You Need People.

Steve Gentry

[0:06] Go ahead and have a seat. [0:07] Welcome to Village Church. [0:08] If this is your first time here, my name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village [0:12] Church. [0:12] And as always, I’m thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:16] If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to Colossians chapter one.

[0:19] We’re going to be starting there in verse 28 this morning. [0:23] But if you don’t know at 1230 this afternoon, we’re going to have what we call Sunday Fun [0:28] Day. [0:28] We would love for you to either leave and come back, or you can come and listen to [0:33] me a second time at the 11 o’clock service. [0:35] But we’d love to give you lunch, give your kids of all ages something to do.

[0:40] We’ve got slides and bounce houses. [0:41] There is a weight limit, so I’ve been told I’m not allowed to participate. [0:45] And some of you may fit that category as well. [0:49] But this morning, we’re going to start a new series, and we’re calling this series [0:54] Multiply, how disciples are made. [0:57] And we specifically want to talk about the life of what it looks like to be and make

[1:05] disciples. [1:06] And this kind of started as a program that we were working on. [1:10] We were taking inventory over the last year of how discipleship groups looked and needed [1:16] to improve in the church, what we could do a little better as we do with all things [1:20] around here. [1:21] And what started as kind of a Saturday morning seminar quickly turned into a four week sermon

[1:27] series, where we wanted to talk to the church at large about the issue of discipleship [1:32] and about where you are in your journey of following Jesus and where God wants you to [1:38] go in your journey of following Jesus from being discipled to becoming a disciple maker. [1:45] The reality is that we believe that the gospel of Jesus is and will change the world. [1:52] There’s no point in following Jesus if you don’t believe that to be the reality. [1:57] To trust Jesus is to live your life in pursuing that ideal that God has given you faith and

[2:06] he wants to use that faith in order to impact the lives of other people through the proclamation [2:13] of the gospel, you telling people the good news of Jesus, but also you teaching people [2:21] what it looks like to follow Jesus, what it looks like to be a disciple, what it looks [2:26] like to make other disciples. [2:28] We say week in and week out that we exist to worship God by helping as many people as [2:35] possible become fully devoted followers of Jesus.

[2:39] That’s the mission. [2:40] That’s what we’re here for. [2:42] That is how we measure everything that we design here at Village Church. [2:47] If it doesn’t fit that statement, here’s the deal. [2:50] It might be a decent thing for you to do, but we’re not going to do it. [2:55] That’s how we measure everything.

[2:57] We’re not interested in any other mission. [3:00] We’re not interested in doing anything else. [3:03] We don’t exist for anything other than making fully devoted followers of Jesus because that [3:12] is what Jesus said the mission is. [3:14] That is what he said our lives are supposed to be about. [3:18] Therefore, this is about discipleship.

[3:21] A fully devoted follower of Jesus is a mature disciple. [3:26] It’s that simple. [3:27] It’s not more complicated than that. [3:29] This is what the church is about because this is what the Christian life is about. [3:34] Once we stop being about making fully devoted followers of Jesus, we quite literally lose [3:39] the heart of Christianity.

[3:42] It’s that vital. [3:43] We must then have a process for taking people from coming to faith in Jesus to growing [3:51] in their faith in Jesus to becoming a mature follower of Jesus. [3:57] Now this series then is going to be a little different than other series because as we [4:02] get through the next four weeks, we’re going to get deeper and deeper into the process [4:08] by which we believe you need to enter into to fulfill this mission.

[4:14] This mission isn’t something that we think is some pie in the sky, some mystical thing [4:19] that we can’t reach. [4:20] This is something that we believe God has put the potential of into every follower of [4:27] Jesus Christ’s life. [4:28] That’s what it is to have the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. [4:31] It’s the potential of God.

[4:32] It’s the potential to become what God has commanded you to become. [4:39] The key is, are you becoming that? [4:41] That’s the question that we must ask. [4:44] So today, very simply, I want to talk about what discipleship is and then I want to lay [4:50] out some keys that will aid you in seeing where you are in your own discipleship as [4:56] well as how can you measure how ready someone else is to be discipled.

[5:04] And I think that might be the most challenging thing for you to kind of catch on to is that [5:09] not everybody is ready to be discipled. [5:12] Not everybody is prepared. [5:13] Not everybody who claims the name of Jesus is somebody that I think you should invest [5:17] your time into. [5:18] I think there are some measurements that I put in place that you need to put in place

[5:21] as to whether or not you are going to invest your time and energy into a discipleship [5:27] relationship with someone else. [5:28] Because there are some people, quite frankly, that you should not invest in. [5:32] They need more time. [5:33] They need to decide whether they’re going to follow Jesus or not before you’re going [5:37] to invest a lot of time into teaching them how to obey Jesus Christ.

