Discipleship Process: Connect Together

Introduction

My favorite earthly possession is my truck, and there’s really not a close second. And, it’s quite an obnoxious truck, too. Straight, turbo-back exhaust with no muffler on a 6.7 liter diesel has that effect. And, Sara, my youngest, really digs it, which fires me up. She loves to hear it loud, and she loves when I punch the gas. Sometimes, she’ll say, “Drive fast, daddy!” And, I mean, what can a man really do in that situation? If we’re in the driveway or a parking lot and she says it, a lot times I’ll put my truck in neutral and rev the engine so that she can hear it, and so that Megan will be thoroughly embarrassed. And, when I do that, you can hear the power; you can know the power is there; you can even be impressed by the power; but, you don’t get to actually experience it.

For a lot of people, the Christian life has been like revving your engine in neutral. You’ve burned a lot of gas, you’ve heard a lot of stories, you’ve learned a lot of things, but you’ve never experienced this power for yourself. You’re just in neutral. You look back over the last year, five years, even 10 years, and you are, by and large, in the same place in your walk with God now as you were then. You may have even rolled back a little bit. You set out to follow Christ, but it feels like you’re sitting still or maybe that you’re stuck in first gear.

For a lot of people, the Christian life has been like revving your engine in neutral. You’ve burned a lot of gas, you’ve heard a lot of stories, you’ve learned a lot of things, but you’ve never experienced this power for yourself. You’re just in neutral. You look back over the last year, five years, even ten years, and you are, by and large, in the same place in your walk with God now as you were then. You may have even rolled back a little bit. You set out to follow Christ, but it feels like you’re sitting still or maybe that you’re stuck in first gear. What we find when we study the NT is that disciples are to be constantly maturing and growing in their faith. Whatever rung of the ladder they are on, whatever step they have taken, whatever gear they are in, there is always another one for them take. Their faith is fluid and dynamic, growing and increasing and maturing. We aren’t to just hear of God’s power and learn about God’s power. We are to be transformed experientially by his power. Over the next three weeks, we’re going to look at what that process can look like in our church. We’re going to look at our discipleship process and how we want to partner with you to shift to the next gear in your walk with the Lord. Wherever you are is okay so long as you don’t stay there. This process is: Connect. Disciple. Go. We’re going to start by looking at the first gear, the first step of Connect.

God’s Word

Read

You Believe If You Do

v. 19, 21-24 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus....since we have a great priest over the house of God....let us draw near…hold fast…stir up one another...” Where we jump into Hebrews this morning, it is a turning place in the book. Up until this point, Hebrews has shared some of the richest redemptive theology found anywhere in the NT, and now, it is the author’s desire for us to see how that impacts us in every day life. He’s shifting gears from big picture teaching to every day living, from believing to doing. What you believe must affect what you do, or you do not really believe it. If it doesn’t change you, you don’t really love it. If you don’t understand how it applies to your every day life, you don’t really understand it. So, you’ll see this is exactly how our passage flows. There are two ‘since’s’ followed by three ‘let us’s’. Since we have been given access to God through Christ, since we have a great priest mediating for us, we must now come ever closer to God, hold ever faster to our assurance, and help our brothers and sisters in the faith do the same. In other words, our new Christ-wrought reconciliation with God must produce these realities in our lives, or we don’t really believe it and love it in a way that disciples are called. What you believe must affect what you do, or you don’t really believe it. This morning, I want us to really focus on the last one of these three results of our new access to God. In verses 24-25, I want us to see three responsibilities of our life together (headline) as Christ’s disciples.

“Inspire” One Another.

v. 24 “And let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works...” First, we are responsible to “Inspire” one another. It’s really amazing how carefully worded verse 24 is. You’ll notice that the author has been building here this idea of togetherness and corporate solidarity ever since verse 19. ‘WE have confidence in Christ.’ ‘WE have a great priest in Jesus.’ ‘Let US draw near to God.’ ‘Let US hold fast to the confession.’ ‘Let US consider how to stir one another up.’ We see that there is a corporate, collective nature to what has happened to us in God. WE have been saved to together. we weren’t saved into a vacuum or on a desert island or as a lone ranger. We are a part of a broader saving work that God is accomplishing through his Son. Not only are we saved together, but now WE are to follow Christ together. We are brought into the Kingdom of God spiritually through Christ and that is experienced practically through the church. We are “saved” together that we might be “connected” together to “follow Christ” together. That is, God built us not only with a need for him but also with a need for each other. What is apparent by reading is that the Christian life cannot be properly lived in obedience to the Lord apart from serious connection into the life of the church.

