Built to Follow
Church Maintencance • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
Last week we began this series called Church Maintenance, and we went back to the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:
“Go therefore and make disciples…”
We talked about how the mission of the Church isn't simply to get people into a building. Our mission is to help people follow Jesus.
And we talked about our children. They're not just the Church of tomorrow—they're the Church of today. We have a responsibility to disciple the next generation and show them what following Jesus looks like.
Today I want to talk to you about how you were:
BUILT to FOLLOW
We don’t always teach those who are new in Christ how they can be built to follow.
Sometimes I think we can preach discipleship like this:
“Follow Jesus, read your Bible, pray, come to church, serve—and everything will be great!”
But anybody who has followed Jesus for very long knows:
Following Jesus can be hard.
Jesus never hid that from His disciples.
He told them:
33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
He said:
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Following Jesus means there will be moments when God corrects you.
There will be moments when people criticize you.
There will be moments when somebody hurts you.
There will be moments when you don't understand what God is doing.
There will be moments when obedience costs you something.
There will be seasons when you're praying and don't see the answer.
There will be times when people you love walk away.
And sometimes the people who hurt you will be church people.
So if we're going to talk about making disciples, we also need to talk about what it takes to remain a disciple.
Because I don't want you to follow Jesus for six months.
I don't want you to follow Jesus until somebody disappoints you.
I don't want you to follow Jesus until church gets difficult.
I don't want you to follow Jesus until God asks you to surrender something.
I want us to become lifelong disciples of Jesus.
I want us to become lifelong disciples of Jesus.
This past week we had our yearly minister’s retreat. This is a time where Carly and I go and we are poured into by others in our state.
One thing I love about the Assemblies of God is, they care about the spiritual health of their pastors. Our district strongly believes in healthy pastors create healthy churches.
We were blessed to have our General Superintendent Doug Clay speak into our lives as pastors. The messages we heard were on time and for this season we are in.
I took noted during the first session and at the end I told Carly this has to do with discipleship. I want to share some of what I learned this past week that is relevant to your own journey as you become a disciple of Christ.
There are three things that a disciple of Jesus needs.
A Tender Heart, Thick Skin, and a Teachable Spirit
Having all three of these is crucial to the life of the disciple being built to follow.
If you have a tender heart without thick skin, people will constantly wound you.
If you have thick skin without a tender heart, you'll become hard and cynical.
And if you have both but aren't teachable, you'll stop growing.
A disciple is a life long learner of Jesus
The moment you stop learning is the moment you stop growing. If you stop growing you will stop becoming more and more like Jesus.
I want to encourage you to continue growing in your walk with Jesus and watch what He will do in and through you.
One thing I have learned over the years is that discouragement will kill your walk with Jesus faster than anything else.
It is not always the moral failure, but the discouragement that comes with it.
It is not always the attack of the enemy, it is the discouragement that comes along with it. Or instances beyond our own control, discouragement can come in.
Discouragement Lessons
Discouragement Lessons
There are a few things I have learned about discouragement.
Discouragement is Universal
It doesn’t matter where you attend church. It doesn’t matter what season or position of ministry you may be in. It doesn’t matter what job you hold or how much money you make or even where you live. Discouragement is universal.
Some people try to run away from it by moving physically to a new location. Some try to run away by finding a new job. Some even jump relationships or churches. Where ever you go discouragement is there.
If you leave discouragement unchecked, it can lead you down some dark paths and eventually away from Christ.
Discouragement is a Recurring Disease
Just as discouragement is universal, once cured it has a tendency to come back. Once you get over one discouragement, another one seems to be right around the corner. Sometimes it is right away, sometimes days, weeks, months later. The fact it does come back.
But when it does, it doesn’t determine our reality. You are still a child of God regardless of the situation, regardless of what you did or did not do, regardless if you are on a mountain or in the valley. The reality is you still are a child of God.
Not only is it a recurring disease:
Discouragement is Contagious
You can catch it from other people. You can give it to other people.
I have been in around others where discouragement was often communicated. I had a job once in Chicago and that’s all the employees did was complain. Never a word of encouragement. When one started another would chime in.
Can I tell you this happens in churches as well. Discouragement is a disease that can spread quicker than than any disease.
It reminds me of the Children of Israel when they sent out the 12 spies and 10 of them reported fear and discouragement. The whole nation became disheartened.
Church is supposed to be a place where we can receive life and encouragement.
Paul says,
11 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
I have also found that:
Discouragement is Circumstantial
Discouragement can just come out of the blue. In fact this past Friday I was feeling a little discouraged as I was prepping for a funeral.
I texted my wife and told her to pray for me. I felt as though my mind was being weighed down.
