Created to Be A Disciple

I grew up in Tennessee, having not went to church when I was young..and spent a majority of my early life living for dreams of relationships, having a high paying job, having attention, fame.

And I remember, as native American surrounded by no one who was like me..I struggled with my own purpose and identity. I would look on the internet and read posts from people telling me how to live to achieve the life I wanted. And I did that for so long I had forgot who I was.

I remember specficially towards my sophmore year, I appeared on the outside successfull, I was in the career I wanted, had good friends, was pretty well liked, was gifted in certain ways like singing..but there was this lingering emptiness.

I remember one night after a party specficically, half drunk…laying in bed..saying to myself, “there has to be more than this”. I was aimless, empty..and later that year, when my great grandmother would die…I realized the things that I had built my life on could not sustain me.

I struggled with my purpose. With hope. And it wasn’t untill 2011, one day in Overcoming Believers Chruch..that everything changed for me. And when I realized that Christ was what my heart and soul had been looking for, I stopped everything. I changed my major, I changed friends…I walked alone for a while.

It is an incredible thing when you are trying to choose a purpose or calling, and you find out that God has been calling you, and called you for a purpose.

The trouble is that, as modern people, we have too much to live with and too little to live for. Some feel they have time but not enough money; others feel they have money but not enough time. But for most of us, in the midst of material plenty, we have spiritual poverty. Os Guinness

As we enter into a new series entitled Wonderfully Made, my prayer is that will challenge us all to evaluate what God has created us for, and what is God calling us to, personally and corporately. To recognize the calling and purpose that God has for you.

There are two questions we want to look at in this series: First:

Question #1 - WHY am I here?

Why am I in this world at this particular time in history? Why am I in this church? Why am I in this community

You have a purpose! God has a plan for your life!

You are not an accident or the result of random events.

You are FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY and INTENTIONALLY made! In fact, here is what the Psalmist declared when in awe he considered his personal relationship with the ONE who intentionally created him.

Psalm 139:14 NIV

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

God intentionally created you as well and He desires for you to fulfill the divine purpose for which you were created. He knows you by name and He desires that you know Him and His purpose!! So the first question is WHY am I here?

Question #2 - WHAT'S NEXT for me in my relationship with God?  

We say this all the time here at Vertical Church, “We all have a NEXT STEP to take”.

What is God claling you to? Maybe its to trust in Him for the first time? Maybe its to get baptized. Maybe its to serve. Maybe its to give. Maybe its to forgive. But what is God calling us to, and you to in this season?

With these two questions in mind, let’s PRAY and ask God to do something special in our lives over these next five weeks!!

The idea of calling is a very familiar word in our world today. We throw around this term, and say, “God called me to be a teacher, mom, lawyer, doctor…wherever, but there is a fundamental misunderstanding of calling that we must address…we root our calling in ourselves, and the way we feel, rather than the one who calls us, and his eternal purposes.

We misunderstand, because we are not called to a place or a job, but to a person, who is Christ. We are called to the caller. So, whatever you think you were created for, no matter how successfull you may appear to be…the fulfillment of your calling is always connected to your closeness to the caller!

We say things like, I’m called to be in school, or at this job, or a mom or dad..yet we use that “calling” to make excues for why we don’t read, pray, come to church, or spent time with Jesus. We say things like, I’m too busy fulfilling my “calling” as a student, in my career, in my life…for the God who called me. Thats impossible.

You can not walk in your calling if you are not walking with the God who called you!

If you are rich, sucessful..you may be the most well known writer, athete, leader of this generation..if you are disconnected from Jesus, and are not following Jesus…you are walking in that which you were made for. It will always leave you empty…and eternally will lead you to destruction.

When the devil tempted Jesus himself…he said this in Matthew 4:5-11

Matthew 4:5–11 NIV

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

My point, if you think God’s calling is to a job, success, a lifestyle…you misunderstand, because even the devil can give you those things.

God’s calling is not something outside of Himself. He calls us to Him!

First and foremost we are called to Someone (God), not to something (such as motherhood, politics, or teaching) or to somewhere (such as the inner city or Outer Mongolia). Our secondary calling, considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere, and in everything should think, speak, live, and act entirely for him.

Guinness, Os. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God's Purpose For Your Life (p. 61). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Don’t believe me? Moses, when God was leading Him to the promised land said this in Exodus 33:15

Exodus 33:15 NIV

15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

In other words, my hope isn’t in the promised land, but the promise keeper. And our problem is that we are aiming for the “promised land” or some place, forgetting that the promised land, without the promised savior, is worse than the desert.

