MAKES AND EQUIP Disciples of Jesus

kiserets next Sunday

INTRODUCTION

This morning as we begin a new year together as a church family. Our focus this year is going to be on Discipleship. bBuilding up one Another in Christ.

Did you know that in the New Testament there are 59 “one another” commands for the church to follow? .

Love one another (John 13:34 -

Live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16)

Build up one another ( 1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Accept one another (Romans 15:7)

Admonish one another ( Colossians 3:16)

Care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25)

Serve one another (Galatians 5:13)

Bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2)

Forgive one another (Ephesians 4:2, 32)

Be patient with one another ( Colossians 3:13)

And this is just a small portion of the list.

As I have been praying on what direction our church should go this year. God has pressed on my heart these one Another Commands in Scripture for His Christ.

and I believe, that IF we want to be be a church that God is pleased with, If we want to be a family of believers that brings God all the glory We must be a church that follows the One another Commands that Christ gave us in his word.

we must be a church that exemplifies Jesus and His gosple message of Love for Others to this World.

This morning I want us to remember our purpose as a church.

Who knows What is our Purpose?:

Making and Equipping followers of Jesus. -And we are called to do this in North Iowa- in our communities, and Around the World

Do you believe that our local Church has the ability to change the world for Jesus Christ?

I do _ I believe that if we exemplify Christ in the way that we build up one another it will change the world.

This morning I have asked Willie to come up and share His story how the local church has had an impact in his life in making and equipping him as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Willie Testimony: -Salvation (Make) and how the church has helped him grow (Equip).

The church is God’s plan to make and equip followers of Jesus in this community

This means, that If you are part of the church you have a role to play.

There are no side lines there are no spectator bleachers- If you are a born again follower of Jesus than you are in the game and you have a role to play.

Please turn with me in your bibles to Matthew 28 verses 18-20

Matthew 28:18–20 (NET)

18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus is speaking to His followers, To His disciples, To those who have accepted Him as their Savior and have committed to following him with their lives..

Do you understand thatJesus is speaking to us as His church?

and He begins this command to His church by says “ ALL AUTHORITY in heaven and on earth has been given to Me”

Jesus says to the church “listen up” . Do not ignore what i am about to say”

Why Because He the has the authority to say it.

Intro Point: Jesus has ALL Authority

Have you ever really stopped to think about the authority that Jesus has with His church?

When it comes to the authority of Jesus we need to understand whom Jesus is.

Philippians 2:10–11 NET

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow —in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

In Revelation 5:11-13 John wrote

Revelation 5:11–13 ESV

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

Understand when it comes to the authority of Jesus , Jesus is the one whom all creation will worship together with one voice.

There is coming a day when all creation will sing out the praises of Jesus as their creator God.

Jesus has that kind of Supremacy over all creation. So what He says matters.

But if you are part of His church- If you have been redeemed through His sacrificial gift , Jesus is so much more .

1 John 4:9–10 ESV

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Christian, Dont fail to remember what the gospel has done in your life. It was Jesus Christ’s willingness to be your propitiation for our sins that brought you eternal life.

Jesus Christ is the one who redeemed the church.

jesus Christ is the one who took your place and paid your debt of sin in full so that you could have eternal life with Him.

So church, when Jesus says I have all authority to give you this command, We really need to listen to what he is saying.

And the Message Jesus has for us as his church in this passage is very simple

Go Make More Disciples

Baptize the New Disciples

& Teach Growing Growing

Trans: Our first point this morning is…

The Church is called to GO Make More Disciples

How many of you have ever had the privilege of going on a missions trip?

If you have Not I would encourage you to prayerfully consider going on one. It will change your life.

I have had the joy of going on many missions trips around the world. They are some of my most precious memories.

I have been to the Amazon jungle of Brazil where I got to water skiing on the Amazon River with Pink Dolphins and flying fish jumping around me.

Does it get any better than that?

I spent 2 weeks at an orphanage in Kenya playing soccer and spending time with those kids and going on a Safari in the African Bush . Does it get any better than that?

The stories you come back with from missions trips will impact your lives.

But let me tell you it gets so much better than that....

I have had the opportunity to go into the World and preach Jesus Christ crucified to people who are all in desperate need of a savior. And I cant think of too many things that brings me more joy than when a lost sinner repents of their sin and turns to Jesus.

Church family do you understand the magnatude of the gift that Jesus has given you to share with the world?.

Do you fully grasp what God in his sovereignty is allowing you to be part of?

understand church family, God doesn't need us in order to save lost sinners. He can do that completely on his own, But The fact that he has asked us as His Church, to be the conduit that carries his gospel message to the world should get you excited to go and share Christ with the World.

Jesus has given you the opportunity to not just have a front row seat in seeing lost sinners lives changed but He has put you in the game.

He has asked you to go into the world and share His gospel message with the people in your life who need His salvation.

Understand that there are people in your circle of influence, people that I may never know, who are crying out for someone to step into their broken lives and bring them hope. They are people in your family who are lost and on their way to an eternity in hell. And the way that God in His sovereign plan wants to introduce himself to them is through you.

You are in the game- You have been passed the ball, and now you need to take the shot.

The beautiful thing about the gospel message is that it is not up to us to save the lost, that’s what Christ does. it is up to us to introduce them to our Savior through our Words and proven by our actions.

Your life’s Purpose as a follower of Jesus is to Bring God all the glory from your life. and the Way you do this with the World is to introduce them to your savior.

How does this glorify God? Because it is only when they know the Savior, as their own, that their life too will sing His praise.

Christ Has called us, as his church, to GO and Make Disciples.

This shouldn’t feel like burden of something we have to do. It should make us cringe at the thought of sharing jesus with the world.