Discouragement can come from many directions. Sometimes it comes through difficult circumstances that don’t turn out the way we hoped. Sometimes it comes through the words, actions, or opinions of other people. And sometimes, discouragement comes from within—through our own thoughts, failures, fears, and expectations.
The truth is, you don’t have to look very far to find a reason to be discouraged. Life can discourage you, people can discourage you, and even your own mind can discourage you. That’s why we have to learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord and anchor our hearts in what God has said, not simply in what we see, what others say, or how we feel.
“It is so important to protect your mindset because when discouragement hits us, our emotions and out thinking can lie to us.” - Doug Clay
As a disciple of Jesus, we must constantly get our mindset and emotions under the control of the Holy Spirit. If not, our flesh will take over and it leads to no good place.
So let’s talk about three things that can help you from being discouraged.
As followers of Jesus, as disciples of Jesus it is important that we have these three things.
Tender Heart, Thick Skin, and a Teachable Spirit.
Let’s say this together.
Tender Heart, Thick Skin, and a Teachable Spirit.
Tender Heart
Tender Heart
Having a tender heart is so important as a disciple of Jesus. Having a tender heart helps fight against discouragement.
We need to allow our hearts to remain tender by the one who made it.
26 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
A heart of stone is not moldable.
A heart of stone cannot be shaped.
A heart of stone is hard to move.
A heart of stone can hurt others.
Life has a way of hardening us.
Disappointment in others or even ourselves, church hurt, betrayal by a friend, unanswered prayer, grief, or even ministry can harden your heart.
It is at these moments when it is imperative that as a disciple of Christ that we
Lean into God’s grace
As a disciple we need to have a heart that remains soft towards God and others.
I used to build fences for a small company back East and we were not a fancy outfit. I would use post hole diggers to manually dig holes to place the new fence posts in.
I developed callouses on my hands. Calluses develop when your skin is repeatedly exposed to friction, pressure, or rubbing.
In response, the outer layer of skin thickens and hardens to protect the more sensitive tissue underneath.
Calluses are good for your hands because they protect you from repeated pressure, friction, and pain. The skin becomes tougher so you can keep working without being constantly injured.
But what is helpful for your hands can be dangerous for your heart.
When your heart becomes calloused, you stop feeling what you were meant to feel. You can become less sensitive to the voice of God, less responsive to conviction, and less compassionate toward the needs of others. Pain, disappointment, offense, or repeated sin can cause us to build emotional and spiritual layers around our hearts until things that once moved us no longer move us.
God wants us to have strong hands, but tender hearts.
A calloused hand can help you keep working. A calloused heart can keep God from working in you.
Hebrews warns us:
13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
We should never allow what we have been through to make us insensitive to what God is trying to do in us.
Let life toughen your hands, but never let it harden your heart.
When it comes to being discouraged, a tender heart is important.
Jesus, our Teacher, the one we are following, is the greatest example.
He was betrayed.
Rejected.
Mocked.
Abandoned.
Misunderstood.
Yet He remained compassionate.
Pain didn't determine His character. And it doesn’t have to determine yours either.
A disciple of Jesus keeps a tender heart and develops:
Thick Skin
Thick Skin
When I was a youth pastor, my pastor would often tell me that I had thick skin. I always thought that meant I wasn’t easily offended. While that is part of it, it means something else as well.
Having a tender heart doesn’t mean being emotionally destroyed every time someone says something to you that you don’t like.
Having thick skin protects your heart from words and wounds that would otherwise cause it to become calloused.
What my pastor was telling me is, that he has witnessed people who would say things about me and see that my heart still remained tender towards God and also people.
I didn’t allow what I was going through to determine what God was doing in me.
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
If you are going to be a disciple of Jesus, you are going to have to develop thick skin.
Let’s face it. People are people. Hurt people hurt people. If we allow everything that is said or done offend us…then we need to go back to the last point and allow God to give us a tender heart again.
People are going to say dumb things.
Misunderstand you.
Forget something.
Not invite you.
Criticize you.
Disagree with you.
Post something you don't like.
Sit in “your” seat.
Sometimes they'll genuinely wrong you.
We live in an age where everybody can immediately tell everybody what they think about everything.
You can post:
“Beautiful day today!”
And somebody will respond:
“Actually, excessive sunlight contributes to…”
Nothing you post online is safe from attack. Even in real life. People seem to not have filters anymore. And people rarely think before they speak.
If your emotional stability depends on universal approval, you are going to have a hard time following Jesus.
A tender heart is a must. Thick skin is a must. Especially in 2026 where it seems to be free reign to speak everything you think.
Tender heart says: I still care.
Thick skin says: I don't let every offense control me.
If the enemy can’t get you to stop following Jesus through temptation, he will try to get you through offense.
Thick skin can be developed.
Again we look towards Jesus, the one we are learning from and following.
