What’s Next?

Introduction:

You are here this morning, maybe trying to figure out what to do next on your journey with Christ.

Maybe you find yourself having followed Jesus for many years and your relationship seems - blah. stale. static. indifferent.

Maybe you find yourself returning to Jesus after many years of being away. You’re trying to make sense of what it means to walk with Jesus now.

Maybe you met Jesus for the first time, maybe on Easter or in the recent months. You are trying to figure out how to reorient your life around the life of Jesus.

Today’s message is titled - What’s Next? Maybe you’re asking this question today. My goal this morning to respond by addressing the importance of discipleship.

Central Idea:

Learning to reorient my life around the ways of Jesus.

Prayer

Before we address “What is Discipleship?” we should take some time to address: “What makes a Christian?”

Here are some observations what makes a person a Christian:

1. Someone who has heard the Good News, the Gospel, of Jesus Christ.

2. Someone who believes the Good News, the Gospel, of Jesus Christ.

3. Someone who turns from the way they’re going and turns to Jesus.

4. Someone who experiences the grace of God.

5. Someone who becomes a Disciple, a follower, of Jesus.

It’s that last point that I want us to talk about.

If being a Christian is becoming a disciple, then what makes a Disciple?

Are you a Disciple?

How do you know if you’re a Disciple?

Can you be a Disciple?​

First of all, I want to address:

Some Misconceptions about Discipleship:

Misconception #1: Discipleship is all about increasing our Biblical knowledge.

We become better disciples when we learn more about the Bible.

When we can say sanctification, propitiation, justification, and glorification without stuttering, we’ve got it.

When we know some Greek and Hebrew words, we’re acing Discipleship.

When we can chart the Rapture and the Tribulation, and give verse references, we’re better disciples.

When I’ve done all the Beth Moore and Andy Stanley studies, I’m there.

When I know more than you do, I’ve become a disciple.

Misconception #2: Discipleship happens only on certain nights in a church building.

It has to be at night, preferably a Sunday or Wednesday night.

That is the sacred time when only real Discipleship can take place.

It must involve books, preferably from LifeWay Christian Resources.

Those are the times designated by God as Discipleship Training.

It must take place in a church, usually too hot or too cold, and it must bore us to tears.

Misconception #3: Discipleship is optional for a Christian.

If it ain’t happening at 11 AM Sunday Morning, I think I’ll pass.

Out of 168 hours in a week I get all I need to know about Jesus and living for Him in 1 hour.

Some want to know more, some want to do more, some want to serve more.

They’re no more saved than I am so what’s the problem?

I’ve got better things to do. They ought to be happy I even show up at all.

Misconception #4: Discipleship’s goal is to show me the rules to be a better Christian.

You can do this.

You can’t do that.

It’s all about do’s and don’ts, can’s and can’ts.

It all about sapping the life out of living.

When you hear the words “Disciple” and “Discipleship” are these some of the things that cross your mind?

What if Discipleship and being a Disciple was something more?

What if Discipleship and being a Disciple really made a real difference in your life?

What if Discipleship helped you be a true disciple of Jesus Christ?

It’s important to have a healthy view of apprenticing your life around Jesus.

Misconceptions will always lead you down a path that God never wanted you to take. I want to present to you four important approaches to apprenticing your life around Jesus. They all come from our church’s vision verse in Jeremiah 17

Jeremiah 17:7–8 (NLT)

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord

and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

They are like trees planted along a riverbank,

with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green,

and they never stop producing fruit.”

I want to break this down for you as it connects to discipleship.

Jeremiah 17:7–8 (NLT) “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. (Know God)

1. Choose to follow Jesus.

• Surrender your life to His will and His ways.

• Spend time with God.

• To know God and to be known.

• Theologian J.I. Packer said that, “One can know a great deal about God without much knowledge of Him.”

• The Greek word for this is: genosko (yenosko) which goes beyond intellectual knowledge or mental awareness to imply personal, firsthand experience.

• Know God happens in our weekend service.

• Our heart desire is that everyone would have a personal experience with Christ through worship, scripture, prayer, the ecclesial community. These spiritual practices can be lived out throughout the week…surrendering to God’s transformational process in our lives.

They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. (Find Freedom)

2. Be with Jesus.

• It’s in us to be free – God put the longing there. But the enemy of our souls wants us to run, to hid from conflict, and to avoid fighting for whom we were made to be. Once we have relationship with God, we have his power in us.

• We don’t have to face life challenges alone. Our fears, anxieties, and worries cannot enslave us. The enemy tries to release his weapons of mass destruction on us but we must GREATER is HE who is in us than he who is in the world.

• Once we begin our relationship with God, once we start getting to know him and walking with him daily, the next step in our journey is to find freedom.

• It is vitally important that all of us face the painful scars of our past and invite God to heal us in those areas. We have to take responsibility for our habits and destructive behaviors and the sinful ways.

• Find Freedom happens through our small groups. Get into a group with other godly friends and get honest with just a few.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. (Discover Purpose)

3. Become like Jesus.

• When you know who you are, you can live in freedom. You know what God made you to be, and can walk in fullness of that understanding which allows us to help, love, and serve at a higher capacity.

• Developing spiritual disciplines.

• Discover spiritual gifts.

• 80% of people will go their grave and not know what they were created to do.

• When you know what you’re made for, you can take your eyes off yourself and focus on serving others as God has wired you to do.

• Discover Purpose is accomplished through Growth Track. Its understanding your personality, spiritual giftings, and the teams that you can be a part of here at Turning Point.

Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. (Make a Difference)

4. Do what Jesus did.

• Our final step in our vision is Making a Difference! Knowing that you’re living out your God-given purpose and that you’re making a difference in other people’s lives for all eternity changes your focus. You begin living your life beyond yourself and your own comfort and convenience.

