Discipleship Sunday 2018

Intro

Opening Story/Illustration:

Last words are important. There’s a saying, “Famous last words.” Here are some famous last words:

Text Background:

The last words of Jesus to his disciples are important. His last words set out what I believe to be the mission of the Church.

Text:

Matthew 28:16–20 NLT

16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Bridge to Points:

Jesus here lays out the mission of the Church - Go and make disciples.

That begs a few questions

What is a disciple?

How does one make a disciple?

What is the goal of discipleship?

Points

What is a disciple?

How does one make a disciples?

Discipleship is to be Educational

Discipleship is to be Relational

Discipleship is to be Educational

Jesus says here, “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.”

There’s a teaching element to discipleship

We need to learn what it means to follows Jesus

We need to learn what what the Bible says and how to live it out.

This is Jesus’ Model - He spends 3 years with 12 guys teaching them.

We cannot accomplish this on our own. There are 3 things we need in order to effectively grow in our faith:

There are 3 things we need in order to effectivly grow in our faith

We need the Word of God

We need the Church

We need the Holy Spirit

When we only let one of those come into play, we grow in a way that can become imbalanced and unhealthy!

Illustration:

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

God has given the Church Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers that we might grow up into the people God wants us to be.

The Holy Spirit works through the Church and the Scriptures in order to educate us and help us grow into the men and women that God desires us to be.

This growth doesn’t just take place on Sunday mornings in this service. If you’re missing out on a Sunday School class you’re missing out on a vital part of your growth as a believer.

Sunday school classes provide opportunity for you to dive deeper into God’s word.

They provide a smaller context for you to ask questions and time for you to dig for the answers.

You might say well, I’ve been going to Church all my life, I’m pretty educated in this thing. GREAT! Then see me after service, we need you to teach! If you don’t want to teach, we need you in a class so you can sit beside others and help them learn!

If you think you’re mature enough that you’ve got it all figured out, then I expect that you’re also mature enough to realize It’s not about you! If you think that it is, perhaps you’re not as mature as you think.

Discipleship is to be Relational

You cannot be effectively discipled if you’re simply attending Sunday morning services and listening to the pastor preach.

Effective discipleship means life-on-life contact with others.

This happens best, not in a crowd, but in a smaller group.

Sociologists tell us that you can only really get to know about…(How many people?)

Coming on Sunday mornings and being with the crowd is great - But if you really want to grow in your faith, you need a small group of people where you can ask questions together, share your struggles together, work through your doubts together, pray together, eat together, and grow in Jesus together.

This was the model Jesus used - He picked 12 men and he spent 3 years with them. His discipleship model was relational.

He didn’t simply set them down and teach them

He did life with them

They watched his example in the real world.

It was relational!

What’s the goal of discipleship?

To be like Jesus!

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Paul lays out the goal here in Ephesians: That you and I would reach a point of maturity!

No longer tossed back and forth by the waves of life and doctrine

Learning to speak the truth in love

Growing up into Christ

Conclusion