23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
Here is what I have learned over the years. Just because you are wronged, doesn’t give you the right to get even.
You give that up when you follow Jesus. It is God who judges righteously.
For those who are in leadership…you can expect criticism to be a part of it. Just accept the fact it is going to come. People are people.
You can look at it as a bad thing and be offended, or maybe there might be some truth behind it where you can learn from it.
Either way, you give it to God…regardless of the source.
15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.
Bitterness is a killer of the work of God in you and through you.
This brings me to my last point. As disciples we need: a Tender Heart, Thick Skin, and this last one is very important.
Teachable Spirit
Teachable Spirit
1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid.
I didn’t say it. Take it up with Solomon.
A disciple literally means learner. We are students of Jesus and class in session for the rest of your life. The only way you graduate is when God moves you from this world to the next and you hear the words “Well done thy good and faithful servant.”
Until that day, remain teachable.
The moment I decide I have nothing left to learn is the moment I quit being a disciple of Jesus.
How do I remain teachable?
Commit to Growth
You do this by studying the Word of God. Not just on Sundays. But everyday. Every week. We have access to the Word of God like never before and yet many Christians do not know it.
I am not saying be a Bible Scholar. It’s not about that. It’s not about having all the knowledge in the World, in fact you can know the Scriptures forward and backward and still not know God.
Did you know that there are actual health benefits from reading the Word of God?
According to the American Bible Society’s State of the Bible Report, regular readers of the Word of God, at least 4 times a week, experience the following.
Graph
The more you engage with the Word of God, the more like Jesus you become.
There is something about knowing and learning the Word of God!
Another way to remain teachable.
Practice Humility
You don’t always have to be right. Admit when you are wrong and course correct.
When you remain humble, you are able to recieve a greater grace for yourself and for others.
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Ask Questions
A good student always asks questions. There are no stupid questions. If another follower of Christ makes you feel stupid for asking a question…maybe find someone else who is less prideful.
If you are the one being asked a question and you don’t know the answer…don’t make up one. Be humble enough to say “I don’t know…but I will find out” or say “I don’t know…let’s find out together.”
Own Your Mistakes
One of the best ways to make sure that your spirit remains teachable is to own your mistakes.
Somewhere in church history church leaders and congregants thought it was a bad thing to own up to their mistakes. Now the church world thinks its better to sweep things under the rug.
This is how documentaries on Netflix are made. Church, don’t become a Netflix documentary.
Own your mistakes. In fact the bible says:
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
I would rather follow someone who admits when they are wrong than someone who thinks they never are.
Committing to growth, practicing humility, asking questions, and owning your mistakes will help you greatly to remain teachable. And in the end, will leave you more encouraged than discouraged.
Closing
Closing
I want to close out by bringing back that warning light.
The warning light is light that tells us something is wrong. The car still functions, but not the way it is designed.
Is the warning light on in your life today? If it is, you are faced with two choices.
You can cover it with tape…or you can find out what needs attention.
Spiritually, sometimes we cover the warning lights.
“That's just how I am.”
“That's how my family is.”
“I'm not changing.”
“They need to change.”
But disciples say:
“Jesus, search me.”
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
When my check engine light came on whether in my van or my car, I have this great little device that Rey gave me. It plugs into the computer of the car and runs a diagnosis and tells me what is wrong. More importantly, it shows me how to fix it.
Spiritually speaking, we can run a diag on our hearts by asking these three questions.
3 Questions
Maybe following Jesus has been difficult lately.
Don't quit.
Maybe someone disappointed you.
Don't let them harden your heart.
Maybe somebody criticized you.
Don't allow their opinion to determine your calling.
Maybe God has been correcting something in you.
Don't run from His correction.
Maybe this season doesn't look anything like you expected.
Keep following.
Because Jesus never said:
“Follow Me when it's easy.”
He said:
“Take up your cross DAILY and follow Me.”
And every difficult season doesn't mean you're doing discipleship wrong.
Sometimes the difficulty is part of the discipleship.
Sometimes the difficulty is part of the discipleship.
God is forming something in you.
He's teaching you to forgive.
Teaching you endurance.
Teaching you humility.
Teaching you dependence.
Teaching you grace.
Teaching you how to hear His voice.
Teaching you how to keep walking when your feelings aren't cooperating.
God isn't only concerned about where you're going. He's concerned about who you're becoming on the way there.
Stand with me today.
Put your hand over your heart:
“Lord, keep my heart tender.”
Touch your arm:
“Lord, give me thick skin.”
Point toward your head:
“Lord, keep my spirit teachable.”
Let’s Pray:
“Jesus, I want to follow You for the rest of my life. When I'm hurt, keep my heart tender. When I'm criticized or offended, give me thick skin. When I'm wrong, give me a teachable spirit. Use everything I walk through to make me more like You.”
