The Year of Challenge

Introduction

If you have already broken your New Year’s Resolution, I want you to raise your hand…

If your New Year’s Resolution was to be more honest, you just broke it.

With every New Year comes an expectation that life will be better than it was the year before. But I want to challenge you this year to stop relying on chance to improve your life.

What I want you to do, is to start making Jesus Christ the priority in your life, and as you pastor, I pray that you will stop focusing on the ups and downs of every New Year, and start focusing on God’s perfect will.

When Jesus rose from the grave, and as He ascended into Heaven, He left a job for us.

This job that He left for us, is of vital importance.

And if you will focus on this job, you will discover the purpose in your life and you will stop reacting to every bad thing that takes place. Instead of hoping for next year, you will begin living every day in God’s grace.

The job that Jesus left for us can be found in Matthew 28:19-20. From this verse, I want to issue three challenges to our church in the year 2026.

Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you

I. A Challenge to Disciple

If you know about the life and ministry of Jesus...you’ll know that He was baptized by His cousin John; then, He was sent into the wilderness and tempted by Satan; After that, His public ministry began. And Jesus was preaching all over the city of Capernaum. In the course of His preaching, He called four men to assist Him in His ministry.

Matthew 4:18–22 NKJV

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

These four men, and the other eight that would come after them, are referred to as the twelve disciples.

Well, what is a disciple?

To give a very plain definition of discipleship, I would say this.

A disciple is someone who follows Jesus, is transformed by Jesus, and joins Jesus on His mission.

Look again at Matthew 4:19

Matthew 4:19 NKJV

Then He said to them, “Follow Me (follows Jesus), and I will make you (transformed by Jesus) fishers of men (join Jesus on His mission).”

If you say that you are a Christian, then you are also a disciple. And to be a disciple of Jesus, you must follow Him, allow Him to transform your life, and use that transformation to accomplish His purposes.

Now, let’s localize this to our church and to our life.

What Jesus was doing was calling these men to enter into a discipling relationship with Him. That means that He was doing what we call discipleship.

A. What is Discipleship?

If a disciple is someone who follows Jesus, is transformed by Jesus, and joins Jesus on His mission…

Discipleship is the process of intentionally teaching others how to follow Jesus, be transformed by Jesus, and join Him on His mission.

That is discipleship.

Now discipleship is not optional for the church or for the Christian. What we read at the beginning of this message is known as the Great Commission. Let’s read it again.

Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you

Jesus takes these men that He called to become fishers of men, and now He says to them, “It’s your turn. Go and do for others exactly what I did for you. Teach them to how to follow Me, teach them how to be transformed by Me, and teach them how to join Me in My mission.”

What Jesus eventually did was release them to do ministry on their own. He entrusted these men with the foundation of the church and to continue to expand His Kingdom while He ascended into Heaven.

So, in the process of discipleship, there are various stages of Christian maturity that you will go through.

The Stages of Discipleship

Every Christian is somewhere in the process of discipleship.

They are either mature enough to be released into ministry roles, or they are what are known as spiritual babies.

A man named Jim Putman has defined these various stage of growth, and I want to summarize them for you now.

1. Infancy Stage

Spiritual Infant: Someone who is a new Christian or a “long-time” Christian who has remained stagnant in their faith

A Spiritual infant is someone who has never grown spiritually and still do not understand what it truly means to follow Jesus. Much like real infants, they can only consume and they require a lot of attention and instruction. This isn’t because they are trying to be a problem, but it is because they simply don’t know any better.

They typically say things like:

“I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”

“What is the difference between Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit?”

“What is tithing and why do I need to do it?”

“I pray and read my Bible, that’s good enough for me.”

2. Child Stage

Spiritual Child: Can be a new Christian or a “long-time” Christian; Can often be identified by their self-centeredness; Often have enough knowledge to talk-the-talk but not enough maturity to walk-the-walk.

Much like an actual child, they can be very enjoyable, but may throw a temper tantrum if things don’t go their way. A spiritual child is just learning how to apply God’s word to their lives and how to appropriately relate to other Christians.

When a child goes to school for the first time, they can be a little awkward because they haven’t been around other people much. So, it takes time for them to learn how to properly interact in social settings and to use manners.

When you have a child, there comes a time when you say, “You’re going to have to speak up and order your own food from now on.”

You also say, “Son, when you meet someone, you look them in the eye and you shake their hand. You introduce yourself and you talk loud enough for them to hear you.”

Maybe you say, “Now, dear, don’t get so caught up in what everyone else is saying or doing, you focus on doing what is right.”