Romans 1:16 ESV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

If you truly love your neighbors, if you truly love your family, if you truly love your community You would willing and joyfully share Jesus Christ with them.

To Make Disciples Means that We take the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the World.

Why? Because Jesus commanded His Church to Go into all the world.

Next jesus Commands His church to Baptize these new believers

The Church is called To Baptize New Disciples

In the first century when jesus walked on earth and the church was being formed. The term “disciples” was the popular name given to those who believed and followed jesus.

To be a disciple meant more than being a convert or a faithful church attender or even a church member.

A disciple was someone who forsook his own interest to attach himself to a teacher,He would now identify himself with the teacher, and the way that he would identify as a follower of that teacher was to be Baptized by that teacher.

Baptism is an outward expression Proclaiming to the World That I am a follower of Jesus Christ. and He alone is Lord of my life.

When a person is Baptized by immersion- He is Identifying his life with Christ.

Through His death , burial and resurrection.

a Believer’s Baptism saying to the world

I am fully committed to following Jesus no matter the cost.

Jesus said Baptize these New Believers in the name of the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit.

When a Born again Believer is baptized He is no longer just a convert to f Jesus He is declaring to the World that He is now a Committed disciple of Jesus Christ.

You see there are many people who want a Savior in this world. There are many people who want fire insurance from an eternity in Hell, But understand that being a disciple is so much greater is so much greater than just being saved.

A disciple is someone who says “I no longer want to live for myself and my own glory , But I now live for Christ and His glory.”

A disciple of Jesus is someone who is fully committed to Jesus.

committed to learning from Jesus,

committed to living with Jesus,

committed to following the commands given by Jesus,

& committed to giving all the glory to Jesus.

A disciple would learn not just from listening but from doing.

We just finished our series through the book of John Where we saw 12 men who lived this out in their lives. Jesus called them to leave what they were doing and follow Him. But that is not all that made them disciples of jesus. Jesus taught them through His words and His actions so that they could reproduce more disciples.

A disciple, then, is one who has believed on Jesus Christ and has expressed this faith by being baptized as a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ

Trans; Jesus goes on in our text and gives the church a third command in Disciple Making

He says in verse Matt. 28:20

Matthew 28:20 ESV

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Our third point is this ..

The Church is called to Equip growing Disciples.

We are called to preach the gospel to the Lost

We are called to Baptize new Believers who want to proclaim Christ glory with their lives and We are called to train up disciple makers in the church.

A disciple of Jesus is a saved baptized Believer, who is faithful to the fellowship of the church family, so that he might be taught the truths of the faith. So that He would then be equipped to Go into the world and win others for Christ and to teach them these truths.

Simply Put - You cannot be a true disciple of Jesus if you are not growing in your knowledge of Jesus, and putting what you are learning into action.

The church is called to equip believers to to lives that will bring God all the glory.

We do this by teaching the truths of Scripture in our services and in our classes,

We do this by Singing Songs that remind us of those Biblical truths,

We do this by praying together for God to do a miraculous work in our lives,

We do this by praises God for those answered prayers.

We do this by serving one other like Christ served his church.

We do this by walking through hard times together leaning on Jesus for our strength

We do this by loving stepping into a brother or sisters’ life who is in sin, so that we might restore their relationship with God.

We do this by coming to church not looking at what I can get , but how I can serve others in this body of Christ.

& We do this by proclaiming Jesus in our community

This was the pattern of the New Testament church

Go into the World and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Baptize those who have accepted Jesus As their Savior and have a desire to follow him as His disciple.

And equip those believers so that they can live a life that is constantly and constantly growing to be more like their teach jesus Christ every day.

Let’s bring it Home

Bring It Home: The Church is called to to do it all in the name

Jesus didn’t call the church to convert the world He called the church to make followers of Jesus.

Notice what jesus says at the end of verse 20 “

Matthew 28:20 and Be

Matthew 28:20 ESV

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

and behold. (You can be sure of this) I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus didn't leave us alone to recruit followers He has called us to introduce the world to the one who is walking with us.

Jesus is alive and active in his church, and He has given you everything you need to fully make and equip followers of jesus in this community.

I believe the only thing that keeps us from making more disciples in our community is that than many believers aren't truly disciples themselves.

They are content with with their fire insurance plan, They are happy with their little group of Christians they call church.

Jesus didn't call us to hold onto the christians in the church He called us to go into the world and grow the church.

A church filled with genuine disciples will be a church that makes and equips more discipels.

and church family, I want you to know that I understand the magnatude of the calling God has given me as your pastor. to Equip the saints for the ministry of the gospel.

And I believe that this why God has placed it on my heart for us to study the One Another commands for the church this year.

As I close I want to challenge you with three questions.

Question #1 is for all of us.

Ask yourself this “ I’m a truly a disciple of Jesus, Am I someone whose life looks like Jesus to the world, Am is making more discipels and am I building up other discipels in the church, or am i just a faithful attender?

If you truly want to be a disciple of Jesus, it requires Work. its a life long commitment.

A disciple of Jesus faithfully listens to the teaching of God’s Word, and puts them into action in his life.

Think about the impact this church could have if each of us Would just choose one person to disciple this year.

Question #2 is for those who want to be disciples of Jesus

Whose your one In the community that you want to GO to and share the gospel of Jesus with?

It might be your neighbor

coworker, your family member

TO be a disciple fo Jesus means that you are making disciples of Jesus.

Question #3

Whose your One in this church that you are willing to invest in and equip to be more like Jesus?

It may be your wife or your husband

It may be your son or daughter

It may be a young man or women in the church-

It may be your friend who you hang out with

TO be a disciple fo Jesus means that you are equipping other disciples of Jesus.

The greatest impact our church can have in our community and around the world is to faithfully make and equip disciples of Jesus.

Who are you training up to be the next generation of Disciple makers?

Pray