Walk This Way: Introduction
Notes
Transcript
Announcements:
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Worship:
Praise
2. Trust in God
3. You’ve already won
4. Rest on us
Introduction:
What are you here for? What is the purpose for your life?
The answer to that question often leads people to pursue the wrong things and, before they know it, they have wasted their lives. It is the reason people do what they do.
What you believe affects how you live, feel and act. This is so important! When I was a youth pastor, I would always stress (and still do today) that you need to know what you believe and why you believe it. We can’t believe in something because it is what we were always told to believe. We can’t believe something because our parents believe it either.
Unfortunately, I believe that is what most people do. We have so many people going around claiming to be Christians but aren’t following Jesus Christ. They claim to love Jesus but are not disciples of Jesus.
As we posted yesterday: In 2023, 67% of the US (224 million out of 332 million people) claim Christianity. They claim it but how many walk it? How many are disciples of Jesus Christ? Those who are pursuing Jesus first?
As we start out 2025, we want to talk about what a disciple of Jesus Christ is during our series “Walk This Way.”
Transition: So, this morning is our introduction to the series. And the best way to start is at the beginning so we can lay a foundation to build upon.
Imagine that you are blind–folded and standing on the goal line of a soccer field. Now imagine that someone points you toward the opposite end of the field and instructs you to walk in a straight line until you reach the far goal. A person in this situation will almost always veer off to one side of the field or the other before he ever reaches the midfield.
This happens because everyone has a dominant leg with which he takes longer strides, causing him to veer in that direction.1 In other words, we are all physically “biased” toward our dominant side. (This is also why people who are lost in the wilderness usually end up walking in circles).
The basic principle of this illustration can also be applied to matters of the soul. When it comes to how we view the world around us, we are all biased in one way or another by our unique emotional, mental, and spiritual dispositions. Many people walk through life unaware of the degree to which their bias influences their course.
To further complicate things, imagine that as you walk blind–folded on that soccer field, voices all along the sidelines are beckoning you to come this way or that way. The many religions and worldviews of our day are like those voices on the sidelines beckoning you to follow. Your attempt to walk the length of the field would not only be influenced by your personal bias, but by the biased influence of those around you as well.
But what if someone lifted your blind–fold and you could see clearly the goal at the other end of the field? That goal would serve as a reference point by which you could set your course. You could walk in a straight line and not be misled by the voices all around you. Many have set the course of their life toward a goal without ever reaching it; or after reaching it, have discovered that it was not what they thought. Like the traveler in a strange land, in the journey of life we need a reference point that has been tested and proven trustworthy by many others, one that will not disappoint.
4 For the word of the Lord is right, and all his work is trustworthy.
160 The entirety of your word is truth, each of your righteous judgments endures forever.
Jesus even prays to the Father for the disciples:
17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
I. The Bible is the truth we need to believe as opposed to the other “truths” that are being thrown to us from the world.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
A. The Bible tells us that God created everything including us!
16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him.
B. It tells us how we are born into sin because of what Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden.
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
C. It also tells us the wages of sin is death and it is a price that has to be paid.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
D. We have two options: we can pay the price or we can accept Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for our sins.
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
E. We can accept what Jesus did on the cross for us without having to earn it!
13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Is the Bible your source of truth? Having the correct point of reference is crucial!
Have you accepted what Jesus did for you on the cross?
“Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church,” Bonhoeffer insists. “We are fighting today for costly grace.”
By “cheap grace” Bonhoeffer is referring to a religion that makes no demands on its adherents, a religiosity that gives a polite nod at commitment but refuses to pay the price it exacts.
“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate,” he writes.
The free grace of God is costly because it is made available through the sacrificial death of Christ on Calvary’s cross. But this grace is also costly for Christians because it “calls us to follow Jesus Christ”.
Transition: With the Bible being our source of truth, there is more, once we accept what Jesus did on the cross for our sin.
II. We cannot just believe in what Jesus did for us and be content with that.
A. Jesus doesn’t just ask us to believe in Him
9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.
but also to follow Him!
18 As he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter), and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen.
19 “Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fish for people.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, preparing their nets, and he called them.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
B. Following Jesus is discipleship! It is walking as Jesus walked. Talking as Jesus talked.
“Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” These words eloquently summarise the central message of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s influential book, The Cost of Discipleship, first published in 1937.
C. Many people are so focused on following the rules (Ten Commandments) that they miss out on why we have the Ten Commandments.
D. Paul tells us in
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,
2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,
4 in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
when we walk in the flesh, we see the Law as a list of rules (do’s and don’ts) but we are to walk in the Spirit which means we recognize that we cannot fulfill the Law (live up to the standard God expects us to live). We also know we believe in what Jesus Christ did for us and rely on the Holy Spirit to help us because more like Jesus Christ (disciples).
Transition: As we look to the Bible as our source of truth and not only are content in believing in Jesus Christ, we begin to grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the next few weeks we will be talking about what a disciple of Jesus looks like and what he/she focuses on.
III. We will be using the book titled: “Follow: Learning to Follow Jesus” by Bryan Koch and Daniel McNaughton as a resource. We will also be in the book of Matthew and the areas we will be discussing are:
A. Learning to be with Jesus Matthew 4:18-22
B. Learning to Listen Matthew 4:23-25
C. Learning to Heal Matthew 4:23-25
D. Learning to Influence Matthew 5:13-16
E. Learning to Love Matthew 5:43-48
F. Learning to Pray Matthew 6:5-15
G. Learning to Manage Matthew 6:19-24
Conclusion:
Why is discipleship so important? Our focus on becoming more like Jesus Christ doesn’t allow Satan to have even the tiniest bit of influence in our life!
A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn't afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.
After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.
The Haitian pastor's conclusion: "If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ's habitation." (Source: Dale A. Hays, Leadership, Vol. X, No. 3 (Summer, 1989), p. 35., via sermonillustrations.com)
Our mission for The Gap is reaching the lost; discipling the found.
As we begin 2025, I pray that you embark on this journey with us as we purposefully walk as disciples of Jesus!
During this next week, I want to challenge of all us to meditate on this Scripture:
19 “Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fish for people.”
Pray and ask the Lord what it means. What does it look like for you personally? How can you be more intentional this year to be a disciple of Jesus?
Is there anything I am allowing Satan to influence in my life? If so, ask the Holy Sprit to give you the wisdom and courage to address it now before it is too late.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.
End in prayer circles
