The question: Are you a “Christian” or are you a disciple?
Perhaps you have been a Christian for years.
There was that point in your life when you discovered Jesus for yourself.
Maybe, something happened that caused you to seek comfort, or meaning or healing in your life.
Maybe your parents were Christians and they took you to Church and Sunday School.
Maybe, you became aware of a need inside your heart that you could not explain.
Maybe, God revealed Himself to you in some way.
Maybe, a friend invited you to church and it felt like the preacher was speaking directly into your life.
However it started, you became aware of the message of the Gospel, Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, born to die because of your sin, your iniquities.
You realised that Jesus was the Saviour and that by trusting in Him you would be set free from the penalty of your sin.
You realised that Jesus was the Messiah,
God’s anointed one and that by turning to Him in repentance He would save you.
Then there was a hunger in your heart and mind to learn more about the things of God.
You wanted to draw closer to Him, to grow in Him.
To be like Him.
You read what you could, you went to church,
you listened to sermons,
you went to Bible Studies, you went to prayer meetings,
you told other people about how important being in a relationship with Jesus was.
You wanted to fill every moment with worshipping and serving your Lord and Saviour.
You were on a different journey you were walking with Jesus everyday and you loved it!
You were excited and you always looked forward to the next step of your Christian walk.
BUT you came to a fork in the road,
something happened that caused you to make a choice about your journey,
something happened and that burning desire to follow Jesus,
to share Jesus, to be like Jesus, started to cool off.
Over time, your fire for God became lukewarm.
Learning about God, took a lower priority in your life.
In-depth Bible studies turned into a quick dip into a five minute daily devotional.
Your daily prayers of praise and worship turned into ad-hoc shopping lists of wants and needs.
And being an active participant in church became
turning up for a couple of hours on a Sunday if it fitted into your schedule.
Jesus is still your saviour, but you have chosen other things to be Lord of your life.
BUT, you have a choice, your christian life does not have to remain lukewarm, the fire can be rekindled, you can choose a different path.
You can choose to move away from a cold, casual, convenient Christianity into a devoted, dynamic discipleship.
It’s your choice, how far are you willing to travel on your current path?
Are you willing to renew your love, trust, and obedience, to Jesus.
And you willing to be a dynamic disciple?
Tonight I want to tell you about a man who was very close to Jesus, yet it took years for him to willingly become a dynamic disciple.
A man who grew up with Jesus, a man who lived with Jesus, yet he did not believe in who Jesus was, he actually joined others in scoffing at Jesus.
Who was that man?
His name was James and he was one of Jesus half brothers - same mother, different father.
At first James did not believe in Jesus, but there came a point in his life when James went from scoffer to powerful preacher;
from being a non-believer to being a totally devoted dynamic disciple.
I want to show you what he went through on his journey to discipleship,
and I want to encourage us that where ever we are in our journey with Christ we can choose to be dynamic disciples.
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Let’s take a look at what the Bible has to say about James, the half-brother of Jesus.
In the New Testament, there are about a dozen passages that mention James, and they paint a picture for us that reveals a about him.
Let’s begin in MATTHEW 13:54-57
This is a time when Jesus is well into His earthly ministry and He returns to Jerusalem.
Jesus returned to Nazareth, His hometown. When He taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?”
55 Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. 56 All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” 57 And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honoured everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” MATTHEW 13:54-57
From these verses we learn that Jesus had at least two half sisters, as well as four half brothers:
James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. 5
We also learn at this time the people of Nazareth did not believe in Jesus.
Lets read a little more about James in JOHN 7:2-5
Soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, 3 and Jesus’ brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles!
4You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” 5 For even His brothers didn’t believe in Him.
Can you see the picture of James that is developing here, a man who mocks Jesus,
his brother and who Jesus professes to be.
James and his siblings must have heard the story about the angel visiting their mother,
they must have been told many things about how special Jesus was.
Perhaps, in your own life, you have friends and family who do not share your belief in Jesus as Saviour...
You know Him, you love Him, you know He is real, but they are unwilling to accept the truth about who He is.
Even though His brothers grew up in the same house as Him, saw Him, touched Him, heard Him speak, they had a serious disbelief in who Jesus actually was and is.
It’s sad that those who were so close to Jesus, denied who He really was.
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Then everything changed after Jesus was resurrected.
There was a switch from a non-believing perspective to one of exaltation and love.
Let’s look at what Paul told us about the number of people who saw Jesus after, Jesus was raised from the dead.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-7
I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.
James knows that his brother had been crucified. He knew everything else, too, like how he had made fun of his brother and how he had disbelieved Jesus.
But now - Jesus was standing there -
James saw his resurrected brother standing in front of him
What do you think went through his mind?
How do you think he felt?
How would you feel?
I imagine James was thinking about all the times he had mocked Jesus,
just to find out that Jesus was right all along.
We know that, sometime after Jesus visited his brother, James believed, because in: ACTS 1:12-14 it says:
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile. 13When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying.
Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot), and Judas (son of James). 14 They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.
By the time Peter preached the first gospel sermon on the day of Pentecost,
James was already a devout disciple of Jesus,
He trusted in Jesus as Messiah as Saviour and Lord
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Let’s skip ahead a few years.
James had come to embrace his faith he knew his older brother was indeed the Son of God.
The apostle Paul was converted.
James became a prominent person in the church of Jerusalem.
The Apostle Paul confirms James belief in Jesus in: GALATIANS 1:18-19
Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord’s brother.’
Here, Paul is calling James an ‘apostle’.
An apostle is a disciple who has been called out and separated by the Lord to lead other Christians and leaders in the way of Jesus.
James was a very important person in the early church.
As the early church grew in strength and numbers, more and more people accepted Jesus as their Saviour and became disciples.
In fact, everyday for thousands of years,
people have become true disciples of Christ,
loving Him, worshipping Him, serving Him, reaching others for Him, making other disciples.
Let me say this, although James was in a position of authority in the early church in Jerusalem,
his job was not about him – it was about those he could help.
Leadership within the church is not for man’s glory but for God’s glory.
It is not about authority, it’s about servant hood.
People listend to James and acknowledged his wisdom, because of his absolute devotion to Jesus.
The last time we see James mentioned in church history is in ACTS 21, the Apostle Paul had made a collection of funds from the different churches he had visited, and he returned to Jerusalem to present the offerings.
Look at Acts 21:17-19: When we arrived, the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem welcomed us warmly.
18 The next day Paul went with us to meet with James, and all the elders of the Jerusalem church were present. 19After greeting them, Paul gave a detailed account of the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Acts 21:17-19
This is the last time we see James,
the brother of Jesus, mentioned in the Bible.
So, that was the story of James - the half brother of Jesus who went from non-believer to dynamic disciple.
What are some of the things we should take away from his story that will help us in our walk with Jesus as dynamic disciples?
Perhaps the best place for us to look is in the letter James wrote to the Jewish Christians who had been dispersed throughout the Roman Empire
In the book of James, there are many valuable bits of information, far too many for a single sermon so here are just a few.
In CHAPTER 1, James begins by telling us that we should rejoice when we are faced with many kinds of trouble.
To understand this, we need to understand that our walk with Jesus is not based upon our comfort, but on having absolute faith in God when we have problems.
When we have problems,
it gives us yet another chance to put our faith to work, making it stronger than ever before.
So rejoice in your troubles, and depend fully on God to help you.
Again, in CHAPTER 1, James tells us that our focus must be on our Lord.
Part of our focus on Him and the rest of our focus on the world around us is a very dangerous thing, because a lack of focus on God will leads to doubts and confusion.
In JAMES 1:6-7, it explains it this way;
‘But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
How focused are you on God?
Be honest - do you need to focus your own heart toward God by growing closer to Jesus?
Do you allow your self to be more focused on the things you are involved in than on your walk with Christ?
To focus on God, you may need to look away from some things you enjoy in this world.
You see, when you focus is on the Lord,
you will also get something else;
a knowledge of what the devil would rather you waste your time focussing on.
In Chapter 1:22, James gives us some of the best advice a Christian can receive. He tells us not to lie to ourselves by just being willing to listen to the word, but to actually do what it says! Jesus reiterates this when He tells us that to be His friend, we must do what He commands.
Do we try to do what Jesus says, or do we just pretend for a couple of hours on a Sunday?
Do we pretty much forget about Him the rest of the week?
Can I ask you to take the time to read the book of James this week?
If you need encouragement read JAMES 4:8 - ‘Come near to God and He will come near to you.’
or JAMES 4:10, he gives us a Father’s promise: ‘Humble yourself to God and He will lift you up.’
In Chapter 5, James gives us some very important information about how to pray.
He talks about the type of prayer where your heart is involved in a very deep and personal talk with God’s heart.
The kind of prayer that nothing seems to exists at that point but your conversation with God.
JAMES 5:13 says
Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.
if we are in trouble of any kind, we need to pray.
But along with praying we need to pray while believing we will get God’s answers.
Maybe not exactly when we want it or how we want it, but we will receive it in His way and in His time.
Jesus, is still in the miracle-making business,
if you pray, He has already promised that He will answer!
Why? Because He loves you.
You have shown you trust Him enough to believe Him!
But the answer will still be in His way and in His time.
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Just one more thing as I close.
Back to the question we started with:
Are you a “Christian” or are you a disciple?
We all need to live not as casual Christians but as dynamic disciples.
God calls us to be more than just people who live the way they want throughout the week and then maybe turn up for a couple of hours at church on Sunday.
In 2 TIMOTHY 4:7-8, Paul wrote,
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of His return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.’
Are you willing to move to a different level of commitment in your Christian life?
Are you ready to move beyond a casual, convenient Christianity into something more devoted, more committed?
Are you ready to live your live as a dynamic disciple?
Are you a “Christian” or are you a disciple?
