How Does Someone Become a Disciple?

Ben Miller

The Way • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

1 Thessalonians 1:4–10

Discipleship

Evangelism

A Disciple

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Big Idea: Someone becomes a disciple when GOD reveals the gospel and they respond in repentance.

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Introduction: At the end of October, Katy and I had the opportunity to get together with other GCC pastors and wives from around the country in Phoenix, AZ.

And so we decided that we would buy an extra night at the hotel and explore an area we’ve never been together before...

So we thought we would go to Sedona and see the Red Rocks.

We were feeling ambitious and wanted to see something spectacular, so we decided we would do one of the more popular trails… the Cathedral Rock trail.

Now... being from the East Coast, we didn’t know our way around… so we were dependent upon our GPS.

Now you have to understand, I think of a GPS as kid of a miracle… I sometimes say the GPS saved our marriage...

Because me being me, before we had access to GPS, in the early days of Ben and Katy, I would print out Mapquest directions and put them on a clipboard and Katy would have to be my navigator...

That’s how we did our honeymoon, and let’s just say I learned early on how much sanctification I needed in the area of patience with my wife.

Back to Sedona and the miracle of the GPS… we arrived at the foot of Cathedral rock… and THIS was the sight that faced us… [show picture]

BEAUTIFUL, right???… But when you are only average hikers wearing low traction running shoes, it’s pretty SCARY.

And at that point, we had a choice… do we go all in and make the ascent? Or do we choose a lower, easier trail with MUCH less beauty?

And one of the things that convinced me to do it was that I was seeing other NORMAL people with NORMAL shoes making the same climb.

So we made the climb, and this was the view from the top… TOTALLY worth it. [Show picture]

But that experience of getting to Cathedral Rock... and then wondering if we could make it up... is a similar (not identical, but similar) experience to where ALL of us start on the WAY of a disciple.

If we pictured the way of a disciple like a path, it might look something like this… [Show the Discipleship (path)WAY slide]

We all start out as outsiders… we don’t even know how to find the START of path.

How do we find TRUE LIFE???

That’s the question facing every person on the planet...

But by his miraculous direction, God leads us there…

He puts the people he is calling in positions where they will hear the gospel proclaimed… we will call that someone who is “engaged”...

If you are here this morning or watching us online… then consider that you have at least been engaged by God.

He has worked in your life to the point that you are within earshot of his AWESOME news about Jesus.

And God engages people so that they can hear the good news that JESUS is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE… that NO ONE comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.

That even though our sin has separated us from God, God sent his Son to live the perfect life we could not live… to die the death we deserve to die, in our place for our sin, and to conquer the enemy that we could not conquer: Satan, sin and death by rising from the grave.

Jesus is the ONLY Savior and Lord over all and one day he will return to judge the living and the dead.

Once a person has heard this message clearly proclaimed, they have been evangelized… they have heard the good news of the gospel...

As people take these steps on the pathway, the church is primarily focused on proclaiming Jesus to them… there’s a lot they will eventually need to understand...

But without understanding JESUS, none of it will make sense… because he is the center of the life of a disciple.

But once they have heard the gospel, every person must count the cost...

Is it worth losing my life to see the beauty of the glorious heights of what God offers?

Or will I try to save my own life by settling for the lesser glories of this earth?

THAT’S the critical decision… will we receive the gospel through repentance and faith, or will we reject it and go our own way?

It’s THIS section… THIS critical turning point in the discipleship path(WAY) that we want to examine today as we study “The Way.”

Remember… our vision for this series is this: Every person taking their next step in the way of a disciple together.

Every person… that’s you.

Taking their next step… not all the steps, their next step...

In the way of a disciple… in following Jesus in EVERY part of life...

And we are doing that TOGETHER. You can’t walk the WAY of a disciple alone… it’s just not possible.

But in order for ANYONE to continue walking in THE WAY, they must take this step: they must actually BECOME a disciple.

Now last week, we answered the question, “What is a Disciple?”

Does anyone remember the definition we used?

A disciple is someone who is dependent on and devoted to JESUS.

A disciple’s mind is set on JESUS as Savior and Lord (they believe)...

We said that a disciple is not some second tier of believers...

Genuine believers are disciples and disciples are genuine believers.

They believe ALL of who Jesus is as Savior and Lord... with ALL of their lives.

Which means they are DEVOTED to Jesus.