[5:42] And we’ll get into that. [5:43] But first, I want to talk about the reality. [5:46] Discipleship is the process of maturing and following Jesus. [5:52] Discipleship is the process of maturing and following Jesus. [5:57] Look at what the apostle Paul says in Colossians chapter 1 verse 28. [6:01] He says,

[6:15] This I toil, or the actual word there for toil is the same. [6:19] It’s a phrase that means I’m working myself to the bone. [6:23] It’s the type of work where you’re exhausted. [6:26] It’s the type of work where you come in, you say, I got nothing left in me. [6:29] I am physically, mentally drained. [6:33] That’s what that word toil means in the original language.

[6:45] The simplest definition of a disciple is a student or an apprentice. [6:51] It’s someone that follows the lead of another in order to learn and become like his or [6:58] her teacher. [6:59] So it is someone that is following. [7:02] It is someone that is learning. [7:04] It is someone that doesn’t know how to do something, so they find someone that does

[7:09] know how to do something so they can learn how to do something. [7:12] It’s pretty simple. [7:13] At some point in all of your careers, some of you are still there. [7:16] You had no idea what you were doing. [7:18] Some of you have been doing it for years. [7:19] You still have no idea what you’re doing.

[7:21] You’re just faking it until you make it, right? [7:23] It’s good to great.

[7:25] But you’re trying to learn. [7:27] You’re trying to catch some skills. [7:29] So the smart thing to do is to find someone more skilled than you, find someone more [7:35] mature than you, find someone who’s been down the road, who has picked up the tools [7:39] of the trade and knows what they’re doing, and you learn from them. [7:43] So for Christians, we are followers, we are apprentices, we are students of Jesus Christ.

[7:50] So a disciple of Jesus is someone who pursues the teachings of Jesus, seeking to become [7:57] like Jesus. [7:58] And this text in Colossians chapter 1 is helpful in determining the process of what [8:03] that looks like. [8:04] That we proclaim the gospel of Jesus. [8:07] We warn everyone.

[8:09] We proclaim Him. [8:10] We say, come to faith in Christ. [8:11] Come follow Him. [8:14] And they then are taught the wisdom of Jesus to grow in maturity of following Jesus. [8:20] That’s just what the text says. [8:22] So being a disciple of Jesus is not just as simple as becoming an apprentice of Jesus

[8:28] because Christianity is wholly different than just picking up a few skills. [8:32] It’s becoming what we call a Christian. [8:35] It’s not just learning the good life. [8:37] It’s not just learning good practices. [8:40] Jesus is the God who came to redeem us from sin in order that we could live the life [8:45] that He’s designed for us to live.

[8:48] But once you come to faith in Jesus, once you realize, man, Jesus has forgiven me of [8:54] sins by His work on the cross. [8:56] He’s risen from the dead to give me a new life. [9:00] You have to figure out what that new life looks like. [9:02] You have to figure out what the practices are like. [9:04] You have to figure out what does it look like to be a follower of Jesus.

[9:08] Who is Jesus? [9:10] What is Jesus like? [9:12] And by God’s grace, the Bible has produced a system by which those who are more mature [9:19] in the faith teach those who are less mature in the faith what it is to be like Jesus. [9:25] That’s why the apostle Paul elsewhere says, be imitators of me as I imitate Christ. [9:31] Paul’s just talking about discipleship.

[9:34] And so here he’s saying we’re working, we’re toiling, we’re expending a great deal of [9:41] energy and effort in order that we might present those who come to faith in Jesus when we proclaim [9:48] the gospel. [9:48] When we warn them, we are telling you to come to faith in Jesus. [9:52] Well then after that, our goal is to present you mature in Christ. [9:58] Not just some of you, all of you.

[10:01] And Paul says, this is what my life is about. [10:03] This is what defines life for me. [10:05] The issue with discipleship though is that many wrongly assume that you can be a Christian [10:14] with an option to be a disciple. [10:18] It’s like you buy a new car and you want a few more options. [10:21] You’re getting the bigger package.

[10:23] Some of you say, you know what, I’m just satisfied with basic Christianity. [10:28] Live a decent life, no hell at the end, heaven for eternity. [10:32] I don’t care if it’s got power windows or power steering, I just want heaven. [10:36] That’s not Christianity. [10:38] That doesn’t exist. [10:39] The Bible nowhere presents such an option for your faith.

[10:43] The Bible presents that to be a Christian is to be a disciple. [10:47] To be a disciple is to be a Christian. [10:50] There is no other alternative. [10:52] If you have no desire to grow in your faith in Christ, you never came to faith in Christ. [11:00] That’s the Bible. [11:01] It’s that simple.

[11:02] It’s that blunt. [11:03] And you need to realize that reality. [11:06] That when Jesus saves a person from sin, he gives them the power of the Holy Spirit. [11:13] And that is what empowers us to follow Jesus. [11:17] That’s what the apostle says in verse 29. [11:19] We toil with his power.

