How does Someone Grow as A Disciple?

We are continuing into week 3 of our series that we’ve called, “The Way” where we are learning to view purposeful discipleship as a lifestyle…

It’s not just one of the “family values” on our website… it is the way of life for believers in Jesus Christ.

And we’ve set out for this goal: every person taking their next step in the way of a disciple together.

Now if we are going to do that… if every person is going to "take their next step in the way of a disciple,” then need to have a common understanding for THIS question:

What is a disciple?

Does anyone remember the definition for a disciple?

A disciple is someone who is growing in their dependence on and devotion to Jesus.

We want to memorize that definition because if we are called to be disciples who make disciples, we need to know what a disciple is.

A disciple is someone who is growing in their dependence on and devotion to Jesus. [repeat]

We’re going to talk more about that GROWING part today…

But before we got to that, we needed to ask, “How does someone become a disciple?”… that’s what we explored last week.

And we looked at the conversion of the believers in Thessalonica in Thessalonians 1 to see that “someone becomes a disciple when GOD reveals the gospel and they respond in repentance.”

We saw that God always uses four key instruments in revealing the gospel: his word, his empowered people, his Holy Spirit, and his conviction.

[Show the Discipleship (path)WAY diagram] And while the individual stories may change, every person who has ever become a disciple has followed a similar pathway: they been ENGAGED by God in one of these four ways...

And then the gospel is made more clear through ALL of these four ways (they are fully EVANGELIZED)...

And they come to the point of conviction… but then they need to respond… the question is will they REPENT???

Will they change their mind about God in such a way that changes their understanding of themselves?

Will they turn from being dependent on and devoted to their idols and instead be dependent on and devoted to Jesus?

If you have never genuinely repented and acknowledged Jesus as the only Savior and Lord, you cannot take the next steps that we are going to talk about today.

There is no growing as a disciple if you are not a disciple.

Now, that doesn’t mean you should check out… this is an opportunity to count the cost and understand what following Jesus PRACTICALLY looks like...

And you are going to see that it is the path of true life.

And so I would urge you to repent… to turn from your idols and worship the living God!

To find the purpose for which you were created!

And if you HAVE done that, we need to ask this question that we will explore today:

Today: How does someone grow as a disciple?

Now, before this week started, I intended to preach a different passage… it was in your reading plan as a different passage… and it’s a passage that is really foundational to our understanding of the way… so I just want to mention it briefly because it actually sets up the context for what we are studying today. It’s the key verse for the book of Colossians.

That passage was Col. 2:6-8 (look at that really quick just a few paragraphs earlier in your Bibles…

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him...

So how did we say we received Christ Jesus the Lord in our study last week?

God reveals the gospel and we respond in repentance.

So then, how should we walk in him?

Well, as God reveals the gospel, we must continue to respond in repentance.

Martin Luther said in the first of his 95 Theses, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

And so we can expect, based on Col. 2:6 that God will continue to reveal the depths of the gospel through his word and his empowered people and the Holy Spirit and FULL conviction… and we will need to keep on responding in repentance.

Our conversion is not the FINISH LINE of repentance… it’s the STARTING LINE of a life of repentace.

Because, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed… but you don’t stop being tempted to sin after you come to Jesus.

And you don’t even stop ACTING in sin...

In fact, you sometimes see your sin even greater… and you see your need for Jesus MORE...

And so as that happens, how do we actually GROW in our walk with Christ?

Paul calls that process being “established in the faith” in Col. 2:7.

It’s applying your faith in the gospel to every part of your life.

On our (path)Way, we see three types of individuals who might be in this phase of discipleship that we are going to call the “equipping phase”...

Those who are new believers… They are rooted in the gospel, but need to understand the basics of “the way of a disciple”

Those who are established in the basics and are growing… they are actually applying the way of a disciple in their lives...

And those who are stuck in some area… of their spiritual growth...

They have fallen into a sinful habit… or need to renew their minds and don’t know how… or have a blind spot that is keeping them from growth...

Listen… we all end up there sometimes… the point is that we need to recognize it and seek the way out through biblical community.

So whether you are a new believer, growing believer, or stuck, you are still IN CHRIST… and he is still at work in you... and we want to equip you to take the next step.

So I was going to preach that whole text from Col. 2:6-8 more in depth today… but I really wanted to get more practical… so I went just two chapters later to another passage in our reading plan: Col. 3:1-17.

Today, we are going to see how to walk in Christ… Here’s our big idea answer to our question, “How does someone grow as a disciple?

