Each year around this time of year, 40 to 45% of American adults make one or more New Year’s resolutions. But only a week later, on average, we’ve already abandoned one-quarter of those resolutions and by the middle of the year, less than one-half are maintained. No wonder someone once described our New Year’s resolutions like this:
A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one Year and out the other.
Madeline Kane described the process of making New Year’s resolutions like this:
Every December, otherwise rational people make resolutions meant to transform them into organized, addiction-free souls with clean houses, healthy bodies, wholesome relationships, perfect children, and career paths soaring to the top - the same vows they made last year and the year before that.
So I’m not sure that making one or more New Year’s resolutions is really the most profitable thing that we can do this time of year. On the other hand, the end of the year is a good time to look back on the last year and make an honest and sober evaluation of our lives. I think that the Apostle Paul would certainly agree with that based on what he wrote in the book of Romans:
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Romans 12:3 (ESV)
But we need to do more than just look back; we also need to look forward. Again Paul would agree:
…But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13, 14
So rather than making some New Year’s resolutions, which are unlikely to produce any long-term benefit, I want to encourage us to focus on making something that will be profitable for eternity – connections.
If you’ve ever taken time to look at our church logo, you will see that our mission as a body of Christ-followers is to make connections – with God, with others and with our community. Although our logo was designed to be attractive and memorable, what is really important is that it reflects our mission as a church to make disciples, just as Jesus has commanded us to do. Those three aspects of making disciples are found frequently throughout the Bible, but perhaps they are best seen all together in this familiar passage from Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus: Let’s read it out loud together:
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV)
As we get ready to enter a new year, I thought it would be helpful for all of us to be reminded of why we exist as a church and to bring our focus back to those connections that are absolutely essential if we are going to be effective in carrying out the Great Commission and making disciples. In this passage we can clearly see the three sequential steps that are necessary in the cycle of making fully mature disciples of Jesus:
THE PROCESS OF MAKING MATURE DISCIPLES
1. Connecting with God
The first step in the process of becoming a mature disciple is to connect with God by developing a relationship with Him. And the only way that we can begin that relationship is through faith in Jesus. So it’s no surprise that as we read through this passage that Jesus is right at the heart of every single verse. So that you can clearly see that for yourself, here’s what I want you to do. Read through the passage again and circle every reference to Jesus that you can find.
[Give people time to circle references to Jesus]
Depending on exactly how you count them, there are at least seven or eight references to Jesus in just these six verses. Jesus is at the very center and heart of this passage which deals with how to become mature disciples because everything starts with Him.
It’s interesting that if you read through the gospel accounts, you will find that Jesus provides us with three tests to determine whether or not we are in fact His disciples. All three of those passages are found in the book of John and we’ll look at all three this morning. Jesus provided the first of those tests during His visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths, as recorded in John 8:
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31, 32 (ESV)
At first glance, you may read this verse and wonder how I’m applying this to the concept of connecting with God. But when Jesus talks here about knowing the truth, we need to understand that in the overall context of John’s gospel, Jesus is not speaking here of a principle, or a set of facts, He is speaking of a person – Himself. We’re probably all familiar with Jesus’ words in John 14:6 where He claims to be “the way, the truth and the life.” So when Jesus is speaking about knowing the truth, He is very clearly referring to the idea of knowing Him as a person.
As we’ve talked about before, there are several different Greek words for “know”. And the one Jesus uses here is a word that means to come to know by experience. In other words, it is more than just head knowledge. And the only way that it is possible to develop that kind of experiential knowledge is by connecting with Jesus on a consistent basis so that we can develop a relationship with Him.
As Jesus called His followers, the first step in the process of growing them into mature disciples was to spend time with them and to allow them to develop a relationship with Him. And it was only after that process was well under way that Jesus moved on to the second step in the process.
2. Connecting with others
As we read our passage from Ephesians, we not only see that Jesus is at the center of the process, we also see that the process of growing to maturity is not to be carried out in isolation. Our development into mature believers is to be carried out within the body of Christ, where God has placed us alongside other Christ followers who can support us and help us in that process. That’s why Paul doesn’t use the words “me” or “I”, or even “you” in this passage, but rather focuses on “we”.
Jesus certainly modeled the importance of connecting with others as He taught, trained and developed His disciples. Although in a few instances we find Jesus ministering to individuals, we find that the majority of the training of His disciples took place within that community of those who knew Him.
The importance of connecting with others was demonstrated most clearly by Jesus as the disciples gathered together in the upper room on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion. John records that Jesus took a towel and a basin of water and began to wash the disciples’ feet. When He was done, Jesus explained that he had performed that servant’s task as an example to His disciples that they were to love each other with that same kind of sacrificial love. And immediately after that object lesson, Jesus spoke the words that provide us with the second test of a true disciple:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another
John 13:34, 35 (ESV)
So if we want to be mature disciples of Jesus, the second step in the process is that we need to learn to love our fellow believers. And once again, we can’t do that unless we’re willing to spend time with each other so that we can get to know each other and understand each other’s needs and then do whatever we can to meet those needs.