Or, think about Heaven. Heaven is heaven, not because of the streets of Gold, but because of the presence of God! Paul said this…2Corinthians 5:8

2 Corinthians 5:8 NIV

8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

He doesn’t say, I’d rather be in Heaven and absent from the body..no, he says, I long to be at home with the Lord!

David says this in Psalm 27:4

Psalm 27:4 NIV

4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

It is no coincidence that Moses, David, and Paul…3 men who look to as men of great purpose and fulfilled calling in thier life…sought the caller! Not some arbitrary place or position.

What we are created for and called to is the caller.

Any step which leads you away from God, no matter what the benefit, is the wrong one…and pulls you away from God’s purpose on your life.

Any step towards Jesus, no matter the sacrifice, is the right one..because He is our aim.

Second, the mission we are called to then is the callers mission.

we are not simply talking about calling as purely personal, spiritual, and devotional—your individual purpose and mine. Calling is all those things, but it is far more than just a truth for you and me. God is calling us to play our part in the righting of wrongs in the world, in the renewal and restoration of the earth, and in carrying his message to the ends of the earth. Calling therefore carries a truth that is awesome in its significance and earthshaking in its implications. Its imperative covers the whole earth, the entire course of history, and every moment of our lives. So we must not shrink it to be anything less.

Guinness, Os. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God's Purpose For Your Life (pp. x-xi). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Because God calls us to Himself, he calls us to His mission! And that mission is bigger than your life. Its bigger than your plans. Its bigger than a job, or location. It covers the span of human history, and shapes every moment of our lives.

So beginning today and over the next 5 weeks we are going to unpack 5 purposes for which God created you and how it is that the church plays an important role in helping you understand these purposes as you grow in your faith.

Today we are going to begin with the idea that you were Created to Be A Disciple.

This Purpose created to be a disciple, sums up the idea that we are both called to God who is the caller, and to the God’s mission.

A Disciple in its simples form, is a student and follower of. Implying two things a close proximity in relationship, and in mission. You can not be a disciple without longing to be near Christ, and wanting to follow His mission.

This, i want you to see, is at the foundation of what God has made you for.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to two passages of scripture I want us to look at this morning that will help us set the tone for our next few weeks together. Matthew 28 and Hebrews 10.

Here is the first passage:

Matthew 28:16–20 NIV

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “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 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Few observations I want us to note:

First this is the last command Jesus gives before he ascends back unto Heaven. It is what we call the great commission. And a summation of what it is to be a disciple.

There is no following Jesus, or fulfilling your calling, apart from Jesus who calls us, and what He has called us to!

This is not job specific. Or location specific. It is the characteristic of your life!

Notice, It does not say, if you come ot church every Sunday, sing some songs…you are my disciple. No! That is important. But it is not the mission. Church is the huddle, that equips us to fulfill the mission out there.

If your relationship with God is primarily a Sunday morning activity, you are not following Jesus.

Following Jesus and being around Jesus are not the same.

Many people were around Jesus, but very few followed. Many people were apart of the crowd and were fans of Jesus…very few were followers.

A disciple is a follower, not a fan.

A fan will attend the event to watch, but won’t practice to get in the game.

If you only attend on Sunday to watch or hear the message, but fail to put into practice what He has called us to..you are a fan not a follower.

So this commission is foundational to following Jesus.

The ministry He is giving them is twofold:

1. leading people to a relationship with Jesus (signified by “baptizing them” )

Let me say this, for some of you baptism is the next step.

Baptism is an outward reflection of an inward reality. It is something we are commanded to. It is a public act that reveals our personal belief. To go under the water is to say I have been buried with Christ, to come up is to say, I am raised with Him. And we do it publicly so that others can see this is my new identity.

Baptism doesn’t save you…but it is the first step in walking out your ministry with God. Why? Because it is one of the first steps in making your faith not just personal or private, but public! What did Jesus do before he began His minsitry? He was baptized. And then he fasted! He knew who He was..but this was the beginning of him publically stepping into what John had been preparing the way for.

We are having a baptism Sunday this month! We already have 3 folks that are taking this step of faith. If you are in that boat, and you know that is the next step…don’t delay.

