The Pillar of Discipleship

Well, we have started off the year, this year to kind of with a little, uh, little break from our norm of doing a, a study through a passage of the Bible. Um, but we're looking at, uh, what we're calling the pillars of community church. And this really grows from the idea that as elders we believe that, that we're not the ultimate leaders of the church, that Jesus Christ is the lead shepherd of the church.

And our job as elders is to seek to understand what he calls us to and then to faithfully lead by following him. And so we have, we spent a lot of time and have over the years looking at the Bible saying, what does God called us to as a church? A number of years ago, based on this study, we formulated our mission statement.

You know, it's, again, it's not just our ideas and opinions, but we believe that God in His word, calls us to be a community, to know Christ, his life, changing power, and to make him known, and that's meant to be short and memorable. Uh, but it obviously doesn't say everything that God has called us to. And so we form core values.

We use those to, you know, to hold ourselves accountable, to set our goals. Um, but [00:01:00] those are too long. And so what we decided is, okay, we want to share those ideas with you. And so we condensed the core values down to seven things that we, uh, calling the pillars of community church. These are things that we believe that God has called us to, that are, that are essential, that we want to define us.

And so you heard them in the video just a moment ago. We believe God has called this to be a place where we worship, where we pray, where we fellowship, where we testify, where we disciple, where we forgive, and where we serve. And through this series, we've been looking at one of these pillars at a time each week and, and looking at a, a passage in scripture that explains what that looks like and, and um, and what it would look like for us as individuals and as a church.

And this is the last week in the series and we're gonna be looking at the pillar of discipleship. And I do wanna say, because we're dealing with this last, it doesn't mean that in any way it's less important. Actually, what we're gonna see is that the Bible teaches, Jesus teaches that discipleship is at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

[00:02:00] And so we're gonna be looking at a couple different passages, but mainly John chapter one, where Jesus calls his first disciples. And so if you have a Bible, I'd invite you to turn there to leave it open so you could follow along with us as we dive into the passage. But let me begin by reading the passage we're gonna be studying this morning, John one, starting in 35 the next day.

Again, John was standing with two of his disciples and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, what are you seeking? And they said to him, rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying?

And he said to them, come and you will see. And so they came and they saw where he was staying and they stayed with him that day for, it was about the 10th hour and one of the two heard John speak, uh, who heard John speak then followed. Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, we have found the Messiah, which means the Christ, and he [00:03:00] brought him to Jesus and Jesus looked at him and said, you are Simon, the son of John.

You shall be called CFUs, which means Peter. And God bless the reading of his word. Let me pray. Father, thank you for the privilege again that we have to come together this morning. Father, to be able to dive into this passage. Thank you for what you're teaching me, and I pray that you would bless our time, that your Spirit would speak this morning, that you would allow this to be your message through me.

Father, allow us each to have hearts that are open to hear and to respond what you will challenge us to this morning. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, as I said a moment ago, I believe that the Bible teaches that discipleship is at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. In fact, if we, we, we think about it, John chapter one, we read just a moment ago.

It's the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, and what does he do? At the very beginning of his ministry, he calls his disciples. And then if we go to the very end of his ministry, Matthew 20, uh, 28. The very last thing he says before he ascends into heaven, leaves this earth. We read [00:04:00] that he says, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.

Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations. And so he ends his earthly ministry by calling those who have been his disciples to go now and make other disciples to be committed to the task of discipling others. So in a sense, you could say the whole of Jesus' ministry can be summed up in the concept of discipleship.

He's calling us to be his disciple and then to likewise invest in others to make disciples. So clearly it's central to what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Now, I'll tell you, out of all the core values, out of all the pillars that we've talked about, this is probably the one. It not, it's probably, it's definitely the one that over the last couple of the years, the elders have spent the most time on and we are continuing to spend a lot of time.

We're, we're increasing our focus. How do we do discipleship better? And, uh, and, and I, I'm excited. In the next couple years, we really hope to, to share even more opportunities, deeper opportunities to grow in discipleship. And we've spending so much time because we believe that it's the heart of what it [00:05:00] means to follow Jesus.

But even when I say that, I almost need to back up and say, well, what does it mean to follow Jesus? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? Well, practically what does it mean? How should we even refer to ourselves? And some people would say, well, that's obvious. You know, that's Christians. Well, there's a challenge with that and that is that as I think about the way that we talk about Christians in our world, contemporary in a contemporary culture, it's often a term that's very broad, describing those who may be tangentially related to the church, but often don't have a real commitment to illustrate that.

