[0:00] And if you have your Bibles and are able to, I'd love for you to be able to look at Isaiah 39, Matthew 28. If you don't want to keep your finger in a third spot in 1 Corinthians 11, it's a short verse.
[0:12] You can kind of remember it on your own. But we're going to be looking at all three of those for our sermon today. So just as way of a reminder, we're in the third week of a four-week sermon series on Sunday mornings talking about the mission of this church.
[0:30] What does it mean to be a church? How are we going to go about doing the ministry that Christ has called us to? And in talking about that, the Kirk Session has adopted a kind of a new organizational structure for the church, which we call spheres.
[0:46] It's just kind of come up because when Colin first put the PowerPoint together, the words were inside of a circle. And such things that we went from like, I can't remember, neutrons to circles to spheres.
[0:58] We've just been calling them spheres. And the basic idea is this, is that we have worship, discipleship, mission, and service. And we're trying to say in all the things that God calls us to, how are we going to organize ourselves and get things done?
[1:14] And kind of the main imperative behind that of what Colin has laid forward is that we're here to equip for gospel fruitfulness, right? We want to see the gospel bear fruit in our lives and the lives of others.
[1:27] And it's not something that is solely done by the Kirk Session. And it's also not something where we're just like, hey, you know, get on with it, guys, however you're going to do it. We want to be able to equip people, older people, more mature Christians, equipping younger people, helping one another, walking alongside one another with the goal of glorifying God and seeking the good of one another and our neighbors.
[1:52] Okay? And so two weeks ago, Colin, he started by preaching on the worship sphere. You know, we begin by doing the most important thing. We worship God because he's worth all that we have.
[2:04] And all that we do in life flows from that worship. And then last week, Kirk preached on mission. He actually used Matthew 28. I was muttering under my breath as he did.
[2:15] I was like, I stole my sermon passage. But it actually is great because you can see both of them in the Great Commission. So we respond out of the fullness of worshiping God.
[2:26] We respond because he's so glorious and we bear his good news into the world. Okay? Next week, we're going to look at service. But today, what we're going to talk about is discipleship.
[2:40] And I don't know if you've noticed this, but it's kind of stood out to me in the last two weeks and as I've been thinking about this sermon on discipleship. All these spheres, you know, they're distinct simply because you have to organize yourself somehow.
[2:53] But in reality, they all bleed into one another. Right? To share the good news on mission, to support different ministries, is honoring and worshipful towards God.
[3:05] We go and share the good news. Why? To make disciples. Right? We disciple and we equip people for mission. Now, all these things, and as we're going and doing these things, we are following Christ in his mission.
[3:20] So they all kind of go together, but we're doing, we've created it this way in order to have some sort of organizational structure. And so before I get into the sermon, what I want to do is if we have, do we have the slide, guys?
[3:33] To put up for the sphere, the circle, whatever you want to call it. Oh! It's a rounded rectangle. That's what we'll call them. Equipped for discipleship.
[3:44] And I just want to briefly go through these things, because as we talk about discipleship from God's word, I kind of want you to have these things in mind. And then also, if there's something that pops up that seems like it fits in there or a new thing, just come and talk to me.
[3:59] Right? It's not all the good ideas come from the top down. We want bottom-up growth in ministry. So first thing I want to note is our city groups. City groups meet on every other Wednesday evening in various places across the city.
[4:13] And the basic point of those is fellowship. It's good just to spend time together. Imitate me as I imitate Christ. That takes spending time together with one another, more than just on Sundays.
[4:27] So we fellowship and then prayer and studying God's word together. If that's something that you'd like to get involved in, to join one, or if you would like to host one, or if you would like to lead the Bible study portion, because you don't have to.
[4:40] Just because it's in your home doesn't mean you have to lead the Bible study portion. Let us know. Evan McDonald leads that one. Next we want to talk about the youth work.
[4:50] And that's everyone from the newborns up through young workers, wherever that age gets defined, where it gets cut off. And so we have a creche. And we want PVG volunteers to be able to lead that.
[5:03] And we have Sunday school because we want to be able to teach at age-appropriate levels and communicate God's truth. Because that's what Jesus does, right? God comes and he doesn't speak in the language of heaven.
