Challenges to Grace: Why Is Discipleship So Difficult?

Reading of the Word

Acts 2:42–47 NASB 2020

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all the believers were together and had all things in common; and they would sell their property and possessions and share them with all, to the extent that anyone had need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Prayer of Illumination

Holy God, as we open Your Word today, we ask for the light of Your Spirit to shine in our hearts and minds. Clear away distractions and help us to hear Your voice with clarity. May Your truth inspire and transform us, drawing us closer to You and equipping us to live out Your mission. Speak to us, Lord; we are listening. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction

We live in a busy world. Everyone is on the go from early morning to late evening. Children have sporting events that keep families going nonstop. Keeping up with daily responsibilities both at home and at work is a full-time job. Not to mention, those children in sporting events have to be taxied from one event to the other. Add to that Sam Barber’s reference in chapter 4 that we are living in a post -Christian age characterized by secularization, privatization, pluralization and consumerism.

Church history teaches many lessons about our faith and the church. One of those lessons is that from the days of the early church to today, the mission of God has always been one generation away from extinction. What is true today has always been true. That underscores the importance of discipleship. Rather than lamenting the difficulties of living in a postmodern age, we gather to celebrate the ways in which God has always worked with his children to maintain a vital Christian witness and discipling for his kingdom. The Bible gives us an example of a church with a good discipleship plan; church history offers us three important principles for living in a post-Christian age.

Principle No. 1: Always remember to maintain the priority between your primary and secondary cultures.

A. Our Christian community of faith, this colony of heaven, constitutes our primary culture; the world in which we live gives us a secondary culture.

B. Two important processes that maintain this priority are enculturation and acculturation.

1. Enculturation happens both formally and informally as we bring children and new Christians into the community of faith and disciple them. They learn to live, talk, and think like Christians.

The early Christians in our text today focused on several key practices to promote this culture of faith:

Devotion to the Apostles’ Teaching

The gathered community listened to and followed the preaching and teaching of the twelve apostles from—and based on—the Scriptures.

To Fellowship

1 John 1:7 NASB 2020

but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Our shared interest in Christ and the Good News He brings unites us, creating fellowship that fosters unity in both heart and mind.

Acts: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition 3. After the Sermon 2:41–47

True fellowship is so much more than having coffee and cookies together; it is life together, even at personal sacrifice.

To form godly relationships with one another.

These relationships create growth.

In our personal lives.

As a body of believers.

As new people join our faith community.

The first two must be done well before the third can happen.

To Communal Meals

It refers to both meals together (physical bread) and the celebration communion at the Lord’s table (spiritual bread).

To Prayer

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 2

In Acts, prayer indicates dependence on God, hope in the future, and desire for the advancement of God’s work

To Worship

They were in awe of what God was doing so they continually worshipped God for his goodness to them.

What is the point of paying attention to the performing these practices regularly? It allows the church to be a healthy and thriving one! A healthy church bears much fruit! (vs. 47)

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary I. The Holy Spirit’s Empowerment of the Church for Kingdom Witness (1:1–2:47)

The Holy Spirit will cause amazing things to happen when the church is unified in its devotion to God and to its members in fulfillment of God’s kingdom program.

2. Acculturation happens as believers learn to accommodate themselves to their surrounding culture while maintaining their primary identity as members of the Christian community.

3. Christians can be enculturated into the Christian community and acculturated to function in the world without compromising the fundamentals of their faith.

The world doesn’t see it this way though. They believe it has to be one or the other. You cannot live in but yet not be a part of the world.

4. This happens successfully in our post-Christian society only when we make a conscious effort to distinguish between these two cultures and to set our priorities on the one we make primary.

Principle No. 2: We must constantly remind ourselves that our true citizenship is in heaven.

A. We have a dual citizenship (Phil. 3:20). We carry driver’s licenses identifying us as citizens of a certain state. But we also have our names written in the “Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 13:8), indicating our eternal life, which began the moment we accepted Christ as our Savior.

B. We are citizens of earth and heaven at the same time.

1. We live, work, and play as citizens of this earth.

1 Corinthians 7:31 NASB 2020

and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the present form of this world is passing away.

2. We never lose sight of the fact that this world is not our final home; we keep a light touch on the things of this world.

Philippians 3:20–21 NIV

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

3. Jesus’ Kingdom must be our first allegiance.

Matthew 6:33 NASB 2020

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.

4. There are rival kingdoms trying to take that allegiance away from Christ.

A rival in football is a team that a football team competes against over a long period of time. The term "rivalry" refers to the competitive relationship between two teams, and each team is considered a rival to the other. Rivalries can be intense and can range from friendly banter to serious violence. They can add excitement to the regular season and playoffs, and can lead to heated matchups.