There was a survey done over the last two years by the Pew Research Center, and they found that 62% of Americans identified them as Christians as of last year. Now. Now, does that number surprise you? Now ask, let me ask you this way, how many would you say, how many of, you'd say that in your average week in day-to-day experience, about 60% of the people that you interact with share your faith and commitment to Jesus?[00:06:00]

Anybody. Any. Any. You know, your It's, I mean, very few of us would say that, you know, how about, you know, 50%? Is that what you all see in the school? 25%. I mean, most of us, like I could say, I hope my, most of my coworkers are Christian. I hope, you know, but unless you work at a church or a, uh, a ministry, that's not most of our experiences.

And, um, and so you say, why is there this divid division between 62% claim to be Christian? But that's doesn't seem to be what our experience is. And again, I think the problem is, is that in our culture, Christian is a very broad term. And so there are many people who say, well, I was raised a Christian, or I have certain beliefs and I'm not a Jew and I'm not a Muslim, and I'm not a Buddhist, so therefore I'm a Christian.

Uh, or some might say, well, I did something sometime in my past. I prayed a prayer, or I went to a catechism class. I was baptized, and, and they told me I was a Christian after that. There's some people that will say, well, being a Christian is about what you believe. Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins?

[00:07:00] Other people will say, well, no, it's, it's about how you behave. Is God changing your life? Well, what is it? What is a Christian and and, and is a word Christian, even the right word to use? And you might be thinking, of course it is, because that's what the Bible uses. Actually. It's not actually, when you look at it, the Bible calls the early followers of Christ, not Christians, but primarily disciples.

Uh, take for example, the Book of Acts is the book that describes the early church. In the book of Acts alone, 30 times followers of Christ are described as, as, as disciples Once in the book of Acts as Christians. Three times in the whole Bible, Christian is used and in fact, let's look at the first time that the word Christian is used in Acts chapter 11.

It's talking about this church in a city called Antioch. It was the first, uh, non-Jewish city where the church really, really grew significantly. And talking about that growth we read in Acts 20 11, 26, for a whole year, they met with the church and taught a [00:08:00] great many people in an Antioch. The disciples were first called Christians, now who called them Christians.

Not the church. It was the world. They're sitting there saying, who do we call these people until they made up this name? Probably a derogatory name. What do they call themselves? The disciples. That's what they identified themselves in the, by the world. They were called Christians. And so that's not the primary name.

The primary name that's used throughout the Bible is, is actually again, disciple. And it's a name that came directly from Jesus himself. So let's go back to the great commission we saw a moment ago. As Jesus is ascending into heaven, what does he tell His disciples? Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations.

He doesn't say, go make Christians. He says, make disciples. That's what a faller of Christ is. So then what is a disciple? Here's what I think you need to realize, is that when the Bible uses the term, it's not just giving a title. It's not [00:09:00] just a name that we would call things. It's actually description.

It's actually saying something about A, the nature of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The word disciple actually just simply means being a learner, an apprentice, or a follower. And it was a commonly used term in that day to describe a. A student master relationship. And when I say that it's not student teacher, like what we would often think of, it's not where you just go to class and learn what the teacher had to say.

A disciple actually lived with the, the master, with the teacher. So he not only heard the teaching, he saw him live it out in everyday life. And even the goal of discipleship to be defined differently. And when we think of a student, a teacher tries to teach the student what he knows, a, a disciple or tries to teach their student who they are.

I. To become like them. It's a description of a relationship because he would, again, get to know the master, not only what he thought, but who he was, what his value systems were, because the goal was to become like the master. That's what Jesus taught [00:10:00] about being a disciple. Let's take for example, Luke six a disciples not above his teacher, but, but everyone when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher.

What does it mean to be a disciple? To be like Jesus? And that's why I believe when the Bible uses this term, it's it. It wasn't just, here's a title, what we call these guys. It was a description of what God, how did God defines what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Now, to unpack this even more fully, let's go back now to John chapter one.

And here you see Jesus calling his first disciples and, and in this whole thing you see something about him explaining what discipleship is all about. So if you have your Bibles, turn with me to John one starting in verse 35. We read the next day when, uh, again, John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he looked at Jesus as he walked by, he said, behold the lamb of God.

