Connecting With Others for Discipleship.

James McLean

[0:05] My name is James and I’m one of the pastors here and it’s a privilege this morning to come before [0:12] you and preach the word on this wonderful Father’s Day. We started a series last week called Goals [0:19] and it’s about having goals that are informed by what God is calling us to do and to be in the [0:25] Bible. We all have goals in life and things that we want to accomplish, but have you really taken [0:30] the time to put together spiritual goals for your life that can guide you? Last week we talked about [0:38] worshiping Jesus in word and action and how your knowledge of God and your choices inform your

[0:43] worship of God. When you trust in Jesus as your Savior and you commit your life to following Him, [0:49] there are intentional changes that you make in your life and you will need to set a goal for [0:55] building relationships that produce godly growth. So this morning we’re going to talk about [1:00] connecting with others for discipleship. If you would open up your Bibles to Matthew 28 19 through [1:07] 20. This is a familiar verse we use it quite a bit here at Village Church so you’ve probably [1:14] heard it before and I want to set the stage for what’s happening in this passage. So Jesus

[1:22] is before His disciples and these are some of His last words that He shares with them and you know [1:30] He died on the cross and He rose from the dead and He is ascending to heaven at this point and [1:36] He shares these words with His disciples. He says,

[1:56] Point number one this morning, discipleship requires relationships. So you might have skimmed [2:05] over this when you read this verse but if you’ll notice in this verse that this is a command that [2:11] you can accomplish by yourself. If you look at the words He says, He talks about all nations and [2:18] you’re baptizing them and you’re teaching them and so there’s people involved here besides [2:25] yourself, right? In the verse He doesn’t say go disciple yourself, He says disciple others and you [2:34] know a lot of times we take this posture and we say well I’m done with people I just need myself

[2:40] and Jesus and we’re gonna have our quiet time together and we’re gonna have devotions and God’s [2:46] gonna use me that way and that’s just how I’ve decided that that things are gonna be. Well that’s [2:50] not Jesus vision for you and it’s not His vision for His church and so if that’s what you’re saying [2:56] you’re not following the Great Commission that He lays forward here. So I’m not negating your quiet [3:04] time or your personal devotion with Christ, those are important but what He’s talking about here is [3:10] something beyond that. He’s talking about making disciples. A disciple is someone who adheres to

[3:17] the teaching of Christ, a person who follows and learns from Christ. So in this passage it’s not [3:23] about being disciples but about making disciples which is a whole other thing and this requires [3:29] other people and so this is where we start to grumble right because you know I’ve heard people [3:36] say well the church would be a great place if it wasn’t for people. People are annoying and they [3:42] get on my nerves and they’re weird and I just don’t want to deal with them. That’s what we say [3:49] sometimes right and sometimes we’re the one that’s we don’t even know it but the thing is the church

[3:56] is people and so if it wasn’t for people there wouldn’t be a church so we’ve got to try to talk [4:03] about what it means to engage people to build relationships with people and get over ourselves. [4:11] You know what makes people difficult and the thing that bothers us about ourselves and about other [4:16] people is sin right. If people were sinless, if they were more like Jesus it wouldn’t be as much [4:24] of an issue but it’s because of sin that we’re like this and it’s because of sin that we have [4:29] animosity towards each other and so what’s the answer to that problem? Well it’s discipleship,

[4:36] it’s helping others grow in their faith so they can become more like Christ, less sinful and more [4:43] Christ-like. So you know we can sit around and complain about how bad people are and how we can’t [4:49] see any hope in the situation but really the answer is for us to answer that call that Jesus [4:55] has given us and to pursue people in relationships and make disciples. The term make disciples is [5:02] kind of a loaded term it has a lot to unpack there and you know I personally I don’t really make a [5:10] lot of things. I’ve never really been the crafty kind of person you know in in school it would

[5:17] always just be some kind of mishmash of things together. If I was ever given a task to draw [5:23] something it was like stick figures and then I’d have to explain you know what it was that I [5:28] actually drew because nobody could tell but you know it meant something to me I made something [5:33] but I don’t have a lot of things that I can point to that I really make. I don’t build things, [5:39] I don’t make cakes but I will say this growing up sometimes my mom would have me make dinner [5:47] because she was coming home from work late and she needed some help with that and so she would

