2011 – Living for Jesus Above All Else
Various Scriptures
December 26, 2010
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY'S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Audio of this sermon can be found at www.aberdeenwesleyan.org
Me: I’m excited to talk to you guys this morning, because I’m going to talk to you about what God has been laying on my heart as the direction I believe He wants us to take this next calendar year.
Here in 2010 we’ve been focusing on the family – the family of God and individual families.
Most of the messages this year have reflected that theme, and we’ve tried to do things outside the church service to help us develop and deepen those relationships.
I’ve had a good time doing that, and my hope is that some of you have been pushed by the Holy Spirit in some of the areas we’ve covered so that you could have better and deeper relationships both in your physical family and in the family of God.
Over the past number of months I’ve felt God telling me that what he wants us to emphasize this coming year is this whole area of discipleship.
I believe God wants us to help people become authentic followers of Jesus who live for Him 24/7.
Over the years I’ve hammered on the fact that Jesus hates “lip-service” Christianity, and that what He really wants is “life-service” Christianity.
He wants you and me to live for Him above all else.
Can I just tell you something about myself?
Sometimes I fall into the category of “lip-service” instead of “life-service.”
I gave my life to Jesus back in the fall of 1982, and I was blessed with having people in my life to help me start living for Jesus right away.
I wasn’t perfect, of course, and I’m still not.
And there have been times in my life when I’ve just been on fire for Jesus and other times when I’m just kinda “whatever” about Him.
And even some times when I’ve been rather cold about Him.
But I also need to tell you that during the times of “whatever” and the times of being cold toward Him, in the back of my mind and heart, I was still desiring Him and desiring to be more tight with Jesus.
We: And my guess is that I’m not the only one like that here today.
I’m just silly enough to believe that there are some of you here today or who will be listening to this on the website who want more of Jesus.
People who know in their hearts that there has to be more to this Christianity thing that just forcing yourself to get up for church on Sunday.
You know that God has something more for you. You know that Jesus offered a full and abundant life to those who will follow Him and you want that for yourself.
You want a deeper, more meaningful relationship with God.
Or maybe you feel God possibly nudging you to greater involvement in ministry in one form or another, and you want to become better equipped for that.
But maybe you don’t know where to start, or maybe you’ve just needed an extra push to help get you going.
Others maybe used to have a great relationship with Jesus, but for one reason or another that’s faded away.
I’m praying that God will give each and every single one of us a desire to live for Jesus. All the time. In every situation. No matter the cost.
And because I’m sure that I’m not the only one who wants an even deeper life-changing relationship with Jesus, we’re going to spend this next year focusing on how we can be better disciples of Jesus every year and every day.
God: Why is this so important that we are going to spend an entire year focusing on it?
Because making disciples is a command of Jesus for the Church.
Matthew 28:19-20 –
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Now I want you to notice a few things here:
First, you need to understand that the command in this passage isn’t “Go.”
For generations we’ve been told that Jesus is telling us to “Go.” However, that is not the case.
The phrase in the original Greek language of the New Testament is, “As you are going, make disciples.”
The implication here is that Jesus planned on us taking the gospel with us wherever we go and whatever we do.
Second, Jesus doesn’t say, “Make churchgoers of all nations.”
Plenty of people in church aren’t loving and living for Jesus. When they walk out the door, they’re just like everybody else, with no real difference between them and people who don’t go to church or claim to love Jesus.
Third, Jesus doesn’t say, “Make believers of all nations.”
In other words, the job of the church isn’t just to lead people to salvation, as important as that is, and as important as I’ve tried to help you believe it is.
Because the fact is, if they are not believers, they don’t have forgiveness and heaven.
But we’re not supposed to stop there. We’re supposed to make disciples.
“So are you going to quit beating us up about leading people to Jesus?”
Not hardly! A person has to be a believer before they can be a disciple. So it always has to start with people sharing Jesus with others and helping them come to faith in Christ.
But belief is on the beginning of discipleship.
So let’s move on and talk about just what a disciple is:
Here’s how Merriam-Webster® defines a disciple:
1. One who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: as…
a. one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ’s followers according to the gospel accounts;
By the way, this is a mistake.
The inner circle of Jesus’ followers weren’t just disciples, they were called “apostles.”
The Bible calls a lot of people disciples of Jesus, not just the Twelve.
Maybe you’re sitting here today and you’re wondering how you could be a disciple, because that was just the Twelve.
But that’s not the case. Everyone who loves Jesus can be a disciple.
b. a convinced adherent of a school or individual.
I want you to catch something there:
“A convinced adherent of a school or individual.”
The key phrase here is “convinced adherent,” and the key word here is “convinced.”
This means that a disciple is someone who totally buys the idea of Jesus and living for Him, and will do what it takes to make that happen.
Does that describe you? If not, why not?
A synonym for “disciple” is “follower.”
Listen to how Merriam-Webster® defines the word, “follower:”
1. One in the service of another.
2. One that follows the opinions and teachings of another.
3. One that imitates another.
There is a great question that I think we need to ask and implement. Unfortunately that question became a fad and became a joke not only among Christians but also in the world in general:
“What would Jesus do?”
