or a miracle. True disciples are learning to trust completely in the One who called them to follow Him! It is this simple trust in such a powerful God that will result in miracles of healing, deliverance, reconciliation, and yes, even people being raised from the dead.
-Do you trust the Lord with your life? Do you trust the Lord with your family and their lives? Do you trust the Lord with your future, your finances, your hopes and dreams? If you cannot say YES in some area of your life, that is okay. I do not condemn you for that. However, I encourage you to go deeper with the Lord and get to know Him better. After all, how can you trust someone you do not know very well? The more you know Jesus, the more reason you will have to trust Him in every area of your life. He knows what He is doing. He has a specific plan for your life, and that plan includes developing your faith and trust in Him to the highest possible level.
-And if you think that you are alone in your faith development, remember that the close disciples of Jesus once had very small faith. Matthew 8:25-26: "Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!" 26 He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.”
-We’ve all had times of “little faith.” However, the Lord is working in us and through us to make us the people of faith He wants us to be.
Conclusion: As we close, how can we be the disciples Jesus wants us to be? Furthermore, how can we make disciples like He told us to? Some of the things we can do are… 1) Be a Team Player. 2) Do all you can to promote a sense of spiritual community with other disciples. 3) Learn to trust the Lord with everything you’ve got!
-Sometimes we face obstacles in these areas. Maybe things like pride or fear, or past hurts keep us from being a team player. Maybe we have trouble accepting others and really being part of a community because we’ve faced rejection in our lives. Maybe someone has broken your trust so you have trouble trusting people and the Lord. I don’t have any easy answers for these very real challenges. However, I do know that Jesus will help you get through each and every one of them, if you will let Him.
-Will you just say this simple prayer to the Lord today? “Lord, make me whole! Fix the broken parts in me.” If you ask, I believe that He will do it. He has probably been working in you already, but it will go much better with your surrender and cooperation with Him. He loves you and wants to develop you into the disciple you were meant to be!
Let’s pray.
