MAIN IDEA:
Jesus’ last words to his followers in Matt. 28:18-20 were to go and make disciples. If we are ever to MAKE disciples, we first need to BE disciples. But if we are to BE disciples, we need to first KNOW what it means to be one.
What is a disciple (according to Jesus)?
1. A disciple is one who submits his/her entire life to God’s leadership. (Luke 14:28-33)
2. A disciple is one who follows Jesus’ teachings. (John 8:31-32)
3. A disciple is one who loves other disciples. (John 13:34-35)
4. A disciple is one who bears spiritual fruit. (John 15:5-8)
OBJECTIVES:
1. Listeners will come away understanding the high bar of obedience Jesus calls us to.
2. Listeners will examine their own level of commitment to see if they are truly a disciple.
3. Listeners will be motivated to step up their level of commitment to Jesus.
INTRO:
It is so good to be here! CTK Oak Harbor was started by CTK Mount Vernon in the fall of 2000. Part of our vision as a church is to see believers, small groups, and worship centers multiply so that we can transform the spiritual landscape of Whidbey Island (OH, Coupeville, and beyond…) We began praying for God to provide the people we needed to start this church over 2 years ago – and you are a part of the answer to those prayers!
Our Mission:
To create an authentic Christian community that effectively reaches out to unchurched people with love, acceptance, and forgiveness so that they may experience the joy of salvation and a purposeful life of discipleship.
This morning I want to talk about our end product – a purposeful life of discipleship. What does this mean – and how can we know if we’re hitting the mark? This part of our mission statement comes from the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:18-20
18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
What is it that Jesus tells them they are to spend the rest of their life doing? GO and MAKE DISCIPLES. He didn’t say – “Go and bring people to pray a prayer accepting me as their Savior.” He didn’t say – “Go and create an institution named after me.” He didn’t say – “Go and build beautiful buildings to worship me.” He said GO and MAKE DISCIPLES.
However, in order to make disciples, we first have to know what a disciple is. And then, we’ve got to take the next step and ask ourselves – “Am I a disciple?” And the only way to answer that question is to take a look at the places in scripture where Jesus defines this term. So, today we’re going to look at 4 passages of scripture where Jesus defines what it means to be his disciple. 4 places where He said “my disciples are those who do this…”
As we look at these passages, the most important thing we need to do is NOT to just gain knowledge about what Jesus meant when he called people to be His disciples, but to evaluate our lives in light of these teachings, and to strive to live up to the high calling we’ve been given in Christ. So let’s get started!
1. I am a disciple if I submit my entire life to God’s leadership. (Luke 14:28-33)
Luke 14:28-33 (NIV)
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, ’This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
What amazes me about a lot of altar calls – you know – times in church services where people are asked to commit their lives to Christ – is how easy it is made to sound. “It’s a free gift.” “Just pray this simple prayer with me.” “It will only take a minute”.
But when Christ called his disciples, he called them to follow him and leave everything else they counted dear to them. For them, this literally meant leaving their jobs, leaving their families, leaving their homes, to learn from Jesus 24/7.
And when he called people to follow him, he said “I don’t want you to jump into this decision lightly – I want you to consider what it’s going to cost you. And then – and only then – do I want you to commit to following me.”
And so I want to say to you – maybe you’re here today and you have never committed to following Jesus. You’ve been curious about it – and you’ve been thinking about it. I WANT you to join me and so many others in the adventuresome life of placing your life under his leadership – but I DON’T want you to do it thinking it is going to cost you nothing or that it will always be easy. Becoming a disciple of Jesus means we surrender all areas of our life to His will – all the time.
ILLUS: A couple years ago we were talking with Bethany (then 5) about what it means to follow Christ, and little by little she is understanding it as she grows up. She made an interesting comment to us, “You mean if I follow Jesus I have to be a servant?” Yes, honey, it does.
Question 1: Have you given Jesus control of all parts of your life?
2. I am a disciple if I follow Jesus’ teachings. (John 8:31-32)
John 8:31-32 (NLT)
31Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. 32And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Again, notice what Jesus DIDN’T say. He didn’t say “You are my disciples if you know my teachings.” Or “You are my disciples if you study my teachings.” He said “You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings.” The word in the greek literally means to stay, remain, live, dwell, abide in His teaching.
But you know what? If we are to keep obeying his teachings, that assumes that we know what they are. It assumes we are keeping them in the front of our brains through regular interaction with his teachings.
ILLUS: How many of you took some “higher math” in high school – advanced algebra, trigonometry, maybe even calculus? I did too. Now let me ask you, how many of you could solve a trig problem today?
If you’re like me you can’t even remember what sine and cosine are? Why – because its been too long since you spent any time with it. Our brains have a way of eliminating information that has not been used in a while, to make room for the new stuff.