This is such an important aspect of our development as disciples that there are at least 25 different “one another” commands in the New Testament and many of those are repeated in several different places. In my notes, I have the entire list of all the “one another” commands that I could find. I’m not going to read the entire list, but here is a sample of those commands:
• be at peace with one another – Mark 9:50
• love one another – John 13:34, 35; 15:12, 17; 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22, 4:8; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12; 2 John 1:5
• love one another with brotherly affection – Romans 12:10
• live in harmony with one another – Romans 12:16; 15:5
• welcome one another – Romans 15:7
• instruct one another – Romans 15:14
• greet one another with a holy kiss– Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Peter 5:14
• comfort one another – 2 Corinthians 13:11
• agree with one another – 2 Corinthians 13:11
• bear with one another in love – Ephesians 4:2, Colossians 3:13
• be kind to one another – Ephesians 4:32
• forgive one another - Ephesians 4:32
• address one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs – Ephesians 5:19
• submit to one another – Ephesians 5:21
• admonish one another – Colossians 3:16
• encourage one another – 1 Thessalonians 4:18, 5:11; Hebrews 10:25
• build one another up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11
• do good to one another – 1 Thessalonians 5:13
• exhort one another – Hebrews 3:13
• stir up one another to love and good works – Hebrews 10:24
• confess your sins to one another – James 5:16
• pray for one another – James 5:16
• serve one another – 1 Peter 4:10
• clothe yourselves with humility toward one another – 1 Peter 5:5
• have fellowship with one another – 1 John 1:7
But if we want to become mature disciples, it’s not enough to just connect with God and connect with other believers. We must also look outside the body and be…
3. Caring for our community
I think that we find the ultimate goal of being a mature disciple in verse 12 of our passage. You see, the responsibility of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherd teachers is not to do all the ministry in the body, but rather to equip every member of the body to do “the work of ministry”. I like to summarize that principle like this:
Every member is a minister.
That becomes much easier for us to understand once we realize that most of the ministry of our church does not take place within the walls of this building. It occurs when our members go down to the Gospel Rescue Mission to help feed the homeless or hand out Christmas gifts to children who would otherwise have nothing. It occurs on the second Wednesday of each month when members of our church family serve a meal at the Women and Children’s Center and share the gospel and pray with those women and children. It occurs in the classrooms of both public and private schools here in this city where teachers who are part of this body minister to the needs of the children in their classrooms in the name of Jesus, even though they are not permitted to even speak His name.
It occurs in our home and neighborhoods where we serve the needs of others in the name of Jesus. It occurs when our church family gives generously so that Wes and Julie Shoemaker can purchase a vehicle that will facilitate their ministry in a remote village in Mexico. And that only scratches the surface because frankly there is ministry going on every day that I know nothing about.
As we might expect, Jesus confirmed this third step in the discipleship process with His own words:
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
John 15:8 (ESV)
The third test of true disciples is that they bear much fruit. And in the context in which Jesus spoke these words, it is clear that the fruit He is speaking about here are the “works of ministry” that impact the lives of people outside the body.
Because these three steps in the process of making disciples are so important, we have intentionally designed everything that we do here at Thornydale to facilitate those three aspects of discipleship. Whenever anyone suggests a new ministry or program, the first question that must be answered is “How does that facilitate on or more of these three steps in the discipleship process?” That is the litmus test which determines whether we even give further consideration to that particular suggestion. Since we have limited resources, both in terms of people and finances, we need to make sure that everything we do furthers the disciple-making process.
Because these three steps are so critical, let me take a few minutes in closing to share with you…
THREE ESSENTIALS FOR MAKING THESE THREE CONNECTIONS
1. Every member of the body needs to make all three connections
As I’ve already pointed out, Paul didn’t write these words to just the church leaders. They are for the entire body. Paul is clear that it is his desire that the whole body be built up to spiritual maturity and that can only occur when every part of the body carries out his or her function. Paul reinforced that same idea in another of his letters:
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Romans 12:4, 5 (ESV)
Since the development of disciples is a process, we should expect that within the body of Christ we are all going to be at different points in that process. But the goal for all of us should be to grow in our walk with Jesus to the point where we are actively making all three of these connections on a consistent basis.
So if you’ve never started that process by making a connection to God through faith in Jesus Christ, we invite you to do that this morning. One of the main goals of our worship service every Sunday morning is to proclaim Jesus and His incarnation, sinless life, death and resurrection since that is the only basis for connecting with God and beginning a relationship with Him. Everything we do here, the singing, the prayers, the “In the Bag” object lesson and the message are all designed to point people to Jesus and invite them to connect with Him.
