Discipleship - Value#2

Good Morning & Welcome to New Hope

We love the opportunities we have to gather together as the body of Christ - the family of God. Thanks so much for investing your Sunday morning with us. If this happens to be your first Sunday, or one of your first few Sundays, a special thanks to you. It’s never easy to come to a strange place, with strange people, not knowing if you are going to have a strange experience. We hope your time is meaningful this morning and you have an opportunity to connect with God.

We’re a couple weeks in to a new series in this new year. And if you missed either of the first two messages, let me catch everyone up.

2 weeks ago we shared that the mission God has for us to be a church of disciples who make disciples -

Last week we said that if our mission is to be disciples who make them, how do we go about that? What are our core values? What is the DNA of our church?

We may not have it all figured out, but it is my great desire that we become a church who has relationships at its foundation. We must do relationships well. We must learn/grow in loving each other. If we desire to share God’s love with a world that may not know Him, people must like us. They will not listen to us if they do not like us.

This morning we turn the page and talk about our second value. Like the first, I believe that at the core of everything we do around this place and outside the walls of this place, we need to be about this value - every event, every ministry, every class, every group.

This second value is something that we want New Hope to be known for. We want it to be one of those things that defines this church. When you’re out with friends and they ask, what’s your church about? We want you to say - RELATIONSHIPS… & DISCIPLESHIP. But more than say it, I want you to know it / experience it yourself / be on a discipleship journey yourself / & be a part of discipling others.

So let me ask you

So let’s get into today’s message with a question - what’s the last significant purchase you’ve made?

“Man, what does that cost?” We are always assessing value. Value is simply the benefit we receive in exchange for its cost. So we’re always wanting to know is the benefit worth the cost?

Well…This question isn’t a new one. It was even asked back in Jesus’ day. In fact, Luke records the conversation

Man, isn’t that a person you want to attach yourself to?

I’m going to be in on the ground floor!

I’m going to be one of the first!

This is going to work out good for me!

All those times of THE MAN sticking it to me - my day is coming!

(NLT)

25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,

26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.

27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem and the crowds were following him. He knew he was on his way to the cross, but the crowds believed he was on his way to building an empire. Man, isn’t that a person you want to attach yourself to?

I’m going to be in on the ground floor!

I’m going to be one of the first!

This is going to work out good for me!

All those times of THE MAN sticking it to me - my day is coming!

And you can hear the brakes locking up! What did he just say? Hate mom & dad? Hate your wife? Kids…maybe!

You have to understand a little about the language of the middle east & the Jewish culture to know what’s happening here. Very quickly we could start knocking holes in this - love one another, love enemies, honor parents. But Jesus doesn’t literally mean to hate those nearest & dearest. He means that no love in life should compare to our love for him.

You must hate, even your own life.

(NLT)

28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?

29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.

30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

Builder of the tower is free to build or not

32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.

33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

The 2 parables are similar but make different points...

Builder of the tower is free to build or not

I believe Jesus is saying, “Can you afford to follow me?”

31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him?

32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.

33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

The king is being invaded. He must do something.

He must do something.

I believe Jesus is saying, “Can you afford to refuse me?”

Jesus is not discouraging discipleship - that’s what he’s calling us to - but he is warning us against thoughtless, ill-considered, half-hearted, insincere, flippant - I want to be a Christian but not be a disciple - type of attitude.

Jesus warns against half-hearted, ill-considered,

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