The Healthy Christ-follower
Acts 2:43-47
The Healthy Christ-follower Cycle:
Engage with the gospel. V.47
Connect to disciple-making community. Vv.44, 46
Invest in God’s Kingdom. V.45
Gather together in worship v.46
This past November, our family drove to Galveston and got on a 4 day Disney cruise.(PIC) We had a great time. We thought the food was really good (pic) , the Disney characters were easily available (pic) , there was a place you could drop your kids off and go work out in their great workout room at the front of the ship (pic) , or go sit in the adult only places in the ship (pic), and then the shows at night in the theatre (pic) were as good or better than the Broadway shows I’ve been to.
But not everyone has the same experience. Looked at a couple of reviews. One reviewer said she didn’t like the cruise cause it didn’t have any good entertainment for the kids! I’m thinking, were we on the same ship? She said there were no comedy shows, but we laughed all day with our family. She said the swimming pools were too small, but our kids didn’t seem to mind. She said there were no different bands playing, but I thought how many rock bands can play (need pic) ‘When you wish upon a star’ and (need pic) “Let it go”? We all loved the constant stream of Disney hits over the past 75 years. So why was our experience so amazing, and this lady’s experience was so bad?
I’ve learned in life that in most cases, expectations, attitudes, and responses to circumstances determine whether an experience or circumstance is good or bad.
Turn to Acts 2:43-47
How was 2018 for you? Were you like the lady who had an awful experience with Disney, or like our family that had a great time? Some circumstances we can control and soe we can’t, right? But our expectations, attitudes, and responses are what determine whether 2018 was good or not so good.
Our Lord Jesus said, “I came that you would have an amazing life; more and better life than you ever dreamed of.” John 10:10
He said it to people who were having a difficult time in life. Most of His listeners were poor, disenfranchised, and beset by various health problems. His promise of this more and better life was not dependent on circumstance; it was and is dependent upon following Him closer and closer.
Since this is the 1st Sunday of the new year, I thought it would be profitable for us to review some of the basics of the Christ-life so that we maximize our experience whatever comes our way in 2019.
I want you to think about spiritual growth and growing in Christ and following Him closer as a cycle that has for roadmarks:
This is essentially what the 1st church did and experienced so let’s read our foundational text this morning. Acts 2:43-47
So let’s dig into The Healthy Christ-follower Cycle:
Engage with the gospel.
You noticed in v.47 that “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Study after study of believers for decades indicates that the most satisfied of believers are those who are engaging people in their lives with the gospel of Jesus. If I asked a show of hands of those who engage people with gospel regularly and have had the joy of leading someone to place their faith in Jesus sometime during 2018, my fear is that very, very few would raise your hand.
Don’t think for a moment that this is something only for the super spiritual Christian. Jesus said in the Upper Room on the night He was betrayed “My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.” John 15:8 In His last words before He ascended to heaven, He said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
In my experience, I’ve found it helpful to have a tool to use when I share. We’ve been talking about the 3 circles (3 circles logo) this past year. (play video played at FSE training)
You can download the app on your smart phone so you can use your phone or a napkin to explain the gospel. Every believer in this room should learn this tool and ask God to give you the wisdom, insight, and courage to engage at least one person a month with the gospel. I promise, I promise, I promise, if you do, 2019 will be an incredible year.
Connect to disciple-making community
Our First Step Experience (logo) is designed to get you well on your way to helping your grow in Christ and connecting to biblical community. It’s every Sunday at 10:00 just on the left side as you walk out of the worship center. You ever been to NYC or other cities where you get (pic) on the hop on/hop off buses? Get on where ever you like and still see the whole tour… FSE has 4 stops; four consecutive weeks and you can hop in anywhere along the way. If you’re not really connected at RC, let me encourage you to head there next week. Just show up; we’ll be ready for you.
Another way to connect is getting involved in one of our small groups. This is where you can begim to build relationships that will make your experience here more meaningful and satisfying. When you read our passage, you see that connectivity:
v.44 “Now all the believers were together and held all things in common”
v.46 “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house.”
