Last week we talked about how this door represents the door to WFA. When someone knocks on your door and you are a welcoming person like Mr. Rogers, you say…. “Come in”, “make yourself at home”, “welcome”.
The way we live our lives, the words we speak to guests in the church and outside the church, the expressions on our faces all speak messages.
We looked at Luke 14 and the parable where the Master said, “I WANT MY HOUSE TO BE FULL”! He is not content with a ‘good’ crowd as long as there are empty seats. Then we looked at the evitations of Christ. Evites because they require a response.
His words are invitational. “Come”
Last week we covered these three:
1) John 1:39 – “Come and you will see”
2) Matthew 4:19 – “Come, follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men”.
3) John 7:37b-38 – “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Today, we will look at two more evites from our Savior.
4) John 1:43 – “COME be my disciple”
The fourth evite is to a deeper walk with Christ.
Video – Disciple – Stop at :47 second mark ("Disciple" video from sermonspice.com)
We are saved for more than warming a pew on Sunday morning. Discipleship is a word many people seem to run from or be scared of. To be a disciple of Christ however, is an invitation to become like Christ. In biblical times, to become someone’s disciple meant that you hung with them, spent time with them, learned from them, talked with them, listened to them. Sometime in the walking with them, their heart was uploaded to yours. People could tell whose disciple you were because you acted like them. Oh, don’t you hope for that? That people can just tell you are a DISCIPLE of Christ because He has rubbed off on you. As a disciple, we are called to:
• Be Transformed – Romans 12:1-2 “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
That is a disciple, a transformed person, not simply an accumulator of information or one who merely changes moral behavior, but a man or woman who has been transformed and is passionately following after God in every area of their lives.
• To LOVE - John 13:34-35 – “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Noticeable concern and care for each other will signal to the world that we are Christ’s disciples. That is one of the things that I most LOVE about WFA is that you seem to genuinely love one another. The world will not know we are Christians by our flawless theology, our fervent evangelism, our dynamic prayer life, all of which are very important. The world will know that we are Christians by our LOVE for each other.
This world is starving for TRUE, Biblical love to be lived out in the lives of normal, everyday people like you and me. For people who aren’t related to treat one another like family, to do life together, is an incredible witness to the world.
Jesus evites you to be HIS disciple, what is your response? Our last evitation is…
5) Matthew 11:28 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
From “Experiencing the Heart of Jesus” by Max Lucado.
“I need to learn to travel light. You’re wondering why I can’t. Loosen up! You’re thinking. You can’t enjoy a journey carrying so much stuff. Why don’t you just drop all that luggage? Funny you should ask. I’d like to inquire the same of you. Haven’t you been known to pick up a few bags?
Lugging luggage is exhausting.
What you were saying to me, God is saying to you, ‘Set that stuff down! You’re carrying burdens you don’t need to bear.’”
“Come to me,” he invites, “all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NLT).
I Peter 5:7 adds, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”
Phillips translation says, “You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon Him, for you are His personal concern.”
We were not designed to carry worries, burdens, pain”. He wants us to place those on Him. Let Him carry your concerns. Let Him bear your burdens. Let Him wield your worries. Let Him possess your pain. Before He can give you rest, you have to admit that you are not big enough to carry your own burdens, that you need a burden bearer. It’s like flying with the family and waiting to get your luggage off the carousel. If Bryson, my almost 7-yr. old would grab the largest suitcase and begin to drag it away, it wouldn’t take him too long to decide that someone big and strong is needed for that bag. So he asks his mother for her help. She comes to the rescue and gives it to me. Speaking of flying, in an effort to get around the bag fees a lady named Jenny created the Rufus Roo vest. You wear it and you pack your clothes into it. So you literally are wearing your baggage, or rather, you become your baggage. Does that describe you at all? Have you become your baggage? Have you carried your baggage for so long that it has become part of you? Aren’t you tired of carrying that extra weight? COME! Are you weary today? COME. Are you burdened? COME.
Drama – “Baggage”
(Great skit. We did it live, but a video is also available at skitguys.com. As the skit is finishing up, our worship team started the song "At the Foot of the Cross" Kathryn Scott version)
In this season of Christmas shopping, returns and exchanges, you can make the greatest exchange in your life. One verse in this song says:
Trade these ashes in for beauty
And wear forgiveness like a crown
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy
I lay every burden down
At the foot of the cross
Are you weary and burdened down with baggage, He can give you rest. Remember I Peter 5:7, “You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon Him, for you are His personal concern.”
For some of you that means giving your baggage to Jesus for the first time and for others that means giving your baggage to Him again. If you don’t give your baggage to Jesus, you are likely to pass on your baggage to others, especially your kids. Give it up so you don’t give it out.