He tells us that we are to ‘stir one another up to love and good works.’ It’s really a funny way to say it. ‘Stir up’ usually means something negative. The KJV even translates it as ‘provoke’ one another. The idea is to live in such a way with one another that you agitate the passion your brothers and sisters have for Christ. There’s two different ways that you can stir up an anthill. One, you can run over with your lawn mower and cut it in two. Ants go crazy. They’re stirred up, incited, agitated. Or, you can drop a piece of red velvet case right in the middle of it, and they’ll go nuts. The lawn mower stirs them up to anger and division, but the red velvet cake stirs them up to pleasure and passion and fruitful work. The trouble with the church has long been that there were too many stirring up anger and division and not enough stirring up passion and pleasure and fruitful work.

Glorify Jesus and Inspire Others

There’s a two-fold motive behind everything we do: “glorify Jesus” and “inspire each other”. You’ll notice that he says, “CONSIDER how to stir one another.’ It’s the same word that Jesus used last week in when He said, “Consider the ravens....Consider the lilies...” It’s a call to meditate, to contemplate, to think deeply. Think about how wonderful this would be. Meditate upon how you can make one another’s lives better and faith hotter. Spend time thinking through how you can increase the joy of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Meditate upon how you can inspire them to love better. Think through how you can increase their passion for Jesus. Think through how you can inspire them to love their neighbor as themselves. Meditate upon how you can inspire them to be doers of the word. Meditate upon how you can inspire them toward the mission field and toward discipleship and toward feeding hungry people and adopting orphaned children. Don’t spend your time gossiping or criticizing or guilting or neglecting; spend your time inspiring faithfulness among the people of God. Be so hungry for God that you make others hungry. Be so passionate for Christ that you provoke the passion in others. Be so faithful in your obedience to the Scriptures that you inspire greater obedience in your church.

APPLICATION: The disciple of Christ is responsible to both glorify Jesus and inspire others, and by inspiring others they bring more glory to Jesus. You need the church, and the church needs you. This is how Jesus designed it. Each one of us has been equipped by him so that we can inspire others toward greater passion as a catalyst of faith in their lives. Just think of how different all of our spiritual gifts are, and they are, not only for the purpose of personal worship, but of corporate inspiration. Those with the gift of generosity inspire others to be more generous. Those gifted to teach inspire others to delight more in the scriptures. The hospitable inspire others to be more welcoming and intentional. All of the spiritual gifts take place within the life of the church that you might glorify Christ and inspire faith. Would you let yourself think about how God might use you to inspire his church? Spur on the church by your faithfulness!

“Commit” to One Another.

v. 25 “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some” Next, we are instructed to “Commit” to one another. We might see the first instruction of inspiring or stirring up one anther as the “what” and the next two instructions regarding commitment and encouragement as the “how’s”. We are supposed to inspire one another to go deeper with Christ and to finish the race and to persevere in the faith by committing to one another and encouraging one another. He tells us to commit to each other, to be faithful to each other by telling us not to fall into neglect. Neglect isn’t usually “purposeful”, but it is “natural”. That’s why refers to it as a habit. You never fall into good habits, do you? You fall into bad habits. Bad habits are the ones that come naturally to us. And, this is the case with our commitment and faithfulness in the church. Thom Rainer says that, according to his research, the typical church member that considers themselves faithful attends church on average twice per month. That means they are in worship 25-26 times per year. This means that we have to reach two in order to count one. We have to say everything twice so that it can be heard once. But perhaps, the most destructive result of our low attendance is that our relationship with the church is shallow at best and superficial at worst. For most, it’s not just that they are only in worship 25-26 times per year but that they are only with their church family 25-26 times per year. We are not being inspired forward in our faith. We are not having passion for Christ and for his Kingdom stirred. And so, as with any habit, the less you are with the church the easier it becomes to be absent from the church. Unintentionally, the church becomes out of sight and out of mind, and increasingly so, what you already know is that your passion for Christ cools as your commitment to the church cools. Christ’s design is so that our commitment to him will lead to a commitment to his church, and our commitment to his church will lead to a greater commitment in our walk with him. But, when this design is interrupted, our hearts have a remarkable capacity to harden to the things of God and to cool in our passion for Christ. It’s telling that this is already the habit of some so early in the history of the church. And, what was true then is true today.

Don’t Just Meet. Connect.

There are a hundred different reasons that we can give for our lack of commitment to one another, but they all boil down to two. The two reasons for our lack of commitment to one another are “pride” and “love”. Church is expendable in an overloaded calendar only when I believe that I am strong enough to make it okay without it — a problem of pride. Church is optional among other opportunities only when I don’t enjoy the church as much as I enjoy golf or NFL pregame or sleeping late or shopping — a problem of love. What is needed to avoid the destructive habit of neglecting our time together is a healthy one. We may fall into neglect naturally, even accidentally, but commitment and faithfulness require “intentionality”. To love one another requires a decisive, intentional commitment. ‘Meet’ in our text means far more than ‘attend.’ In mind here is far more than standing beside someone in during a service an hour each week. That’s certainly part of it. It’s not less than worshiping together and taking the Lord’s Supper together and hearing God’s word preached together. But, it is more. It’s the opportunity to express hospitality and to experience friendship. It’s sharing meals together and laughing together and confessing sin to one another. It’s using your spiritual gifts together and helping others together. It’s meeting in personal ways in which you can love one another well. There’s very little that you can do to inspire one another and stir up one another by only standing next to one another. You have to get to know each other. The anonymous crowd constituting the church is a modern invention. The church isn’t a crowd that assembles as much as it is a family that unites.