There are rivals that are looking to take people away from God’s Kingdom. We must look at them briefly before we can understand Principle #3.

The Rival Kingdom of Success - Invites us to sacrifice everything else to achieve an ever-elusive measure of success.

The Rival Kingdom of Wealth- Invites us to surrender everything to gain more money. You never have enough and your heart yearns for more.

The Rival Kingdom of Power - Declares that it doesn’t matter who you must step on to gain another rung of the corporate ladder.

God made these things good but Satan twists them and turns them to give us priorities that are above God. Priorities above God are idols and false gods. Worldly things should have no priority over God in the Christians life.

Principle No. 3: Live as a counterculture.

A. We cannot withdraw from society and adopt a monastic lifestyle; withdrawing removes our godly influence from the world.

B. We cannot blend in so that we live and think like the world.

C. Jesus said we must be in the world but not of it (John 17:16-18).

We’ve probably all watched videos of salmon swimming upstream. Maybe some of you have even witnessed this firsthand. We marvel at the instinct to return to the waters from which they were hatched to lay their eggs, thus giving the tiny fingerlings the best chance of survival. If you’ve ever tried to imitate swimming upstream in a river or even fallen victim to the imperceptible drift that occurs while swimming in the ocean, you know that the journey against the current is daunting. It is no small miracle that the salmon complete the annual journey and that the species continues.

Barber, Sam. People of Grace: Becoming Disciples Together (p. 59). The Foundry Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Being a disciple and inviting someone else along on the discipleship journey against the currents of culture is kind of like that. It’s complicated because of the diverse ideologies surrounding us, and it demands a lot of effort to keep going against that backdrop. As a result, many well-intentioned Christians get discouraged and give up.

Barber, Sam. People of Grace: Becoming Disciples Together (p. 61). The Foundry Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Don’t give up. Don’t give in. God’s grace-filled and mission-focused calling will lead you, strengthen you, and encourage you to continue going against the current to shine his light in the world that is consumed in darkness.

Let’s not forget that God’s grace makes it possible for us to be disciples, and disciples pursue God even as they invite others along on the journey of grace. This journey of grace is the best expression of the mission of God for Christians today.

Barber, Sam. People of Grace: Becoming Disciples Together (p. 63). The Foundry Publishing. Kindle Edition.

D. Jesus calls us to be salt, light, and yeast (Matt. 5:13-16; 13:33), and that requires us to challenge the incorrect beliefs and corrupt practices of our age.

1. We cannot simply condemn culture; we have to offer a better way.

Conviction, not condemnation.

John 3:17 NIV

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Even Jesus came, not to condemn but to convict, so that all could come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved.

It is the Holy Spirit’s work to convict, not ours.

Does anyone remember the mission God passed onto us that we discussed a couple of weeks ago? It's to point people to Jesus so they can have a right relationship with God. Condemnation will NEVER make this possible.

2. Life cannot be complete and fulfilling without God and his plan.

Psalm 43:4 (NIV)

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight.

John 17:13 NASB 2020

“But now I am coming to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

3. We model our talk in our personal lives, our homes, and our churches.

We practice what we preach.

4. We live life based on God’s truth and biblical principles.

We stand, even when the current is slamming against us, trying to consume us and take us with it.

5. We show the world how a life, a family, and a group of people look and act when God works among them.

Just as we have encountered Jesus, we want them to see Him, experience Him, and reflect Him to others.

6. We have a responsibility to help reconnect God and people in our secular society; that is what making Christlike disciples is all about!

Evangelical Commentary on the Bible D. Pentecost: Birth of the Church (2:1–47)

Believers faithfully witness; God builds the church

NIV Bible Speaks Today: Notes Chapter 2

The Holy Spirit is a missionary Spirit who created a missionary church.

Conclusion

The early church understood all three principles and lived them in daily life as evidenced in Acts 2:44-47. We find another example in the church at Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11). Believers in that church illustrated living as Christians in a foreign land. We must pass our faith to the next generation through discipleship. The slogan “Jesus is Lord” is not just something we believe in our head. It defines who we are as the people of God. We are his family together. We are citizens of heaven living and working for him on this earth, busy making Christlike disciples in his name.

Prayer After Message

Heavenly Father, thank You for the mission You’ve given us to point others to Jesus, that they may know You and live in relationship with You. In a world full of distractions, keep us focused on Your truth, rooted in fellowship, and steadfast in prayer. Help us live as citizens of heaven, reflecting Your light in our daily lives, and standing against anything that would take our hearts from You. Strengthen us to make Christlike disciples, showing others the joy and purpose found in You alone. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Benediction

May the peace of Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storms, and bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. Go now, pointing others to Jesus, living as His disciples, and shining His light in all you do. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.