Disciple-ship

Hearing from God through Spiritual Disciplines and Action

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Opening

On the night of April 15, 1912 the RMS Titanic carrying an estimated 2,224 passengers and crew hit an iceberg in the frigid North Atlantic waters and sank taking half the souls onboard with it. One of souls was a beacon of faith in action as Baptist preacher John Harper’s commitment to spreading the gospel did not waver, even as he faced his own mortality.

After hours of standing on deck proclaiming “Women and children and unsaved people get aboard the lifeboats!” He even gave away his own life vest to a non-believer, saying “Here, take this. I don’t need it. I’m not going down - I’m going up!” This is all documented in Moody Adam’s book, The Titanic’s Last Hero.

Pastor Harper was a demonstration of unshakable faith in the midst of a terrible storm. His deeply rooted relationship with the Savior was the only life vest he needed that night. His last words were heard by many as the ship sank into the freezing waters, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Introduction

We’re learning to hear from God during this sermon series based on DOVE founding Pastor, Larry Kreider’s book Speak Lord, I’m Listening. And this week we are going to talk about the difference between simply hearing from God and having an ongoing, deeply rooted relationship with Him.

Today’s message is about spiritual disciplines and action, because being a Christian is not a destination, it’s a journey. Like the good Father He is, God teaches us through the successes and failures of life. He walks with us and He talks with us through the seasons in the garden of life.

Jesus died not only so that we might live forever with Him, but so that we might live this life through Him, and for Him, and like Him as children of God.

Pray

Our journey with Christ might start with a step of faith, (to believe on the Lord and be saved), but that step is only the beginning. As I’ve said before, salvation might be instant, but transformation is a process. Life is the classroom, and God is the teacher, Holy Spirit is the mentor, and Jesus is our companion and friend.

He invites us all on board for the journey as we trust Him by faith that He’ll keep us afloat. (Unlike the Titanic) this ship is not a steam ship, or a sailing ship, or a motor ship - it’s a relationship… the R.S. Disciple-ship (slide). He won’t push off until we’re on board, and we He can’t teach us to steer until we’re moving forward. This journey requires both faith and action.

Faith is the gangway that gets us on board the R.S. Disciple-ship. We take a step of faith out of solitude and self-centered-ness and into relationship with Him and others. Faith is the fuel that keeps the engines turning and the ship moving forward.

We also believe that God wants us take action to move our faith forward, and we trust that He will teach us where to go and how to navigate the hazards of life. It’s hard to steer a ship that’s not moving forward, so even when we make mistakes, he will lead us and guide us, correcting our course through trial and error.

We are in the world but not of it, and one way the Lord keeps us in the world but protects us from the evil one is by being in a “Relation-ship” with Him. If we are in relationship with God and other Christians, we are less likely to jump out of the boat into worldly temptations, and unhealthy relationships will be as obvious to us as icebergs in our path.

So, we will tell the captain we trust Him, and we’re ready to let Him lead us from here. All aboard now, are you ready?

Friend-ship

As you come aboard the R.S. Disciple-ship, the first thing you find is friendship. Friendship is the first stage (or upper deck) of the Disciple-ship. As we start to trust Jesus by faith and as we take small steps of action by faith, we are getting to know how He leads us in everyday circumstances.

You may build on this friendship through deliberate prayers throughout the day, perhaps at first only at meals or before you go to bed at night. Jesus may show you in little ways how much he cares about you, and you’ll start to pick up on the ways He speaks to you throughout the day.

We also meet other people who are also friends of God. By faith you’re a friend of God, and by faith in Jesus we are actually family. Ephesians 2:19 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,”

The fellowship of believers is one of the most warm and welcoming places you can be when you first believe. Your brothers and sisters in Christ represent the physical presence of Jesus in your life, all reflecting the gifts that they have received. When we are unsure about whether we belong to the family of God, our brothers and sisters are there to encourage us in our newly found faith.

It’s a place where new believers are fed milk from the Word, not ready for solid food, but small bites that are easily digested. And we begin to develop a craving for deeper understanding. The Friend-ship deck is the place where we begin to settle into our new life in Christ and the place where God begins to draw us into a deeper relationship with Him.

Mentor-ship

We know it’s time to go beyond the “friend-ship deck” when our questions become deeper than simple nightly prayers and casual conversations can answer. Forward movement is necessary in order to steer a ship. We need to keep moving forward in faith so that God can steer us in thee right direction.

The Word of God is a key component of the discipleship journey, you might even say it’s your passport, your itinerary, and the ship’s deck plan all in one. The Word of God has to be experienced to fully understand it. No one is going to completely “get it” simply by studying it, or even by asking basic questions to our friends.