Big Idea: A disciple grows as they seek their life in Christ, putting off the sin nature and putting on their new nature in Christ in the context of biblical community.

Your Bibles are open to the book of Colossians…

To give you some context, Colossae was a small town on the outskirts of Ephesus… (think the Quarryville to Lancaster)

And most of the Colossian believers had never actually met the Apostle Paul who was writing them this letter...

Their church was planted by a different guy named Epaphras who had been in Ephesus when Paul planted that church, and carried the gospel back to his hometown of Colossae and established the church there.

Now, Epaphras had gone to visit Paul in Rome, during the same house arrest period where a DIFFERENT guy named Epaphroditus visited Paul from Philippi...

Epaphras came from Colossae… and he told Paul about some false teaching that was disrupting his church.

I can only imagine how torn up Epaphras was about this… here’s a young church planter watching his church get torn apart by people who cared more about external religious experiences and finding some hidden spiritual knowledge than they cared about Christ.

And so Paul writes this letter for him to take back that basically said this: get your eyes on Jesus as the supreme Savior and Lord.

You WILL NOT GROW as disciples if you are focused on earthly things… on superficial spirituality... and not on heart-level change.

So he lays down all this theology in the first two chapters about how Jesus Christ is the ultimately Lord over all...

And how we need to walk in Christ just as we’ve received him… in repentance and faith.

And that brings us to Col. 3:1-17.

Read Col. 3:1-17

A disciple grows… first of all… as they “seek their life in Christ.” If you want to grow as a disciple, you have to start there.

1) Seek your life in Christ. (v. 1-4)

Paul says, “If then you have been raised with Christ...”

Explain: He’s assuming that the readers have genuinely been converted to Christ...

He’s assuming that God has revealed the gospel and they have responded in repentance.

In chapter 2, he describes that SPIRITUAL transformation in terms of baptism… he says:

“[you have] been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him... (Colossians 2:12–14, ESV)

So there is an internal conversion that must happen to become a disciple (like we talked about last week)… a dying to my old self… my sin nature… and a rising again to the new self in Christ…

It’s the INTERNAL conversion that is represented in external water baptism… someone goes under the water representing their death and burial with Christ…

And they come up out of the water representing their new life in Christ.

That baptism the first step of following Jesus, by the way… so if you have come to follow Jesus and have never been baptized as a believer, that’s your next step… we have a baptism service at the end of this month, talk to me and you can be part of that!

And it’s this spiritual conversion that he’s referring to in chapter 3:1… “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is.”

In other words, live consistently with your spiritual reality.

CHRIST is seated at the right hand of God… HE is Savior and Lord over all… nothing on earth compares… seek your life that is in him.

Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth...

Do you remember that whole conversation with Peter from Mark 8 when Peter tried to rebuke Jesus about the path the Messiah should take...

Jesus said, “Get behind me Satan, [WHY?] FOR you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on man.

Peter needed to repent if he was going to walk as a disciple.

And then what did the Thessalonian believers do? They turned from idols to worship the living God.

The Thessalonian believers needed to repent if they were going to become disciples.

And now what do the Colossian believers need to do? They need to set their mind on things above, not on things that are on the earth.

They needed to repent to grow as disciples.

Your practice and your emotions will follow where you set your mind.

And you must set your mind on what Christ has accomplished: You are dead to the things that are below… your life is hidden in Christ now.

HE is your definition of righteousness… HE is your definition of goodness… HE is your example and your joy and your whole life.

And when HE appears, you are going to appear with him in glory… perfectly reflecting his righteousness as he clothes you in his blood-washed robes of white.

Seek your life in Christ.

BELIEVE that he really is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE… and then live according to his way.

Is your spiritual reality, that THROUGH FAITH you are hidden with Christ in God, the primary reality you live in?

Or do you allow the physical and emotional circumstances of this world to appear larger and takeover?

I would suggest the vast majority of our anxieties and concerns and sinful responses to those concerns stem from viewing life from an earthly perspective rather than a heavenly one.

We get obsessed with looking horizontally and we miss that life is found when we look vertically.

Illustrate: I like to say it this way, “Position drives practice.” (What we believe about our position in Christ, drives our practice in life.)

So, if you are the King or leader of a country… it’s SUPPOSED to (not always, but SUPPOSED TO) determine how you act...

You act in the best interest of the country...

You try to not do things to embarrass the country...

You lead by example in following the laws… these sorts of things.

Position drives practice.