Now, the John that's talking about here is John the Baptist. John's ministry was focused on preparing people for [00:11:00] the coming of the Messiah. And so when he's sitting there, he's got two of his disciples, people that have been learning from him, and suddenly Jesus walks by and he declares to them, behold the lamb of God, telling them, this is the guy that I've been preparing you for.

And I think John's purpose was of saying this in front of his disciples, was to actually elicit the response that actually happened, because we see the response in 37. The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. You see, they've been learning from John. And John's message was all pointing to the coming Messiah.

We need to prepare our ways, our our hearts to follow after him. And now John says, this is the guy that I've been telling you about. Not just so that you know about it, but since this is the guy, the right response is to go follow him. Now, even when I think about this, I think about Jesus' ministry. And when you look at the gospels, you see all kinds of people.

There were crowds that would follow him, and there were all kinds of different people that were part of that crowd. I mean, some people were skeptics and they would [00:12:00] argue with him and try to prove him wrong. There were some people that, um, you know, that were maybe just curious. They heard about them as, you know, there's miracles and they were hoping, and, but it's, but some people, they liked Jesus.

They identified with him and, and they probably even identified as a follower of Jesus. But, but some of those people, they were maybe just more students, not disciples. They wanted to hear what he had to teach and then say, how, let me evaluate that. Think about that. Some people were fans, they saw his miracles and they were excited and they hoped to be a part of it.

And, but being a disciple is something that's far deeper. That's far richer. And even when I think about our, our time, I think we have people that are, some people that go to church, that are students. Some are fans, some are disciples. Again, what is discipleship? It's, it's, it was a term that described this relationship between a a, a master and a student.

And um, and the disciple wasn't just that you went to class. No, you lived with this person. You heard his teaching, you saw him live it out everyday, li in [00:13:00] li everyday life. And so that you would try to become like him. And you see that idea played out here again in verse 37. John's disciples heard Jesus age, lamb of God.

They followed Jesus, look what happens next. Verse 38. And Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, what are you seeking? And they said to him, rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? And he said to him, come and you will see. And they came and saw where he was staying and they stayed with him for that day, for it was the 10th hour.

Now, some of these things we read and we kind of just read over and we don't realize how strange they are. And this is one of them. I mean, when you look at this, they, you know, they're, they start follow Jesus. Jesus said, what are you seeking? And they respond. Where are you staying? I mean, think about, let me make this personal.

Okay. So if I had somebody who came to visit the church and I talked to 'em afterwards and said, oh man, I really loved your church. I, I really would like to learn more about it. You know, we think this might be a place where we can grow. And I, and I look at 'em and say, well, well, how can we help you plug in?

And they respond to me and [00:14:00] say, well, show me where you live. I'd be like, oh man. Okay. Get away. Call security. Hey, you know, Ben, you know, come, I mean, that would make me nervous. I mean, that's, that seems like a really unnatural response. In our years, in our culture, it would be, but in that time, it actually was very understandable because of the whole nature of a relationship between a teacher and his disciples.

See, they were asking to be, not his students, but his disciples and a disciple lived with the person. So they come to Jesus and they say, you know, well, you know, Jesus said what you want, show us where you live. We want to live with you. We wanna be your disciple. That's what they're saying. And when Jesus responds, well come and see.

He's basically saying, I'm accepting you as my disciple. Yeah. Come live with me. Be with me. And so the goal of this was a relationship where you not, where you not only got to know what the teacher taught, but you got to know him. You became more like him, and that was the goal of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

Again, Luke six, A disciple is not [00:15:00] above his teacher, but everyone when he's fully trained, will be like his teacher. Now, here's what we need to realize. It's easy to look at that and say, well, okay, those were the 12 guys that followed Jesus. Those were those disciples, and that applies to them. Now, what you've gotta realize is when you look at the whole of the Bible, it's clear that this is not just a description of those guys.

It's a description of all who would seek to follow after Jesus. That's why throughout the New Testament, followers of Jesus are constantly referred to as disciples. And the great commission, Matthew 28, God calls us to go make disciples. Disciple is, is, is, is, is teaching us about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and it's throughout the Bible.

I mean, take another example. Ephesians five. Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. Walk in love as Christ love us and gave himself for us as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice. Where do we do and we'll take God? We're to walk like Jesus were to be like him. You see, it's not just the same thing as being a [00:16:00] student.

It's somebody who commits themselves. A a disciple is basically saying, I have made, I, I commit to make this person my example, my life. And, and, and we, we go through asking questions like, okay, I've got a decision to make. How would Jesus handle this? How would you, what decision would Jesus do? Jesus, if you were in my shoes, what would you do?