What we are doing is teaching them how to apply those things that we have taught them at home in real life circumstances. This is what a Spiritual child is still learning to do.

There conversations typically sound like:

“This church isn’t really meeting my needs. It’d be better to go somewhere else that does.”

“I don’t want the pastor to split my class. I want to be with my friends.”

“Who are all these new people? I like the way it used to be when parking was easier and I had a nice place to sit.”

“I didn’t like the music. It’s not really my style.”

And so, much like an actual child…a spiritual child thinks that the world revolves around them. They are bossy, rash, spoiled, insecure…maybe they are shy or timid and constantly feel defeated…their emotions are like a roller coaster. When they’re having fun, they’re all the way in! When the fun stops, they’re all the way out…

As Putman puts it…Spiritual children crave attention and approval. They will usually do the right things if they are rewarded in a way that pleases them.

We’ve gone from infants, to children…now there is

3. Young Adult

Spiritual Young Adult: Someone who has been transformed away from self-centeredness and is moving toward Christ-centeredness. They begin to give back to the church instead of consuming; they actively minister to others by prioritizing the needs of others.

These are Christians that serve God with passion, energy, and joy that is provided by God. They want to serve God and all of their priorities have begun to change.

Here are how their conversations sound:

“In my devotion, I came across something that I have a question about.”

“I really want to go on a mission trip! I am ready to do more for God’s Kingdom!”

“Hey pastor, I’ve been witnessing to my friends, but we don’t have room for them in our Sunday School class. Can we split one so I can invite them?”

“I noticed my classmate wasn’t here today so I called them and their kids are sick. I think our group can make meals for them. I’ll make the first one!” - They take responsibility for their ideas.

“Man! Look at all these people! I am so excited I couldn’t find a parking spot today!”

They may not be ready to teach or to lead, but they have an attitude towards God and other people that reflects love and compassion. Most importantly, they are serving and giving to the church without expecting anything in return.

So, there is the spiritual infant…the spiritual child…the spiritual young adult…and then there is

4. The Spiritual Parent

Spiritual Parent: Christians who are actively growing closer to Jesus (following and transformation), leading people to the Lord through personal evangelism (fishing for men), and are intentionally discipling someone else (The Great Commission).

This is what makes them a parent. They are producing other Christians and then helping them to grow from infancy to parenthood…thus, the discipleship process is complete.

Like real parents, they are not perfect, but have learned to abide in Jesus. They are actively reading Scripture and spending time in prayer. They are involved in the church by developing relationships with other believers and they work well with others.

Their conversations sound like:

“I want to spend time in the Word with this new Christian. It’s important they learn how to read the Bible.”

“I led someone to the Lord! Let me know when I need to begin to educate them and get can have them baptized.”

“I’ve been taking time to teach my kids the Bible.”

“I still need discipleship, can you or someone else show me how to grow closer to Jesus?”

A Spiritual adult is someone that can be entrusted to lead and to teach. However, a big danger for this person is burn-out. Like moms and dads can experience, raising Christians to maturity is a hard task. They desperately need support and the wisdom to pace themselves in ministry.

There is a lot to know about discipleship, but the best way to learn is to begin the process.

B. How Can You Be Discipled?

Right now, we offer two great options for discipleship. We are always working to improve these, but this is what the Lord has given us.

Sunday School.

“Dylan, I’ve tried Sunday School and I just don’t like it…there’s just no where I fit in…”

Let me help you with that.

Did you know that the number one determining factor on if others like you is if you like them first?

If you walk into a room expecting that you won’t get along with anyone, expecting to get nothing, expecting to be judged…then you’ll leave that room feeling unliked, getting nothing, and feeling judged.

Instead of asking, “What am I going to get out of Sunday School?” I want you to start asking, “what can I provide to others in my class?”

What this means is taking the lesson home…reading it, understanding it…applying it…and then telling about it in class.

Discipleship Training

Every Sunday at 5, my wife does a lady’s discipleship class…Greg has a co-ed class…and Deacon brother reverend Shawn Oliver has a men’s discipleship class.

It’s not perfect, but we are doing what we can to help you learn to be the people of God that God wants you to be.

C. How Can You Disciple Others?

You need to be discipled yourself.

You can’t know how to disciple someone if you’ve never been discipled. In fact, you cannot lead until you’ve learn to follow.

You can be smart, talented, friendly, and punctual, but unless you can follow you’ll never make a good leader.

This year, I am challenging myself and our leadership to develop ways that we can be discipled and disciple others.

Get active in the Word and invite others to read with you.

That’s where it all begins anyway. If a person will not read the Word of God they will never do the Word of God.