• You become a conduit of God’s love, grace, mercy, and generosity.

• Joining the Dream Team.

• Followers serve.

Mark Batterson in his book “The Circle Maker” makes an insightful observation about aging that stopped me in my tracks.

“Neuroimaging has shown that as we age, the center of cognitive gravity tends to shift from the imaginative right brain to the logical left brain. And this neurological tendency presents a grave danger. At some point, most of us stop living out of the imagination and start living out of memory. Instead of creating the future, we start repeating the past. Instead of living by faith, we live by logic. Instead of going after our dreams, we stop circling Jericho.” - Mark Batterson

It is our hope that everyone would be on a journey, an adventure or path to coming into a transformative relationship with Jesus. We want everyone DEEPLY ROOTED! Being rooted to the source, who is Jesus.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the the definition of Discipleship.

And let’s let Jesus define it for us.

There are four practical ways you can start reorienting your life around Jesus.

We’ll go to Luke 9:23–24 for that.

Luke 9:23–24 NKJV Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

So according to this passage how does Jesus define “Disciple”.

Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me …”

He’s saying, “If anybody wants to follow Me, if anyone wants to associate with Me.”

“If anyone wants to walk with me and be with me.”

“If anyone wants to follow me.”

That is the Biblical definition for “Disciple”: A Follower of Jesus Christ.

Jesus tells us what being a Disciple requires:

1. Being a Disciple requires self-denial (let him deny himself)

When we think of self-denial, it’s usually in a negative way.

I have to give up this, I can’t do that.

We’ve got to be mean and cruel to ourselves.

We have to live boring lives and we can’t do anything exciting.

But self-denial is all about changing priorities.

Whatever has priority in our lives will dictate what happens in our lives.

Jesus wants us to make Him our #1 priority, not ourselves.

2. Being a Disciple requires total commitment (… take up his cross daily)

When Jesus took up His own cross, it took His total commitment.

He was totally committed to what He came to do: die on the cross as our substitute.

Jesus wants our total commitment.

He wants us to be totally committed to Him and His purpose for our lives here and now.

3. Being a Disciple requires complete obedience (… follow Me)

a. To follow Jesus means more than walking behind Him.

b. It means to follow all He has said.

c. It means to follow His Words as we live our lives.

d. Jesus wants people who do what He calls us to do.

Jesus was quite explicit about the cost of following Him. Discipleship requires a totally committed life: “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” Luke 14:33

Luke 14:33 “So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.”

Sacrifice is expected to be a follower and/or a disciple of Christ.

Not all of Jesus’ followers were able to make such a commitment. There were many who left Jesus after a while. “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” John 6:66

John 6:66 “At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.”

Ephesians 4:11–13 “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

I am usually not a big fan of the Message version of the Bible however I do like how the Message puts it:

Ephesians 4:11–13 The Message11 filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher 12 to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, 13 until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

God has put people within the church to help other people become disciples of Jesus Christ.

1. They are to prepare God’s people for works of service.

2. They are to unify God’s people in faith and knowledge.

3. They are to help God’s people become mature Christians, to become like Christ.

4. Discipleship is Christians helping other Christians become like Jesus Christ.

So let’s see if we can clear up some of our previously mentioned misconceptions about discipleship.

Our 1st Misconception: Discipleship is all about increasing our Biblical knowledge.

Truth: Discipleship is about increasing our knowledge of God.

Discipleship includes learning more about the Bible and The Father and the Son and Holy Spirit.

But that is not the end of discipleship.

It’s more than learning about; it’s a relationship.

God wants to do more than save us, He wants us to know Him, to experience Him, to have a close and intimate relationship with Him.

Discipleship helps us to know God more deeply and fully.

Discipleship takes us past the words printed on a page to a living God who seeks us personally.

Our 2nd Misconception: Discipleship happens only on certain nights in the church building.

Truth: Discipleship can take place anywhere at anytime.

Jesus gave the 12 Apostles on-the-job training.

Jesus will give us on-the-job training if we will be sensitive to His Spirit.

God is always seeking to use us, where we work, where we play, wherever we are.

We need more Christians discipling other Christians; not in a classroom setting but in a real world setting.

Our 3rd Misconception: Discipleship is optional for a Christian.

Truth is: Discipleship is not optional for a Christian.

All Christians are called to follow Jesus.

All Christians are called to find what Jesus has specifically for them to do.

God desires that all Christians walk with Him, enjoy Him, and grow deeper in their relationship.

Our 4th Misconception: Discipleship’s goal is to show me the rules to be a better Christian.

Truth: Discipleship’s goal is to teach you how to be like Jesus.

God doesn’t want you to memorize rules and regulations.

God does call us to live a life, embracing a set of practices that keep us rooted to Him.

Romans 8:29 “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

He wants you to be like His Son, Jesus Christ.

He wants the world to see His Son through you.

God’s goal for discipleship is for you to be a reflection of Jesus Christ.

Biblically speaking, a Christian is a disciple of Christ.

A Christian is someone who has placed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

John 1:12 (NLT)

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

A Christian has been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit

John 3:3 (NLT)

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

A Christian “belongs to Christ” and is daily being transformed into the likeness of Christ

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Conclusion:

A true Christian (and not one in name only) will have to be a disciple of Christ as well, or another way of saying it “an apprentice”.

That is, you have counted the cost and have committed your life to following Jesus.

You accept the call to sacrifice and follow wherever the Lord leads.

The Christian disciple completely adheres to the teaching of Jesus, makes Christ their number-one priority, and lives accordingly.

Prayer