So whether you’re here for the first time this morning or you’ve been attending here for quite some time, if you have never committed your life to Jesus and trusted in Him alone as the basis for your relationship with God, please don’t leave her today until you’ve settled that matter. You can fill out the flap of the bulletin and check the box that says “I’d like to learn more about a relationship with Jesus”. You can talk to Pastor Dana or me after the service. Or you can learn more on our website or by picking one of the yellow sheets in the foyer that explain in more detail how to do that.
But there are some of you here that have already done that, maybe even some time ago and now you’re ready to move onto the second step of connecting with the other believers in this body. The best way to begin that connection is to commit to membership here at TFC. We’ll be having a New Member’s Class after the first of the year which is the first step in that process. We also invite you participate in one of our smaller groups that gather together with other believers around God’s Word.
Our “Connections” Bible study which meets on Sunday morning after the worship service is a great place to get to know other people in this body, to pray for their needs and to discuss how we can help each other apply the Bible in our day-to-day lives.
Or you can take part in one of our Bible study groups that meet during the week. There is a group of men that meets here at the church every week on Tuesdays at 6:30 a.m. or a group of women that meets on Wednesday afternoons at Billie Mixon’s House. We also have our “Thursdays with Each Other” every week right here at the church.
Although all of those events certainly enhance our connection with God through the study of His Word, they are designed to help move us beyond that first step and enable us to develop deeper relationships with the other believers God has placed in this body. And if you’re not taking part in one or more of those groups, then you’re missing out on that part of your spiritual development.
And then once you develop those connections within the body, you will be much better equipped to move outside these walls and minister to the needs of others. Some of you will choose to do that by participating in ministry events together with other members of this body, like some of our projects with the Gospel Rescue Mission. And for others your ministry will take place in your jobs, your homes and other places in the community. But you will be able to do that knowing that you have a support group right here that will be able to come alongside you to pray for you and help you out as you minister to others.
2. All three connections are essential elements for spiritual growth
It is clear from our passage that the ultimate goal of participating in this process of discipleship is that we should all grow to spiritual maturity so that we wouldn’t be subject to the deceit and false teaching that is so prevalent in our world. And it is also clear that in order for us to mature to that point, we need to engage in all three connections on a consistent basis.
Earlier, when we looked at the three statements of Jesus that provided us with the three proofs of a genuine disciple, we could see that there was a logical progression there. It started with the connection with God, progressed into the connection with other believers and ultimately arrived at the point of bearing fruit as we care for the community. But as we saw there and throughout this message this morning, none of these three connections exist in isolation from the others. And in order for us to grow to maturity in Jesus, we need to engage in all three steps, not just one or two of them.
We see that principle throughout the Scriptures. A little earlier in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul had demonstrated this same idea in a slightly different way in this familiar passage:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)
Most of us are probably familiar with verses 8 and 9 where Paul describes the means by which we can connect with God through faith in Jesus. At first the idea of connecting with others is not quite as obvious, but then we realize that the “you” and “your” in verse 8 are plural – we could translate it “y’all have been saved through faith. And this is not y’all’s own doing…” And then when we get to verse 10, Paul uses the word “we” twice. In other words, all of this is to take place within the body where we are connected with others.
And then in verse 10, Paul sets the stage for what he’ll write later in chapter 4 when he makes the point that our relationship with God is to result in good works as we care for the needs of those both inside and outside of the body.
So if you want to be a mature follower of Jesus, you must connect with God, connect with others and care for the community. All three are required courses in God’s discipleship curriculum.
3. Every member of the body is responsible for helping others to make these connections in their lives
Although these three steps are essential in developing our own spiritual maturity, they also have a further purpose. We are to use these three building blocks as the basis for taking our relationship with Jesus and doing whatever we can to pass it on to others. In other words, we not only need to make these connections in our own lives, we are also responsible for helping others to make those same connections. That is exactly what the Great Commission is all about:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
As Jesus spoke to His followers that were gathered together with Him right before He ascended to the Father, He gave them their marching orders. And those same orders still apply to every one of His followers.
As I’ve pointed out before, I don’t think I would have chosen to do it this way, but Jesus, in His complete sovereignty, has determined that the only way that these connections are to be passed from generation to generation is by those who have already made the connections in their own lives. God has no other plan for doing that.
I think that is why Paul, in his letter to a young pastor emphasized the importance of passing on what we have been entrusted with to others:
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
2 Timothy 2:1, 2 (ESV)
We are to be strengthened each day by the grace that is in Jesus. But that is not just for our own well-being. We must take that which has been entrusted to us and pass it on to future generations of Christ followers.
If you really want to make some New Year’s resolutions this year, I certainly won’t discourage you from doing that. But what I really want to encourage you to do this morning is to make a commitment to making connections, not just for this coming year, but as a lifestyle. And as you connect with God, connect with others and care for our community and help others to do the very same thing, you will prove to yourself and to the world that you are truly Jesus’ disciples.