If we are unable to be baptized in obedience and publically berfore our brothers and sisters in the faith, we will not be able to be a public witness to the lost world and those outside the faith! How can we share our faith with others if we will not obey and be baptized before our brothers and sisters in the faith?

That is the next step so that you can help lead others to the same obedience you have.

2. helping them live for Jesus by doing the same for others (signified by “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you)- So not just sharing, but helping them to obey.

Notice the scope of this ministry: to the world (all nations)

What started with the 11 disciples is implied here to be continued by ALL those who will come after them - that means US!

He says this, a disciple isn’t just someone who knows God, but helps others know God.

A disciple is more than someone who has trusted in Jesus. It is also more than someone who shares the gospel.

A true disciple is one who passes the HOPE of Jesus on to others and then helps them do the same with someone else.

You have made a disciple when someone is teaching others what you have taught them.

This is the mission that God has called us to. And so we are called to Him, and to His mission as Disciples.

Some of you have become bored with your faith or your fire for Jesus has been doused because you have accepted Jesus and now all you are doing is just sitting around waiting to die or waiting for Jesus to come back.  Somewhere along the line you missed the exciting mission we have been entrusted with. You think the Christian life is about showing up once a week to listen to the preacher and you didn’t realize or you were never discipled to BECOME part of the mission. Btw, that isn’t a failure on your part! This is a failure on our part!!

Let me explain it another way: If you’ve stayed in Pembroke any time you have seen the train tracks and heard the train. Many different trains come at various times, we have new trains, old trains…but they all have to come on that track. The track was laid long before the trains were built. But if a train is to go anywhere, it must be on the track.

The Church is like the train, and the mission of God is like the track. God has already laid before us the tracks we must follow. From the OT, to the New Testament, God has been working to restore and bring the world to Himself. Hear me, our chruch, or any chruch can do nothing or go nowhere except on that mission! You individually can do nothing except, on that mission!

The way forward is with Christ on His mission! A train off the track isn’t going anywhere. And is of no purpose. A believer that does not want to follow this mission, or a church that is not on mission…is useless. Its salt that has lost flavor. Its lukewarm water..good for nothing but to spit out.

If you are not growing, it is because you are off the misison God has called you to. If we are stagnant, we are off the track.

And I’ll tell you this, any church that is not on God’s mission, actively. Find another church.

A church is not a social club. If you have come to vertical because you like the preaching or music, but don’t really like the savior or His mission..this is not the church for you. We are followers. Not fans.

What happens when a fan runs on the field with the players. They have to stop the game. They are a distraction. They want to be on the field, without the discipline…but only get in the way.

Christ’s calls us to be followers. And if you are just a fan…meaning, you want Jesus’ stuff, but not Him..you only get in the way.

We are not after numbers. We are after Christ! I’d rather have 10 people on mission than 1000 that come on Sunday but are missing Him!

But you see, a believer should not have to be convinced to follow. Jesus should have already convinced you if you trust in Him. It is our job as a church to help you follow. To help you grow. To equip you.

And so, we are called to be disciples who make disciples. To help people grow and share, and live, and teach, what we have learned!

Are you a disciple according to what Jesus says here in Matthew 28? Are you making disciples as Jesus commissioned us to do?

Now, let’s take a look at our second passage in Hebrews 10. The first passage lays out our mission as disciples while this second passage shows us what role the church is to play in our mission.

Hebrews 10:19–25 NIV

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews emphasizes a couple things: It says, since we have been saved and can draw near to Christ, let us continue to meet together as a body and church, and spur one another to obedience!

So this call to be a disciple is meant to be done in community! With other people. We are not lone ranger Christians.

We need eachother in this journey.

I wanted to start with these two passages because I want you to see that you were created to be a disciple and the local church is to play a vital role in helping shape you and prepare you for that purpose.

You see, OUR VISION here at Vertical Church is to SHARE the HOPE of JESUS with our communities and the WORLD. Our Vision is what we aspire to do and be through Christ.

We say this every week!  Our VISION is simply another way to say Matthew 28. We know that Jesus is the HOPE of the world and we want to share that with the people God places in our lives. We want people to walk in that HOPE and we want to teach them to share that HOPE with others in their lives until we reach the whole world.

It is through OUR MISSION of leading people to be passionate about Jesus so they can lead others to Jesus that we will accomplish this VISION.

Listen to me! We don’t want something FROM you!  We want something FOR you! The reason we are challenging you this morning and throughout this series to wrestle with these two questions: Why Am I Here? and What’s Next?, is because we want you to BECOME who GOD has made you to BE.