[5:13] He speaks in the language that people speak in to communicate his truth. So we need volunteers in that. We need volunteers for First Friday, so our secondary students.
[5:23] And we want them to be involved and to be discipled. And then we have opportunities for uni students and young workers to get involved. You can talk to Matthias and Heidi about that, to be able to share life together and to be able to serve the church.
[5:37] We want to be an intergenerational church where the relationships span age groups. The next one to talk about is women's ministry. There's three main areas of that.
[5:50] And that would be a once-a-month Bible study. Once a month there's parks and pastries for the purpose of fellowship. And then also connecting to the larger denomination in women for mission.
[6:01] You can talk to Sophia, Heather, and Fiona if you want to learn more about that and get involved. We've got a library of mostly of books upstairs that needs to be organized and to be put into a place.
[6:13] And so if you have a passion for reading and learning more about God's Word, let me know. And we can help organize that and put it in a place. Because discipleship, it's about many things, but one of the things is it's about the mind.
[6:25] Right? We want to learn how to think God's thoughts after him. And so reading and studying can help in that. And then the last thing, pastoral, talking about that, is in terms of shepherding.
[6:37] The primary responsibility for shepherding in a congregation according to Presbyterian Church ecclesiology is the session, the elders. But that doesn't mean that they do it all by themselves.
[6:51] Right? We can share in caring for one another. And one of the ideas is especially for people who are homebound and can't come out. We want to make sure not only are there elders following up with them, but if there's a widow who can't get out, that women in the church are going and visiting them and knowing and caring for their needs.
[7:12] So if you have any general questions, please talk to me and I can connect you to other people. All right. That's in your mind. That's discipleship in our church, how we're organizing it.
[7:23] There's more to it than that. Let me pray for us and then we can look at our scripture together. Father, Jesus, you promised in that Matthew 28 passage that you'd be with us to the end of the age.
[7:36] So would you do that by the power of the Spirit to the praise of the Father right now? We ask this in the powerful name of Jesus our King. Amen. All right.
[7:48] Our sermon is four points about discipleship. All right. Ready? Four points about discipleship. First, discipleship is essential. Second, discipleship is covenantal or relational might be a word that you can kind of get your mind around a little bit more easily.
[8:05] So it's essential. It's covenantal. It's all-encompassing. Discipleship is all-encompassing. And then lastly, discipleship is about Jesus. Okay. It's essential. It's, what's my second one, guys?
[8:18] Covenantal. It's all-encompassing. And it's about Jesus. So first off, discipleship is essential. If you've got your Bibles, look at the Matthew 28 passage. This is what Christians referred to as the Great Commission.
[8:32] Kirk preached on it last week. Now, when you hear this Great Commission, go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded, and, lo, I'm with you even to the end of the age.
[8:48] Maybe you've heard that many times in church. And my guess is, for English readers, when you hear that verse, what gets emphasized, what stands out, and maybe what's been emphasized to you in preaching and teaching is the first word.
[9:06] Go. Right? Go, therefore. It is strong. And that is not bad. That is not wrong. That word is in there. This is just to put on the nerdy Greek grammar, New Testament Greek grammar hat for a second.
[9:20] That's because we're reading it in English, right? If you're reading it in the Greek, there is one main imperative in that verse. And again, super nerdy Greek stuff.
[9:30] There's three aorist participles that hang on that one main imperative. What does that mean? What do you think the main imperative is? Make disciples.
[9:42] That is the main command that Jesus gives, is to make disciples. You have to go to do it. You have to teach. You have to baptize. But the main thing in that sentence is make disciples.
[9:56] Making disciples is essential. And we want to make disciples by baptizing, by going to them, by baptizing them, by teaching them, by growing them in their faith.
[10:07] We want to make disciples who make disciples. It's that simple. And you can go by being sent to another country. You must. It says to all the nations.
[10:18] God cares about every single people group. All these image bearers all over the world. And we forget that we are bearers of people who have gone and made disciples.
[10:29] Scotland to a person in Israel. They didn't know where that was. That was the ends of the earth. Much less the United States across an ocean. We are recipients of people who have followed the command to go and to make disciples.
