"The Journey of Discipleship"
Pastor Logan Almore
Last week, Albert opened up our new series “Beyond the Pew” with a powerful message, and if you missed last week I really do encourage you to go back and watch the message online. He perfectly set up WHAT this very important series is all about—which is that God desires so much more for us than a faith that is LIMITED to only a Sunday morning gathering. What God desires for us is a 24/7 faith…an all day, every day, RELATIONSHIP with Him. So since Albert told us “the what” last week…what kind of faith God desires for our lives… we are going to come right behind it today and talk about “the how.” HOW do we have this 24/7 faith, this relationship with God that goes far beyond the door we learned about last Sunday, far beyond only coming to church once a week and checking it off the list. And I can sum up “the how” with this one word—discipleship.
DISCIPLESHIP
Now you may be wondering why in the world we keep talking about discipleship so much. But it’s because it is SO IMPORTANT. You’ve probably heard us say time and time again one of our 6 foundations here at Motion Church, one of which is:
Discipleship is how we grow.
Salvation is without a doubt the most important DECISION you will ever make, but discipleship is the most important JOURNEY you could ever take. It’s how we GROW as a follower of Jesus Christ, how we GROW UP and MATURE in the Lord. That’s why Albert kept telling us last week “don’t get stuck at the door” because salvation is a one time decision. But we aren’t meant to stay in that one place, it’s only the beginning of the journey of growth that God has for us.
So let’s define discipleship. There are many ways you could say this, but as a church this is the definition we’ve adopted of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ:
A disciple is someone who is with Jesus, being transformed by Jesus, and doing what Jesus does in the world.
After Jesus’ resurrection, He appeared to His disciples and He left them with these words before He ascended up into Heaven. He said to them:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
-Matthew 28:18-20
We, too, are called to GO and MAKE fellow disciples of Jesus Christ.
This portion of scripture is referred to as The Great Commission. It is our Co-Mission, our mission with Jesus, to join in with Him and what He’s doing in the world.
The Great Commission is our Co-mission with Jesus.
We aren’t doing it in our own power, He said He would be with us always, to the very end. But He has called us to join Him on this mission to impact the World with His gospel.
So if that’s our definition of a disciple…
A disciple is someone who is with Jesus, being transformed by Jesus, and doing what Jesus does in the world.
Believe it.
If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
-Romans 10:9
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
-Romans 8:38-39
2. Own it.
Own it…meaning, this isn’t just what I believe…this is WHO I AM. I don’t just believe in Jesus, I am a DISCIPLE of Jesus, a follower of Jesus. Which means He doesn’t just have a place in my heart, He has my whole heart. He doesn’t just have a place in my life, He has my whole life. He doesn’t just have a one hour time slot per week in my calendar, He has it all.
Our desire should be that everything we do and everything we say brings glory to God.
We allow what we believe to change who we are.
So how do we do that?
-We lean on the Holy Spirit.
-We lean into God’s Word.
-We lean toward Jesus.
We can and do need to do these things in our own time. HOWEVER, if that is where it stops then you are missing out on a huge piece in discipleship. And that’s…
RELATIONAL DISCIPLESHIP
The Holy Spirit without a double disciples us. God’s Word without a doubt disciples us. Following Jesus’ example without a double disciples us. But another HUGE piece of discipleship is found in relationship with other believers.
3. Share it.
Here are a few things to help us with those concerns:
-Share in the context of relationship (when possible).
-Ask questions and listen.
-Share about your experience and what Jesus has done in your life.
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