Any church that is content with you being present, but not growing..or fulfilling God’s mission, leave.

But it is our responsibility not just to teach you, but to help you walk in your purpose. I’m accountable to God.

Now, in order to effectively do this, and if the church is the vehicle that God has employed to help you accomplish this, then it stands to reason that you need to know where you have already been, where you are currently, and what exactly it is you are to BEcome!

The tool I want to introduce to you today to help you identify where you are is the Discipleship Pathway (Funnel Graphic #1).

We have referred to this in the past as the Vertical Funnel.  It is simply a graphical representation to help give us a picture of a typical disciples journey just to help us analyze where we are at in our journey with God. Call it whatever you want but every disciple goes through

THREE MAIN STAGES in their relationship with GOD as a disciple. We see this with Jesus and his ministry to the disciples in the Gospel accounts.

Establish, Equip, Engage

ESTABLISH

First, before we enter into a relationship with Jesus we are all lost and searching. Lost in our sin and searching for hope, love and acceptance. The first thing we must do is We must ESTABLISH a relationship with Jesus. That is what Jesus did with His disciples when he gave them an invitation to follow Him.

Matthew 4:18–22 NIV

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

As we continue through this series we are going to dive into what this means a little further. But for now the question I have for you today is this, 

Have you ESTABLISHED a relationship with Jesus? Do you know Him as your Lord and Savior? Have you put a stake in the ground and publicly professed faith in Jesus through baptism since you have believed? Have you joined the church through a covenant partnership? These are all vital steps in establishing a relationship with Jesus!

Ultimately, as we think about our church context we want you in this stage to go from being an ATTENDER to becoming a COVENANT PARTNER. It our way of saying members. But members can make us into consumers..and it can seem as if we want something for you rather than for you. We are your covenant partners. Our aim is to help you fulfill what God has called you to do, whatever that is, wherever that is. Whether its this church for a while to launch you somewhere else later..that is our aim.

Alot of times we end here though. We think that belief and trust is the end of our journey. It is only the first step. What is the next step.

EQUIP

The second stage in a disciples journey is We must be EQUIPPED for ministry.  Jesus did this with His disciples after establishing a relationship with them.

Luke 11:1–4 NIV

1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”

We will go into this with more detail in the coming weeks but for now I want to ask you this, 

Are you being EQUIPPED for ministry? Do you know how to feed yourself with God’s word? Do you know how you are spiritually gifted? Have you been given an opportunity to use those gifts to serve others and help them discover God in their lives?

Do you know how to pray?

How to share your faith? As we think about our church context we want you in this stage to go from FEEDING YOURSELF to FEEDING OTHERS.

And that is the responsibility of the church.

Ephesians 4:11–12 NIV

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

It is our responsibility to make sure you are equipped for ministry. But notice, pastors and teachers are not the only “ministers”, but they are the equippers for others to fulfill ministry.

If you are a believer you have a ministry! You are called to ministry

And that is the next step of any beliver once they establish a relationship. They must be equipped.

We must ESTABLISH a relationship with Jesus. We must be EQUIPPED for ministry.

ENGAGE

Lastly, We must be ENGAGED in the mission. All that Jesus did with His disciples was for the purpose of engaging them in the mission. He taught them with the purpose that they would eventually live this out in their own lives as they engaged a lost world.

Mark 6:6–13 NIV

6 He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. 8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Again we will go into more detail in the coming weeks but for the meantime

I want to ask you this, Are you ENGAGED in the mission?

Are you allowing God to use you not only in the church but in our community and in the world? As we think about our church context we want you in this stage to go from MAKING DISCIPLES in the CHURCH to LIVING ON MISSION in the WORLD.

(Show Funnel Graphic).

These are all vital steps in the life of a disciple especially when we consider the ultimate goal is for each of us to become a SENT Disciple! 

John 20:21 NIV

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

A SENT Disciple is simply one who is BECOMING all that God has created them to be so that they can BE SENT to help the lost and searching find HOPE in Jesus!

Here is what we want for you as a SENT Disciple at Vertical. We want you to become someone who is  a/an:

Sincere Worshiper - One who wholeheartedly offers all that they are to all that God is.

Matthew 22:37 (NIV) 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

John 4:24 (NIV) 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

At the heart of what we want for you, is to love God, and be fully devoted to Him. You see, missions is not eternal. When we get to heaven there will be no more mission. Mission is temporary, but worship, is eternal!