[11:22] That as he empowers us, we are able to actually complete this mission. [11:28] It’s not something that we can’t do, it’s something that God ensures that we can do [11:34] for his power. [11:35] And I think it’s helpful to understand the process of discipleship as point A to point [11:41] B. [11:41] One of my disciples taught me this years ago and I found it to be very helpful all

[11:47] the journey of my following Jesus. [11:48] That point A is when you come to faith in Jesus. [11:52] It’s that moment where you came to faith. [11:54] It’s that moment where you were born again. [11:56] It’s that moment where you chose to follow Jesus as your Savior. [12:01] That’s what a new Christian is.

[12:02] But there’s got to be a vision for point B. And point B is that fully devoted follower [12:10] of Jesus. [12:11] The question is that many do not answer, what does the process look like? [12:17] What does it look like to go from point A to point B? [12:21] Are there measurements that I can put in place in my life? [12:24] At some point you hear the good news and you realize all that Jesus did for you and you

[12:28] say yes, he’s my God. [12:30] Yes, he’s my Lord. [12:31] I will follow him. [12:33] So belief in the gospel should be thought of as that point A. [12:37] But my question for you is how are you doing in getting to that point B? [12:42] Paul says we want to present everyone mature in Christ.

[12:45] Where are you? [12:47] Are you mature? [12:49] Have you been trained? [12:51] Have you been discipled? [12:53] Have you been taught? [12:54] What is point B?

[12:57] Do you have a defining reality for what point B looks like in your life? [13:05] Point B quite frankly is what our mission statement refers to as a fully devoted follower [13:09] of Jesus. [13:10] To follow him is to seek to grow in obedience to his commands. [13:13] That’s the goal for everybody. [13:15] So the normal Christian life then, not the extraordinary Christian life, the normal Christian

[13:23] life is one of growth and maturity. [13:27] It’s not extraordinary. [13:29] It’s not super Christians. [13:31] It’s not the upper echelon. [13:34] It’s not the priesthood. [13:36] It’s not a special anointing.

[13:39] It’s not a special filling of the Holy Spirit. [13:42] The same Holy Spirit that you would look at someone because most people have someone that [13:46] you think of, that’s the super Christian. [13:49] All right. [13:50] That’s the person that’s got it. [13:51] They’ve made it.

[13:52] They must have gotten a little bit more of the Holy Spirit than I did or some of you [13:56] are like a lot more of the Holy Spirit than I did. [14:00] Here’s the biblical reality. [14:02] They didn’t. [14:03] They got the same amount of the Holy Spirit that you got. [14:07] They’re just following Jesus.

[14:09] So what are you doing?

[14:12] Where is your life? [14:14] How are you measuring your faith? [14:17] What are you doing in obedience to Jesus Christ? [14:20] What is it about your life that you can point to and say, that is the signifying reality [14:26] that I am a Christian? [14:29] See, the key is that’s what it looks like to pursue point B.

[14:33] But now some of you, I want you to know you are a new Christian and you’re in a great [14:37] place. [14:38] You have so much untapped potential that you will learn and grow over the next few years. [14:43] The Bible is filled with commands to obey, gifts to receive, abilities to learn and [14:50] goals to reach. [14:51] And God will empower you every step of the way.

[14:55] But for others of you, you have been or professed to be a Christian for an extended length [15:02] of time and you feel like you’re in a holding pattern. [15:06] Things are stagnant. [15:07] You don’t know what the path forward looks like. [15:10] Paul talks about this in Hebrews chapter five. [15:12] He says for though by this time you ought to be teachers.

[15:17] But you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. [15:22] And I love that he uses the term again. [15:25] In other words, you’ve already been taught. [15:27] You already know this. [15:28] You know what Paul is saying? [15:31] What’s your problem?

[15:34] I shouldn’t have to be teaching you these things again. [15:36] I already taught you these things. [15:38] Somebody’s already discipled you. [15:40] You’re coming back as though it’s insufficient. [15:42] You’re coming back as though it’s not enough. [15:44] And he continues and he says you need again the basic principles of the oracles of God.

[15:48] You need milk, not solid food. [15:51] For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a [15:56] child. [15:57] I don’t think Paul’s being very nice here. [15:59] He says but solid foods for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment [16:04] trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

[16:08] All right, here’s the deal. [16:11] When my kids were very young and they would be reaching, you know, they give you all of [16:16] these milestones that your kids are supposed to reach. [16:18] They’re in the 97th percentile. [16:21] I was always in the 156th percentile for growth. [16:25] Cheez-Its did it.

[16:27] Cheez-Its and Pop-Tart, that’s my secret.

[16:31] So I maintain this, beautiful.

[16:35] But when my kids were growing up, they would reach the milestones and they would be walking [16:40] and they would be talking and my wife would be like it makes me so sad they’re growing [16:44] up so fast. [16:45] And I’m a very linear thinker. [16:49] I always look at her and say well what’s the alternative? [16:53] I don’t want them to stop growing.

[16:54] That means we’ve got to go to the doctor. [16:56] That means we’ve got to go to the specialist. [16:58] That means something’s wrong. [17:00] That means there’s a developmental issue. [17:01] And what Paul is saying here, he’s using that analogy. [17:06] He’s saying some of you are adults and you still can’t digest solid food.

