Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

We began last week with the truth Jesus shared as he sent out 72 others in Luke 10.......

Luke 10:2 (ESV)

2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

This week, before we dive into how we are going to go about moving into the harvest, we need to do a little more heart work this morning.... a little self examination.

Here is a truth I want us to simmer in.... not move past, before we see in the next few weeks what we are planning to do to reach out to our community.... because if we do not understand this, if we do not believe this..... then we will simply be doing actions without a foundation of faith....

Jesus desires all Christians to be fully devoted and sent out disciples.

A. Fully-Devoted Disciple

1.

A Follower

a.

The first disciples were given the command to follow Jesus… and they did!

Literally, wherever he was going, they were now following him as their Rabbi and Teacher.

Matthew 4 and Matthew 9 John 1:43 - Follow me is the command given to the disciples to follow Jesus

b.

Jesus also asks his disciples to deny themself and take up their cross.... a life of self-denial and following Jesus.

c.

Following Jesus also means there is a change from darkness to light.

An eternal transformation!

I think of the word repentance being the best example of what it means to be a disciple that follows Jesus....

“repent” (metanoeo) points in this direction.

It has two parts: meta and noeo.

The second part (noeo) refers to the mind and its thoughts and perceptions and dispositions and purposes.

The first part (meta) is a prefix that regularly means movement or change.1

So the basic meaning of repent is to experience a change of the mind’s perceptions and dispositions and purposes.

- Piper

A disciple of Jesus must follow Jesus in Faith, trusting in him for the forgiveness of sins.

You were walking away from God and in repentance, you have turned 180 towards God and eternal life with Jesus.

Jesus is not looking for someone to follow his facebook, instagram or twitter feed.....

He is not looking for the person who will represent his BRAND.... instead he is looking for the follower that has believed in Jesus and is following him from now into eternity in FAITH!

2. A Learner

A Disciple.... literally means that you are a learner.

When Jesus called the first disciples to follow him, they knew that they were signing up to learn from a rabbi, teacher.

a.

A Disciple is equipped by the church, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit for the work of the kingdom.

b.

Jesus is the example to Follow… That is who a disciple imitates

c.

A disciple is always learning.....

There will never be a moment this side of heaven that you will not need to learn more about the grace and knowledge of Jesus!

3. A Goer - One who is sent

A Disciple is equipped to be sent out into the world!

Matthew 28:18–20 (ESV)

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

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 all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Hotwheels track with the engine...... or the Newton’s Cradle tabletop balls that gain momentum

4. A multiplier

A Disciple is a multiplier of the Gospel of Jesus....Every disciples is called to make disciples.....

The Church does not grow by addition, but by multiplication!

Romans 10 - How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!

Matthew 28 - Disciples make more disciples!

2 Timothy - Take what you have learned timothy and teach others to be able to teach

Titus 2 - Older Men pour into the younger men, older women pour into the younger women..... so that the gospel is on display!

Titus 2:1-10 “1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.

They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.

7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

The mouth of the Mississippi.... 18 feet wide..... to a huge miles wide basin at the bottom.....

The best pyramid scheme in the entire world!

----- Not a scam...... but If i reach one person for Jesus and that person reaches one for Jesus while I reach another.... and that process continues.....

There is a multiplication that occurs!

And that is the math of the kingdom of God! Disciples are multipliers of the Gospel message!

B. In Focus

The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few......

If we are to Go as Luke 10:3 “3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”

says.....

We must be fully devoted disciples.

This mornings, how would you answer that question...... Are you a fully devoted disciple?

Are you a Fully Devoted Disciple?

Here are some things I want to just unpack with us this morning.... because if I just jump into what Luke 10 says to go, pray, invite, and bless others without talking about these truths..... then we are just talking about motivational words and benchmarks to strive for.... but the truth of the matter is that you may be in these categories this morning and I care too much about you not to tell you that Jesus desires you to be a fully devoted disciple....

1. Immature in your faith

There is a danger in being a disciple that is immature

Hotwheels track off.....

Equipped to be equipped to be equipped to be equipped

A disciples is fully devoted when he/she sees that they are to follow Jesus, learn from Jesus, Go for Jesus, and multiply Jesus.

There is an inward focus for an immature Disciple..... what’s in it for me?

A mature disciple is equipped and focusses on what is in it for the next disciple to be made!

Country Club or the Local Church

2. Have the heart of a pharisee

Jesus doesn’t want religious leaders…..

He uses disciples.

The Pharisees are seen as the villains and bad guys of the Gospels.....

They loved God’s Word and God’s law - It was innerrant!

They Loved the temple and the process of bringing Glory to God

They held traditions so that they could maintain their “holy” life

When a disciple says I am good with just following Jesus and learning about Jesus but refuses to go and multiply the message.....

We can easily move into the protection of our tradition rather than the multiplication of our faith!

Holy huddles.... the football team that comes together for the play, talk about all the schemes in place for the offense and the defense, observe the crowd, then goes to the sideline.....

The process is of gathering is.... but they would get mad at someone who actually ran the plays!

or

Jesus +..... from Philippians.... you might be leaning towards a pharisee heart when you see that we need Jesus + something else!

3.

You never believed in Jesus

A disciples has been radically changed by Jesus from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of light!

If you are not following Jesus, not learning how to be like Jesus, Going for Jesus, or multiplying the message of Jesus..... then you may have never come to the point of saving Faith in Jesus.

Jesus said you can do religious things and even seem outwardly to know Jesus.... but there will be some on that day who do not enter into heaven because they truly never came to saving faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

Matthew 7:21-23 “21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”