Disciple Destiny Week 4: Night of Reflection

Introduction

Attention:

What do you want to do when you grow up? What do you think it will be your destiny to do for a living?

I thought for sure that God wanted me to be an engineer like my dad, but after working my first summer of church camp, I realized my destiny was different than what I had thought

Regardless of what it is that God is calling you to do, it is your destiny to be a disciple. God is calling upon us to be His people and to spread His message

Tonight, we are finishing up Disciple Destiny, which is a series all about just that; it being our destiny to be disciples that make disciples

Need:

But what’s the point of an overview? Why not just move on to the next thing?

Reflection is important. Tonight, the Lord is calling us to reflect

If you have already given your life to Christ, he wants you to live for him in a way that you always have the perspective of “it’s my destiny to be a disciple” at the forefront!

And if you haven’t given your life to Christ, you’re not a disciple yet. Why not embrace your destiny, the reason that God created you in the first place?

With that said, there will be A LOT of table questions tonight; way more than usual, and these questions will be in the form of quizzes!

Even if you weren’t here for every session, you’ll have a chance to look at the Scriptures and to give it your best guess! This is going to be fun

So without further adieu, let’s dive in!

Body

The Big Idea: Every Disciple has a destiny.

The Question: What is the destiny of every disciple?

Luke 6:39–40 (NLT)

Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

Table Quiz: Based on this Scripture, what is the first point (covered on week 1)?

A. To obey

B. To learn

C. To observe

D. To encourage

Luke 6:39–40 (NLT)

Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

Table Quiz: What question were we seeking to answer during session 1?

A. How does a disciple learn?

B. What does a disciple learn?

C. Why does a disciple learn?

That’s right: “How does a disciple learn?”

This is an important question to ask, because we all get that we’re supposed to be learning stuff about Jesus and the Bible

But how is it exactly that we’re supposed to do that?

Table Quiz: What were the three answers to the question?

A. (1) There’s a difference, (2) there’s a distinction, (3) there’s a destiny

B. (1) There’s a source, (2) there’s submission, (3) there’s similarity

C. (1) There’s surrender, (2) there’s godliness, (3) there’s transparency

B is the answer!

Let’s look back at the passage to see where we get these

Luke 6:39–40 (NLT)

Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

Explanation:

This part in bold shows us that there’s a source; in this illustration, the source is the blind person

This “blind person” represents a hypocritical false teacher; the point is that, if you are a disciple of a hypocrite, you’ll end up being a hypocrit

The italicized part shows us that there is submission. In other words, in order for a disciple to learn, they must submit to their Rabbi

For us, that means submitting to Jesus, realizing that He’s more worthy than us to be directing our own lives

The underlined part shows us the end result of being a disciple/learner: you end up looking like the person you’re learning from

This part is very important, because it reminds us that it’s not just about head knowledge; its a about heart knowledge

A lot of people know a lot of facts about Jesus and the Bible without looking like him

That’s not the type of learning that we are talking about here.

We are talking about a learning that goes from the head, transforms the heart, and directs the hands

It is the destiny of every disciple to learn from Jesus (the source) by submitting to him and thus looking more like Him.

Illustration:

A table question that we asked was this; what is your learning style?

The more that I have thought about it, I think that I am a mixture between auditory and kinesthetic

Let me give up an example of the way that I learned Greek vocab: the greek word for disciple is mathates. So, as a joke, I’d come up with a sentence like “disciples are good at math tests” to remember that “mathates” means “disciple”

Lol. We all learn differently, but we are all learners nonetheless.

To be a disciple is to commit to a lifestyle of learning more about Him and the Bible so that you can be more like Him

Application:

If you have accepted Jesus into your life, be intentional about wanting to learn and grow in your faith.

Pursue these things as an active participant rather than a passive observer.

The Big Idea: Every Disciple has a destiny.

The Question: What is the destiny of every disciple?

Matthew 16:24 (NLT)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

Based on this Scripture, what is the second point (covered on week 2?)

A. To embrace

B. To run

C. To follow

D. To walk

Matthew 16:24 (NLT)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

Table Quiz: What question were we seeking to answer during session 2?

A. Who/What does a disciple follow?

B. When does a disciple follow?

C. How does a disciple follow?

C is correct!