[17:13] You have teeth, yet you still can’t eat solid food. [17:17] You should be dining on the filet mignon of God and you’re satisfied with drinking from [17:24] a bottle. [17:25] What is wrong with you is what Paul is saying. [17:29] There is a developmental disorder in your faith and Paul is trying to get that to bother [17:37] them.

[17:39] If you went to work, new job, you got a new co-worker, lunchtime comes and you go to [17:45] the break room. [17:46] You unpack that ham sandwich. [17:49] He pulls out Mr. Brown’s bottle filled with Infamil. [17:53] 37 years old and he says, lunchtime.

[18:01] I should hope you’d kind of give him a sideways look saying, what have I entered into?

[18:10] That’s what Paul is talking about. [18:12] He’s saying you should be growing up. [18:15] What’s the holdup? [18:16] What’s the problem? [18:17] The issue is, and this should convict you, but I don’t want it to be too discouraging. [18:24] The issue is very simple.

[18:26] You have no vision for maturity. [18:28] No vision for it. [18:30] You are codependent on disciple makers and it’s one of two things. [18:36] Either A, you are afraid to grow up and mature because you think your discipleship has been [18:43] insufficient. [18:45] Or B, you aren’t really a follower of Jesus.

[18:49] You are just living a little of the Christian religion. [18:53] The good news for both of those camps is that either way there is a path forward. [18:58] There is a path forward. [19:00] Some of you need to repent within your relationship with Christ and some of you need to repent [19:06] and start a relationship with Christ. [19:08] But both of you, the key is become a disciple and a disciple maker.

[19:14] Number two this morning, multiplication is a necessary goal of discipleship. [19:21] Multiplication is a necessary goal of discipleship. [19:24] At some point in your life, if you are a follower of Christ, someone multiplied their faith [19:29] and that’s why you are a Christian.

[19:32] No one came to faith in Jesus without someone multiplying their faith in that person. [19:39] It’s just the nature of how God has designed the gospel to work. [19:45] You are called to be both a disciple and a disciple maker. [19:50] You need to form a plan to be a disciple maker. [19:53] Every single one of you. [19:55] And you say, oh you don’t know, I’m not ready.

[19:58] Yes you are. [19:59] Yes you are. [20:01] If you have faith in Jesus, you have the potential to make disciples. [20:06] If you are a follower of Jesus, that is what he wants you to become. [20:10] There is no other path. [20:12] Jesus is not walking another path.

[20:14] If you are on another path, you are not where Jesus is going. [20:18] It’s that simple and you need to treat it that simple. [20:22] The key is that many of you don’t realize is that Jesus wants this to happen a lot sooner [20:28] than you do. [20:30] Jesus wants this to happen a lot sooner than you think. [20:33] Here’s the key.

[20:35] If you span the scriptures, if you look at what discipleship pattern the scripture looks [20:39] like, three to five years and you’re ready. [20:44] Three to five years and you’re ready to multiply your faith in someone else. [20:49] You are ready to teach someone how to observe everything that Jesus has commanded. [20:55] Many of you have been discipled and you refuse to believe it. [21:02] Here’s the deal.

[21:03] When you transition from disciple to disciple maker, it’s not that you won’t continue to [21:09] grow. [21:09] Of course you will. [21:12] Forty year olds continue to grow in their pant sizes all the time.

[21:19] You will continue to grow in your faith as well. [21:22] But an aspect of that growth will be contingent on you reproducing your faith in other people [21:30] rather than continuously needing a discipler to pour into you. [21:35] Some of you are becoming unhealthy because you are co-dependent on disciple makers. [21:43] It’s not a healthy relationship anymore. [21:46] You say, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me.

[21:49] When you see a 25 year old like that, you tell them, grow up. [21:53] Well, what if you’ve been following Jesus for 20 years and your attitude is still give [21:57] me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. [21:59] Consume, consume, consume, consume. [22:02] That’s spiritual obesity, friend. [22:04] Need to exercise your faith.

[22:06] Need to pour into the life of another person. [22:08] And you’re more ready than you realize to make disciples of Jesus Christ. [22:13] In Matthew 28, we have to keep going back there. [22:15] We have to keep going back there. [22:18] Text that we must return to over and over and over. [22:21] Jesus is talking to the disciples who had followed him for three years.

[22:26] And not just the 12. [22:29] On this mountain, Jesus is talking to a few hundred people. [22:32] Some of them have been on the inside. [22:35] You got the 12, then you got the three of the 12 that were really close to Jesus Christ. [22:40] But beyond that, it’s a few hundred that have been kind of just on the periphery looking [22:45] at Jesus from the outside.

[22:47] You’re not super close, but you’ve been listening to him. [22:50] You’ve been watching him. [22:51] But Jesus has the same message for the entire crowd. [22:55] He says in Matthew 28, verse 19, go make disciples of all nations, baptize them in [23:02] the name of the Father, of the Son and the Holy Spirit. [23:04] Teach them to observe everything that I’ve commanded you.