[10:45] So we go. But then we also make disciples. We teach people to observe all that Jesus has commanded. And we baptize them. We don't stop at sharing the good news.
[10:57] People are brought into the church. And they're supposed to grow in the church in order then to be sent out. They're called in in order to be sent out. Right? Jesus is like a spiritual tornado.
[11:09] He brings you in just to spit you back out into mission. But as he brings you in there's an equipping and there's a discipleship that happens. Did you notice in Matthew 28, 18 right before the Great Commission in verse 19.
[11:24] Jesus says where his authority extends to. He says all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
[11:34] And the point isn't that there's something in. You can search the world for a place that doesn't include heaven and earth. And you will not find one.
[11:45] In other words Jesus has all authority over everything. And he's commanding us to do something about this reality. Namely make disciples.
[11:58] The church if you think about it starts with 12 dudes. Who probably wouldn't be your first choice for a church plant. They mess up a bunch. They've got sordid backgrounds. Some are too boastful.
[12:10] Some are too shy. And from that. There are millions upon millions. Even billions of Christians in the world. Why?
[12:21] Because Jesus has all of the authority. Under heaven and earth. It's been given to him. And he goes with his people so that they can accomplish their mission of making disciples in this world.
[12:36] Making disciples who make disciples. That's just the first point. Discipleship is essential. It's at the heart of the church's work. We go in order to make disciples.
[12:46] We teach in order to grow disciples. And we do this with confidence. Because Jesus Christ has the authority. And he's told us to do that. Okay. So discipleship is essential.
[12:58] Second thing. Discipleship is covenantal. Okay. A covenant. We could define it in a lot of different ways. We could spend a lot of time on it. But let's just boil it down to this.
[13:09] At its heart. A covenant is a relationship. God. He makes covenant with his people. Because he desires a relationship with them.
[13:19] What does he say? He says. I will be your God. And you will be my people. That's him entering into covenant. And so. Jesus. He says in Matthew 28.19.
[13:31] That we make disciples by baptizing people in the Trinitarian name. Does that sound powerful to you? What's your program for discipleship?
[13:41] We baptize people. Well. It's tied into discipleship though. You see. In the Bible. Baptism. It's a sign of entrance.
[13:52] Into the covenant community. Into the community that God says. He's going to have relationship with. And where his special blessings. Get poured out. His covenant blessings.
[14:04] In other words. Baptism. It has to do with starting churches. And growing churches. Making disciples. And this relationship. In the Bible.
[14:14] Is supposed to be passed down. From generation. To generation. So. Here. Deuteronomy. Chapter 6. Right after. God says. Hear O Lord. Hear O Israel. The Lord our God. The Lord is one.
[14:25] In verses 6 through 7. It says these. This thing. And then it says to. Love God with all your heart. Right. It says. And these words. That I commanded you today. Shall be on your heart.
[14:37] You shall teach them diligently. To your children. And shall talk. Talk of them when you sit in your house. And when you walk by the way. And when you lie down. And when you rise.
[14:48] Kind of like what Paul says. Imitate me. Right. These words are meant to be talked about. In families. And communities. And observed. And all these moments are teachable moments.
[15:02] Not just for you at a certain age. When you come to an age of accountability. But everybody. Everybody. In the covenant community. Who's received the covenant sign.
[15:14] Now. In the Old Testament. What was the covenant sign? Circumcision. Right. And if we have some Baptist friends with us. Here this morning. We love that you're here.
[15:26] But we're Presbyterians. Right. And. This is what you'll hear sometimes. I heard this from my Baptist friends. Who believe only in believers baptism. Not baptizing children. And they'll say. In the Old Testament.
[15:37] In the Old Covenant. People of God. You were born. In. To the people of God. You were born. Into the covenant community. So they just received the sign of. Circumcision.
[15:47] In the New Testament though. You're born again. Into. The covenant people of God. Which is why we only baptize people. Who've made a profession of faith.
[15:59] That's good. I understand the reasoning behind that. The only problem. Is. The Bible doesn't say. That the Old Testament people. Were born. Just simply born. Into the covenant community.
