Sermon Tone Analysis

Week 2: Help them grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ either at Hillcrest AG or get them planted in another church (discipleship)

Scripture Reference: Acts 2:42-47; John 15:4-5; 1 Cor 12:12-26 (i.e., v.18)

Announcements:

Just wanted to continue to announce that we will be having our special business meeting on Sunday, Dec 11th after the morning service.

Church calendar is available (one per family).

Christmas program will be on Sunday, December 11th at 6PM.

Worship:

Waymaker

One Thing Remains (higher than the mountains/your love never fails)

Forever (give thanks to the Lord)

Introduction:

We are continuing our series on “What is the Church?”

Last week we talked about we aren’t just called to go but also to make disciples.

We also talked about how we can evangelize as a church by: our lifestyle (attitude towards others in store/waiter/waitress), presence in the community (festivals and other community events), places to love on people (homeless community, nursing homes, where people have been written off).

This week we will be talking about what discipleship is and what it looks like.

Hand off to Jordan

John 15:4-5

4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you.

For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.

Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.

For apart from me you can do nothing.

What does a disciple of Jesus look like?

We can’t make disciples if we are not disciples ourselves

It starts with us and our time with Jesus; if I’m not spending time with Jesus, then how am I supposed to teach someone else how to?

It’s equal to me trying to teach someone how to fix a car engine; I am by no means a mechanic and would not be able to effectively and efficiently teach someone else how to fix an engine because I don’t know how to do it myself

What is the fruit that is being produced?

The fruit that we produce is a great representation of who or what we are living for.

We can claim to be disciples of Jesus, but the way we live will speak great volumes

Can I be blunt and open real quick?

One of the biggest concerns in the Church and even more so in the Bible belt is being a Christian is more of a fad than anything.

It’s the traditional “oh I grew up in church” or “yeah I know about God” but it only ever gets that far.

That is not being a disciple of Jesus.

It’s a relationship, not a title.

We can go around saying “I’m a Christian” all we want, but the way we live will be a better indication of that

“It’s okay I go to church once, maybe twice, a week.”

Okay cool, I don’t know about you, but I don’t only eat once or twice a week to maintain physical health, so why are we treating our spiritual health as if it’s less important?

Jesus tells us to “remain” in Him as He remains in us…it’s a daily thing

Acts 2:42-47

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.

44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.

45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.

46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people.

And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Leading up to this is the Day of Pentecost happens, and Peter preaches to the crowd.

Fast forward, they become believers

As soon as this happens, they are being taught and taken under the wings of the disciples.

It wasn’t simply “you’re a believer now, see you later;” that would make zero sense.

We see Jesus gives us this concept of discipleship as He pours into the twelve.

To plant a seed and ignore the commission to teach (Matthew 28:20) is a lack of obedience

God calls us to witness to everyone, but then there are also those that are placed in our lives that we have the opportunity and privilege to walk side by side with.

In doing so, opportunities arise to pour into their life and be someone they can talk to and learn from and vice versa

Jesus invested into the lives of the twelve disciples for three years!

He never missed out on an opportunity to teach and walk alongside others.

However, these were not cliques and were not exclusive.

It wasn’t “this is our group you can’t join.”

As the disciples were being discipled, they were discipling others.

We see a pattern in the discipleship cycle.

There are four key factors that need to be in place in order to follow the biblical construct of disciple-making:

1. Close in proximity (v.

44 and 46; “all believers met together” “they worshipped together”)

a. Must be relational

b.

If we aren’t building relationships, then what are we doing

i.

We were created as social beings

2. Pin Ball Effect (Proverbs 27:17 “as iron sharpens iron”)

a. Encouraging each other

b.

Challenging each other

3. Invest in the Few

a.

For example, disciple 10 and they each disciple 10; now you are at 100 people discipled

b.

You can’t effectively pour into a large number

i.

You get a larger circle but lack depth

4. Immediately (v.

42)

a. Discipling isn’t a “wait and see” it’s a “here and now”

b.

It starts right away

c.

The disciples made no hesitation to begin discipling the new converts

Discipleship is in no way a short-term process…it’s long term

It’s also not a one-way street, both people are learning and walking the journey together

1 Corinthians 12:12-26

12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body.

So it is with the body of Christ.

13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free.

But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.

15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body.

16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body?

17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear?

Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.

19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part!

20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.

21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.”

The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”