[5:52] kind of lay everything out on the counter and say you know take care of this and help feed the [5:57] family and thankfully there was this thing called hamburger helper. Have you guys anybody ever had [6:04] hamburger helper before? Okay it’s actually not that bad I don’t know if people still eat it [6:09] today so this was decades ago when I was making it but it’s very simple ingredients it’s just you [6:16] boil some water you take the noodles and you pour them in the boiling water and they cook up and [6:21] then you know you got your sauce and you brown the meat and you mix it all together and you got a

[6:25] meal and it feeds you know a couple people it’s great and those ingredients are very simple and [6:32] they were simple enough for me to follow them and so I was able to make dinner every once in a while [6:36] but to make disciples I believe you need three ingredients three essential ingredients you need [6:43] the Bible you need the Holy Spirit and you need a relationship with another person and you know if [6:51] you have those three things God will work you know the Bible gives us truth and and it gives us deep [6:58] and meaningful content to engage one another the Holy Spirit convicts and illuminates and teaches

[7:03] us and the people show up and they talk and they pray and they engage one another and making a [7:09] habit of doing this and being this over time will produce disciples and you know as you pursue [7:18] relationships where you can make disciples you’re gonna need to order your life in such a way that [7:23] it becomes a habit and growth can take place and this is a challenge because we’re busy right we [7:31] get busy with work we get busy with things at home and we get busy with hat with with all kinds [7:36] of hobbies and things that we’re interested in and yet the call to make disciples remains in

[7:42] Hebrews 10 23 through 25 it says this let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering [7:49] for he who promised is faithful and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works [7:55] not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more [8:02] as you see the day drawing near you know 2020 was kind of a crazy and confusing year right it was [8:11] something that none of us expected none of us could really anticipate or really prepare for and [8:17] you know we were doing our best to try to keep things going you know people were tuning in online

[8:21] and we were doing community groups over zoom and and it really wasn’t productive it really wasn’t [8:27] healthy and it wasn’t the best year that we’ve had if we can look back on it and Gallup did a [8:35] poll they do every year they do a mental health check and they do a poll out there and they [8:41] poll a bunch of people and in December of 2020 they released the results of that poll and of [8:46] course it showed that mental health took a major hit in 2020 and in every single category mental [8:54] health had declined except for one category and you can look this up if you want to online the

[8:58] only category where mental health actually improved was those who were connected to a [9:03] local church regularly participating and being a part of it and and why is that because it benefits [9:11] us in so many different ways to engage with one another and and grow in the gospel right it’s [9:18] good for us to meet in person and there’s so many different benefits but I would say the number one [9:22] benefit is you can’t make disciples without being together you have to meet and you have to be in [9:27] person so you know in Hebrews it was becoming enough of an issue here that the writer of Hebrews

[9:33] pointed out that it had become a habit for some in the church to not meet and that’s not a good [9:41] thing we need other Christians to stir us up and to encourage us and to remind us that Jesus is [9:47] still in control and he is returning one day and God has given us the church as a physical presence [9:54] here locally where we can go and build relationships and make disciples and we have to go our souls are [10:02] at stake our eternity is at stake and we need to be reminded who we are and and whose we are we [10:10] belong to God we need to go because there’s an enemy out there who is waiting for a chance to

[10:16] get us off track and first Peter 5 8 through 9 says this be sober minded be watchful your adversary [10:26] the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour resist him firm in your faith [10:33] knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the [10:38] world this verse is just so eye-opening be sober minded be awake don’t fall asleep to the fact that [10:46] there’s a battle going on for your soul there’s a battle going on for other people’s souls and we [10:52] can’t always see it but if we if we don’t stay connected to our brothers and sisters in Christ

[10:58] we will lose touch with that battle will forget that that battle is even going on you know Satan [11:04] can’t wait to get us alone and discouraged and confused and without direction because he knows [11:12] you won’t stand firm in your faith by yourself and to fight your sin to keep the faith and to [11:19] reproduce your faith in others you must invest consistently in relationships and there’s a war [11:26] that we can’t forget about if we’re gonna stand firm we’re gonna need other people to help us [11:31] with that so we can’t do it alone and we have to engage other people and we have to meet

