Shift 2024 Message
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
How many of you have started learning to drive? Anyone have their permit and on the road already? That process of learning to drive is really crazy. You go from full dependence in the back seat of the car, to learning how the car works and how to drive it. Then you get the keys and start driving nervously with your parents helping you as you go! And eventually, you are going to have the keys to your own car. I remember the first time I got in the car to drive somewhere alone! It was crazy! I was a little scared but mostly excited because I knew that I had already learned how to drive and could do it on my own!
But you go from full dependence on our parents and no power of your own, to full independence and all the power for how, when, and where you can go. That’s the process for a lot of things!
The heart behind Shift as a Family Ministry Milestone is to call you as high school students, specifically around 10th grade, to make the Shift from walking with your parents in your faith, to fully owning it and walking it out yourself. To be clear you should never do the Christian life alone, that’s not the point, but rather like learning to drive- if you had the keys in your hand and the car was all yours, are you able to drive with confidence wherever you need to go?
Salvation through Jesus does not get passed down genetically, there is no one who can say “I have always been a Christian, I was raised as a Christian my whole life.” You can be around the church and hear about the Bible a whole lot, and maybe all your family members are truly Christians, but only you can hear the Gospel and respond to it for yourself. Your parents’ faith in Jesus cannot save you. You are saved only by you, yourself, hearing the Gospel, Turning away from your sins, and following Jesus as Lord!
Hopefully we all know this already but I wanted to make sure we are clear there. But there still comes the next challenge, how do we walk out that faith for ourselves. Let’s say you have hopefully already been saved and want to follow Jesus, and maybe you’ve been able to watch your parents, or people at church as they follow Jesus, but one day you will leave the house, or the church you’re at, and the question will be clear- will you follow Jesus for yourself? The heart of Shift is to call each of you to begin doing that right now. Don’t wait for “one day” to own your faith and confidently follow Jesus for yourself. Begin now! And parents- you need to encourage and equip your kids to own their faith, spend time with God for themselves, and live out God’s calling on their lives!
This is a simple enough concept but it can be intimidating and it comes with challenges- especially since it so often doesn’t actually happen this way. Tonight, I want us to look at the call of Jesus in scripture, for all of his followers, to go and make disciples. This is the great commission that we are all probably familiar with, but it gives us the one clear goal of what it means to be a christian and own our faith for ourselves. So, if you have a Bible, turn with me to Matthew 28.
This is the final moment that Matthew records in his Gospel account of Jesus with the disciples and he ends it this way to emphasize that this truly was the climax and main point of what Jesus came for, what he did, and what he taught! So, as we ask ourselves what it should look like for us to own our faith, be FOLLOWERS OF JESUS for ourselves, this passage must be our launching point. So, read with me in Matthew 28,
Passage:
The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We say all the time here that being a Christian is all about 3 things:
1. Be With Jesus.
2. Become Like Jesus.
3. Do What Jesus Does.
And we see this all in this passage. This is after Jesus’ resurrection and he had told the disciples to head to Galilee and he would meet them there. And this is the first thing that we see in this passage. The disciples were seeking out Jesus, they were going where he told them to go to be with Jesus. They needed to be with him and hear from him so they would know how to live from this moment forward as His disciples. And as we know, we still need time with Jesus in order to follow Him.
We need to be with Jesus, regularly, consistently, and intentionally.
Spend time with Jesus through the Word, prayer, worship, the church, be WITH Jesus.
So, they traveled to be with Jesus.
So, What is his message for them now that they are together? Well, that’s what is interesting. It looks like a bunch of commands, but there is actually only 1 command that Jesus gives to his followers here.
Look back in verse 18 with me.
He tells them of his authority over heaven and earth. This is important because it is the basis for everything to follow. Jesus is saying HE IS LORD. Lord over heaven and earth. This means he is our personal Lord and Savior, yes, and that is extremely important- that means we should be following everything Jesus calls us to do and obey him as Lord. But he isn’t just talking about being our personal Lord here, he claims to be Lord over all of heaven and earth. He is the Savior of everyone, everywhere. Anyone who turns from their sin and believes in Jesus as Lord will be saved. His authority is why we should be going out seeking to become more Like Jesus and invite others to do the same because he is not just Lord over our lives but he is Lord over them too- they just don’t know it or live like it yet.
So, what is the command though? What are we called to ultimately DO Like Jesus?
Read verses 19-20 with me again:
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Again, it looks like a bunch of things to do, but it’s not. There is only one command. Going, baptizing, teaching, are all just participles- meaning that they all are dependent on the main verb in this sentence. The only command verb in this passage is to Make Disciples.
The one purpose that we have as followers of Jesus now is to MAKE DISCIPLES.
Going, baptizing and teaching all flow out of Making disciples.