[16:10] And that was all. You see. The sign of circumcision. It was supposed to be an. Outward sign. Of an. Inward. Heart reality. So Moses. You know what Moses tells the people.
[16:21] In Deuteronomy 10. Circumcise your hearts. That. That. That sign. That God has set you apart. And made his people. You're supposed to do that. On the inside. In your heart.
[16:32] It's the Old Testament way. Of talking about. Being. Born. Again. So. Give the sign to their children. It didn't make them. Born again. But the idea was.
[16:43] It set them apart. It marked them. And they were going to be. Discipled. As part of that covenant. Community. Given all the privileges.
[16:53] Of being in. The covenant. Community. With the hope that they too. Would grow. And embrace the covenant. From. The heart. So Peter. He preaches.
[17:04] At Pentecost. And at the end. Of his biblical theological. Where he's quoting Joel. And he's quoting Psalms. At the end. He calls for a response. And he says. To repent.
[17:14] And to believe this good news. And to receive the Holy Spirit. And he says. The promise. Is for you. And your offspring. Which is quoting. From Genesis 17.
[17:26] Where God gives. The covenant. Of circumcision. To Abraham. Abraham. But he doesn't just end there. And he says. For you and your offspring. And those who are. Far. Off. Now the point.
[17:37] Who are those who are far off? The Gentiles. The nations. Right. He's understanding. What Jesus said. Go therefore. And make disciples. Of all. The nations.
[17:48] So in the Old Testament. You don't have. A shrinking. Of the covenant. You have an expansion. It's not. And it's not just. Boys who received. The covenant sign. But now men.
[17:58] Men. And women. Baptism. It doesn't save a person. Any more than circumcision did. But it does mark someone. As part of the covenant community. Where they will be taught.
[18:09] And what it means. And taught what it means. To follow Jesus. And in Presbyterian circles. We do this to the children. Of believers. And then we also do it. We do believers baptism too. If you come to faith. Later in life.
[18:20] And you have yet to be baptized. We baptize you. Right. Because baptism. It's saying. You are included. In a new family. You're baptized in the name. There's a Trinitarian truth.
[18:31] Somebody says. There's no Trinity in the Bible. Point them to Matthew 28. 19. In the name. Singular. Of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Right. There's one name. Of the Trinity. That name has been given.
[18:42] You got a new name. A new identity. You're welcomed into a new family. And there's family privileges. With that. You learn the rules of the family. The manners of the family.
[18:54] The joys of the family. You spend time with your family. And in the Presbyterian tradition. We apply the sign to children of believers. And I'll just make this point too.
[19:05] Even if you're a Baptist. You only believe in believers baptism. My guess is. I would venture to say. Probably if you have children. You don't sit at the dinner table.
[19:16] And treat them like a bunch of little heathens. And go. I'm going to pray. But you don't pray. Because that would be false prayer. And I'm going to pray for God to save your little wretched soul.
[19:26] Right now. Don't do anything. Because I don't want you to be a hypocrite. But rather. You know. Just kind of watch. And at some point. At a different age. You too can make a decision. No. It's not what we do.
[19:38] Why? Again. We don't presume. Well they have to be saved. But we treat people. Because they're in a covenant. And God relates covenantally. To his people. And to families. And we say.
[19:48] As for me and my house. We'll serve the Lord. It doesn't guarantee their self-shape. Many of you guys know this very well. Children who've grown up.
[19:59] And walked away from the faith. And it is. Heartbreaking. We don't presume upon God's promises. We need them to embrace the covenant from the heart.
[20:11] But we're going to do everything we can. To disciple them. To that. To invite them into that. To model that. To continue to pray for them. For those covenant children who've left the church.
[20:23] To continue pray. That the spirit would bring them back. They can walk away from the church. But it should not be for lack of discipleship.
[20:35] Let me apply this then. First thing. In families. Everybody. But apply it specifically to families. Make regular Sunday worship attendance.
[20:48] A non-negotiable. Okay. It can be hard. I've got little kids. Trust me. Tests my patience. But hard things are okay.
[21:00] So we come and we gather. Right. Second point of application from this. Being part of a covenant community. Has many benefits. One of which is being intergenerational. Just like fathers and mothers relate to their sons and daughters.