[11:40] point number two this morning building one another up is about making disciples you know we read [11:49] those there’s many different passages in Scripture that talks about the church building one another [11:54] up and you know when we read that we think oh that’s nice you know people just need a pat on the [11:59] back or you know they need a word you know that you got this you know and you’re good enough and [12:05] you’re gonna get this well it’s a little bit more than that and the Bible lays that out for us [12:10] pretty clearly in Ephesians 4 there’s a lot of good direction on what the church should look like

[12:17] and as we pursue discipleship here’s kind of the vision that Paul lays out in Ephesians 4 11 through [12:24] 14 and he gave the Apostles the prophets the evangelists the shepherds and the teachers to [12:33] equip the saints for the work of the ministry for building up the body of Christ until we all [12:40] attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood [12:46] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we may no longer be children [12:52] tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine by human cunning and

[12:58] craftiness and deceitful schemes the first thing notice in this passage is you know he’s [13:08] calling the saints for the work of the ministry and I know some people think that the church is [13:13] just a place where the staff and the pastors do ministry and then everyone else shows up and just [13:19] you know attends on Sunday morning and gives a thumbs up and gives money and says you guys are [13:25] doing a great job keep up the work of the ministry but that’s not the vision laid out here it says [13:32] that we’re equipping the Saints and that’s you guys you’re the Saints for the work of the ministry

[13:38] and you know we look at that we think oh man I don’t need any more work I got I got work you [13:44] know going on throughout the week I got work on my house I got to work on going to the gym and [13:49] you know I got all these different things that I’m working on I don’t have time to be working on the [13:54] ministry but that’s what we’re being called to we’ve got to be aware of what it is that Jesus wants [14:01] us to do as we build up the body of Christ so what does that look like well Paul says that we’re to [14:08] come together in our faith be united in our faith and and be united in our knowledge of the Son of

[14:17] God we’re to grow in maturity to the fullness of Christ so that we aren’t living deceived lives [14:23] I don’t know about you but I’m not fully mature yet in Christ and I don’t think you are either and [14:29] so we have work to do right and we’re only going to do that by engaging one another in discipleship [14:35] growing in God’s Word being honest with one another we don’t want to live deceived lives right it says [14:41] here that that the goal is to grow in the fullness of Christ not to be deceived by Satan and by our [14:48] own sin so our goal in discipleship is to grow in the knowledge of Christ in the character of

[14:56] Christ and in obedience to Christ you know many of you you come into this church and you kind of [15:03] have your own vision for what discipleship should look like right so you come in and you say okay [15:09] well I’ll do discipleship that sounds good I’m gonna find the people who are my favorite and [15:16] who I get along with really well and we have you know five things in common and our kids are the [15:24] same age and you know we we approve of one another’s you know they’re not too bad they’re a little [15:30] bit bad but they’re not too bad so we approve of one another where we’re at in life and you know

[15:35] they have similar giftings to me and I just like them they’re just a great person like being around [15:40] them that’s typically the vision that we pursue right because that’s just what we know to do we’re [15:46] humans well you will make a disciple that way but it’s not going to be a disciple of Jesus is going [15:53] to be a disciple of whatever your personal preferences your favorite sport or your favorite [15:57] movie or fishing or something like that and that’s not what we’re being called to because [16:03] community is not about making friends it’s about making disciples of Jesus look at what Paul says

[16:10] in first Corinthians 9 19 through 22 for though I am free from all I have made myself a servant [16:21] to all that I might win more of them to the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews and to [16:27] those under the law I became as one under the law though not being myself under the law that I might [16:32] win those under the law to those outside the law I became as one outside the law not being outside [16:38] the law of God but under the law of Christ that I might win those outside the law to the weak I [16:44] became weak that I might win the week I’ve become all things to all people that by all means I might

[16:51] save some and so Paul is saying here it’s not about your preferences it’s not about who you [16:58] think you could reach or not but it’s about being willing to die to yourself to die to those [17:03] to let God use you it’s not a good idea to make people and relationships ultimate because they [17:10] can’t give you what God can they aren’t ultimate and they will disappoint you at some point so the [17:16] goal here Paul isn’t saying I’ve become all things to all people to please people right we can’t do [17:23] that because people are unpleasable even even you are even I am he’s saying that that by all means