This is why regular interaction with God’s word is so important for us. If we don’t regularly hear, read, study, memorize, and meditate on God’s word, there is no way we’ll ever be able to keep on obeying Jesus’ teachings.
The great thing is that we are promised a reward if we’ll do this. In the very next verse, after saying we are truly his disciples if we keep on obeying His teachings, he says THEN we will know the truth – and the truth will set us free.
Truth that is simply known will never set us free. But applying the truth about how to live as revealed in the life and teachings of Christ – this will set us free.
Question 2: Are you interacting regularly with God’s word and aligning your life with its teachings?
3. I am a disciple if I love other disciples. (John 13:34-35)
John 13:34-35 (The Message)
34"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. 35This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples--when they see the love you have for each other."
Once again – Jesus’ emphasis is on ACTION not on UNDERSTANDING. He says that the way people will know we are His disciples is when they see us treating other disciples of His they way HE treated them – with perfect, accepting, unconditional love.
There are many who say they are Christians who claim they don’t need to attend church. All you need is to just walk with Christ on your own, they say. But it’s just not true.
ILLUS: (Pull out kitchen knife) God’s word says the church – all of God’s people – are a body. It says that each of us plays a part in that body. Well – what happens if you take a part of the body – say a finger - and cut it off. It’s obvious – two things happen. The finger will die. It cannot survive apart from the rest of the body. And the body will suffer. It will experience pain and a loss of function as a result.
So in the body of Christ we need each other, for our own sake and for the sake of the body’s health.
But we are not commanded to just tolerate each other or put up with each other. Jesus’ command was to LOVE each other the same self-sacrificial way that He loved us.
True disciples of Jesus live out their faith through regular interaction with other disciples, coming to a point in their relationships where they can do the things the New Testament says they are to do: encourage one another, serve each other, correct each other, teach one another, share with one another, support each other, pray for each other.
Question 3: Have you committed yourself to developing relationships with other believers in a small group?
TRANS: However, the point of such community is not just our own growth – in fact the whole point of living the adventure of discipleship is not for our own sake but for others. And that’s why Jesus said the 4th way we can know we are disciples is this…
4. I am a disciple if I bear spiritual fruit. (John 15:5-8)
John 15:4-8
4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
How does Jesus say we show ourselves to be his disciples?
By bearing spiritual fruit in our lives.
And what is the key to bearing spiritual fruit?
Staying connected to Him, the vine!
Again, Jesus uses an obvious illustration of how our spiritual life works. If you cut a branch off a tree the leaves may look nice for a day or so, but it won’t be long until those leaves start to wither. And it goes without saying that no fruit will grow on it. You can take a branch off a peach tree – put it in a greenhouse, surrounded by other living plants, give it great fertilizer and the right amount of sunlight and water – but it will never grow a peach unless it is connected to the main tree!
So it is with our spiritual life. You can come to church every week, surrounded by others who are connected to Christ, but that alone will not cause us to bear spiritual fruit.
If we are truly disciples of Christ we must remain in constant contact with Jesus. We’ve got to learn what it means to “pray without ceasing” and to “keep in step with the Spirit” – to live each moment of every day in constant conversation with God, and to set aside special time to develop our relationship with God each day.
Without developing the habits of prayer and daily time with God, we should not be surprised if our lives seem strangely void of the fruit of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, all the way down to self-control.
True disciples know their spiritual life depends on their constant connection to Jesus – and that apart from Him they can do NOTHING to please God. And true disciples want to please God – they long to hear those words of the father “Well done, good and faithful servant – enter into your rest” and they live their life with that end in mind.
Question 4: Is your life producing spiritual fruit that benefits others?
CONCLUSION:
This message started with the Great Commission – and that’s how I’m going to finish it.
Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples were these:
Matthew 28:19-20
19”… go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
The question I leave you with is this. Are you a disciple?
1. Have you surrendered your life completely to the authority and leadership of Jesus, and have you been baptized as a sign of this commitment?
Discipleship starts with a decision. The decision to place our life under the authority and leadership of God alone, as symbolized by the act of baptism.
If you’ve never made this decision – as I said before – I hope you will make this choice today! But only if you have counted the cost and are willing to go on to the place of obeying everything Jesus has commanded.
But it must go on from there to where we learn to obey everything we’ve been commanded.
2. Are you learning to obey everything Jesus commands us to do?
My prayer for every person in this church is that you would take whatever initiative you need to in order to honestly say “Yes!– I am a disciple. I may not be perfect – but I’m learning, I’m stretching, I’m growing to become more like Him every day.”
Being a disciple of Jesus will cost you. It will mean you forsake control. It will mean you no longer call the shots, and your life will be spent serving someone else. But friends, it is worth it!
2Cor. 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Not only that, but your life here and now will be filled with meaning and purpose like never before.
May each of you know the joy and purpose that come from aligning your life under the leadership of Jesus Christ. May each of you become a disciple.
PRAY
Q&A