Connecting is the Starting Line

APPLICATION: Small groups are more in mind here than large worship gatherings. Small groups are where relationships are forged and sin is confessed and encouragement is given. Small groups are where we wrestle, openly with the word of God and how to live it out together. Small groups are how we make friends out of this large family. It’s where we develop relationships that we can trust and depend upon. The only way to know the joy of a true church family is to connect into the life of the family. And, we don’t connect with crowds. We connect with people. When we can connect with people who struggle like we struggle and have marriages like we have and are figuring out parenting and grand-parenting like we are, it’s powerful. Connecting into the life of the church is the “starting line” for Biblical Christianity. Biblical Christianity is a personal faith demonstrated in the life of community. That’s why, in our discipleship process, small groups are really the starting line. It’s because they’re the connection point. This is first gear. This is your climbing gear. Thom Rainer says that research suggests that Christians in a small group are five times more likely to still be in the church five years later. It’s because they develop a support system and friendships. People know if they’re missing, and people minister to them their friendships. They’re inspired forward in their faith. What’s important to me is that Iron City is not just a crowd you visit, but family that you can count on. Connection groups are your opportunity connect with people in the same life stage as you. Community groups are an opportunity for you to be in an intergenerational group. Here’s what I would ask: Would you give our Connection Groups six weeks? If you’re a part of one already, would you renew your commitment to your group so that your group can help new people connect?

“Encourage” One Another.

v. 25 “encouraging one another” Lastly, we’re instructed to “Encourage” one another. I love how this lands. He says that we’re to work at encouraging one another. That is, we are to take “responsibility” for one another’s “joy”. It’s my responsibility as your pastor to labor and study and pray and serve you for the purpose of increasing your joy in Christ. It’s your responsibility to one another to be faithful and to serve and give and to love for the purpose of increasing one another’s joy. Encouragement doesn’t come through fake smiles and forced laughs. Encouragement comes from authentic love expressed over an extended time. Encouragement comes when I trust someone enough to be vulnerable with them. Encouragement comes when I know I can confess sin without condemnation and receive care without feeling burdensome. Christian fellowship should be a joyful experience. Guilt won’t do. Obligation won’t do. This is about joy. And, what you’ll find is that taking seriously the joy of your brothers and sisters will increase your joy.

Beyond Friendly to Loving

APPLICATION: If we’re going to become the encouragers that God has called for us to be, we must transform the culture of our groups. Our groups must move beyond “friendly” to “loving”. To be loving, we must embrace the inconvenience of really getting to know others, and we must embrace the vulnerability of letting them really get to know us. If our groups are just another program, they are powerless. But, if they are a place, where real people are struggling with real issues of faith and asking real questions over a long period of time, we’ll see God raise up pastors and missionaries, and we’ll see marriages find the help they need, and we’ll see lonely people befriended. If you will vulnerable enough to talk about your struggles and your doubts and your sin, you will provoke and inspire your brother and sisters to greater passion. What we need to transform our church are some leaders willing to be truly known and willing to put in the work to truly know others. What we need is a commitment from one another to one another to make meaningful connections for the purpose of encouragement.

Church Membership is an Act of Faith

APPLICATION: Church “membership” is an act of “faith”. It’s faith that Jesus will use the means He’s promised to increase our joy and sustain our faith through all of the suffering and hardship and apathy and chaos that we face. It’s an act of faith that my vulnerability will lead to my joy. Christian, you will never know the full joy of the Christian life stuck in neutral, and, Christian, you will never get out of neutral until you connect into the life of the church. You will hear about life change and about the power of God and about the fullness of the Spirit. You will hear about what God is doing around the world and about how people are leading other people to faith. But, you will never experience it for yourself. In neutral, your faith will grow stale. It will grow cold. That’s why real community is the starting line. By committing to meet with other believers on a consistent basis, we’re inviting others to inspire us forward. We’re inviting others to encourage us. And, we’re committing ourselves to be the same for them. We’re putting our faith in gear so that it begins a cycle of joy that increases my passion and your passion, and ultimately, increases the glory that Christ receives. Here’s what I would ask. Right now, if you’re not locked into a Connection Group, would you be willing to pull out the ‘Tell Me More’ card (direct them to cards) and just mark that. It’s okay if you’re already on a role or you’re not sure. We want to help you make a meaningful connection to help put your faith in gear.