[17:30] he might save some so he’s doing this to please God not to please people Paul says I can reach [17:38] anyone now because it’s not about that it’s about souls that are lost for eternity and so the mission [17:44] has to come first our preferences and our desire for friendship cannot come first and be careful [17:50] about your preferences for people because God might use someone in your life that is unexpected [17:56] regardless of your differences be willing and be ready for God to use someone in your life and [18:01] don’t discount who he might use and who you might be called to reach now here’s the good part you

[18:08] will make friends okay you will naturally make friends because that’s just what humans do and I [18:15] love it’s this is Paul is the same person that just said what we heard earlier that he he became [18:20] whatever he needed to become in order to reach people for Christ but then later on in first [18:25] Thessalonians 2 8 he says this so being affectionately desirous of you we were ready to [18:32] share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves because you had become very dear [18:40] to us as you connect with people in community groups and in discipleship groups and in

[18:46] church people will become meaningful to you they will become dear to you they can’t help but do [18:53] that because you’re sharing your lives with other people and you know in our church we have seen so [18:58] many different stories of people walking with others through cancer and through divorce and [19:05] helping put on funerals that were unexpected we’ve seen someone got married in a community group [19:11] one week I’m telling you the truth that happened a group met for their weekly meeting and it just [19:19] so happened that night they were part of a marriage and hey that’s really cool and so I’ve heard so

[19:26] many people come to me and say you know I never really understood how much I needed church community [19:32] until this happened and my group was there and they supported me through it and so that will [19:37] happen people will become meaningful to you they will become dear to you but what I’m trying to [19:43] say to you is don’t let that become an idol in your life and become the entire purpose of [19:48] gathering that is a benefit and a blessing that we should be thankful for but Paul why had these [19:55] people become dear to Paul it was ultimately because they encouraged him in his faith and

[20:00] they helped him to grow to become more like Jesus and at the end of first Corinthians this is what [20:06] he says at the end he says I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in [20:13] its blessings so why does he become able to become like the weak and able to become like Jews it was [20:21] because he wanted to reach them with the gospel and to share with them in the gospel’s blessing

[20:29] he kept the mission central and that’s why mission has to trump community community is not an end in [20:36] itself it’s a vehicle that God uses to build the church and to make disciples as we keep the gospel [20:42] central God uses our intentionality and our effort to build up the body because finally this morning [20:49] in point number three discipleship creates forward momentum you know when we started this [20:56] church back in 2009 we could not have imagined that it would grow to what it has become now [21:03] and you’re here today because 12 years ago about 20 or so people believed in discipleship and

[21:11] believed in multiplication that God if we showed up and consistently poured into other people [21:17] that God would do something with it now we didn’t know we had no guarantee that it would grow [21:22] but God has been faithful and he’s grown it the first group of people discipled some people [21:28] than those people discipled some more people and pretty soon a couple a decade later or so [21:35] we’ve got hundreds of people in this church and it’s because someone had a vision to see more and [21:42] more people follow Jesus and to hear the gospel you know the church of Christ has existed for

[21:47] centuries and it’s only because with every generation we have passed the faith on to the [21:59] next generation. [22:00] So let me ask you this. What would it look like right now in your life to help others grow in [22:08] their faith? Is that a priority to you? Have you taken all that God has done in your life and [22:14] and the people that he’s used to pour into you and have you kept it to yourself? Are you willing [22:20] to invest in someone else and continue that faith to the next generation? Look at what Paul says

[22:25] to Timothy. [22:28] What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses in trust to faithful men who will be [22:33] able to teach others also. You know I don’t want my faith to end with me. I want to pass it on to my [22:40] children and to my grandchildren and I want the people who I’ve discipled in this church to continue [22:46] it on to someone else coming behind them. Your faith wasn’t designed to end with you and so we [22:54] have to multiply our faith into other people.