Because Jesus denied himself and picked up his cross, we follow him and do the same.

Our life becomes a Christ-shaped life.

But we have to remember that disciples are not devoted because they are capable, disciples are devoted because they are dependent.

A disciple doesn’t try to be their own Savior and their own Lord…

They don’t try to improve themselves in their own effort and save their own life...

They go all in trust that JESUS will give them life.

Now, with this definition in mind, I hope that you can see that there is really now such thing as someone who is a disciple from birth.”

Not one person on the planet can TRUTHFULLY say, “I just always believed in Jesus.”

If that’s what you tell people, you are either confused yourself or you are lying to others.

And so we want to get clarity on this critical question today:

Question: How does someone become a disciple?

Maybe you are not a follower of Jesus… and you have this question yourself…

You are like, I don’t even know where the path begins… I need a miracle to guide me there.

Or, I’m looking at the path (I heard and understood what Pastor Ben said last week about what a disciple is), but it looks really big… what are my first steps?

Then this sermon is for you today.

Maybe you already HAVE become a disciple…

But if every person is called to take their next step… and we are called to do that TOGETHER…

Then that means you are called to help OTHERS understand how to become disciples.

That’s not just the pastor’s job… that’s the job of every follower of Jesus Christ.

You need to have a CLEAR understanding of the ways God uses US to make disciples.

And so if you already ARE a disciple… this is not your turn to check out… lean in and learn how to direct someone else who is just coming to know Jesus.

How does someone become a disciple? Here’s our big idea answer for today:

Big Idea: Someone becomes a disciple when GOD reveals the gospel and they respond in repentance.

God does a miracle to REVEAL and disciples RESPOND in repentance.

Today, we are going to get a window into what that looked like in the lives of the disciples at Thessalonica…

The Apostle Paul was the primary leader of the team who planted the church in Thessalonica…

So I want you to imagine this… you walk into the town of Thessalonica in Ancient Macedonia… temples to Greek and Roman gods everywhere… and your goal is to make disciples of Jesus… there’s no church in town: where do you start?

Often, we’d think, “Well, we should do some nice things for people… we should get them to like us… then maybe a few years down the road, we can share Jesus with them and then they will like him too.”

But that’s not what Paul did. We read in Acts 17 that Paul started in Thessalonica where he OFTEN started: in the Synagogue of Jews.

He went to the people who had SOME familiarity with the concepts he was sharing… Here’s how Acts 17 describes what he did:

“And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”” (Acts 17:2–3, ESV)

Doesn’t that sound just like what Jesus preached to the crowds last week?

That Jesus, the Christ… the Messiah... the Savior and Lord MUST suffer and rise from the dead???

It’s almost like Paul took Jesus’ message and preached it himself… hmmm… that’s an idea!

Now, this was a polarizing message… it divided the “crowds” of religious Jews from the true disciples who really believed their scriptures.

It’s not the message you lead with when you just want people to like YOU… it’s not the message that keeps large crowds coming back...

But this IS the message you lead with when you want people to come to know and follow JESUS as his disciple.

It’s a the message that gets you kicked out of most places… this is the message that could get you beat up.

But it’s also the message that makes disciples.

And God worked powerfully through Paul’s faithful proclamation of the gospel message.

Luke reports that “...some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.” (Acts 17:4)

Some DISCIPLES were made!!!

But Luke goes on to tell us that others rejected the message… over time, the Jews got jealous and started a mob and attacked the homeowner who hosted of their house church… (think about the host of your GC taken to jail)

This was a challenging start for a new church plant.

And Paul and his team had to leave pretty quickly after that event… which is why he wrote this letter of 1 Thessalonians back to them just a short while later.

That’s the backstory behind 1 Thessalonians 1 where your Bibles are open now… and in our study today, we are going to get a more detailed picture of what it looked like for “some of them to be persuaded.” We get a window into their conversion to Christ.

Paul opens the letter with his customary greeting… and then he recalls his Thanksgiving for them…

(We used verses 2-3 in our prayer and worship time this morning…)

As we pick up in verse 4, Paul is in the middle of sharing his thanksgiving… and he’s pointing to the reason WHY they have faith hope and love...

They had undergone a CLEAR conversion by God’s sovereign work in their life.

God revealed the gospel and they responded in REPENTANCE.

See if you can see God’s revelation and their response in 1 Thess 1:4-10.