[23:09] I’ll be with you the whole time. [23:11] It’s a very simple command. [23:12] It’s a very simple commission. [23:15] Jesus is sending them all out and he’s saying, you’re ready. [23:18] You’re ready. [23:20] They had a foundation of the word of God.

[23:24] They had personal knowledge and experience with the gospel of Jesus Christ. [23:29] And Jesus says, you’re ready. [23:31] Get out there. [23:32] Reach the world. [23:33] And they did. [23:35] Tells them very clearly.

[23:37] He released them to live the mission of making more disciples with the same power of the [23:42] Holy Spirit that you have right now. [23:45] And I’ll tell you, five years is generous. [23:50] It’s generous. [23:52] Most of you will be far ready before that, but many of you are way beyond that. [23:59] And you’re still trying to find that one book that will have the one answer that you think

[24:06] you still need in order to make disciples. [24:09] You’re still looking for that one person that can teach you that one thing that you think [24:15] you’re insufficient in. [24:17] You’re still looking to repent of that one sin that you think is keeping you from embracing [24:23] the full power of the Holy Spirit. [24:25] You’re still on a podcast trying to find that one sermon that will get you excited enough

[24:30] to become a disciple maker. [24:33] Here’s the deal. [24:34] You’re just looking for excuses at that point. [24:37] You don’t need another book. [24:39] You don’t need another podcast. [24:42] You don’t need another sermon.

[24:44] You don’t need another teacher.

[24:47] You’ve got it. [24:49] You’ve got the Word of God. [24:51] You’ve got the Gospel of Jesus. [24:52] You’ve got the power of the Holy Spirit.

[24:55] That is enough. [24:58] You’ve been in so many discipleship groups at this point, yet you haven’t found that [25:03] one that speaks your love language.

[25:07] You’ve read so many discipleship books. [25:09] Here’s the deal. [25:10] Here’s how Christian publishing works. [25:12] They’ve got to come up with new strategies every five years so you’ll buy them. [25:17] The new strategy isn’t what you need. [25:21] You just need to determine, I will make disciples.

[25:24] You need to determine, I’m going to teach people how to follow Jesus. [25:27] You need to trust God’s Word. [25:29] You need to trust the goodness of the Gospel. [25:30] You need to trust the power of the Holy Spirit. [25:32] That you have been made sufficient by Christ. [25:36] You’ve been taught.

[25:38] And once you’ve been taught, you need to be released. [25:42] In John 15, 8, Jesus noted that the evidence of successful discipleship is bearing fruit [25:48] to the glory of God. [25:50] That’s how we prove to be His disciples. [25:53] But friends, you simply cannot define what Jesus means by fruit in that passage without [25:58] including as primary among them making more disciples.

[26:03] Some of you have been stagnant for years and you’re looking for the answer as to why. [26:08] Why am I so stagnant in my faith? [26:10] I know why you’re stagnant in your faith. [26:11] You haven’t multiplied.

[26:14] That’s why those books are not going to help. [26:16] That’s why finding that new exciting disciple maker is not going to help. [26:21] That’s why, I mean, friends, I’ll tell you, I’ve been listening to sermons since I was [26:24] about two. [26:25] At this point, I’ve listened to probably 700,000 hours of sermons. [26:30] All right?

[26:30] So I’m an expert in sermonology. [26:33] All right? [26:33] Can I even do it for a living? [26:35] All right? [26:35] I went pro. [26:37] All right?

[26:38] I’ll tell you, I love the preaching of God’s Word and it urges me forward and it encourages [26:44] me. [26:45] I love preaching. [26:46] I love listening to it. [26:47] I love doing it. [26:48] But I can tell you, sermons are not what you need once you’ve been discipled.

[26:55] Sermons encourage you to keep going. [26:57] They’re not going to encourage you just to get started.

[27:01] Multiplying your faith in other people is the only avenue through which your growth [27:09] will remain constant. [27:12] That’s how your faith stays like a river and doesn’t become like a pond. [27:18] That’s how the water stays pure and doesn’t become stagnant, is that God has called you [27:23] into a dynamic growth pattern that necessarily involves you multiplying your faith in other [27:30] people.

[27:30] Look at what Jesus says, Mark 1, 17. [27:33] He says to his disciples, follow me in what? [27:36] I will make you fishers of men. [27:38] Make you fishers of men.

[27:41] Now it’s helpful to read every book ever written. [27:45] I give it a go. [27:47] It’s helpful to enter into study groups. [27:50] It’s helpful to do all of it. [27:52] But Jesus didn’t say, follow me and I will make you an avid reader of great Christian [27:57] literature.

[28:01] He didn’t say, follow me and I’ll give you every new praise and worship album.

[28:08] And say, follow me and you’ll just get poured into by other people for the rest of your [28:13] life. [28:15] He said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. [28:20] Where are you on that? [28:22] Where are you on that? [28:25] Are you seeking?