Because I want to be like you. That's my goal. I wanna spend my life getting to know you more and more. And the more that you get to know you, the more I wanna know how you think and how you'd respond so that you change me to that, that picture of you. It's a person that, in a sense, is looking for not only a teacher, but a master that says, Jesus, gimme direction in life.

Show me how to live my life. And whatever you show me, the answer is yes. I don't know what you're gonna show me. There may be times that you show me things that I don't like, things that you confront about me, things that I don't understand. But the thing is that if I really have made you my master, then the answer is yes, even if I struggle with it.[00:17:00]

So now when you see that, that's very different than the world's definition of Christian, isn't it? It's uncomfortable. But that's what we need to realize that the Bible calls us to this discipleship. It's not, it's, it's something that this changes who we are. It's not even just part of our life. It's this all consuming identity.

It encompasses every aspect of our being. Again, a lot of people, when they identify themselves as Christians, that's a religious part of their life. That's what, that's what I do on Sunday morning where it's, that's my belief system and, and, um. But what you need to realize is the Bible teaches, there's no part-time disciples.

It's an all encompassing identity. It's someone who has a relationship with Jesus Christ, walks with him and invites him into every aspect of who we are. So the quick key question we have to ask ourselves is not, are you a Christian? However the culture defines that. Uh, are you a student of Christ? Do you agree with him intellectually?

The question is, are you a disciple of Jesus? Have you surrendered your [00:18:00] life to him? As your teacher and your master? Are you letting him reshape your thoughts and your attitudes and your actions? See a disciple will over time become more and more like Jesus. Are you becoming more like Jesus, not just in one area, but in all areas of life?

You see, because discipleship will always transform us to be more like Jesus. There's a total transformation. Lemme show you how radical this transformation is. Go again with me. If you, if you have your Bibles to John chapter one, starting in verse 40, one of the two who heard John speak and follow Jesus was Andrew Simon Peter's brother.

He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, we have found the Messiah, which means the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus looked at him and said, you are Simon, son of John. You shall be called Fus, which means Peter. Now again, this is one of those you read over. We're used to it. This is a really weird scene.

Think about it. Alright. Simon goes to meet this [00:19:00] teacher that his brothers told him about, and they walk up to Jesus. And Andrew starts to make the introduction. Jesus, I, I wanna introduce you to my brother, whom I told you about this is, and, and Jesus stops him right there and says, I know who you are.

You're Simon, you're the son of John. But from now on, your name is Peter. And what an introduction. I mean, Peter's, I mean, Simon's gotta be up there. Say, who is this guy? You know, you can't just change my name. But that's what Jesus did. I mean, the first introduction, he changed his name. You see, why did he do that?

It was actually an illustration of the kind of thing that God wants to do in people's lives. He's saying, Peter, I wanna change your life. See what's interesting, even in this, in John's gospel, there's no explanation about why Jesus changed his name. Some commentators, if you read it, they'll talk about, well, here's what happened in Matthew, and he talked about the rock and this and that.

None of that is in John, and there's a reason because it actually takes away from the point that Jesus is trying to make here. See, the point that Jesus is trying to make is that [00:20:00] Jesus is saying, I have the authority to change your name. You don't need to know any reason I'm changing your name, period.

Why? Because I give people different names. I change people's identity. I will follow me and I will change who you are. Now, here's what we need to realize. If you properly understand what this is saying, it's not only teaching us that Peter changed or Jesus changed Peter's name, but it's teaching us that this is not what Jesus did.

It's what Jesus does. For anyone who's a follower of Jesus, when we follow him and become a disciple, he changes our name. He changes our identity. He gives us a new name. See, part of understanding this is understanding his biblically the importance of names. Names were really important throughout the Bible.

Throughout the Bible. A name is, is more than just a title that you call the person. It also indicates something about the character, the destiny of the person. So, for example, think about Jesus in, in Matthew chapter one, and you have the angel coming to, uh, to, to Joseph and explaining that [00:21:00] you know this baby that is gonna be born.

And there's a couple names and both of them are names that have significance. He's not just saying, call him. I, I, you know God likes his name. No. Look, Matthew 1 21, she shall bear a son and you'll call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from her sins. Jesus means God saves. We're giving a name that describes who, who he is and what he's going to do.