[21:14] In this new family who bears the name. The Trinitarian name. We've been baptized into that. We not only have a relationship. A covenant relationship with God. But then also with one another.
[21:25] Hate to break it to you if you don't like one another. You got the same family. You bear the same family name. And one of the wonderful benefits to that. Is not just being multi-generational.
[21:36] Like you have all the generations represented in a church. But they all just go and you know. The not so young people go and do their own thing. And the young people go and do their own thing. And the babies do their own thing.
[21:46] And they never blend together. One of the joys of a Christian community. Which doesn't happen. Name some other places in the world. Where you see multi-intergenerational ministry happening.
[21:59] Hanging out. I don't know. Maybe sporting events is the only thing. Right. But you get to come together. And we get to learn from one another. Research has actually shown. It's in the U.S.
[22:09] I don't know if it translates to the U.K. But young people who grow up in the church. I can't. It's something like one in seven only stay in the church in the U.S.
[22:21] But they noted that it goes up to four in seven I believe. If they have actual vital relationships with people older than them. And younger than them in the congregation.
[22:33] It's not a magic formula. Right. But what I would say. What it does point out is that it understands making disciples. Being together. That discipleship is covenantal.
[22:45] Third thing is simply give yourself to relationships in the church. Some way. Whether it's staying after for tea and coffee. Joining a city group. Coming to prayer meetings. Practicing hospitality.
[22:56] Having people in your home. Grabbing coffee with people in the church. I don't know what it is. But we need fellowship. We need time spent together. Imitate me as I imitate Christ. The assumption is relationship.
[23:09] The church in Corinth knew Paul. He had spent time with them. They had seen him. He had taught them. They trusted him. It involves relationship. So much of discipleship is simply imitation.
[23:23] And that takes time. Being purposeful in our relationship. So especially if you've never grown up in the church before. We have people from all different backgrounds. We need to see good marriages.
[23:35] Perfect marriages. Nobody has one of those. But we need to see good marriages. We need to see tender parenting. Faithful work. Bold risks for Christ. Real repentance. Holy fun.
[23:47] Some young people think the church is all about being boring and as dull as possible. That's ridiculous. God created fun. God created the world to be enjoyed.
[23:59] We need to observe that in our relationships. All right. Now, before I go to the next point. I wonder how many of you, if you were paying attention, you're like, Why on earth did we read Isaiah 39?
[24:12] Like what on earth does like Hezekiah and the king of Babylon and all this stuff. What does that have to do with discipleship? I'm glad you asked.
[24:23] Let me explain. So, in Isaiah 39, what had come a couple chapters before is that the big bad Assyrians were marching in and they had taken the northern kingdom into exile and they were coming towards the southern kingdom where Hezekiah is the king.
[24:40] And Hezekiah does a really good thing. He goes and he asks the prophet of the Lord, Isaiah, what should I do? And Isaiah says, pray. And so he prays. And Sennacherib and his big bad army are coming and they're about to surround.
[24:55] And he gets news that something has happened back home and he has to leave. And the angel of the Lord is sent and destroys the armies of Sennacherib and the Assyrians.
[25:06] They go back. You can actually, if you go to the British Museum, I think it's called the Taylor Prism. You can see written about this very historical event. And so they go back and, whew, right?
[25:19] I think Hezekiah would be like, praise the Lord. He had done such a good thing. But did you notice, if you remember what happened in Isaiah 39, who does he invite in? The leaders of Babylon.
[25:31] The kingdom of Babylon. And you know what he does? He shows them all the wealth of Israel. Check out the treasury. All the silver and gold. And he's boasting.
[25:42] He's boasting. He's showing off to this other great kind of like up and coming power. And Isaiah comes in and he says, what have you done? And Hezekiah is like, I showed him the treasures. Why not?
[25:53] It's pretty awesome, right? Right? And Isaiah says, oh, no, no, no. Do you know what's going to come? Exile's going to come. Not right away.
[26:04] It's not going to come in your days, Hezekiah. But it's going to come. And you know what it's going to come from? The Babylonians. They're going to come and they're going to take the southern kingdom into exile. And what's Hezekiah's response in verse 8 of chapter 39 of Isaiah?
