The Best Thing You Can Do

INTRODUCTION:

Well I wan’t originally supposed to preach today but here I am. As I thought about what the Lord would have me to share I was drawn back to this idea that we’re at the beginning of a brand new year.

The first Sunday of a new year is always interesting. So many people have at least the desire to make this year different. This year is going to be better.

I’m finally going to lose that extra belly fat.

I’m finally going to start working out.

I’m finally going to start going to church.

I’m finally going to read the Bible through.

I want to make the outrageous claim that the best thing you can do for your spiritual, emotional and even physical health for 2022 is increase your commitment to and engagement with a healthy local church.

Living in our culture, confronting present day challenges, dealing with all of the things that we have to deal with in 2022 is overwhelming. And it’s not going to get easier.

But Christians have been given a beautiful gift in the local church. And the more we press into God’s design for the local church the better experience we will have of that gift.

God’s Plan A

The local church is God’s PLAN A for accomplishing his redemptive purposes. We see it over and over again in the New Testament. The Lord didn’t create a mission for his church he created a church for his mission.

And not just redemptive purposes “in general.” I mean his purposes in YOU. There’s a direct link your involvement in a healthy local church and God’s plans to bring his best in your life and through your life for the rest of the world.

In some ways, our particular church is no more or less important than any other local church. God chooses to use different churches in different ways and it’s all according to his prerogative.

But the local church is important. And it’s important that you belong to and engage with your local church.

For that reason, I’d like us to spend the first Sunday of the year reminding ourselves how this particular local church understands the mission we’ve been given and how we envision God making disciples in and through Broadview Baptist Church.

THE VISION FRAME:

I’ve actually explained this dynamic before using a thing called “the Vision Frame.”

The frame is built around four key pillars (renamed): purpose, personality, pathway and proofs.

PURPOSE defines the essence of our MISSION/MANDATE. It raises and answers the question, "What are we doing?" (why do we exist?)

PERSONALITY defines the essence of our VALUES. It raises and answers the question "Why do we do it this way?"

PATHWAY defines the essence of our STRATEGY. It raises and answers the question "How will we reach our goal?"

PROOFS define the essence of how we MEASURE our success. It raises and answers the question, "When will we know we've reached our goal?"

These are pillars that EVERY organization or business/individual needs to answer.

There’s an insidious tendency for churches and orgs and even people to fall prey to a thing called “mission drift.”

You’ve probably felt it in your own life. You’re fuzzy on who you are and why you exist and what God has called you to do much less how you’re supposed to do it.

In churches you’ll sometimes have different groups rise up with different agendas on what the church should be and how they should do what the should do.

We don't want that in our church. We want CLARITY. Because if we're clear on who we are then it's more likely we'll experience progress in our mission because we're all moving the same direction according to the same goals.

And progress we must make. We cannot fall to mission drift because the local church has been given the MOST IMPORTANT MISSION IN THE WORLD.

Other organizations do other important things. We need institutions like government and politics so we can navigate how we do life together on this earth.

We need businesses and industries like the food industry and finance industry and clothing industry and the housing market etc. We've got to have all of those thing.

But at the end of the day this world is going to pass away. The things of this world are going to pass away. But people are going to live forever. The Word of God will last forever. That’s why our mission is the most important mission.

Our mission is the most important mission because it was given to us by the most important person who ever live.

It’s the last thing Jesus said to his followers before ascending into heaven. Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18–20 (CSB)

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Some people see church as an optional thing. it's not. The local church is the hope of the world. It's God's PLAN A for accomplishing his redemptive plan in the world.

We are preparing people for an eternity with God in heaven and we're partnering with people to bring a little bit of heaven down here on earth.

What we do here on Sundays and Wednesday has eternal significance! It's hugely important. We're not just teaching people how to live - we're helping people discover the abundant life ONLY JESUS CAN GIVE.

DISCIPLESHIP PROOFS:

Since our mission is such an important mission, it’s also important we have an effective strategy for accomplishing that mission.

Every mission needs a strategy. We need to be able to say with clarity and conviction what a disciple of Jesus LOOKS like and how a disciple of Jesus is MADE. (proofs and pathways)

When people answer this question you get ALL SORTS of different answers. I remember wrestling with this question early on in ministry.

I read book after book after book after book. And usually they'd put together various types of lists (usually of behaviors).

And the list of behaviors were pretty helpful for the most part but usually they succumbed to two major problems.

First - the list of behaviors were almost never complete or exhaustive.

Secondly - the list of behaviors focused mostly on the external acts of obedience instead of the internal motivations of the heart.

When Jesus walked with his disciples so much of his teaching on discipleship focused on the heart more than it did anything.

If you do a study on the word "Disciple" in the NT it shows up some 269 times. 11 of those instances are used by Jesus.

If I could summarize all of the instances I'd probably define a disciple as someone who is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus and committed to the mission of Jesus. (Mat 4:19)

First they follow Jesus. The word disciple means learner in it's most basic sense. In order to learn somebody has to teach. So a disciple is following his teacher.