We are called to take this message about Jesus, being Lord of Heaven and Earth, and our story of how we have followed Him as Lord of our lives and invite others to follow Him with us. To make disciples is to share the Gospel and walk with people as they begin to follow Jesus. It is to give them the keys to the car, jump in the passenger seat with them and help them learn to drive. It’s walking with someone from the backseat, to a permit, to hitting the road on their own with a license.
This is the calling that Jesus has placed on your life as his followers- wherever you go, whatever you study, whatever job you get- you are called to leverage those moments and opportunities to make disciples- lead others to know, love and follow Jesus.
So, why are we talking about that tonight? Why are we talking about the great commission- because We will never obey the command to make disciples if we don’t know what it means to be a disciple ourselves. If you don’t know what it truly means to follow Jesus and be his disciple, how can you walk with others and help them become disciples of Jesus?
If you aren’t consistently being with Jesus- how can you help someone learn to spend time with Jesus in the Bible and prayer? If you haven’t experienced the joy and power and life that comes from spending time with Jesus, why would you ever be passionate about leading others to spend time with Jesus.
If you aren’t becoming more like Jesus- how can you help others work through the sin in their lives and grow in the Spirit?
If you aren’t doing what Jesus does- how can you help others live on mission to reach the lost and hurting?
Tonight I want to call us, students and families- to check our lives right now and be honest- am I really a well rounded disciple of Jesus, who is capable of making disciples? Listen, you don’t have to be perfect to make disciples- but you do have to be actively growing in the right direction.
How can we make sure we are truly healthy disciples of Jesus who can go and make disciples as we are called to?
First, I want to challenge the entire dynamic of how we view life. Ask yourself this question and it will tell you a lot:
Does my life revolve around Jesus, or does it just include Jesus?
There is a big difference here.
But as you think about being a disciple, and parents- as you think about helping your children GROW as disciples- make sure that your lives don’t just include Jesus but fully revolve around Jesus.
A disciple was a student who fully immersed themselves in the daily life and rhythms of their teacher and they would follow them everywhere, do everything their teacher did and eventually be able to take on students of their own. But their lives were fully submitted to the teacher.
Today unfortunately, I believe many people settle for Just including Jesus- this doesn’t work because when we just include jesus in what we are already doing- we will regularly substitute him out for things that pop up. This isn’t just our attendance at church and events, but our quiet times, our prayer life, evangelism. If we aren’t revolving around the mission of disciple-making then we will just end up prioritizing what we care about most- maybe that’s school, sports, work, vacations- or if nothing else, just survival from day to day.
Our lives are meant to revolve around Jesus, not just include Jesus. As families and individuals, we must fully surrender to Jesus or we will always rebel against Him.
That’s the big picture of what must be right in your family to raise healthy disciples of Jesus- fully revolving around Jesus not just including him.
That is the big picture ok?
But 3 things as we close that I believe are signs that you are a healthy disciple growing in the right direction:
Seek God’s face more than His hand.
This is a saying I heard a long time ago and it has stuck with me. We must learn to love to be with Jesus. Our spiritual life must be about intimacy with God, not just going to God with problems, struggles, and needs. We must seek his face more than his hands. He will always provide for us, he wants to hear our struggles and needs, but we were designed for a personal relationship with our Creator, and that intimacy must come first. We should love and desire to see God’s face in the word, in prayer, and through worship.
Work on your weaknesses.
Disciples realize that God designed us with gifts and strengths that come easier to us as we follow Jesus. That’s great and it’s important we recognize those gifts and use them! But we also have weaknesses that God wants us to grow in! Disciples bring their weaknesses and flaws to God and let Him redeem those areas and bring growth to our deficiencies! Just because evangelism or prayer, or bible reading are really hard for you or don’t come as easily to you as someone else doesn’t mean you don’t need it or should neglect it, it is an invitation to grow with the Holy Spirit. Disciples work on our weaknesses.
Preach the Gospel regularly.
Healthy disciples can’t help but talk about Jesus with people. Even if evangelism doesn’t come really easily to you, you can talk about the Gospel. If you are a follower of Jesus that has the Holy Spirit in you- you have everything you need to share the Gospel. Talk to people about how Jesus saved you, and why it is so good to follow Him. If your life revolves around Jesus you will encounter people far from God, you will see that they are lost and searching for life, and you will love to talk to them about the Gospel and invite them to follow Jesus!
Seek God’s face more than his hand, Work on your weaknesses and preach the gospel regularly.
These aren’t commands or formulas, these are simply things that I believe help us see if we are healthy, growing disciples of Jesus. Because, we will never obey the command to make disciples, if we don’t know what it means to be a disciple ourselves.
Let’s pray together over what we have just thought about from God’s Word and then I will give you instructions for what is next.
PRAY
Ask leaders to begin handing out the worksheets
So, tonight we will be giving you time to evaluate where you are at, talk about it as families and pray through how you can be a healthy and growing disciple of Jesus who makes disciples. Now! So that when you are off on your own one day, you can own your faith with confidence!