Two verses later, it says it's gonna fulfill a prophecy from Isaiah. Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. He has that name because that's that identity. I wanna tell you personally, Sandy and I have really embraced this idea when we have kids.

I mean, we, we, we didn't sit sit back and say, well, what name do you like? What sounds right? And you know, I know people that have done that. And, and they, and they have some really sounding names that have, I, I, I won't tell you the meaning of names 'cause I don't wanna offend somebody. But some names are like, how did you choose that?

I mean, we chose names that have meaning. And then we would tell each one of our kids, this is your name. This is your meaning. This is the destiny. This is, this is who [00:22:00] we want you to be. This is a statement of character that we want you to live up to. And it's been a privilege to see them live into that. I mean, even on a, on a ary note, have you ever noticed how so often dogs match the name?

I mean, you gotta be careful naming your dog because sometimes you give your dog a weird name and it becomes a weird dog. I mean, I, I mean, I had, I had a sister that had a dog, she named Tweaky, and that dog was seriously emotionally unstable. I mean, it was just kind of like, I mean, that was his personality.

And or another one they named a dog booboo. And it's kinda like, that's really cute sounding. It really sounds, but just think if you're inviting the dog to be a big booboo, I mean, that's what the dog was. I mean, the dog was just, I'm gonna tear everything up. I mean, I mean, I remember one time he ate their wallet and all the credit cards and the money in it.

I mean, he just would, would eat glass and then leave the droppings all over the, I mean, it was just a mess. And so we were careful. We named our dog, you know, we said, okay, what's a good dog? Teddy, Teddy bear, I mean, and that's who he is. I mean, he's playful, he's cute, but he has all the courage of a teddy bear.

I mean, he will [00:23:00] run from bugs. I mean, seriously. I mean that's, I mean, um, I mean a dog. Then we thought, okay, well we got this. We weren't as careful with our second one, so we got a second one and we named him Balto. And uh, and then you think about Balto, well, that's stubborn, strong-willed. He's really cute dog, but he's very stubborn, strong.

But we did not choose well with that one. And you gotta think about that. Now, we can joke about names, but names mean something. And so when Jesus looks at Peter and he says, I'm giving you a name, it's not just Jesus saying, you know, I don't like Simon. Let me give you. He's saying, I'm gonna change who you are.

And what's incredible, as you see at Jesus is looking at Peter, not as who he was, but who he would be, and he's saying, I'm gonna change your name because I'm changing you from the inside out. You're not going to be who you were. You're gonna be a rock. That's how I'm gonna change your character. Now let me apply that towards us.

'cause you might look at that and say, well it's, and Peter's just got a new name. No, it's actually we all get a new name. The Bible teaches that when we follow Jesus that we [00:24:00] get a new name. You say, where is that? What's not here in John? It's actually on revelation. Look what it says in Revelation two. For the one who conquers.

That's the one who has enough faith of last to the end. I will give some of the hidden manna and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. He is saying, if you are a follower of Christ, then I'm gonna give you a, you know, if there's a white stone and there's a name that is written on it and you have a new name, you have a new identity.

That's who you are. You are not who you were. You have a new identity. Now we don't know that name. And part of the Christian life is learning to understand and live into this new identity. We are now. We are a disciple. We are a child of the king. We are not who we were. It's the same idea that's taught in Second Corinthians where Paul says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ is a new creation.

The oldest passed away. Behold, the new has come. We're a new person. Everything about us has changed. And the challenge of living as a follower of Christ is living into that identity. Don't, don't live [00:25:00] down to who you were. Live up to who you are. I mean, it's a powerful idea, but it's not only that He gives us a new name, he gives us with that name a new purpose.

That we are not only saved from our sins, we are saved for an eternal purpose so that our life is about something that matters. We see this even in the story of Jesus calling his disciples. In Matthew four, you have the account of the same incident where Jesus is calling, uh, Simon Peter. And in Matthew four we get a, a few other details and we see in his calling there that when he calls Peter, he doesn't just say follow me, but he also then says, if you follow me, I'm gonna give you a new purpose.

Look what he says. While walking by the Sea of Galway, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. And he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers, amend. Follow me and I'm gonna give you a new purpose. Follow me, and I'm going to call you to now be used in a way that you impact people's lives for eternity.[00:26:00]

Or we think of Matthew 28 and the Great Commission, and again, Jesus is saying to all who follow him, if you are my disciple, now all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go make disciples. You have a new purpose. You have a new purpose in life. I think about Ephesians chapter two. Some of you might be not aware of that.