We already know the “who.” We also know the “when.” But, once again, what about the how?

Table Quiz: What were the three answers to the question?

A. Self-denial, cross-taking, and walking-After

B. Denying the world, looking at the cross, and despising the shame

C. Self-reflection, self-sacrifice, and self-honoring

A is correct!

Let’s look at the verse again and put this all together:

Matthew 16:24 (NLT)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

Explanation:

It is important to remind ourselves that these three answers are essentially three different ways to look at the same answer; they are not distinct

But first, the part in bold is where the “self-denial” kicks in.

True disciples realize that what Jesus wants for their lives is more important than what they want for their lives.

he italicized part is where we find “cross-taking

The italicized part is where we find “cross-taking”

Another way to say that disciples “deny themselves” is to say that they “pick up their cross”

Kind of a side note, but why does it say to pick up your cross rather than Jesus’ cross?

This is to show us that there is some form of self-death happening; you are not just denying yourself, you are dying to yourself.

The underlined part brings us back to the main word in mind here: following Jesus

The question we’re asking here is this: What would Jesus do? What does following Jesus at my school look like?

It is the destiny of every disciple to deny themselves, pick up their cross, and follow Jesus wherever he wants them to go

Illustration:

Many of us have pets that follow us around ever where

This is definitely the case with our cat S’mores; he follows us around EVERYWHERE

That’s the kind of loyalty that Jesus wants us to have with Him. He wants us to follow Him wherever He’ll lead us.

Application:

What will it take you for to go where Jesus is?

Follow Jesus into the wonderful future that He has for yo

The Big Idea: Every Disciple has a destiny.

The Question: What is the destiny of every disciple?

Luke 14:28–30 (ESV)

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

Table Quiz: Based on this Scripture, what is the second point (covered on week 3?)

A. To examine the cost

B. To calculate the cost

C. To acknowledge the cost

D. To count the cost

Luke 14:28–30 ESV

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

Table Quiz: What question were we seeking to answer during session 3?

A. Why do you count the cost?

B. When do you count the cost?

C. What does it mean to count the cost?

C. is correct.

We have heard this phrase before… but what does it actually mean?

Table Quiz: What were the three answers to this question?

A. (1) Slow down, (2) pay up and (3) press on

B. (1) Start up, (2) continue through, (3) finish up

C. (1) Speed up, (2) cash-in, (3) Rest up

A. is correct!

Let’s take another look at these verses to see where these answers fit in

Luke 14:28–30 ESV

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

The part in bold is where we get the idea of slowing down

This is especially indicated by the phrase “sit down.”

The main point of this is to show the importance of reflection in your walk with Christ; you have to take some time to sit down and think through some tough decisions

The part that’s italicized is where we get the “pay up” idea

With the illustration of building a tower here, there comes a time when the builder has to “pay up”

He ran out of resources, and had to suffer the consequences

In the same way, disciples have “pay up” moments that will reveal how much intentional time they have spent reflecting on and embracing what it means to truly be a disciple

The part that is underlined is all up finishing strong

This is something that the builder who failed to count the cost is not able to do; he finishes poorly

But the point is this: every disciple plans and works with the end in mind

We ask ourselves “what is all of this leading towards?”

Your life should be characterized by this, too: You should live for tomorrow as much as your living for today (we want our lives to matter)

It is the destiny of ever disciple to count the cost by slowing down, paying up, and pressing on.

Illustration:

We talked about the game that you played last week, where you had to count to 25 without talking over anybody in your group

Something like that sounds easy on paper, but in practice, there’s more to it

Being a disciple is just like that. There is a cost involved. Are you willing to embrace that cost?

Application:

Be a disciple that counts the cost, but that doesn’t just stop there; that embraces it because it is worth it

Live a lifestyle that shows that following Jesus is the best thing that anybody can do

Conclusion

Visualization

When you graduate from high school, are you going to be able to confidently say “I embraced my destiny as a disciple?”

Its time for you to talk to me! On your notecard, you are going to answer the following through questions

As you write these answers, spend your time in prayerful silence.

Once you have finished writing these things down, come up and drop them in the box

Application Questions:

1. What is one thing you have learned in this series?

2. What is one area where you need to grow?

3. What will I do to create a game plan of growth in this area?

PRAY