It doesn’t have to be anything formal…it simply has to be you teaching them how to love and to apply Scripture to their life.

So, in 2026 I am challenging myself and our church in discipleship…

II. A Challenge to Pray

When we think about prayer, it’s usually something so simple but it can feel so complicated. I mean, we understand that prayer is just talking to God, but it can feel so routine and uninteresting. The reason that most people don’t pray is because they don’t see the value in praying.

Some might even think that prayer is some kind of special gift…but powerful prayer is available to every Christian…

I want to share a few thoughts that will challenge your prayer life.

A. The Meaning

Prayer is the act of communicating with God as an expression of trust in Him.

What we call “prayer” is the act of making request for others and ourselves, the act of confessing personal sin, to praise and to give thanks to God.

The act of prayer does not allow God to understand us, because He already does. Prayer allows us to understand God and to form a relationship with Him.

To summarize the meaning of prayer, I would say that it is “trust-filled communication with God”.

Well, not only is there the meaning, there is the method..

B. The Method

In our prayer life, we need to be sincere, not just polite.

The way that we have learned to pray in the church is to give the pastor and other leaders a list of our needs and others needs. However, because there are so many problems in the world, our lists will go on forever if we continue to pray like that.

We absolutely should pray for the sick and for those that are experiencing hard times…but that is not the only method of prayer.

Now, a major distinction in the life of a Christian and the life of a non-believer is that Christianity is a religion of sincere benevolence. This means that Christians are to be more than just polite or courteous…they are to sincere in their blessings.

If you go into a store, and you get to the cash register…it’s polite for the cashier to say, “Hello, how are you today?”

It’s polite for us to respond and say, “I’m fine, how are you?”

Then, what are they supposed to say? “I’m good! Thank you for asking.”

But, they don’t really care how you are and you’re just responding to be polite…

There is a major flaw that we in our Christian lives…what we’ve done is taken the most powerful tool in our possession and we have turned it into a polite statement.

What’s that polite statement?

“I’m praying for you.”

That may be polite, but it’s not meaningful unless you go home and you pray for that person.

As Christians, we are called to be more than just polite, we are called to intercede on the behalf of others in a real and meaningful way.

Not only should our method be sincere, it should flow.

So instead of amassing this impossible list of prayer request and reducing the potency of our prayers lives, when someone asks you to pray for them, do it right then and there.

Then, in return, ask if they will pray for you, and make them do it right then and right there.

That way, when you go into a time of prayer, you have covered those that have asked for prayer, and you can have a prayer time that is flowing like a river instead of being stopped up like the kitchen sink.

To make it flow, pray like this…

Make time, you cannot rush a meeting the God of the Universe.

There was a senator on his way to see an evangelist. However, the senator arrived early and attempted to walk in that evangelist’s office, just to be stopped by the secretary.

She said, “Sir, he’s not ready, he is in there praying, you’ll just have to wait.”

The senator says, “Well, do you know who I am?”

She responded, “Yes, but do you know Who he is meeting with?”

There is no meeting more important than a meeting withe Lord. He is King, He is God, He is worthy of your time.

Open by praising Him with a thankful heart.

Just sit and begin to tell God thank your for everything He’s done. If you have any sin, begin there, ask for forgiveness. Then, begin to thank Him for your salvation and for His blessings. Like the hymnal says, “count your blessings, see what God has done.”

Pray for your family, your church, your nation, for the lost, and then for your own personal needs.

Finish by reading His word and continuing to glorify Him.

When it comes to prayer, there is the meaning, the method, and here is the result.

C. The Result

The most significant thing that will happen is you will begin to understand the Scripture. He will open your eyes and you will gain a deeper understanding of God.

Not only that, you will learn to hear God’s voice.

“Dylan, can someone really hear God’s voice?” Yes. He’s not going to shout from the sky but He is going whisper in your heart. He is already making Himself so plain to you and available to you…but you cannot hear Him because you do not really know Him.

Then, as you begin to understand His word, and as you begin to recognize His voice, you will be available to participate in His work.

Could you imagine the joy you would get by serving the local church if you would stop doing and just take the time to listen and obey?

We get so distracted by every shiny thing that passes through, when what we really need is for the people of Providence to have a prayer life that is genuine, flowing, and allows us to recognize the voice of God.

This year, I want to challenge you to be discipled, I want to challenge you to be sincere in prayer, and I want to challenge you to become a God fearing and capable leader.

III. A Challenge to Lead

There is a major debate in the world of leadership.

The debate centers around this question… “Are leaders born or are they made?”

Well, I want to tell you that leaders are made…and they are made every single day.