Now, I’ve never actually been on a cruise, but once on board, I don’t think I would just go straight to my windowless cabin with the intention of studying my passport, itinerary, and ship’s brochure the whole time. I’m there for the experience! We can’t just spend all our time studying the Word and not putting action to what we’re reading.

The Christian life is not just a scholar-ship but a relation-ship. It’s about our relationship with God and our relationship with one another. When Jesus came to Galilee, He called others to follow Him, and when He lifted off from the Mount of Olives the last things He told those disciples was to go out and make disciples.

A disciple is a learner, a person who follows after and seeks to learn from another. A disciple is not only a partaker of information, but also one who seeks to become like his or her teacher. Luke 6:40 “The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.”

When Jesus physically lifted off the earth to sit at the Father’s right hand, He did not leave us as orphans. He provided His Holy Spirit as the mentor, and our personal guide us on this journey. As we grow in relationship with Jesus, we grow in our trust of His Holy Spirit. As we step out in faith to do what He asks, He teaches us and disciplines us, leading and guiding us as a mentor to a mentee.

Today, we may refer to this deck of the R.S. Disciple-ship as the “mentor-ship deck”. Its the one-to-one, teacher-to-student part of the disicple-ship relation-ship. Paul was an excellent example of what mentorship today should look like. Since he couldn’t physically follow Jesus after his conversion, he followed Barnabus as his teacher, and then Timothy followed Paul. Eventually, Paul sent Timothy to Corinth to continue the multiplication of the early church.

1 Corinthians 4:15–17 “Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.”

There is no reason we should expect today’s church to grow with any other model than the one that Jesus set forth for his own disciples. This is the point in your relationship with Christ that goes beyond bedtime prayers and occasional conversations with Him. You find yourself quietly talking with the Lord throughout the day, during ordinary experiences.

If you think about it, this model most closely follows God’s model for a natural family. The parents don’t just formally instruct their children, they teach them through constant, ordinary interaction - during meals, walks, bedtime, and other waking moments.

Spiritual development happens the same way. Children grow up with faith being a natural part of the daily conversation rather than an isolated lesson only on Sunday mornings. God designed discipleship to operate just like a family, with the mature or older “parents,” walking along side the less mature or younger “children” to serve them in loving care and gentle correction as they navigate the faith life.

In the biblical model, the “older” and “younger” doesn’t indicate age as much as spiritual maturity. What deck are you in on the disciple-ship? How deep and experienced is your relationship with Christ? If you are experiencing the mentorship relationship with Christ - you are probably mature enough to be a spiritual mom or dad to mentor someone who has been (so far ) “just friends” with Jesus, but feels ready to go deeper.

A spiritual parents is not there to judge or to control the lives of their mentees, but to point out the good things you see God doing in and through them. You ask questions about their hopes and dreams, and offer advice in following God’s path for their lives. Mim & Deryl Hurst will be conducting a Workshop about Spiritual Parenting while they’re here from DOVE Westgate on February 28th. So I hope you all will attend and learn more about this important mentoring relationship.

You don’t have to be perfect, just real and honest and willing to share life with another Christian in a one-to-one relationship. There’s always time for a cup of coffee, a walk around the park of a monthly phone call no matter how busy you are. Simply accepting the love, prayers, and advice of a mature believer can help you hear from God more clearly as you’re riding along on the disciple-ship.

The Mentor-ship deck is the place where we begin to eat solid foods as we explore deeper spiritual concepts in the safety of the relationship with the Holy Spirit and our Spiritual Mentor.

Companion-ship

As we go deeper in relationship with the Lord, we find our interactions with Him move from that of teacher-student or parent-child into a place more like a devoted companion. This is where we may realize that we are no longer just living with Christ, or walking beside Him, but living for Him and Him through us. At this stage of deeper intimacy with God, we can also experience personal relationships with brothers or sisters in Christ that feel more like mutual love.

When we hear from God, it’s often in the form of a question at this stage. The Holy Spirit becomes less of teacher and more of a well-known and constant companion. Usually by this time in our relationship with Jesus, we have overcome sin and temptation to the point that the conversations are more about leading and guiding the decisions of life and how we interact with others. Getting the answer right or wrong is a little less dire, and more for our own growth and maturity - so the Holy Spirit will offer indirect or even multiple solutions, often leaving the ultimate decision up to us.

At this deck of the disciple-ship we may find our closest relationships with people become less like mentorships and more like companionships. There’s a greater level of trust, and we may share more intimate or vulnerable parts of our lives with one or two very close companions in the faith. Our most trusted brothers or sisters in Christ become the first people in which we confide in for prayer, confirmation and coaching. I may add, this level of the relationship is inappropriate between members of the opposite sex. To avoid the appearance of sin and emotional soul-ties, companionship should be brothers with brothers and sisters with sisters.

