The "Secret" of Discipleship

The New International Version Chapter 5

The Prayer of Faith

13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

The beauty of the Lectio Divina that we just walked through is it doesn't matter who you are, there is something that you can get out of a section of verses like this. So if you have been looking for a way to revitalize you devotional life, please stop by the merchandise table in the foyer and pick one up for $12.00.

When looking into this verse there where three ideas that popped off the page in James and I am titling the message, The “Secret” of Discipleship. For most of my walk in Christ I thought of a disciple and therefore the process of discipleship was only reserved for the elite. Those that where considered the closest to Christ. Because in the bible you hear about the disciples being these men who wrote letters that have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. That walked along side Jesus and then they died awful deaths for Christ … it really puts me being afraid of spiders into perspective.

But what a disciple is, is so much more simple then that. Its someone who submits to the discipline of a leader. and for us, that leader is hopefully obvious. It means it doesn't matter if you have the title of Pastor or assistant to the porta potty cleaner, If you are purposefully committing yourself to what Jesus taught, you are a disciple of Jesus.

So today, I am hoping to talk through three “secrets” of discipleship, then we will have a chance to put those disciplines to the test tonight.

The first secret to being a disciple of Christ is People

James starts verse 13 with

The New International Version Chapter 5

13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.

This verse implies something pretty profound. That there are people among you… anyone among you. The word among here takes the word form a passive passer beyer and takes that person to being inside or a part of what you are doing. It is saying that if the people you are connected with are going through problems or troubles, let them pray. That doesn’t mean when they share their problems with you, that you give them advice, it means that you start by letting them share and then reminding them to pray.

And then in Verse 16 James makes sure you don’t miss it.

The New International Version Chapter 5

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other

Be in relationships!

As a lot of you know, I’m in a healing journey from sexual addiction. God has moved in my wife and my life in a such a unique way and men come up to me all the time and ask what it is that is the secret to my healing walk. And the answer is very simple. That I have 7 guys that are IN my life, that are a part of what I am doing. So when I start to make dumb decisions they are able to look at me in my eyes and say, “Ryan, that isn’t healthy, lets walk a different way.” OR “Lets pray about that.”

I am a very firm believer that people is where discipleship begins. So if you aren’t a part of a life group or a small group or a bible study. If your walk with Christ mainly has to do with church services, then you probably need to purposefully cultivate some relationships in your life.

The second secret to becoming a disciple of Jesus is Prayer

The New International Version Chapter 5

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

The New International Version Chapter 5

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

The Message says it this way

The Message Chapter 5

Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.

A common misconception in Christian church thinking is that It’s the pastors job to pray the prayers that change lives. That the Elders do it. That’s why i love what the message paraphrase says, its not the Elders, its the church leaders, and let me tell you all something pretty scary, if you’re a disciple of Christ, you’re a leader here at east hill.

One of the unique parts of my role here as the creative director at east hill is I am responsible to make sure that the people who come onto stage to do the announcements do them right. We rehearse with them and help them format their script. And of all of the things we ask them to share the only thing that I ever see push back on, is praying for tithes and offerings. It’s super intimidating for our leaders to pray in front of people. And do you want to know why? Because often time, we dont practice as church leaders the idea of praying out loud.

I know I’m going to get some push back here, but let me ask you a question, when a friend tells you something that is going on in their lives, how often do you stop in that moment and pray for them? And lets compare that to how often when we hear that problem we respond with, I will be praying for you. I believe we have a culture that says I will, which is in opposition to a Christ who says I am.

So the first way to be a disciple is People, being in relationships. Second is prayer. Once you’re in that relationship, start asking the question of how it is that you Are praying for them.

The third secret to becoming a disciple of Jesus is Praise

I dont know if you’ve noticed, but in the last few months, God has been moving in an incredible way here at east hill. We’ve seen God heal people. People have come to church, risen their hands because of an illness or infirmity, and God has healed them on the spot here. In those seats you’re sitting in. God has healed people. He’s done everything from making a back straight, to curing a headache. Our God has done that. He’s brought peace to those who are burdened. He’s brought words to those who need direction. He’s spoken love to those who haven’t heard love in years. He’s seen the deepest need and met it. He’s brought addictions to an end, he’s spoken peace to fears. Right where you are at.

The New International Version Chapter 5

Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.

The reason we give praise and are happy is because our God is a God who heals, brings wholeness to relationships and peace to storms. Our culture says, keep it to yourself. Christ says bring it to the alter and then celebrate what the father is doing with it.

Tonight, I’m very excited because tonight we are going to take time, to walk in these 3 steps of discipleship.