Daily Devotions - Entries tagged "Be One Make One"

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world.

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world.

The second key is leading. A disciple is someone who is not just learning about God, but putting it into practice. In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he encouraged them, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice” (Phil. 4:9). James, the brother of Jesus, would later say basically the same thing, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

Now, we have all different kinds of leadership in our lives as disciples. Clearly Jesus is the primary leader—He is our Lord, our King, and we are his servants. We are seeking to obey his commands and serve under his rule. So first and foremost, a disciple is someone who is being led by Jesus and is obedient to his commands.

But a disciple also places themselves under the leadership of a local church, submitting to the authority of the Bible and Gospel-centered teachers, and committing to participate actively and grow consistently.

Within this context we have all been called to work together with the Holy Spirit to lead others one step closer to Jesus. God is at work changing people’s hearts, but he wants us involved in bearing witness for him as well, leading others to the living water we ourselves enjoy. Following Jesus means doing what he did and that means we are called to make disciples who then go make other disciples.

Where are some areas that God might be calling you to engage or lead others to take one step closer to Jesus?

Father,
This task of making disciples and leading other to Christ sometimes feels completely overwhelming. Please guard my heart and help me not to get discouraged or give up.
Amen

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world. 

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade” (Mark 4:26-32, ESV).

The prevailing image throughout most of Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God is growth. Just as a tiny mustard seed is transformed into an enormous tree, we come from insignificant beginnings but God is constantly at work, bringing forth amazing results in those who have placed their trust in him.

From the first faltering attempts of a few disciples in Jerusalem God has brought forth a movement that has changed the world. Having talked about what a disciple is, we now turn to the important question of how we make disciples who then make other disciples. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the details of this process, but to keep things simple, we’ve broken this down into three key parts: Love, Lead, Launch.

God calls us first and foremost to Love Himself and to love others. It’s a dual command that governs everything we do. Secondly we are to Lead people to Jesus, helping them take that next step forward in their faith journey. Finally, we are to be a multiplying people, Launching others to replicate their discipleship experience in the lives of others. Throughout this week we’ll explore each of these areas in more detail.

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Just as a cut and polished diamond has many reflecting facets, there are many different facets of the process of spiritual growth. At its heart, a disciple is a follower or student, but we can flesh that out a bit more as we consider the different ways in which a follower becomes more like his or her teachers.

Along that line, we might expand our definition to say:

“A disciple is one who follows Jesus (head),

is being changed by Jesus (heart)

and is committed to the mission of Jesus (hands).”

What we come to recognize is that “following Jesus” or “taking one step closer to Jesus” is not merely about learning more information. Yes, spiritual growth involves head knowledge, but it is not limited to that. Moreover, “following Jesus” is not just about heart issues -- personal piety and personal spiritual disciplines. Of course those are vitally important, but the scope of discipleship is bigger still. It has an outward component -- the “go and make disciples” instruction that came from Jesus Himself.

The big picture we get of the mature follower of Christ -- one who is experiencing the reality of that expanded definition -- is the disciple who is fulfilling the Matthew 28 assignment, and doing the work of making disciples.

Dear Father,

Help me to see myself in the big picture of Your plan. Just like I committed myself to follow Jesus and accepted His gift of grace, I also want to commit myself to the work of your Kingdom. I invite Your Spirit to make me aware of the habits and attitudes that are stunting my spiritual growth and hindering me from becoming all You want me to be.

Amen

We reflected yesterday on what our church might look like if we were to radically align our lives with Jesus’ instruction in the verses we’ve just read.

Does your heart long for such a place? Do you yearn to be part of a community that is growing and loving and moving and expanding in such an exciting way? At some deep level, don’t you feel like maybe this is what church is supposed to be like -- where totally unchurched people are coming to faith? Where the Gospel is changing people from the inside out? Where encounters with the incredible grace offered through Jesus is turning lives upside down? Where Jesus-focused, Gospel-fueled spiritual growth and maturity is the goal? Where there is no such thing as an apathetic, middle of the road Christian living a lackluster life of spiritual lethargy?

Jesus didn’t rescue us from sin and give us totally new lives so that we could then keep that gift for ourselves. Salvation didn’t buy us access into some special inner circle with membership limited to a select few. No, our primary role as disciples is to go and make more disciples. This is what Jesus modeled for His first disciples, this is what He trained them to do, and this is what He commissioned them for before He left. Moreover, He gave them -- and all believers since then -- the Holy Spirit to equip them for such a massive task.

Father,

Thank you for sending Jesus, Your Son, to earth on a rescue mission. Thank You for making a way to free me from bondage to sin and an eternity of separation from You. Thank you for loving me even while I was dead in sin and far away from You. Help me today to see the people around me through Your loving eyes, and by the power of Your Spirit give me the words and opportunities to introduce them to You.