[22:59] At Village Church we have community groups and we have discipleship groups. Now this isn’t an ad. [23:05] They aren’t programs. They aren’t social clubs and they’re not Bible studies. These are environments [23:11] and opportunities for us to make disciples and obey the great commission. So when you join a [23:17] community group you have a place that you can pursue relationships where you can grow with other [23:22] people. It’s a place where your faith can be built up and you can pass that faith on to future [23:27] generations. In John 15, 8 Jesus says this, by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit

[23:36] and that you prove to be my disciples. You want to glorify God? You want your life to be about [23:42] glorifying God? Well he’s very specific in this passage to tell you how to do that. He wants you [23:48] bear fruit. He wants you to prove that you are his disciples. You know we should be able to point [23:55] in our lives to spiritual fruit that’s being produced that shows that we’re disciples of Jesus. [24:02] So my question for you to think about is who are you discipling and who is discipling you? [24:09] These are questions we each should be able to answer for followers of Jesus.

[24:14] And discipleship groups at Village look a little bit different than community groups. [24:19] They’re smaller groups of four or five people, men with men, women with women. They meet consistently [24:26] and they read the Bible and they’re honest about their lives. They pray together and the goal in [24:32] those discipleship groups is to know Christ and become more like Christ. So none of these [24:41] are things that we’ve tried or done before. These are just basic ways that we decided [24:46] would be a great opportunity and an environment for you to be able to grow in your faith and to

[24:51] make disciples. And it’s been done for you already. So you don’t have to wait for the stars to align. [24:58] You don’t have to wait for the perfect situation to present itself or the perfect person to walk [25:02] through the door. If you are a follower of Jesus then he’s calling you right now to make disciples.

[25:11] So where are we headed? What’s the end game? What’s the goal? Where are we moving towards? [25:17] I don’t know about you, but I want my life to be invested in the things that God’s called me to. [25:23] And I want to invest in eternity. I want it to go beyond just me and my time on earth. [25:29] We’re called to keep growing and keep multiplying. And so coming back to Ephesians 4, [25:34] this is how Paul describes the church in Ephesians 4 15 through 16.

[25:43] Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into [25:50] Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped. [25:56] When each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. [26:03] So as we get together, as we gather each week, we speak the truth to one another in loving ways. [26:09] We grow up and we become more like Christ. The body, the church will grow in depth and it will [26:15] grow in size as we become a loving people that God can work through and work in. This is the vision

[26:23] that Jesus died for. This is the vision that Jesus rose again for. And this is the vision that Jesus [26:30] coming to return and claim his church for. He expects that we would model our lives after what [26:35] he showed us during his earthly ministry. The church builds itself up. It makes disciples. [26:44] So I close with this. What are you building? Are you reproducing your faith in others? [26:51] Are you making disciples who will pass the gospel on to other generations? [26:56] That’s something worth giving your time to. That’s something worth sacrificing for. That’s

[27:02] something worth committing to. And that’s something worth passing on to the next generation.

[27:09] So I’ve got four application points this morning. The first one is pursue relationships with the [27:16] goal of making disciples. You can’t do it alone. So you have to ask yourself, who will you grow [27:22] with? Who will you invest in? The second one, don’t let community become an end in itself. [27:29] Be careful that you don’t just find all your favorite people in the church [27:33] and hang out with them and park there. The mission has to guide you as you pursue Christ.

[27:41] Being a disciple means you have God’s vision for people. So the goal of discipleship is to [27:46] become more like Jesus, not more like you. We’re not making disciples of us. We’re making disciples [27:52] of Jesus. So keep the gospel in front of you. Keep the vision in front of you. Keep the mission [27:57] in front of you. And finally, bear with one another and keep growing. Hang in there with people. [28:04] They’re difficult. You’re difficult. Show them grace. Forgive them. People are difficult because [28:10] of sin, because they’re sinners and they need Christ and they need the gospel. So bear with them.

[28:16] Keep moving forward. Keep multiplying your faith in other people.

[28:22] Every Sunday we take time here at Village to reflect on the cross [28:27] and to consider the price that was paid for our sin.

[28:32] The bread represents the body of Christ that was broken for you. [28:36] The cup represents the blood of Christ that was shed for your sin. So this morning, as we take [28:43] this time, reflect on the cross, show gratitude to Jesus for what he has done, [28:51] and then go live the mission. When you’re ready, partake.