Well, in the same way, our position in Christ must drive our practice in life. [Show Position Drives Practice Diagram]

So, before we come to faith, we are dead in our sins… our sin deserves death… we are flat-lined spiritually even as we go about our day to day lives.

But then we encounter Christ… we die with him… a fatal blow is delivered to our sin nature… and we rise again… we receive a new nature in Christ

And in that moment, the Bible says that we are justified… counted righteous in him.

And as a result, our lives are hidden with Christ in God… when God sees us, he sees the work of Christ on our behalf.

We live… ABOVE. That’s our spiritual reality… ABOVE.

But we quickly realize that this not our PRACTICAL reality… PRACTICALLY I live BELOW.

While my spiritual position is in heaven with Christ, my physical position is still very much on earth.

I’m still an embodied soul with limitations like tiredness and pain that affect my outlook on life...

And while my sin nature has been given a fatal blow and I’m no longer a slave to sin, it’s temptations still lure me.

My habits are trained to think the way I’ve always thought… to do the things I’ve always done… to cope the ways I’ve always coped.

And so what am I to do?

I must let my POSITION drive my PRACTICE.

I must set my mind above, where Christ is and where I am hidden in him.

And that means I SEEK the things of heaven...

The character traits… the desires… the motivations… the activities… the words… the responses… the perspectives...

If it wouldn’t belong in heaven, it doesn’t belong in my life.

Every day… multiple times a day… I must ask, "Is this desire or motivation or activity or response consistent with my position in Christ?"

And then once I discover that, I must put off everything that is NOT consistent with my position in Christ, and put ON the character traits that ARE consistent with Christ.

Discipleship is the pursuit of aligning my practical reality with my spiritual reality.

And that means I must put off the stuff that doesn’t line up.

That’s where Paul goes next… look at v. 5 - Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you… and in v. 8 - you must put it all away… and in v. 9 - “Put off the old self...”

The consistent teaching of the New Testament is that we must...

2) Put off the sin nature.(v. 5-9) [put it to death, put it away]

Paul says, “Put to death THEREFORE what is earthly in you.”

Explain: So there is a sense in which we have died with Christ… we are dead to sin and alive to Christ...

And there is a sense in which that earthly things still remain… the remaining sin of our old nature still lingers.

Thoughts and attitudes and emotions still pop up like a whack-a-mole game at a carnival.

And because our lives are hidden with Christ in God (notice the word THEREFORE in verse 5)… because of our spiritual reality in Christ, we are to put the earthly remnants of our sin nature to death.

So what specific earthly things is he talking about? “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” (Colossians 3:5–6, ESV)

Now I don’t have time to spell out all these lists today (I wish I did), but can I just point out most of this first list is sensual and sexual in nature...

That sexual sin and sensuality is nothing new to our modern society… and it’s not off limits for us to talk about in church…

That God cares deeply about how we express sexuality because he designed it and we have come up with all kinds of ways to ruin it… and God HATES that!

On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

Remember, Jesus is coming again… and when he appears, those who put their faith in in him will appear with him in glory.

But also remember… when Jesus comes, he is coming as judge.

Revelation 19:15 tells us that Jesus will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God against sin...

In other words, he will stomp personally those who unrepentantly practice these things like a grape.

Let me tell you… you do not want ANY PART of God’s judgment against sin...

Jesus describes it as eternal conscious torment that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.

And disciples of Jesus will appear WITH HIM (on HIS side) when he comes to do this…

Because HE bore the wrath of God for us on the cross… and because we have turned to him in repentance… we are not destined for wrath.

And THEREFORE, if we are on the side of Jesus, why would we want ANY part of the sin for which we KNOW the wrath of God is coming...

And why would we want ANY part of the sin for which Jesus DIED in our place to set us free?

That’s Paul’s logic here.

Paul says, “Those things WERE your life before you started following Jesus… now JESUS is your life.

Look at v. 7 - “In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. (Colossians 3:7–9, ESV)

So if the first list seemed like pretty big sins to you… maybe this list will hit home.

Again, I don’t have time to define each one of these… but I’m sure if you thought about your last month, you could see how you were at least TEMPTED to one or more of them,,

I could list a few just from this past WEEK that I fell into and needed to put off.

Just pause a moment and take a quick personal inventory… do you see anything in these two lists that you need to put off?

Go ahead… look down at your copy of God’s word… look at verses 5-9… is there anything there that you need to put off?

Be honest with yourself… and with others about your sin... Paul says, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices”

Don’t try to hide your sin… put it to death.