Amen

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Imagine our church five years from now. The building is the same, but there’s a fresh sense of anticipation in the air -- a palpable energy, a feeling of excitement and opportunity. God is clearly up to something big. New people are coming to faith on a regular basis. Hardly a week goes by without baptism service because so many are eager to take that step of public commitment. As you walk the halls on Sunday morning you realize that you don’t recognize most of the people you see, and yet, somehow it’s ok. It turns out that the thing you feared the most -- of not knowing everyone at church -- is now something you’re proud of.

You are confident that the neighbor you want to invite to church with you will feel accepted and embraced. And that guy from work who came to the Easter service is now attending a group you’ve never even been to yourself. You trust the church culture to be welcoming and supportive.

On Wednesday night, your community group has a visitor -- invited by a young woman who has only been coming for a month herself. As you go around the room sharing prayer requests, she breaks down and asks for help with a situation with her boyfriend. She is not a believer yet, but seems to sense that prayer might be the best solution right now. As you lead the group in prayer you reflect again on the fact that just a few years ago this young woman was you, visiting this group for the first time, uncertain of what to think or feel about a group of Christians meeting together like this. Now, here you are getting ready to launch your own group, a little nervous, but confident in God’s ability to work miracles in the most unlikely of places.

As we contemplate what it might look like if we were to radically engage ourselves in becoming disciples who make disciples, let’s allow our imaginations to run wild. Let’s dream big as we take the first steps. Let’s open our hearts to how God might shape us and change us to become a church of disciples who make disciples.

Father,

As I begin this new week, I want to give my schedules and plans and priorities over to You. Help me to focus my time and my attention on the things that matter to You and Your Kingdom. Show me the ways You want to change me into the disciple-maker you called me to be, and open my eyes today to more of what it means to be Your faithful follower.

Amen

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Becoming more like Jesus was the natural response of those exuberant believers of the early Church, and it is the call on the lives of those who are followers of Jesus today. But if Jesus is the man we are seeking to emulate, then clearly we have a long road ahead of us.

We begin to truly see our position as "spiritual newborns" when we consider that our model is Jesus, the perfect Son of God. Disciples are therefore a work in progress; buildings that are constantly under construction, with Jesus as the blueprint for that growth.

Someone once quipped that, "the alternative to discipline is disaster," and disciples who fail to keep their spiritual lives "up-to-code" are opening themselves up to trouble. So many of Jesus' parables revolved around the concept of growth, of bearing fruit, of a Kingdom multiplying, growing and spreading. However, a disciple who doesn't like working on spiritual disciplines like prayer and Bible reading will never see the fruit Jesus expects. Yes, this is God's Kingdom, and He is working to bring all things together according to His plans and purposes. But the astonishing blessing and opportunity is that He has called and authorized Spirit-filled and Spirit-led disciples to lead the way.

So how are we doing?

We may not always do it perfectly, but are we pursuing the command to love the Lord our God as best we know how? Are we seeking to live lives characterized by holiness?

We may still be working through some issues and problems in our own lives, but by the power of the Holy Spirit are we extending grace to others and seeking to love them as much as we can?

We may not have a complete grasp yet on what the "mission of God" is, but do we know we are called to reach the world?

Are we gathering together with other disciples to participate in any way we can towards that end?

Dear Father,

Thank You for Your patience with me. Forgive me when selfishness or laziness or other distractions turn my attention away from You. Help me today to grow in my love for You and for the people You bring into my life. Help me to understand what You are doing in and through Your Church, and show me what part You have for me to do.

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

For those who were part of the early Church, it was a radical change for them when they became "Christ-followers." We use that same terminology today, but the idea may have lost some of the meaning it had when it was used by those Acts 2 believers.

So what does it mean to "follow" Jesus? Of course, when we say "follow," we are not talking about the way that we absent-mindedly follow a tour-guide around a museum. Although the Bible frequently refers to disciples as sheep and Jesus as the Shepherd, we are not blind lemmings; mindless drones chasing after a leader with no clue what we are doing or where we are going. Rather, a disciple follows with the intention of learning, growing, and developing. A disciple follows in the hope of becoming someone or something more...something better.

In a church setting we refer to this process as spiritual growth, or discipleship, and it doesn't just "happen;" it requires effort from us. The bottom line is that a disciple is someone who commits to making sacrifices and putting energy into the process of becoming more like Jesus. Working together with the Holy Spirit, we pursue this change through regular practices, or "spiritual disciplines" such as prayer, Bible reading, worship, service, evangelism, fasting, and giving.

A growing disciple is someone hard at work. Here's what Paul had to say on the subject in 2 Timothy 2:3-7:

Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs -- he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Dear Father,

A lot of days I am too much like that museum visitor -- following along with the group, but not focused on You and how I can grow to be more like You. Help me today to listen to Your voice and follow You like a commited soldier . . . an athlete in training . . . a hardworking farmer.