Someone becomes a disciple when GOD reveals the gospel and they respond repentance.

We have to understand that becoming a disciple of Jesus is an act of God.

It’s not just something that you decide to do one day.

Paul makes this clear when he says, “we KNOW, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.”

So tell me, who did the choosing? [GOD.]

And that can offend our sensibilities…

Because we think, “Wait, if God chooses, doesn’t that mean that we don’t need to evangelize? We don’t need to make disciples if God is going to do all the work anyway, right?”

But clearly this passage shows us that God does not just choose WHO will become his disciples… he also chooses HOW they become disciples.

He chooses to USE HIS PEOPLE as instruments of his saving grace.

Sometimes we think, “Well, if God chooses, that must mean we can keep on living in our sin and it doesn’t matter because HE CHOSE. He must like us the way we are.”

But again, this passage shows us that God does not just CHOOSE us… he works IN us by his Spirit to deliver us from the power of sin.

Sometimes we think, “Well if God chooses US, then doesn’t that mean that he DOESN’T choose others who would WANT to worship him? How is that fair?!?!

But the truth is that NONE of us would want to worship him… we ALL reject him in our sin… and it REQUIRES his choosing.

At the bottom line, Paul makes a very clear statement here: God chose you, Thessalonian believers.

We have to understand that becoming a disciple is not merely a human transaction where one believer shares a set of facts about Jesus or the Bible and then an unbeliever mentally agrees and make the necessary adjustments to their life.

Becoming a disciple is a supernatural act of God where a dead person comes to life by the sovereign grace of God.

A far greater miracle than my GPS getting me to a hiking trail I’ve never been before, is the miracle that God gets a person to the place where they can even find “the Way.”

And when GOD is performing that miracle, it’s a sight we should all want to see!

Paul is THANKFUL and CONVINCED that God CHOSE the Thessalonian believers…

But we could ask, “How does Paul KNOW God chose them? How does he KNOW that THESE people are disciples God chose?

And he answers that question in v. 5 - because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

In verse 5 we see four essential instruments that God uses to reveal his gospel to the lost… and then in verses 6-8, we see those fleshed out a little more.

We see four instruments… his word... power (which I want to suggest is empowered people)... the Holy Spirit… and full conviction.

And we are going to see how GOD uses ALL four of these instruments every time he makes a disciple.

FIRST:

God’s Revelation of the Gospel… [starts with]

1) His Word (v. 5a)

Paul says, “We know... that God has chosen you you… because our gospel came to you not only in word”...

Explain: Now if the gospel came “not only in word...” then what must have been included in the way the gospel came to them? WORDS… specifically GOD’S word.

Remember Luke’s description in Acts 17: Paul went into the synagogues and reasoned with them from the scriptures.

Later on in 1 Thess. 2, he writes,

“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

They received the WORD of God… God revealed himself… and his plan of salvation… and his call for disciples… through his WORD.

The Bible is a story… from the very beginning in Genesis 1 to the very end in Revelation 21… and that WHOLE story is ultimately about God’s plan of salvation through Jesus.

So Paul and his team got the Word… the scriptures... to the forefront.

In Romans 12, Paul writes:

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:14–17, ESV)

For someone to become a disciple, they need to come in contact with the word of God,,, the scriptures...

They need to hear from God himself that HE is God and they are not… HE created all things… and that we as sinful humanity have rebelled against him and deserve eternal separation from God.

They need to hear that in his MERCY and GRACE he made a way for mankind to be reconciled to God...

They need to hear about his patience and compassion toward those who rebel against him again and again!

They need to hear that Jesus wasn’t some afterthought… but the fulfillment of God’s plan from the beginning… the fulfillment of ALL the law and prophets!

And they don’t just need to hear that from US… they need to hear it from GOD… they need to hear it and receive it as what it really is… the word of God!

We say this often at Oak Hill… the gospel REQUIRES words.

We do NOT believe in the old adage, “Share the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”

If someone is going to respond to the gospel in repentance and faith, they need to HEAR the gospel.

That is the CLEAR pattern in scripture.

But I would take this one step further and say that they don’t just need words of a slick gospel presentation that we make up… They need the word of God itself.

Whether that is a few verses… or a chapter… or a whole book of the Bible…

If you are a disciple who is making disciples, let God speak through his word.

YOU can’t improve upon God’s word.

Take what you are reading and applying in the scriptures and ask God for an opportunity share it with others…

Let it come out of you naturally in conversation.

