01-13-2019 - Together

01-13-2019 - Together

Disciples make sure they are following Jesus and following others ahead of them following Jesus.

Disciples make sure they are following Jesus and following others ahead of them following Jesus.

They lead by following

And they don't do this individually, they follow Jesus together.

This is more than just "it takes a village", although that is true.

There is something deeply rooted in Who Good is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that makes it incredibly arrogant to think that we can hold the power of God in ourselves when God shares it within three persons in one.

It is not a question of the size of the vessel, it is understanding what it is holding.

Grace is not like flour or water that you can put into a container.

It is like electricity.

It only works as it is moving between different objects.

Love only exists when it is shared, and this whole discipleship thing is fueled by God's love working through us.

Ephesians 3:14–19 NLT

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

This is a prayer.

There are not many in the New Testament, so if we were really good students of scripture we might try to memorize this like we memorize . The difference between this prayer and though, is that this one is not meant to be poetry the way David wrote his prayers. Paul wrote his, didn't sing them.

In this prayer, Paul charts a path for our whole lives.

Infants in Christ

It does not begin with love, but with strength.

We may like to imagine that our lives will turn around and we can be faithful servants of God right after we ask Him to save us.

The reality is, we are born again, but we are just babies in the faith

The first thing we need from God is strength to make it through the day.

Children

Christ makes His home in our hearts as we learn to trust Him

You can tell how well Christ has made home in your heart by how well you make your home with the family of faith we call church

It doesn't always mean joining the church officially, but it means being part of it.

Best way you can do that is to just claim it and start inviting others in

Libby has not officially joined the church but she has claimed this as her church and been telling others about it since she was 1 maybe 2 years old at the most. She finds ways to serve... she's no longer a baby in the faith, she is a child, trusting Jesus and letting him make a home in her heart.

Young adults/servants in the Faith

There is no abrupt transition from child to servant either... You make a decision at some point between your time listening to God and trying finding ways to share God's love to decide how you will commit to serve Him. You get to this place by delving deep into God's love for strength (just like babes need... we never outgrow our need for strength from God) and also understanding.

We don't settle for shallow preaching or teaching. Even Paul admits here that we are always able to grow deeper in our love and our understanding of God.

That is how we are made perfect. That is how we are made complete.

We "grow up" in the faith and become spiritual parents when we start making other disciples.

While this sounds like just another stage in life, it really is not.

Listen to how Paul ends this prayer:

Ephesians 3:20–21 NLT

20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

The glory goes to God for his accomplishments, not to us for ours.

Yes we have to decide to participate, but the fruit of our labor... which is the disciples we make, is dependent upon God.

We grownups, know how to make children, and have known this for thousands of years.

Yet, to this day, despite all of our scientific knowledge, some people cannot seem to have children and others get surprised even when they aren't trying.

On top of that, we really cannot control how our children are born or how they will turn out.

Making disciples, just like having our own children, is a lot of following God, trusting where He leads, receiving the strength, love, and people He leads us to, and allowing God to love them through us.

You cannot expect to do that well on your own either.

We don't each make our individual disciples remember... it takes a village, or perhaps a church.

We share our disciples with those around us so they can learn from everyone else too.

Paul, who could have called himself the Master Teacher, instead calls himself a prisoner

Ephesians 4:1–6 NLT

1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.

So long as you remain:

Humble and gentle

Patient

Forgiving

(This list sounds eerily familiar to the list he gave the Colossians doesn't it?)

We are to keep united

By binding ourselves in peace - we each restrain ourselves, not the others around us

We are called to be many in one, just as God is three in one.

We make disciples together because God makes disciples as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

When we try to do any of this by ourselves, we are chasing spirituality, but not Christian faith, and that kind of solo spirituality is a dead end road

Call

This is Paul's prayer for us.

How do you pray?

Do you just ask for strength to make it through the day?

Are you praying with others... finding yourself more at home in the church and allowing Jesus more into your home?

Are you praying on behalf of others? Do you notice God working through you and transforming your life as He transforms the people around you?

Have you found the one or two people God has brought you to disciple?