It talks about we are saved by grace through faith and, and so we have this new identity in Christ. We've been saved, our sins have been forgiven, but with that new identity, we also have a new purpose for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in him.

We have a new purpose. The challenge is do we live into that? Do we live up to who we are? And some of 'em might be saying, okay, well guys see that God's calling me to do this. But, but what's it look like? How do I become a disciple? And here's what we've gotta look at the process of discipleship, and we're gonna not spend a lot of time on this, but it's really important.

See, everything that we've seen about discipleship, as we've said, it's relational. It's [00:27:00] about a relationship with a teacher. A disciple is one who spends time with Jesus and learning from that relationship to be like him. And he might be thinking, but Jesus isn't here to spend time with him anymore. I mean, how can I be his disciple?

And. Okay, let's go back to the great commission. As Jesus is leaving, what does he tell his disciples? Now you go make disciples. And the principle that he's teaching is that for those of us who seek to be disciples, God now calls us to spend time in a discipling relationship with other people who are more mature in their discipleship than we are.

With people who have spent time with Jesus who are more like Jesus. And so we spend time with them and we, we not only learn what they know, but we say, what's it look like to live out this relationship with Jesus? See, discipleship is always the result of intentional relationships. So I know in some sense this is a in controversial statement, but I believe it's true.

It's impossible to grow to maturity in our relationship with [00:28:00] Jesus if we are not connected in discipling relationships that focus on our spiritual growth. I wanna be careful. I'm not saying it's impossible to grow as a Christian. You can grow as Christian, but you cannot grow in maturity. You cannot grow to be all that God has called you to do.

You can grow, but the growth is gonna be stunted because the Bible teaches that discipleship is the nature of what it means to fall Christ. And discipleship is relational. I can't just read the book. I can't just, you know, you know, watch on tv. I, I've gotta actually hang out with people who are followers of Christ to show me what this looks like.

Look how often the Bible describes this. I mean, throughout the Bible describes spiritual growth in these terms. Hebrews retain, for example, remember your leaders who spoke to you at the Word of God, consider the outcome or their way of life and imitate their faith and find people that are leaders and not only tell you things, but look at the way that their life turned out.

Follow their example. That's what disciples do where you think about first, second, or first Corinthians four. [00:29:00] For though you have countless guides in Christ, you have a lot of teachers. You do not have many fathers true mentors disciples. I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel, and I urge you then be imitators of me.

Our goal is to get to know people and have that maturity where we learn by example that goes against some of the values of American individualism. See, Amer America we're the most, probably the most individualistic culture that has ever existed throughout history. And sometimes it's easy to take that cultural value and fold it over into our understanding of issues of faith.

And so often we talk about our personal relationship with Christ and our personal devotions and our personal, and here's what you need to realize is that the Bible always talks about our faith, not only personally, but also corporately, and as a disciple. I cannot grow fully as a disciple apart from having a disciple or that I can walk through in relationships, but I, I'm so thankful for Dan and Andrea and for their story today, and that they shared that's part of their story.

I mean, if you heard, even in Dan's [00:30:00] testimony in the beginning, he talked about, yeah, I, I've gone to churches and, and I didn't connect anybody, you know, talk to me. There was no disciple happen, and so he didn't grow. And they got involved here and a big part of their story is, is right away they got involved in a small group, they got involved in our Life 1 0 1, our young couples group, and, and they've been connected there.

And that's been a key part of their story of helping them grow and what it means to be a follower of Christ. This is vital. See, not only then to be involved in these relationships where we grow, but then as we grow to then share it with other people. See, we need to be in a discipling relationship where we grow, but also one where we pass it on.

So I think, for example, in First Thessalonians one, it says, uh, you know what kind of men we prove to be amongst you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord for you. Received the word and much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. They got close enough to imitate, to learn. Okay, now you've got this and you're growing, and he continues in the very next thing, so that you may become an example to all the [00:31:00] believers in Macedonia.

And so now you've learned from the example. Now go be an example to someone else and see, the Bible teaches this idea that mature disciples will also then seek to make disciples again. Think of the great commission speaking to his disciples. He said, okay, now that you have learned from me, now go make disciples of all nations.

I mean, I think Miguel, again about Dan and Andrea and their story, wasn't it beautiful with Willow where she talked about how, you know, boy, if I, we just came to church once a week. I would just get once a week, but my parents are teaching it every day. And so they're growing and they're saying, okay, how do we teach our kids?