This is a real good question. It forces us to really study the Scriptures so we can capture the character of Jesus that we can implement in our given situations.
It helps us become imitators of Jesus.
The book it came from was, “In His Steps,” by Charles Sheldon. It came out in 1896, has sold over 30 million copies and is the 39th best-selling book of all time.
If you haven’t read it, I would suggest you do that during January. It won’t take long, and it might just change your life, just like it has mine. I’ve read it about half a dozen times and plan to read it again myself.
Back to the definition of a follower;
Archaic: One that chases.
Huh? Chases? What’s that about?
It means to pursue intently.
Now I really like that. And I found myself wondering, “How many people chase Jesus anymore?” And, “When was the last time I could describe myself as chasing Jesus?” And I couldn’t think of anytime really since the early 1990’s.
I’ve loved Him all that time. I’ve studied His Word, prayed to Him, tried to obey Him, worked and spoken for Him.
But when was the last time I could say that I wanted Jesus so much I was willing to “chase” Him?
I’m begging God to help me with that. I want to be a “chaser” of Jesus.
I want to get to the point where Jesus looks back and says, “You again? When are you going to leave me alone?”
The good news is that Jesus would never say that. He WANTS people to chase Him, to pursue Him intently.
A disciple is someone who says they want more than just “fire insurance” from hell.
They want everything that God has for them. They want everything that God wants for them.
They want significance and meaning and purpose for their life.
They want to live for something outside of themselves and their comfort.
They want to live for Jesus – 24/7/365.
And folks, that was Jesus’ intent all along.
He wants people who, like Him, are tired of going through the motions and trying to say the “proper” stuff, but have no real motivation to actually live for Him, even – and maybe even especially – when it’s inconvenient to do so.
Because the warning is this: being a disciple sets you apart.
When you decide to live for Jesus, you will find yourself at odds with people who don’t think it’s important to live for Him.
Your priorities will change, your attitudes and actions will change (which might cost you in other ways like how you do business, handle your money, how you handle your free time, etc.), and there will be plenty of people who won’t appreciate that very much.
Some will pressure you to give it up, others will ridicule you, others will decide that they’d rather not hang out with you anymore.
And the hardest part of this is that some of those people might be your family and other loved ones.
But Jesus said that real discipleship costs something: allegiance to ourselves and to others who would pull you away from Jesus.
Listen to these words of Jesus:
Luke 9:23 –
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 14:26 –
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.”
“Gee, thanks, Pastor Brian! I’m really fired up to be a disciple now that I know that it might cost me friends, family, and re-arranging my WHOLE LIFE which might cost me friends and other things. Where do I sign up!”
Before you wonder about whether or not it’s worth it to be a disciple, let me remind you of something else Jesus says, in John 10 –
John 10:10 –
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Who is He talking about? His followers. He is saying that His followers will get that full and abundant life that He came to bring them.
And let me tell you something: Jesus isn’t stingy. His blessings are always great.
He is saying here that if we’ll live for Him, He’ll make it worth it for us, even if it’s not always apparent at the moment.
So the question you have to deal with over the next year is this:
Will I respond to Jesus call to be a disciple?
You: 1. Start with prayer.
Some of you might be sitting here thinking, “Okay, I like the idea of living for Jesus, but I’m not sure I’m ready to pay the cost.”
Ask Him to help you be willing.
I’ve quoted this verse a lot, but I want to bring it up again, because it’s appropriate as we not only contemplate becoming a disciple, but also when we’re in the midst of that, struggling to remain faithful to Him.
Philippians 2:13 –
“For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants.”
Make that the prayer of your heart, and watch the Spirit turn your heart to Jesus and living for Him.
He will help you become the “convinced adherent” that a disciple needs to be.
2. Take the initiative to draw closer to Christ on your own, through:
- Getting in the Word (4-week series on how to do that coming up in two weeks).
- Reading helpful materials to help you develop godly disciplines of Bible study, prayer, application of the Word, etc.
- Seeking godly fellowship with people of like-mind and determination to live for Jesus.
3. Help this church in its mission to help others become disciples of Jesus.
You do that by getting involved in our outreach efforts, getting involved in our Sunday School and Bible studies, etc.
You do that by praying with and for our church.
You do that by offering your gifts and talents to God through the ministries of this church.
We: Would you agree that there is plenty of “religion” around, but not nearly enough real-life living for Jesus?
Would you agree that our area would benefit from more people giving Jesus life-service instead of lip-service?
I hope so, because both of those things are true.
A church filled with disciples is a strong, effective, Spirit-filled church.
A church filled with disciples can be used by God to advance His kingdom here in our area and around the world, and therefore able to fulfill the mission Jesus gave it.
But discipleship isn’t a group thing. It’s an individual thing.
An effective church needs to be filled with individuals who have made the decision to follow Jesus above all else.
But the church can’t force that to happen.
Discipleship is something that you and God come to grips with one-on-one.
My hope is that you will be brave enough to take on that struggle and become intentional about being a disciple.
If you’re not sure of all that yet, but you’d like to talk with me, I’d be thrilled to visit with you over a cup of coffee sometime.
This thing is very dear to my heart. And I hope it will become close to yours as well.
Let’s pray.