Moses had a speech impediment, and yet God made him the main communicator for the nation Israel.

Gideon was afraid and hiding, the least of his house and his house the least of his nation…and God made him a mighty general.

David was a shepherd with no royalty in his blood, and God made him a king.

God can make you a leader.

A. The Meaning of Leadership

Here are some key principles to help you understand leadership.

Leadership is not a position. It is a relationship.

Now, someone can be the boss and have the title and the authority, but that doesn’t make them a leader.

There are certain qualities that a leader will have, and it has nothing to do with a title. Instead, it has everything to do with character.

A person’s character is the overall behavior and attitude of that person.

Now, what are the character traits that a leader will have?

First and foremost, a leader is honest. People can trust them and they are dependable with their money, their scheduling, and their mouth. They say the hard things even if it’s unpopular. And they don’t enable bad behavior. They are someone that others want to follow because they are someone that can be trusted.

Second, a leader inspire others. They are able to see the potential of ideas and the potential of others instead of being so negative. Even when they don’t think something will work, they can communicate that in a real and meaningful way.

Third, a leader takes time to reflect. A leader understands that everything can be improved. They value feedback from others and are always working to develop themselves.

Fourth, a leader is empowering. They don’t talk down to people, but they lift them up. They are able to show other people their potential and teach them how to handle responsibility.

Fifth and finally, a leader is encouraging. This means they really believe in people and will cheer them on. They don’t get jealous when someone does better than them, they are thankful for it.

Now, I want you to notice something. There is not one quality of good leadership that is unavailable to every person in this room. Titles do not equal leadership…character equals leadership. The main focus of character is not in your ability to accomplish something, but in your ability to be honest, inspiring, to self-develop, empower others, and encourage others.

Leadership is not a position. It is a relationship.

B. The People of Leadership

The truth is that everyone here today is leading somebody else. Whether that’s a child, a sibling, a friend, or someone who you may not know is watching you. You are leading someone that you have a relationship with.

Well, what set apart a person who leads?

They are Equipped by Following Others

Great leaders tend to begin as followers of other great leaders who have equipped them to lead.

There is a saying that I came across in my reading, and this is what it said, “Be humble enough to obey. You will be giving orders yourself someday.”

Peter learned to lead by following Jesus. Joshua learned how to lead by following Moses. Jesus says that He does nothing by Himself, that He is following God. Therefore, if you want to be an effective leader, surround yourself with people who lead.

They are Spiritual

Henry and Richard Blackaby talk a great deal about spiritual leadership. They define spiritual leadership as “Moving people onto God’s agenda.”

Here are the traits of a spiritual leader…by the way..anyone can be a spiritual leader.

A spiritual leader knows how to move people. This means to inspire and to direct them.

A spiritual leader uses spiritual means. They don’t use the business world of ethics, they use the Scripture as their guide.

A spiritual leader is accountable to God. They don’t seek to make people happy, they seek to honor God in everything that they do.

A spiritual leader focuses on people. They want people to grow and they want them to develop. They are honest, inspiring, empowering, and they are encouraging.

A spiritual leader affects all people, not just God’s people.

Finally, a spiritual leader can recognize the voice of God.

I pray that you all seek to be spiritual leaders.

Leaders are equipped, they are spiritual, and…

They are Servants

Servant leadership is identifying the needs of others and then ministering to those needs.

In the same light, Christian leadership finds its credibility in ministry to others.

and just like in every area…Jesus is our great example of servant leadership.

Mark 10:45 NKJV

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

And just like Jesus is our good shepherd, a servant leader is a shepherd to others. A servant leader must accept the responsibility of spiritual oversight, must refuse to blame others for their for their own personal hurt and frustration, and must not give up on people too quickly.

There are the equipped leaders, the spiritual leaders, the servant leaders, and there are the training leaders.

They Train Others

A leader that trains others is selfless. To be a leader that trains others, you must adopt a “replacement mentality”. This requires a heavenly focus and a sacrificial attitude.

In the life of the Apostle Paul, there are at least thirty eight ministers that he trained to plant churches and to lead them.

For this aspect of leadership, we covered it in discipleship. A leader will always have disciples.

C. How can you begin leading?

Start following. Start following Jesus, and start following people who live Godly lives.

Abide in the word of God. You cannot teach and lead someone somewhere that you have never been.

Communicate with God in prayer. This is how we understand the will of God.

Love God, and love others. You cannot skip a deep relationship with others if you want to lead them. Leadership is not a position…it is a relationship.

I. Conclusion

A. A Call to Follow Jesus

B. A Call to Be Discipled

C. A Call to Pray

D. A Call to Lead