Our fighter verse for this week to memorize as a family is 1 John 1:8-9… and it says the same thing: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8–9, ESV)

Don’t lie to yourself… Don’t lie to others. Confess your sin as sin. Get it out into the light. And Christ will forgive you and cleanse you through his work on the cross.

The problem is, we do a lot of other things with our sin instead of putting it to death… [Show Diagram 1 - “Phony Growth”]

This is a diagram adapted from the book “The Gospel Centered Life” by Bob Thune ad Will Walker

And it shows how we can sometimes try to manage our sin nature after coming to faith in Christ… we’ll call this “Phony Growth”

We come to saving faith… we die with Christ… we are raised with him… we realize it is ALL of his work on the cross… HE ALONE is Savior and Lord...

But then we come to lists like Col. 3:5-9… and we see our own sinfulness… and we see phrases like, “on account of these things the wrath of God is coming...’

And we forget all about what happened to us in v. 1-4… we forget all about our spiritual reality in Christ… and we go in one of two directions (or both)...

First we see our sinfulness and we pretend...

We hide it… “What sin? I don’t see any sin here!”

We dress it up… it’s not adultery, it’s a fling. It’s not a lie… it’s a little white lie.

We self-justify - “Well at least I didn’t”… or “It’s not as bad as...”

We blame shift - “If they would’t have sinned, I wouldn’t either...”

We wallow… I guess I’ll always be a sinner...

In addition to pretending, as we see the holiness of God, we perform to try to live up to it…

We see God’s holiness and say, “I can do this, I’ll just try harder tomorrow.”

We see God’s holiness and find an accountability partner to confess to…

But in reality, the thing motivating us isn’t the holiness of God… it’s the fear of the other person and not wanting to let them down.

We see God’s holiness and we try to pay off our own sin by doing something good.

We see God’s holiness and we try to write our own version of virtue lists that we think will please him...

Going to church, reading our bibles, not having certain vices...

And in our pretending AND our performing, we shrink the cross.

On account of these things, the wrath of God is coming…we cannot save ourselves from the wrath of God...

Don’t pretend like they don’t exist… You must put them to death…

And so how do we put sin to death? We set our minds on our spiritual reality… on the fact that in our conversion, we BELIEVED that Jesus is the ONLY ONE who can save us from our sin! [Show “Gospel-Centered growth” slide.

This is Gospel-centered… GENUINE growth...

His work ALONE freed us from the power of sin… we don’t have to pretend!

His work ALONE freed us from the wrath of God… we don’t have to perform!

We go deeper and deeper into the truths of the gospel.

We deepen our awareness of God’s holiness… our sinfulness… and Christ’s MIRACULOUS WORK to save us!

It’s when we have a BIG VIEW of the work Christ accomplished on the cross that we will be ready to get our sin into the light where it’s true ugliness will be seen... and where it will shrivel and die.

That’s what deals the death-blow to our sin...

When, in the moment of temptation, we set our minds above and say, “This sin may entice me, but it is SO UGLY compared to what God has for me ABOVE.

My sin will only bring me further from God..

And so I’m turning to the work of Jesus Christ… and I’m counting myself dead to that sin and alive to God.

I’m confessing this sin… to God... to someone else… and I’m putting it to death.

We need to see that sin as nailed to the cross. Our only power for growth is the gospel.

It is through a deepening awareness of the gospel that we put off the old self… because it is through the death of the old that we can put on the new.

Look at verse 9 again:

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:9–11, ESV)

You see, it’s not enough to put off… putting off just leaves you naked… we must also PUT ON!

3) Put on your new nature in Christ (v. 10-14)

Notice what Paul says about the new self: it’s being RENEWED in KNOWLEDGE after the image of its Creator.

All that was damaged because of the Fall is now being restored because of Christ...

Your sin… far from being the EXPRESSION of your true self… actually KEEPS YOU FROM BEING your true self.

Your sin damages the perfect image of God in you… and Christ rose again to restore that image in you.

HE is the perfect human that you and I never were… and because you are IN HIM… you can now live the way that God intended you to live....

In relationship to God… and relationship to others.

You are no longer DEFINED by what is earthly: race, religion, political allegiance or social status… you are now defined ONLY by Christ.

His nature is your nature… he IS ALL and he is IN you if you have come to saving faith in him.

But you must put on this new nature. You must wear it like it is your own.

That happens, Paul says, as we are “renewed in knowledge.”

this is what he’s been saying all along...

As we SEEK the things that are above...

As we SET OUR MINDS on what is above...