Use the Bible itself to point others to Jesus.

One of the things that I’ve started doing in the last year is that when people express interest in church or Jesus who aren’t yet disciples, I ask them if they would be willing to read the gospel of Mark and discuss it with me.

By the way, I’ll share the basic reading plan I use in the resource email this week...

And I pray for them as they take a couple weeks to read, and I have them write down some notes...

And then we get together and I ask them what stood out to them from what they read...

(I want the Holy Spirit to lead the way in what HE is emphasizing in their understanding)… and he always pulls though...

and then I use whatever they share as a starting point to show how Jesus is Savior and Lord.

I usually have some key passages picked out ahead of time that really drive the call to discipleship home… like Mark 8 that we studied last week...

And then once we are done reading the whole book, I challenge the person with this question:

God has revealed Jesus to you in this book of Mark as Savior and Lord: are you going to put your faith in him and follow him?

It’s incredibly FUN to trust God and watch him work through his word. Use the Bible to point others to Jesus.

Now in that, I’m not saying just hand them a Bible or a bible study and let them off on their own...

I’m also not saying that deeds or good works shouldn’t accompany our message…

Paul is clear that his gospel came to the Thessalonians NOT ONLY in word… but also in power.

I believe this is a reference to how God reveals himself THROUGH...

2) His Empowered People (v. 5b-6a)

Explain: The word for power means “ability” and here it’s describing how they PROCLAIMED the gospel.

It’s the power of Christ on display in the lives of his people.

Paul goes on in the rest of verse 5 and says, “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord....”

Catch that… Paul’s team didn’t just preach words… they demonstrated the powerful effects of those words in their own lives.

They modeled the type of dependence and devotion that mark the lives of disciples.

Paul demonstrated the power of God to take a proud, Christian-murdering Jewish Zealot… and to turn him into the foremost ambassador for Jesus Christ.

His team demonstrated the power of God to take them out of their comfort zones and into new places where they would be hated and ridiculed if they preached the gospel.

They showed the beauty of the gospel in their good works and upright character.

They lived among the Thessalonians EMPOWERED BY GOD.

Believer, does your life demonstrate the power of God to those around you?

In your character?

In the way you talk about Jesus like he’s your whole life?

In the way you step out in faith and see him pull through?

In the way you trust him in hard times?

IN the way you humbly confess sin and trust his grace.

This is where our personal testimony comes in as a believer...

Can you identify Christ’s powerful work in your life to bring you to salvation?

Not only that, can you identify Christ’s powerful work in your life in your day to day life to shape your desires and affect your choices?

It’s important that we learn how to identify the power of the gospel in our daily life so we can share naturally that with others...

NOT in a way that says look at me… but that says LOOK AT CHRIST’S POWER in me… I’m nothing, he is everything.

Has God ever shown you his power through the transformed life of one of his TRUE followers?

I’ll bet if you think about it, he has!

The gospel came to the Thessalonians through God’s empowered people.

Paul says in verse 6 that they learned to imitate him "in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”

Empowered believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

God reveals the gospel THIRDLY through...

3) His Holy Spirit (v. 6b)

“our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit”

Explain: Understand the MAGNITUDE of what Paul is saying here: that when the gospel is being proclaimed through empowered believers... and disciples are being made... the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD is actively and personally at work.

THAT’S GLORIOUS!

He’s the one who inspired the word.

He’s the one who indwells and empowers believers.

And He’s the one who does a work in the heart of an unbeliever to bring them from death to life.

God himself is doing that work.

God the Holy Spirit is the only one who can make dead people come to life…

Jesus taught this himself...

He was talking to a religious leader named Nicodemus who did not yet believe… and he said...

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”” (John 3:3–8, ESV)

To become a disciple, you must be born again… born of the Spirit…

"Born again Christian” not some religion that you check off on a census survey...

It’s a supernatural transformation of the heart performed by God himself.

Paul says the same thing in the book of Titus. Some of you kids might remember this was a fighter verse from a month or two back:

“[God our Savior] saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,” (Titus 3:5–6, ESV)

The Spirit must do a work in our hearts to apply the work of Christ to our lives… to regenerate us… to bring us to life and to renew us...

And God GENEROUSLY pours out the Holy Spirit on those to whom he is revealing himself.

