Discipleship
Abide • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsJesus teaches us the basics of what it means to be his disciple
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Transcript
Intro:
In my humble opinion, the greatest coach to ever live was a man by the name of John Wooden. John Wooden won 10 national titles during his coaching career at UCLA. During that time he set a national record winning national titles for 7 years in a row. To put that in perspective, the next best coach to ever live has only won 4 national titles over the span of their career. During that 7 year run, Wooden’s teams set a record of 88 straight wins.
To put this all in simple terms, John Wooden is the GOAT (the Greatest Coach of All Time).
No one else even comes close.
What do you think made John Wooden such a great coach? He was a great recruiter, but he never said this was the special ingredient. It wasnt his motivational speeches, although he was a great motivator. It wasnt his playbook.
It was his commitment to the fundamentals, the basics. This is what Wooden says was what made his basketball program so great.
Let me give you an example, each year John Wooden would dedicate an entire practice to teaching his players how to tie their shoes. They would not pick up a basketball or step on the court until everyone was an expert in lacing up their shoes.
Why? Becasue Wooden knew that practicing the fundamentals was essential to a success on the court.
This is what I hope to do this morning. To start off this new year with sitting down and looking back at the fundamentals of what it means to follow Jesus....
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons.
Summary Statement
Summary Statement
Being With Jesus Comes Before Doing Anything For Jesus.
Basic Principle #1 is Knowing Jesus
Basic Principle #1 is Knowing Jesus
Look back with at verses 7-12 of this same chater:
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, 10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
Jesus had been doing miracles
People were very interested in His work and wanted to follow him.
So much so that Mark tells us that Jesus was nearly crushed
In my house we are obsessed with Disney movies right now.
Mufassa in the Lion King
People were so captivated by Jesus that they simply wanted to touch him.
As Jesus walked by unclean spirits they couldnt help but to fall on their face and worship him.
But Jesus wasnt interested in the crowds in this moment, he had something far more important that he wanted to accomplish.
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach
In the Gospel of Mark and throughout all scripture “mountains” were places where people had intimate encounters with God.
So the fact that Mark tells us that Jesus called the disciples up onto this mountain with him is significant. It shows just how important this scene was in the life of the disciples. Mark wants us to see that what Jesus is about to do is give them a direct revelation from God Himself.
And what is the first thing that Mark records?
He tells us that Jesus called them up on the mountain, “SO THAT THEY MIGHT BE WITH HIM”
The FIRST task that Jesus calls his disciples to do....ISNT TO DO ANYTHING....it is to “be” with Him....
This is the same thing that Jesus tells us in John 15:5.
5 I 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.
Jesus calls his disciples to ABIDE in Him…and He is the one that produces the fruit of righteousness.
To BE with Jesus simply means to learn to linger in the presence of God....
This is actually what the life of Jesus was all about!
12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
15 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:
13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.
24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.
I could go on and on with verses.
In fact I think we get the life of Jesus backwards. We think Jesus’ life was marked by ministry—healing the sick, freeing the oppressed, preaching the gospel—and then we think he would sometimes breakaway to spend time with God. But the gospels paint Jesus in the opposite picture, Jesus’ life was marked by his alone time with God—this was what he most regularly did—in fact he did this for 30 years before he ever did any ministry at all.
The secret to Jesus’ ministry was that he had LEARNED to LINGER with God.
The secret to Jesus’ ministry was that he had LEARNED to LINGER with God.
Basic Priciple #2: We Must Make Jesus Known
Basic Priciple #2: We Must Make Jesus Known
Out of the intimacy that we experience through BEING WITH Jesus…We are SENT BY Jesus to accomplish his mission.
(1) Tell About Jesus
(1) Tell About Jesus
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach
After Jesus spends time with the disciples, He sends them out to preach.
The word “preach” means to “HERALD”.
Jesus is telling his disciples that they are to be people who herald the message of Jesus…laymens terms…they are to make Jesus famous by telling others about Him.
The word that Jesus uses actually means that the disciples have to use their words.
He doesnt tell them to preach with their actions…He calls them to preach—to actually use their vocal cords to tell people about the good news about Jesus Christ.
Jesus called his first disciples to this work…and he calls us to this work.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the 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 all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We should be like the Psalmist who said in Psalm 86:8-10
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
Human beings have this natural bent toward sharing what they love with other people.
Youre favorite movie
Youre favorite sports team
Your favorite food
We love to share these things with others because we know that
When we experience God we wont be able to help but to tell others about how great He is...
We have a great task before us Church
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
2 billion people have never heard the name of JESUS
100,000 ppl live in our city…majority of which doesnt actually follow Christ
THERE Is much work to be done...
We must have beautiful feet...
(2) Act Like Jesus
(2) Act Like Jesus
It means to love our neighbor as we love ourselves
It means to care for the least of these:
People who you cant gain anything from.
HOOK
Out of the overflow of KNOWING Christ…WE are compelled to Make Christ KNOWN...
God desires INTIMACY with you more than you desire intimacy with Him.
No matter how much time, or money, or business opportunities, or sleep it costs you…YOU will never make a sacrifice to BE with God that even remotely compares to the sacrifice that God has made to BE with you.
God—left heaven. Took on Human flesh. Lived a perfect life for 33 years. Died a torturous death that you and I deserved to die....all so that we could know Him and be Known by Him
That’s how much God desires us to be with Him...