As we “renew our minds” in the knowledge of God’s holiness and our sinfulness… we put on the new self… our new nature.

Here’s the character traits that we put on… v. 12:

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved [in other words, based on your spiritual reality and identity in Christ]… “Put on then… compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

These are the characteristics of Christ himself.

Again, I don’t have time to break down every word in this list, but do you think we need a little bit of this in the church right now? Like, when our world can’t figure this out to save their life… and we all fall into the same temptations… do you think we need things maybe like forgiveness and forbearance?

Do you think maybe we need some Divine love to come into our hearts and hold us together when we just want to write others off?

You see, it’s not enough to put off… we also have to put on!

We got a new puppy this week [this is Porter]…

He’s a good boy, but he’s 7 months old and still needs some training..

And we are learning that if we don’t want him to chew on our hands or the carpet or our furniture, we must REPLACE that with what he SHOULD chew on...

Putting off only leaves a void… we must also put on.

It’s not enough to STOP living out of the old nature… we also have to START living out of the new nature.

It’s not enough to STOP being angry at someone and just be like, “Well, when they want to change, I’ll let them I guess.”

The call is to actively FORGIVE… and to treat them with KINDNESS and love!

It’s not enough to STOP living in sexual immorality… the call is to learn to LOVE others as PEOPLE God created in his image, not objects for our own gratification.

It’s not enough to STOP spewing slander about someone.. we must humble ourselves and acknowledge what was TRUE about them instead.

I want you to notice… Paul goes after heart characteristics here… individual change… but the new nature he describes will affect our relationships and responsibilities in every sphere of life.

And in the rest of the book of Colossians, he goes on to describe our relationship and responsibilities in a variety of spheres [show 5 Spheres diagram]… this diagram is a way that we picture this often...

The gospel… the good news that Jesus is Savior and Lord over all… changes every part of our lives...

So he’s already addressed our individual lives...

Next he will address our church relationships...

in v. 18 to the end of chapter 3, he addresses our family relationships...

In the beginning of chapter 4, he addresses our workplace relationships, as well as our responsibility to spread the good news of Jesus to outsiders.

And also in chapter 4, he addresses their own relationship with him and his team as he reaches the WORLD with the gospel.

We see a pattern emerge that we call the didache… or the “teaching”… what is sometimes called “the way of a disciple.”

It’s what we sought to summarize in our church membership statements… it’s all of the things we are growing up into as disciples of Jesus.

That is the CONTENT of discipleship… understanding God’s design for us in Christ in these 5 spheres.... and then bringing our lives into alignment.

The Way of a Disciple is all that we are growing INTO as disciples of Jesus.

Discipleship isn’t JUST about what is in our hearts… it’s about our roles and responsibilities within the spheres God has given us.

What’s going on in here (our heart)… is reflected in our lives through the other four spheres.

Now the primary sphere God has given us to keep check on our hearts is the church. Look at verse 15 -

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:14–17, ESV)

A disciple grows as they seek their life in Christ, putting off the sin nature and putting on their new nature in Christ in the context of biblical community.

4) Grow in the context of biblical community. (v. 15-17)

Explain: We CANNOT grow as a disciple alone.

Every single one of these virtues that Paul has described is relational in nature.

And verses 15-17 show us that the CONTEXT where we PRACTICE these virtues is PRIMARILY within the church.

He’s calling for us to be ONE BODY in Christ because ALL of us are hidden with Christ in God in the heavenly places.

The church is not MERELY a gathering on earth… it is a gathering around the throne of God.

And we must EXPRESS that spiritual reality TOGETHER on earth.

So he calls us to experience his peace as a BODY.

Christ-centered mutual ministry. (v. 15)

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Paul is saying, “Christ tore down the dividing walls of hostility that existed between you… Jew and Gentile… circumcised vs. uncircumcised… Scythian vs. Barbarian… slave vs. free...

He restored you to one another and to God.

Like we read earlier: he himself is our peace.

So now you need to act like one body...

Put aside your differences and pursue your common identity in Christ.

Use your spiritual gifts…

Encourage one another… exhort one another… serve one another… teach one another…

I want you to think about those times in your Gospel Community where you are talking about your sins and areas of temptation and what you need to put off and put on...

And if that’s not what you are talking about during those breakout times in GC, that’s what you need to be growing toward...

And think about how the different people in the group are uniquely designed by God to be in that moment as you share those vulnerable things...

And one brings a word of encouragement in the gospel...

While another pushes the person with gospel motivation toward holiness…

Still another teaches them what the Bible says about it…

While another offers to serve the person and remove some of the barriers to growth.