[28:26] Are you planning to multiply your faith in other people? [28:30] This is the DNA of discipleship. [28:34] But I can even hear that inner defense attorney in your mind right now. [28:39] You are disqualifying yourself from disciple making for a bevy of reasons. [28:45] Some of you think and you’ve been in the same discipleship group for years. [28:51] All of the members of that group should be out there making new disciples.

[28:58] All of you are mature in your faith. [29:01] All of you walk away and you go home and you say, you know, I obeyed. [29:06] Oh man, there’s just no life left in that. [29:08] I wonder why. [29:10] It’s because quite frankly, this week you all need to get together and say, I release [29:14] you, go make disciples.

[29:16] Because you’re stagnant. [29:18] There’s no life. [29:20] You need to multiply. [29:22] You have four disciple makers that are just satisfied to continue to meet with other [29:29] disciple qualified disciple makers who aren’t making disciples. [29:35] When you’re not living out your design, you can expect to become discontent.

[29:42] You can expect it. [29:44] The key is that the reason that you’re struggling in your faith is because you’re neglecting [29:48] the calling of God in your life to make new disciples. [29:52] Your faith isn’t moving forward, therefore you’re complacent and you’re acting complacent. [29:57] And I can tell you from experience, here’s the deal. [30:00] Nothing urges you to study the Bible more than making disciples.

[30:05] Nothing brings more knowledge of sin and need for repentance in your own life than [30:10] making disciples. [30:11] Nothing makes you depend on God by faith more than being a disciple maker. [30:17] If you want to continue to grow, you have got to go make disciples. [30:22] It’s that simple. [30:25] So where do you start?

[30:26] Where do you start? [30:28] How do you start? [30:29] You need first to order your life around discipleship. [30:34] You need to stop ordering discipleship around your life.

[30:38] Discipleship is not a part time hobby. [30:41] It’s a full time life. [30:43] Being a disciple maker is an identity that God calls all Christians to embrace. [30:50] Now full disclosure, I’m going to give you an acronym. [30:54] If you’ve been here for any number of years, you know I don’t give acronyms. [30:57] It’s not my style.

[30:58] I don’t think like that. [30:59] I can’t think of acronyms. [31:00] I’ve tried before and they all turn out, it’s like, okay, let’s make an acronym for stupid. [31:05] It doesn’t work for me, so it wouldn’t work for you. [31:08] All of them end up negative. [31:09] I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

[31:11] I got, oh, good, good. [31:12] Is it going for stupid? [31:13] Is it going for dumb? [31:15] All right. [31:15] Is it going for moron? [31:17] Like, I just, why can’t I be positive?

[31:19] I don’t know. [31:20] So I don’t do acronyms. [31:22] So I’ve been studying the material from replicate ministries and I want to give them credit [31:28] because you know, that’s an issue these days. [31:31] All right. [31:32] Now, here’s the other thing.

[31:33] I’m using their acronym, but I promise you, I wrote the sermon. [31:35] All right. [31:36] I don’t do that. [31:37] All right. [31:39] I actually wrote this content. [31:41] All right.

[31:42] You can look on YouTube. [31:43] You won’t find it. [31:43] These are my words. [31:46] All right. [31:47] To start discipling others, you need you and you need other people. [31:52] That’s the key.

[31:54] That’s necessary. [31:55] You know that. [31:55] That’s necessary. [31:57] Now I want to give you five keys on measuring readiness to disciple and it’s going to spell [32:03] out the word faith. [32:04] All right.

[32:04] It’s a positive acronym, believe it or not. [32:06] It’s going to spell out the word faith. [32:07] This is from replicate ministries. [32:09] All right. [32:10] The first one, the F is faithful. [32:12] The first one is F is faithful.

[32:15] The key component to discipleship is faithfulness. [32:18] An important part of this is that you are measuring your own health as a follower of [32:23] Jesus. [32:24] Then you are measuring another person’s readiness to be a disciple of Jesus Christ because discipleship [32:32] commitment and you need to measure not just where you are but where the other people [32:37] are who are going to be in the discipleship process with you.

[32:41] Not everyone is willing to live up to that commitment and you need to be okay with that. [32:46] You need to be honest about it. [32:47] The key is that I am not going to commit myself to a group of guys that aren’t committed to [32:53] the process. [32:54] I’m not going to do it. [32:56] Someone might ask though, isn’t this something that happens during the discipleship process?

[33:02] Well, yes and no. [33:04] To start the process, you need to understand you will grow in each of these areas but [33:09] if you don’t have any element of these areas in your life already, then you’re not ready [33:15] to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. [33:17] I’m not saying that this person needs to be completely mature. [33:19] They don’t.

[33:20] What I am saying is that at the moment of salvation, you are baptized in the power [33:26] of the Holy Spirit. [33:28] God’s power lives in your life. [33:31] And Luke 6 40 gives a measure of faithfulness. [33:34] A disciple is not above his teacher but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his [33:38] teacher.