The work of the Spirit was clear in the example of Paul’s team… AND in the imitation of the Thessalonians… because they all exhibited this one specific fruit (v. 6):

JOY in the midst of affliction.

I’m sure Paul mentions this one because of how uncommon it is...

AND because it was so evident in how they responded to the attack on Jason, their house-church host… they responded to EXTREME affliction for their FAITH with JOY.

Joy is not the common response to affliction.

Just look around our society this week as we go through this Coronavirus surge… joy is not exactly the first response that comes to mind when I see people’s responses.

And so when you see affliction… and you see joy… you know the Spirit is the culprit.

And whenever you see ANY of the fruit of the Spirit in someone’s life in the midst of hardship, you can KNOW that God is at work.

And as the Holy Spirit is working, he’s bringing conviction. God reveals himself through...

4) His Conviction (v. 7-8)

Explain: Again, I believe this is talking about full conviction on behalf of Paul’s team… they were fully convinced of the message they proclaimed.

And I also believe it was full conviction on behalf of the Thessalonian hearers… they were persuaded… they were cut to the heart.

Jesus said that… “...[the Holy Spirit] will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” (John 16:8).

Paul and his team were empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Jesus as the Savior from sin and the coming judgment… AND his righteous judgment as Lord.

The disciple-makers were convinced… and the hearers were convicted...

People came to see their sin for what it truly was: an offense to a holy God.

When we see the gospel proclaimed in other parts of the book of Acts, we see the response, “What shall we do?!?!”

That’s conviction.

It’s belief that Jesus really DID die for my sin… that I am RESPONSIBLE for my sin against God… that my heart and my actions deserve hell.

There is no person ever who has become a disciple of Jesus who was not legitimately convicted of their sin.

If Jesus DIED for our sin, then we must be CONVINCED that our sin deserves death.

CONVICTION OF SIN is the experience that makes us throw ourselves upon the mercy of Christ.

We say, “You are LORD… you are everything… and I’ve sinned against you!”

We say, “My sin is so great that I can’t save myself! I need Jesus to save me and I’m willing to submit my entire life to his control!”

But conviction is also a deep-rooted faith to believe that Jesus REALLY DOES save us from our sin ad we REALLY DO find true life in him.

That’s the type of conviction we see took root in the Thessalonians in v. 7-8 - “so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.”

The gospel came to them in conviction… they had REAL genuine FAITH that Jesus was Savior and Lord...

And it made a dramatic change in their lives.

The news of their faith went forward everywhere...

GOD was the primary worker in making these Thessalonians into disciples of Jesus.

If you are overwhelmed by the idea of making disciples, take comfort in that… GOD is the primary worker in making disciples.

Think of it like this: many of us ate a good meal this week for Thanksgiving… now consider: in the midst of that meal, how important was your fork?

Sure, it wasn’t the MOST important part, but without it, it would have bee a pretty messy affair…

Mashed potatoes all over your hands… gravy on your shirt… it would have been a mess!

So your fork wasn’t the star of the show… but he was essential.

As disciple-makers, we are the fork.

It’s not about us. But we are the utensil God has chosen to use.

He uses US to get the food of the gospel to people’s mouths so they can taste and see his goodness.

He uses US to show off his power in transforming a life.

He uses the Holy Spirit who indwells US to lead us in the way we should go...

He uses the conviction that he has stirred in our hearts to ignite conviction in others.

God reveals the gospel… But the hearers still need to respond… and in Thessalonica, their response was the only logical response given God’s irresistible grace… look at verse 9: “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10, ESV)

Every time Paul showed up in a different town to visit a church, he’d be like, “Let me tell you about what God is doing in the Thessalonica...”

And they’d be like, “Oh yeah, we HEARD! They turned to worshipping God from worshipping idols?! I KNOW, we’ve HEARD, isn’t God AWESOME!”

We’ve seen how God revealed himself to the Thessalonians… now in verses 9-10, we see the central turn of the disciples response:

The Disciples' Response to the Gospel: Repentance (v. 9-10)

Big Idea: Someone becomes a disciple when GOD reveals the gospel and they respond in repentance.

Explain: Paul says they turned… they did a 180...

They were focused on worshipping idols… and they turned their back on their idols and worshipped God instead. That’s repentance.

Remember our definition from last week:

Repentance means to agree with God about who he is and what he has done in such a way that changes our understanding of who we are and what we must do.

Repentance starts with our view of God… with our WOSHIP… it starts with our AWE of who God is and what he has done.