At RC, people meet in houses to encourage each other, study the Bible together, & pray for each other’s needs. The best way to get connected in a small group is to do it in our FSE experience. You’ll get to know other folks in there like yourself and have the option of being in a group or if you’d like join another group. If you have questions, head up here to the FSE table or to the Groups table in the Commons.
Another connecting opportunity is to be involved in a group of 2 or 3 other people. The Bible says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.”Prov.27:17 So we have Fight Clubs (logo) and Become Groups (logo) for you. Info is at that Groups table. But 2019 WILL NOT be the experience you want in your spiritual life if you’re not connected to biblical community.
Invest in God’s Kingdom
This involves investing your time, talent and treasure. The past 15 months I have seen an incredible increase in generosity that has unleashed (Unleashed logo) an all-time high in ministry in and through Rush Creek. If you’re not involved in taking your generosity with God to a new level, I invite you to join us. As you’re doing your income tax in the weeks to come, when it comes to charitable contributions, ask yourself this one question: “Does my generosity reflect my gratitude to God?” It could be that 2019 you’ll take your generosity to a whole new level.
God touched on the maximization of the Christian life in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 “The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.” God says: “Hey, there is a connection between being generous financially and enjoying the Christ-life.”
He also points out that serving is critical to experiencing this more and better life than we ever dreamed of. “They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Acts 2:45. They invested their treasure AND their time. They served each other.
Serving is the way of Jesus. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28
There are lots of opportunities to serve in the world, but at the top of the list I would think would be your church. We’re always looking for kingdom minded people to invest their tie and talents in children’s ministry, student ministry, connections ministry, compassion ministry, small group ministry…whatever your heart desires, I’d be surprised if we didn’t have a place of ministry for you.
(**what can we do to snag some people that morning??)
Now the most important investment you can make in kingdom work is to be a disciple maker. That’s right, a disciple maker. Did you notice that in stop #2 on the cycle I said, Connect to disciple-making community. Did you know that the word discipleship is no where in Scripture? And yet in the 20th century, it became kind of a buzz word among evangelicals. It may seem like splitting hairs, but let me talk about the process of spiritual maturity.
Spiritual maturity is not about gaining biblical knowledge, but obedience to the Bible. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, ‘Go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to obey.” I don’t how many believers I’ve known through the years who have completed every Beth Moore study and every Warren Wiersbe study and every inductive Bible study and live a life of amazing disobedience: they don’t share the gospel, haven’t led anyone to Christ, haven’t fostered true and sacrificial generosity, and they’re not really making disciples.
Spiritual maturity finds its truest expression by investing in the kingdom work of making disciples. Who are you discipling? If you’re a parent, I pray you’re discipling your children. We have a whole slew of disciplemaking resources for parents (curt’s book pic) (Faith path pic). Parents, don’t let your busy schedule get in the way of the most rewarding experiences you can ever have.
Beyond making disciples in your family, are you making disciples in other ways? Lead a fight club or a become group. Take someone in your small group through Pathways This will be a GREAT year if you do. It’s such a blessing to grow together as you make disciples.
Gather together in worship
I worship God every morning in my time with Him. I worship Him many times throughout the day and week when I sense His presence or see His provision in my life. But there is nothing that compares to being with you on Sunday mornings. V.46 says, “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple.” They worshiped God together. I don’t know about you, but I receive something on Sundays when I’m with you that I can NOT get in any other worship experience that I have. I’m encouraged. I’m informed. And I’m transformed. That’s the object of worship: to leave differently than when we walked in. Whether it’s me preaching, or pastor Marty, or Caleb Mckee a couple of weeks ago, if your heart is right, you’ll get a word from the Lord and you’ll be encouraged in your walk. Whether we sing a hymn or a contemporary song, if your heart is right, you’ll worship God and it will make a difference in your life. Now if your heart is not right, nothing we do on Sunday will help you.
I don’t know what 2019 holds for each of us. I do know that for me to get the best out of this next year, it’s going to depend on deepening our commitment to engage…connect…invest…worship.
One more look at our passage; the very 1st of it. V.43 “Everyone was filled with awe.” I don’t know about you, but I want my life, my family, my church to experience the awe and wonder of our magnificent God this next year.
Pray