They're also being changed by Jesus. Changed into what? Changed into someone who looks more like the teacher. Discipleship is fundamentally imitation.

Lastly, a disciple is committed to the mission of Jesus. Go therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations - baptizing them... and teaching them to obey (back to imitation) all that I've commanded you.

This is where 6 of the disciple sayings of Jesus become particularly helpful. The remaining 6 instances give us a description of what a disciple DOES.

I refer to them as the "My Disciple" statements of Jesus. I did a series on it a few years ago.

Disciples Abide in the Word, Disciples Love One Another, Disciples Bear Much Fruit, and a summary of the final thee could be put under the heading Disciples Walk by Faith.

Notice that these aren't focused solely one a behavior here or a behavior there. They're much more focused on the disposition of the heart or general characteristics of the disciple.

I first came across this vision of discipleship on a M trip to China. It was a simple, biblical, reproducible vision for discipleship. No need for experts or fancy books. Just the words of Jesus and a pathway for what a disciple looks like.

The first proof of discipleship is summarized in Jesus’s words in Luke 14:25-27; 33.

It could fall under various headings but in your notes I describe it as the “walk of faith.” Disciples walk by faith.

If you look at the context great crowds were following Jesus at that point in his ministry. Much of his popularity was due to the fact that people saw his power and inferred what he might be able to do FOR THEM as a result.

It was a very consumeristic approach to discipleship (one not uncommon in our day) But true faith isn't just following Jesus when he does what you want him to do or when he leads where you want him to lead. It's trusting Jesus even when he DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.

There's a cost associated with following Jesus and every person needs to count the cost. Every person at the end of the day must be willing to give up everything.

Luke 14:25-27; 33

"Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."

Pretty tough stuff huh? Being a disciple of Jesus means prioritizing him in the affection of your heart above even your most treasured earthly relationships. It means trusting in the LORD even when it leads to suffering or he leads you down a path you don't want to go.

Jesus follows these verses with a little parable about a builder building a tower and a king going to war. Both people count the cost of the project before they begin lest they realize halfway though the project the cost is too great. Jesus says the cost of following me is going to cost you EVERYTHING.

Luke 14:33 "So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."

I used to refer to this mark as "Radical Commitment" because that's what it sounds like Jesus is calling for. But I felt like it was misleading.

The reason is because the word radical to most people means 'over the top... beyond the pale...' as if to say this isn't the normal requirement for every follower of Jesus.

But the truth of the matter is, this is the normal requirement for every follower of Jesus. It may not manifest itself in your life in each particular way. You may not have to suffer persecution or lost your family because of your faith.

The point is each follower of Jesus must be WILLING to maintain their faith in Christ even when those things happen because they've found in Jesus something they'll never be able to find anywhere else.

It's like Simon Peter said after Jesus made a very hard statement to the disciples and he asks, "Are you going to leave as well." Peter's response was "Lord, where else can we go for YOU have the words of life."

The remaining three "My Disciple" statements all come from the Gospel of John.

We will take them in Chronological order.

First, disciples Abide in the Word - John 8:31

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

To give you a bit of context on this one, Jesus had just preached a little mini sermon about himself being the source of salvation and as a result many people put their faith in Jesus.

Not ALL of those believers were true believers, though. Some of them were false believers (John makes this distinction in his writings).

The distinguishing mark of a true believer is that they ABIDE. Meaning they remain in the vine. They persevere. They continually exercise faith and dependency in Jesus throughout their life.

Secondly disciples Love on another - John 13:34-35

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Christians are known for many things in our culture. It's always interesting to see what the autocomplete feature on Google says when you search for "Christians are so..." (of course these days we know that's all rigged anyway)

Jesus' prayer is that we would be known for our love for one another. That we'd be known for our unity. That we would love people the way he loved us and the way he loved his heavenly Father.

Christian love is selfless, sacrificial and without prejudice or hypocrisy. It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, what you look like, what color or culture you are - we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord. We love because he first loved us.

Christian love is a humble love. It's a foot washing kind of love. It's a love that sees no task as "too low." It's a love that meets the needs of other believers if one has the means to do so.

Thirdly Disciples Bear Much Fruit - John 15:8 (read context)

Abiding in the Word and Loving One Another will naturally produce something else. An external outcome on an internal transformation.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

What is this fruit bearing? It’s the fruit of “other disciples.” It’s the fruit of faith being born in the heart of others.

Jesus makes this clear later in the chapter. John 15:16

John 15:16 (CSB)

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.

Healthy things grow and living things reproduce. This is true spiritually when it comes to a local church. We must demonstrate our communion with Christ through things like evangelism, missions and outreach.

A life that has been changed by Jesus will be committed to the mission of Jesus. That's the fruit. Being committed to the mission of Jesus is ways you were never committed before.

You may have noticed that these four proofs intersect with three key relationships for every follower of Jesus.

And discipleship is a process of faith expressing itself through acts of love in each of these three relationships.