[33:39] So what does faithfulness look like for the new Christian? [33:42] A desire to become like Jesus Christ. [33:47] I’ve met a lot of people who claim to be Christians who have no desire to become like [33:51] Jesus Christ. [33:53] Well, if you don’t have that desire, there’s really nothing I can do for you. [33:56] That’s between you and God.

[33:57] That’s between you and the Spirit. [33:59] Before I’m going to invest in you, you’ve got to have that desire. [34:02] A person who desires to become like Jesus will be faithful with as little or as much [34:10] discipleship as that person has. [34:12] If all that you know is John 3 16, God loved the world enough to give his own son so that [34:19] I could have eternal life.

[34:20] You know, Jesus died for my sins and I love him for it. [34:23] That’s the level that you’re at. [34:25] There will be a level of faithfulness to seeking to grow and following Jesus. [34:29] The second one, A, means available. [34:33] Acts 2 42 presents an early church. [34:36] It says, they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread

[34:41] and the prayers. [34:42] Note the term devoted.

[34:46] That’s a term of commitment. [34:48] That’s a term of they were all in. [34:51] That’s a term. [34:51] They were pursuing this. [34:53] That’s a term. [34:54] They wanted this.

[34:56] It’s a group of people that mostly had just come to faith in Jesus Christ and they were [35:01] devoted. [35:02] They devoted themselves to a number of core activities that were environments of discipleship. [35:08] I’m not going to break those four activities down. [35:09] What I’m going to break down is that word devoted. [35:12] They wouldn’t have been available for those four activities if they weren’t devoted.

[35:17] If someone is not available, then they don’t want to be discipled. [35:21] That simple. [35:24] If you want to be available, you will be. [35:29] It’s a choice. [35:31] A key problem that many have is that you busy yourselves with things that don’t matter and [35:38] then think everyone should accept it as an excuse.

[35:41] Jesus didn’t die for your sins so that you could become experts at things that don’t [35:47] eternally matter. [35:49] That’s not the Christian life. [35:51] Here’s the deal. [35:52] I’m not going to apologize for that and I’m not asking you to apologize to me. [35:56] If you’re not available, you’re just not available.

[35:59] But I’m not going to disciple you and I wouldn’t tell you to disciple them either. [36:04] So if you want to be a disciple of Jesus, there is going to be a requirement that you’re [36:10] available. [36:12] So if there’s going to be a specific place, it’s going to be a specific time and if you [36:16] can’t show up, good luck. [36:19] The I.

[36:20] Intentional. [36:21] Are you looking for discipleship opportunities? [36:24] Or are you sitting there insisting to yourself and others, well, if God wants me to grow, [36:30] He will magically hit me in the face with the discipleship.

[36:34] Luke chapter nine, verse 23, so sobers us on this. [36:38] He says, you must deny yourself daily. [36:42] This requires intentionality. [36:45] You are going to be tempted to not follow Jesus. [36:50] And Jesus says, you got to take up your cross on those days. [36:54] You got to deny yourself.

[36:55] You got to flee temptation. [36:58] This requires intentionality. [37:00] Following Jesus looks like examining your life to find places where you aren’t obeying [37:06] Jesus and then mobilizing yourself in order to obey Him. [37:10] It requires great intentionality. [37:13] Disciple makers and those that want to mature are continuously mobilizing themselves in

[37:20] that direction. [37:22] They aren’t blaming others. [37:25] They aren’t blaming some cosmic schedule makers. [37:30] Like, I wish I could do that. [37:32] But God hasn’t made it clear to me that He wants me to be discipled. [37:37] Yeah, He has.

[37:38] He has specifically said in His word that you need to be a disciple.

[37:43] The T. [37:44] You need to be teachable. [37:46] You need to be teachable. [37:48] If I were to label one element that’s necessary above all others, it’s being teachable. [37:56] Are you teachable? [37:57] No, I mean really.

[37:59] Are you teachable? [38:01] So many people are their own worst enemies where discipleship is concerned. [38:05] No one can tell you anything. [38:08] No one can teach you anything. [38:10] You’re an expert in everything. [38:12] To you, good luck with that.

[38:15] You have to be teachable to be discipled. [38:19] You think you’re an expert. [38:21] Friend, if you can’t be taught, which means corrected, then you can’t be discipled. [38:27] In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul is dealing with a church full of immature people and he looks [38:32] at them and he says, I could not address you as spiritual people. [38:36] I had to address you as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

[38:40] Again, the same analogy. [38:41] I fed you with milk, not solid food for you were not ready for it. [38:45] And even now you’re not ready for you are still in the flesh for while there is jealousy [38:50] and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? [38:55] If you read the entire book of 1 Corinthians, he teases this out. [38:59] And what he’s saying throughout the whole book is you people are unteachable.

[39:05] You’re unteachable. [39:06] You can’t grow. [39:08] You’re sitting there wearing diapers thinking you can tell someone who’s not how they should [39:14] use the potty. [39:15] It doesn’t work that way. [39:18] When we were potty training our kids, they never looked up and said, you’re teaching

[39:22] me wrong.

[39:25] We realized after a while we were teaching them wrong.