We need to agree with God that he alone is worthy of our worship because he alone is ULTIMATELY GOD! HE is Lord… HE saves us!

All of the man-made things that we devote our selves to...

All the things we depend upon for our security and identity...

All of the ways that we put ourselves first...

All of that is NOTHING…

We TURN from WORSHIPING those things… and worship God alone with our lives.

THAT’S repentance: it’s a reorientation of our worship…

Or another way to say it is that it’s a reorientation of our dependence and devotion...

Remember the definition of a disciple: A disciple is someone who is dependent on and devoted to Jesus.

An IDOL is anything that we are dependent on or devoted to other than Jesus...

It could be another religion… a person… an activity… an item...

But it’s something we are dependent on for our sense of security and identity

And it’s something we are devoted to serving with our time, talent and treasure.

In our sin, our natural orientation is to be dependent on and devoted to other things… to worship idols...

You can’t be dependent on and devoted to Jesus when you are dependent on and devoted to your idols.

You can’t worship God and worship your idols at the same time.

And so just like the Thessalonians… all of us must repent.

There is not one person on the planet who does not need to repent.

There is not one person whose testimony ACTUALLY goes like this, “I was always a pretty good person… always believed in Jesus… so I guess I never really had a time when God changed my heart.”

That’s impossible. Even if you were a child, you needed to come to a realization of your sin and your need for a Savior.

You don’t need a Savior if you never sinned… if you are perfect, you can be Lord.

But that’s not true of anyone but Jesus.

Isaiah 53:6 says, “ALL we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6, ESV)

If we ALL have gone astray… then we all need to repent.

And that will result in a whole new focus and trajectory for our lives.

Verse 10, Paul says that the Thessalonians “and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

Like we saw last week, disciples have their mind set on Jesus… their mind is set above… on the things of God… not below… on the things of man.

Remember the diagram we used last week… the trajectory of our focus…

The crowd had their attention divided between Jesus and the world…

They were SORT of interested in Jesus as long as he could do something for them… as long as he gave them their idols.

That’s so many people who SAY they are believers today… give me Jesus as long as he gives me my idols.

The disciples were focused on Jesus… they DENIED themselves… took up their cross… and followed Jesus.

That’s the same thing we see in the Thessalonian church… and in every true disciple.

Discipleship is about the trajectory of our heart.... are we increasingly looking to Jesus as our only Savior and Lord.

You see, there is a PATTERN to becoming a disciple… a pattern of moving closer and closer to Christ.

No one becomes a disciple without first having God reveal the gospel and them responding in repentance.

The details of everyone’s story are a little different… but there is a general pattern…

And when we begin to see that pattern, it helps us understand where WE are in our own discipleship…

And it helps us understand how to take the next step in our own walk with Christ, and help others their next steps.

So let’s go back to the Discipleship (path)WAY and ask, “Have you responded to the gospel in repentance and faith?”

Take the next step:

Can you point to a time in your life where you fully turned from your sin and put your faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord?

If NOT, identify the ways God has been revealing the gospel to you, even today (his word, his empowered people, his Holy Spirit, and his conviction).

Don’t let that conviction pass by. Lean into it.

Identify the things you are worshipping instead of Jesus and consider how Jesus is better and more powerful than all of them as Lord.

Confess your sin and acknowledge your need for him as Savior.

If you’ve done that, talk to a believer about the step you’ve taken… the next step after that is baptism and we have an opportunity for that coming up at the end of December.

If you ARE a disciple of Jesus, praise God for his salvation and authority in your life.

Consider the four ways God reveals his gospel: his word, his empowered people, his Holy Spirit, and his conviction.

How can you grow in your understanding of his word to share the gospel from it?

What ways do you see God’s power in your life as an example to unbelievers (character, priorities, activity, etc.), and how can you share these things as personal testimony?

Maybe write out some practical ways you can see God working in your life and learn to TALK about God’s power when you are thinking about those topics...

Ask God to give you an opportunity to share the power of Jesus in your life this week.

As you do, rely on the Holy Spirit to do the work… he’s working in you… and he’s working in the people God is calling to himself… it’s not on you to come up with the right answers or the right words!

And develop your conviction that the gospel is TRUE and that it is the power of God for salvation.

You see, it’s when we live a life of repentance and faith in the gospel that we can best help others come to that same place of repentance and faith.

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