In that moment, the body is working through spiritual gifts… and the peace of Christ is ruling in that group’s heart… and the result is relational discipleship… mutual ministry.

The focus is no longer on the sin that separates and divides… it’s about elevating the gospel of Christ which brings peace.

Christ centered mutual ministry will involve…

Christ-centered scriptural reflection (v. 16)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” - not just listening to a sermon or class or reading a passage of scripture and moving on…

Letting the seed of the word nestle deep into the soil of your heart...

Chewing and savoring the rich piece of steak...

Letting the teabag steep for a while...

Let it dwell in you richly. HOW?

Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.

Not just one teacher preaching a sermon (which has its place in the life of a church if we read the whole counsel of God)…

but there needs to be a mutual teaching, pressing down those truths into everyday life.

That’s why we discuss the sermons in our GCs… so we are repeating these truths to one another…

Making sure we didn’t miss the point that Pastor Ben was trying to make on Sunday… making sure we didn’t just hear it and move on without doing anything about it!

Sometimes that involves singing: singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16, ESV)

Singing doesn’t just have to happen on Sunday mornings…

I know one of David’s heart desires, and I share it with him… is that we would be comfortable using song to express the truth of God together in a variety of settings.

The elders sang together this weekend at our elder planning day… at first it feels unusual, but those small intimate moments are special.

If we are to grow, we need to slow down and let the WORD DWELL in us richly. And then we need to encourage one another to LIVE OUT what is dwelling in us…

Christ-centered practical application (v. 17a)

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus...

If the way of a disciple extends into every sphere of life, then we need to help one another apply it to every sphere of life.

Nothing is off limits...

Discipleship is pressing the truths of the gospel into every nook and cranny and crevice of our hearts.

And that is so God can receive ultimate praise.

The last element of biblical community we see here is:

Christ-centered praise to God. (v. 17b)

giving thanks to God the Father through him. (through Christ).

Our goal in biblical community is to see how God is working in our lives so that we can give him the credit he is due!

Every time we gather is a time when we can express our thanksgiving to God… because we can SEE god working in every area of life.

That’s why our GCs try to START OUT in this way… Spirit-led, scripture-fed, worship-based prayer…

Let’s get our eyes on GOD FIRST so that we can see how HE is at work!

Christ-Centered Praise… application based on scriptural reflection… mutual ministry as a body… this is how we… Grow in the context of biblical community.

You probably noticed it already, but we have purposed our Gospel Communities to be the primary place for this type of biblical community [show diagram]...

Before you come to follow Jesus, you primarily need the proclamation of the gospel…

We need to get really clear on Jesus.

We do that corporately on Sundays… and God uses the individuals in our church to do that…

But after you come to follow Jesus, you still need proclamation… you still need the word of God preached to you on Sundays… but you also need Gospel Community.

You need to let that word dwell in you richly by reflecting on what was preached.

You need to focus on the application… how are you doing EVERYTHING in the name of Jesus because you have found your life in him?

You need to participate in mutual ministry… using the gifts of the body to point each other to Jesus.

And you need to give thanks to God together… acknowledging the work that he is doing!

God wants to use his church to help you take the next step in the way of a disciple.

So what is the next step you need to take today?

At this point in your walk with Christ, what parts of your sin nature do you need to put off, and what characteristics of the new nature do you need to put on?

Maybe you do not have a relationship with Christ… you haven’t died with him… you aren’t raised with him… he is not your life..

If you want to live he way God created you to live, you need to turn from your sin that is destroying you, and turn to Christ.

Maybe you are new to following Christ and you are just getting established in the faith… and it seems like SO MUCH needs to change.

Don’t be overwhelmed… set your mind above… you are already hidden in Christ. Just take the next step.

Get into biblical community. Learn to confess your sin to others and let them apply the gospel to you afresh.

Maybe you are stuck in your growth… you are dealing with a secret sin… or its a known sin that you can’t seem to break free from...

But you feel like you struggling alone.

Get it out into the light. That’s what biblical community is there for.

Maybe you look at this list and you aren’t perfect, but you are growing!

You are consistently putting off the old self and putting on the new self....

By God’s grace, you are fulfilling your roles and responsibilities in your different spheres of life...

The next step is to help others do the same...

We’ll talk more about what that looks like next week…

But for now, Identify what God wants you to put off and put on...

Identify using the (path)WAY where you are in your walk right now...

Identify how biblical community can HELP you grow.

And then ask God to help you take the next step.