Another trusted relationship at this level are with those who have been recognized as spiritual directors who operate in gifts of the five-fold. Ephesians 4:11–13 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” You might seek spiritual direction from a Pastor, a recognized Intercessor, or someone who operates with a gift of prophecy, teaching or evangelism.

A good spiritual director may not give you a direct answer to your question, but will encourage you to pay close attention to your personal communication with God and to grow in intimacy with Him. They can help us distinguish between the voice of God and other voices, or help us discern if we may be projecting our own personal heart’s desires as the will of God in. This level of discipleship requires both spiritual and emotional maturity. Being able to evaluate our selves compared to what we know about Christ through our intimate relationship with Him.

The Holy Spirit is the true director, and He will often shine a light on where we need to examine our hearts in any situation. But there are times in everyone’s life when seeking a recognized spiritual director will helps us increase our awareness of what God might be doing in the midst of life’s experiences. These trusted overseers can help us fine-tune what we’re hearing from God, and gently facilitate our surrender to His will.

The “companion-ship” deck is the place where we are fully committed in complete trust of our Lord and Savior. Our mind, will and emotions are completely surrendered to Him in faith-filled, ongoing relationship. And His Holy Spirit freely works in us and through us to the world around us.

The Supply Hold

On our journey through life upon the R.S. Disciple-ship there is also a wealth of resources available to us in the deepest deck. There’s always prayer and reading the Word, but there are some deeper actions that help to cultivate deeper communication. This storehouse of actions we can take to deepen our relationship with God is always available to us, but it’s up to us to take hold of them and attach our faith to their purposes.

The first resource is fasting. Whenever we are trying to hear from God but the distractions of this life and our own desires are making it hard to hear Him clearly, we fast. Fasting reduces the interference of our body and soul, opening our spirit to be the main receptor of God’s communication. When we starve the body of physical food, and we starve the soul of comfort food, we enhance the spirit’s hunger for spiritual food. Fasting helps us turn down the noise and turn up the voice of God.

The second resource is rest. God created the Sabbath as a way for us to draw near to him by withdrawing from the demands of the work week. If you’re having trouble hearing God’s direction for your life, sometimes you have to get off the hamster wheel and take a breather in the open country. Jesus withdrew to the isolated wilderness, mountainside, and gardens of Judea deliberately and often. Getting in touch with our creator, away and apart from the daily demands, is a way to remind our spirits that we were made for more. We are spiritual beings having a human experience, and being in the presence of God is our most natural state - it shouldn’t just be once in a while, but deliberate and often!

If you ever feel like you’ve lost what God wants you to do with your life, and you feel stuck in the everyday demands of humanity - take some time to get away and simply be with the Lord. Was there something He asked you to do that you haven’t done yet? If you’re feeling stuck, it might be that God is waiting for you to attach your faith with action and do what He has already told you to do. God will always do what He said He would do, but He will not do what He’s asked of YOU.

The Father has given us relationship with His Son, mentorship by His Holy Spirit, fellowship with His family, and every resource available to Him to grow the Kingdom. I think it’s time we get on board, don’t you?

Small Group Questions

Small group Questions

In your small groups this week:

Share which “deck” of the R.S. Disciple-ship you think you might be on in your relationship with God and others.

Describe a time when you took one step of faith and God opened a door for you to walk through.

Discuss the benefits of having a spiritual parent and being a mentor.

Closing

As I close, and the intercessors and communion stewards come foreward, I’d like to leave you with this thought.

God didn’t send His Son to die for us so that we can use His name without sharing His heart. We shouldn’t spend the rest of our lives standing on the gangway of the relation-ship, ready to jump on the moment we think we need Him. We shouldn’t keep the answer to the world’s problems in our pocket just in case we need to pull out a life vest on a sinking ship some day. God is not a conditional God - He’s a relational God. Jesus doesn’t want us to keep Him stowed away “in case of emergency.” He wants our relationship with Him to be the ship, to be the vehicle, the very way of life for the life we live. He gave up His life so that we might live for Him, and so that He might live in us and through us by His Holy Spirit.

There comes a time in our Christian walk when we’re not just living with Jesus, but we were ready to live for Him. This is not an isolated mission - His greatest command is to love God and to love others. He gave us a co-mission before He left the earth and sent His Holy Spirit to help us go out into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them everything about Him. Discipleship begins with our relationship with Christ and our relationship with others, how can you go deeper this week in both?

Pray (Stand)

Tithes & Offerings

Communion

We also bless the elements of our communion; Matthew 26:26–28 says that “While they were eating (the Passover meal), Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

We give thanks to you, Lord for this bread, and thanks to your Son for His love poured out on the cross. We eat and drink in remembrance of you.

Benediction

Come, pray, give, eat and drink and may you grow in your relationship with Christ and others until He returns.