John Piper said: Mission exists because Worship Doesn’t.

We want God to be your treasure.

And so this will be realized in your daily devotion, prayer time, bible reading, giving.

It will be realized in your pursuits and worries.

It will be realized in your dailly devotion!

This also means we want you to be honest and sincere! We are not here to hide or pretend. We are an imperfect church. We are going to fail..but let us be honest! We can’t hide, we must cry out to God from a broken and repentent heart.

Are you hiding? Are you pretending? Are you trying to appear more spiritual than you are? Are you comfortable with showing your mess, to let God in?

Thats what we want for you! To be a sincere worshipper? Are you?

Empowered Peacemaker - One who cultivates unity and reconciliation in our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationships with one another.

Romans 5:10 (NIV) For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

2 Corinthians 5:18 (NIV) All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

Matthew 5:9 (NIV) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

To be a peace maker is not just someone who doesn’t stir problems..it means that we actively work to bring about peace through the Spirit of God! The world is divided. Fighting. Our nation is divided..and will become all the more as this election gets closer and closer. We want you to be the type of people that can be place in a chaotic environemnt..and you bring peace, humility, and love.

If I put you in a room with someone who didn’t vote like you, think like you, look like you…could you still love them?

Are a peace maker? Does your social media, words, actions create more division, or peace?

Now we say empowered because this must be empowered by the Spirit. You see when God makes our relationship wiht Him right…it empowers us to love others right.

We can forgive, because God forgives. We can love, because God loves.

We want you to be the type of person that all people could come to and know that they would be loved, and hear the truth.

Are you the type of person that can shine the light of Jesus in a divided world?

Can you be a bridge builder to the gospel?

Can you give up your preferences so as to reach all people?

Peacemakers don’t run when theres conflict..they enter in, to bring love.

Most of us are thermometers..God calls us to be peacmakers!

If you can only have peace in peaceful environments you are not a peacemaker. Peacemakers change the environment!

Notable Witness - One who lives in such a way as to bring attention to God’s available love and mercy.

Acts 1:8 (NIV)  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Matthew 5:16 (NIV) In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

This means, that when people look at you, your words and actions..they see Jesus! And it isn’t just general southern kindness..but specific gospel love!

We should love people in a way that people say.. “that looks different!”

We should share, teach, act..in a way that people see Jesus.

I’ve heard this old quote, “If being Christian was illegal, would they have enough evidence against you to convict you?”

Who have you told about Jesus lately?

Who are you helping to become more like Jesus?

CS Lewis said, “I hope when I die all of hell rejoices”.

Is your faith one that the devil is concened about.

Do you have a notable witness? We want you to be a notable witness for the world!

Trustworthy Neighbor - One who strives to meet the needs of others.

John 13:35 (NIV) By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Acts 2:44-45 (NIV) 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

Matthew 22:39 (NIV) And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Can people trust you to help when they need it?

Do you live in your own bubble that is disconneced from the pain of others?

Do you have a friend who knows they could call you at 3AM and you would be there?

Are you willing to serve and meet the needs of others at your own inconvenicne?

We want you to be a trustworhty neighbor! We want people to know they can call on you, confide in you..and you will support and be there!

This is what we believe Jesus wants you to BEcome and we want to help you get there! You are created to be a DISCIPLE. The question is Where are you now? What is your next step in order to get where God wants you to BE?

You see the reason we can be sent disciples, is because Christ was first sent for us! The reason we can choose Christ, is because He first chose us. The reason we can go after Him, is because He first came after us!

Christ is not asking you to do something He hasn’t done for you!

Christ is the sent one..and we are sent out by Him!

We are called to Him and for His mission!

So today..what is your next step? What is Christ calling you to?

Invitation:

Where do you see yourself on the discipleship pathway?

Do you need to establish a relationship with Jesus?

Do you have a relationship but need to be equipped?

Are you equipped but just aren’t engaged?

Which of the FOUR roles do you need to allow God to develop in you?

Which of these four roles do you say, I need to become more like that?

Do you need to be a more sincere worshipper?

Do you need to be more of an empowered peacemaker?

Do you need to be more of a Notable Witness?

Do you need to be more of a Trustworthy Neighbor?

And then last..are you willing? Not just do you see where you are? But are you willing to take the next step? To go on this journey with us as a church as we go through this series?