Then I love how they're getting involved now and Wednesday night and they're saying, okay, how do we not only grow, but how do we pass it on to other people and they're doing it and God says blessing that it's blessing them through it and, and he's growing them. I am, I, I'm one of my, one of my life verses I I love First Timothy two, two and what you've heard from me in the presence of many witnesses and trust to faithful men who will also be able to teach others [00:32:00] also.

So we need to have people we're hearing from that, we're understanding that we're growing, but then say, okay, once I've grown and I'm growing in maturity, how do I pass it on to other people? And whether it's when the children's ministry or youth ministry or young adults or new believers, how, how do I find people that I now pass this on and help them grow?

As people have helped me grow. Just in closing, let me give you three questions just to think through and and practical application from, from these ideas. Number one, let me ask you, do you follow Christ as a student, as a fan or as a disciple? You see, the key question is not are you a Christian? However, the culture and the world defines that.

It's not if you're a student of Christ, if you believe intellectually, if you like him, and. The question is, have you surrendered your life to him as your teacher and your master? Are you letting him reshape your thoughts? Are you basically saying, okay, Jesus, I wanna follow you, and whatever you tell me before you tell me the answer is gonna be yes.

I might struggle with surrendering, but, [00:33:00] but I wanna be like, you see, the disciple is one who over time becomes more and more like his teacher. So the question is, are you becoming more like Jesus? Secondly, the disciple is a disciple. Jesus gave you a new name. But also a new purpose and and identity that, that the old has passed away.

The new has come, and so often we can look at it, man, I failed here. And we, we see ourselves in our failures. That's who you were. That's not who you are. You have a new identity, you have a new name, and the question is, are you living down to your old name, your old failures? Do you keep going back to that or are you living up to your new name?

You say, I don't fully understand my new name. I know part of it. You're a follower of Christ. You're a disciple. You're, you're a child of God. You have a new identity. You have all those things. You're a new creation. The specifics, I don't know, but are you living into that and saying, God, help me to discover what that means.

Help me to know how you want, not only to change me, how you want me to use me so that I [00:34:00] am the person whom you've called me to be. And lastly, the only way that any of us are going to do this is if we're involved in the discipling relationships that, you know, the kind of relationships that define discipleship, because again, discipleship, it isn't going to a class, it isn't reading a book.

It's discipleship by its very nature involves relationships. And so it's, it's not just okay that it's something I could do on my own. I actually have to be involved with other people who are on the same path with me that are either at the same place or further ahead of me. Are you involved in those relationships?

What kind of small group are you involved in? Are you involved in a small group where people are speaking into your life, where they're helping you grow, where they're challenging you? We all need that. Are, is there anybody in your life that you say, okay, this is my example, this is my mentor. That you can look at it and say, this is somebody that I'm learning from.

If you're not involved in that, how do we help you? That's why we're trying to always be, we put such emphasis on community [00:35:00] groups and we're starting new ones, and because we're trying to say, we want to help you find that kind of community. And in the years to come, we're gonna be offering new and, and even deeper opportunities for discipleship because this is vital.

This is what it means to be a follower of Christ. And, and if you're there and if you're growing, let me ask you, are you involved in the relationships that define discipleship? Because mature disciples will always disciple others. And so who have you, who are you reaching out to? If, if people have reached out to you, are you passing that on?

And you know what happens is if we learn to understand this, we learn to understand a, a level of being a follower of Christ that goes so far above and beyond what our culture will define as just Christian. I mean, it's not a bad term. You could call yourself a Christian, but, but I hope that we can say that I'm a Christian, but more than I am a disciple.

That defines not only my title, it defines who I am. It defines my priorities, defines what I'm pursuing. It defines how I'm investing in other [00:36:00] people. And through that discipleship, God not only grows us, he blesses us individually and is a church. Well, I want to tell you, if we had a church that was made up of a bunch of people that were totally committed to discipleship, but God would do some amazing things through that kind of faithful community.

And I hope that you embrace that with me and we say, let's learn it together. Let's do it together. Let's grow together. Let's make the effort and make it a priority. If you have a question about the Message Community Church or Jesus Christ, send us a text to 3 3 0 432 42. You can learn more about our events and community groups at CCP Life slash connect There.

You can also send in a prayer request. We would love to pray for you. Have a blessed Lord's Day, and we'll see you on Sunday.