[39:29] But that’s just because of epic failures along the line. [39:33] Whereas I clearly said my son thinks he’s going to get sucked down into the toilet. [39:37] Something has gone terribly wrong here. [39:40] All right. [39:41] But they never looked at me and said, let me give you some tips on how to teach me. [39:45] But some of you, you try to get into the discipleship relationship.

[39:48] Somebody tries to correct you and say, who do you think you are? [39:51] You think you’re better than me? [39:52] You think you’re smarter than me? [39:54] Yes.

[39:56] Duh. [39:57] They think they’re better than you. [39:59] They think they’re smarter than you. [40:00] Why? [40:00] Because they are. [40:02] Deal with it.

[40:04] Some of you struggle to listen. [40:06] You look at someone and say, why do you think you know more than I do? [40:10] Well, it’s because I’ve been reading the Bible a lot longer than you have. [40:12] I’ve been following Jesus a lot longer than you have. [40:15] And my life isn’t falling apart like yours is. [40:17] That’s why.

[40:21] You would be amazed at how quickly you would grow if you would just be teachable. [40:29] You’d be amazed. [40:30] It’d be like anabolic steroids to your faith if you would just be teachable. [40:35] Being teachable is that number one asset. [40:38] The question you must ask yourself is, how do I respond when someone corrects me? [40:45] How do I respond?

[40:46] Do I immediately get defensive? [40:49] Do I immediately push back? [40:51] Do I immediately strike back? [40:54] Well, friend, do not be the arrogant person [40:59] who shipwrecks his or her own faith just to prove that you’re smarter than everybody else. [41:05] Don’t do it.

[41:07] Finally, the H, humble, humble. [41:11] Pastor Robbie Gallaty notes that humility is not thinking less of yourself. [41:17] It’s not thinking of yourself at all. [41:20] That’s what humility is about. [41:22] As Rick Warren has also said, it’s not about you. [41:26] It’s not about you.

[41:27] It’s all about Jesus, friend. [41:30] Jesus says it in Luke 14, 27 through 28. [41:33] He says if we won’t bear the cross, we can’t be his disciples. [41:40] We can’t. [41:41] We have to sit down and be honest about what discipleship is going to cost us. [41:49] Look at what he says.

[41:50] He says, which one of you, verse 28, Luke 14, which one of you desiring to build a tower [41:55] does not first sit down and count the cost whether he has enough to complete it?

[42:01] That’s why some of you, you get into discipleship and in two weeks you’re burned out [42:07] because you didn’t really sit down and say, how’s this going to change my schedule?

[42:13] How’s this going to affect my free time? [42:16] How’s this going to affect the way that I live my life?

[42:20] Discipleship is an all-in reality. [42:23] If you’re not ready to devote your life to following Jesus, you’re not ready.

[42:30] If you need to start telling people the good news of Jesus, if you need to start teaching [42:38] people what it means to obey Jesus, if is not a word that should be in that equation.

[42:47] You need to start ordering your life to tell others about Jesus Christ. [42:51] You need to start ordering your life to teach others how to follow Jesus Christ [42:58] because that is what it means to be a Christian. [43:03] Friend, if you think that you are doing great in following Jesus, [43:07] but you aren’t a disciple maker, here’s the deal, you aren’t. [43:11] The key in all of this for repentance, for turning and going and following Jesus and in admitting

[43:19] that you’re not okay and then catching the vision to start a pursuit of multiplication in your life, [43:25] you cannot follow Jesus without discipling people. [43:29] The Bible is that clear. [43:30] You need people. [43:33] Let’s get on a path and start some discipleship groups and make more disciples. [43:40] Every Sunday we reflect on what’s called the Lord’s Supper.

[43:46] This is a meal that represents the cost that Jesus paid so that we could follow him, [43:53] that we could be disciples. [43:55] In the seat back in front of you there should be a packet. [43:57] The top of it is a piece of bread that represents the broken body of Christ. [44:02] In the cup is juice that represents the shed blood of Christ. [44:06] When you eat and when you drink, here’s the deal,

[44:08] you proclaim to everyone in this room, I am a follower of Jesus. [44:13] Now if you’re not a follower of Jesus or you don’t know if you’re a follower of Jesus, [44:18] I’m going to ask you to abstain. [44:19] I don’t want you to feel the need to lie to us. [44:21] It’s okay, you’re in a safe place. [44:24] Here’s what I want you to do.

[44:26] I want you to realize that you can start following Jesus today. [44:31] God the Son whom you have sinned against, a holy and righteous God, [44:36] you deserve his punishment. [44:38] He came to this earth, lived a sinless life, [44:42] went to the cross, died for your sins so that you wouldn’t have to pay that penalty. [44:47] Then he rose from the dead to give you a new life of discipleship.

[44:51] And friend, if you will turn from your sin, if you will accept his forgiveness, [44:57] if you will follow him today, he’ll save you forever. [45:02] If you’re a follower of Jesus, eat, drink, proclaim his death.