Abiding in the Word causes you to grow in your relationship with God.

Love other Christians causes you to grow in your relationship with other believers (the Church.)

Finally, bearing much fruit causes you to grow in your relationship with unbelievers (the World.)

A key passage in my own spiritual formation is Galatians 5:6 which says that

Galatians 5:6 (CSB)

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.

Faith working through love… Faith expressing itself externally though acts of love. Love demonstrated towards God, love demonstrated towards believers and love demonstrated towards unbelievers.

OUR DISCIPLESHIP MAP:

That brings us to the second leg of our discipleship strategy: not only what they look like but how they are MADE.

When it comes to the biblical vision for discipleship there a direct link between growth in grace and belonging to a local church.

I want to be careful I don’t say “membership” in a local church because some people get a little bit sensitive about that word. But there’s clearly a link between belonging to a fellowship of faith and spiritual health.

There’s no such thing as “solo” Christianity. It’s always lived “in community.” And while they maybe didn’t have “membership rolls” or a “membership class.” They did have church discipline (clear boundaries of who was in and who was out)

The Lord’s Supper was done “in community.” Baptism was done in the context of a clearly defined “community of faith.”

So whether you want to call it membership or something else it’s extremely important that you BELONG to a church. Be commited to and engaged with the community of believers.

At Broadview we have a thing called “church membership” and what makes someone a member is that they have been saved and baptized by immersion and that they are committed to certain pathways for discipleship.

Some churches call this a “church covenant.” But you can call it whatever you want. It’s a commitment between two parties for a mutually agreed upon outcome.

In our church - the goal is the great commission. It’s making disciples. Making YOU a better following of Jesus and YOU helping US make other followers of Jesus.

To provide clarity and simplicity for that we defined a simple 3-fold discipleship pathway. On the frame it’s called the missional map. .

It revolves around three key actions and three key environments. Both are important.

We want every member of our church to engage in all three of these actions and all three of these environments on a regular basis.

First we want you to experience the dynamic of corporate worship. The worship of God in worship Gathering.

Secondly we want you to experience community and fellowship by connecting with a Group. A Sunday morning, Tuesday evening or other mid-week group being the ideal environment for this.

Lastly we want you to be engaged in blessing other people through a team. Every Christian has a gift and we want you to deploy your gift for the good of the church.

You can do all three of these things without belonging to this local church. But you CANNOT do them outside the context of some Christian community.

Can you worship by yourself? Yes. But can you obey Colossians 3:16 or Ephesians 5:19 by yourself? Absolutely NOT. Those commands were written to a GATHERED body of believers in a local church.

Worship was meant to be done in community. Prayer was meant to be done in community. Loving one another requires community and that’s why engagement in a local church is so crucially important.

Can you bless people by yourself? Can you give money to help make disciples to a parachurch org? Sure! But you can’t be obedient to 1 Corinthians 12-14 without belonging to a local church.

God has wired all of us differently and put us together in this local church according to his sovereign purposes. Why? Because we need each other. No one person more important than the other. One body. many parts. Blessing the world through ministry teams.

There's just something special about the gathering of the saints for worship, community and mission that cannot be duplicated when you're doing the Christian life all on your own.

WHY YOU NEED THE CHURCH

If we have everybody in our church engaged in this discipleship pathway then our church would be hitting on all cylinders. But also YOU would be as well.

A statement that has always stuck with me over the years is if WE will focus on making disciples then JESUS will take care of building the church.

That's exactly what he promised to do. "I'll build the church." So in 2022 I’m not going to focus on fixing “the church” and neither should you. You and I should instead focus our attention on being a disciple.

I want to challenge you as you enter into this next year to be resolved in your commitment to growth in grace so Jesus can grow our church.

If we’ll be committed to growing as disciples then Jesus will be faithful to build our local church.

We need to be people who abide in the Word and love one another and bear much fruit. We need to be people who walk by Faith and not by sight.

Most importantly, we need to be people who DO THIS TOGETHER. Stop making gathered worship or belong to a community an afterthought or secondary matter.

We should prioritize the church to the same degree that the Bible does. And it’s a REALLY BIG DEAL.

I want to challenge you to commit yourself to regular engagement with the disicpleship pathway.

Worship in a Gathering. When you can as soon as you can then gather in person. When you can't or if you can't then worship with us online. It may not be the same but it's better than nothing. Sing when we sing. Interact with the message. And encourage your faith family through phone call or text message.

Connect in a Group. I know our small groups have taken a hit this past year. So for many of you who are not plugged into a group I'd like to challenge you to consider leading one. If you think you can get 6-8 people to meet with you on a weekly basis then start it up! We can resource you and help you get started.

Lastly - let's be a blessing. One of the greatest ways you can bless our church is by deploying your gift for ministry in one of our ministry environments.

If you're here this morning and you don't belong to a church family - maybe you're not even a Christian - but you'd like to be part of this - then please join us.

You can fill out a connection card on line at Broadview.Life/next or come see me after the service.