[26:19] He says, the word of the Lord is good. And you're like, oh, okay. Hezekiah, he's just agreeing with God. He's taking it like a man, right? No, no, no. Because the next phrase shows what his heart says.
[26:30] And do you know what it says? At least in my days, there'll be peace and security. Poof. What on earth does that have to do with discipleship?
[26:44] Well, this. Remember, he said discipleship is covenantal. Hezekiah has zero covenantal concern for the people of God. All he cares about is his life and his generation and his peace and comfort and not the generations to come.
[27:00] And woe to him and woe to us if we are the same way. A few months ago, I heard one Scottish pastor say this pretty provocatively.
[27:10] He said, if we're not looking to the future, it doesn't matter if we survive the present. That was his application. He was talking about Isaiah 39. Don't be like Hezekiah where your chief concern is with your own comfort and church being tuned just to your own personal needs and desires.
[27:32] As long as we sing my favorite tunes and nobody bothers me, I'm happy. As long as there's peace and security in my days, I'm fine. That's being like Hezekiah.
[27:42] And it's not good. What does this mean for us? It means discipleship is covenantal. We long to see future generations raised up. And what does that mean?
[27:53] Applying it to us? You have to invest in that. You invest your time and your service to that. You invest your money in that. That means we never see children making noise in a worship service as an inconvenience.
[28:07] I just want peace and security and just, you know, quiet on a Sunday morning. No. Discipleship is covenantal. It means we involve people in serving in age-appropriate ways at the right time, right?
[28:22] But we bear with them as they learn and they grow in serving the Lord. Because it's not just about peace and security in our days. We long for God's covenant relationship to be passed down from generation to generation.
[28:37] It means we invest money in finding and training and recruiting ministers in training for the future. That we're okay if a sermon isn't up to what we want it to be.
[28:51] Because we want to bear with people and give them opportunities to express the gifts God has given to them. And to grow in those gifts. So we baptize our babies.
[29:01] We disciple our children. We pray for the youth. We involve the young people in serving. We invest time and money and energy in discipleship. Supporting ministries that reach the university. Students to go to ETS.
[29:12] If we have the resources. Women's workers. Community workers. Youth workers. And so on. We want to take time to equip people to train and serve.
[29:22] And there's going to be mistakes along the way. But we must not be like Hezekiah. Selfishly only wanting peace in our day. Most Saturdays in the Taylor household are called Pancake Saturday.
[29:36] Because my kids have thus dubbed it. Because I think I made pancakes for them once. And they were like, again! And I was like, not until next Saturday. Again! Next week! And as I've grown older, they like to help make pancakes with me.
[29:50] You want to let them know on a little secret? They're all in Sunday school right now. It takes five to ten times longer when they help me make pancakes than if I just made them by myself. I could get on with the rest of my Saturday so quickly.
[30:04] There's like eggshell everywhere. And there's about five different fights about who gets to stir the wet and the dry ingredients together. And who gets to hold the favorite spatula. But it's worth it.
[30:16] Because I get to spend time with them. I get to model what it is. Hopefully someday, maybe someday, they get to have pancakes Saturdays with my grandkids. And it takes time.
[30:29] And I ain't perfect at being the father who models. I gripe at them all the time. But that's what we want to do in the church. To care about the generations to come. All right.
[30:40] I promise the last two points are a lot shorter. Discipleship is essential. Right? We have to do it. Make disciples. Main imperative in the Great Commission. It's covenantal. Meaning relational and intergenerational.
[30:51] Seeking not just to make disciples of those outside of the church. Right? But also passing the faith down from generation to generation inside of the church. Third thing. Discipleship is all-encompassing.
[31:03] In the Great Commission, do you see the repetition of the word all? All authority has been given to Jesus. So his disciples are to go into all the nations.
[31:15] Make disciples. And they're to teach them some of what Jesus commanded. No. All of what Jesus commanded. And the promise is that he is going to be with them all of the time.
[31:27] All. All is a lot. Big things and little things matter in our discipleship. Teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded.
[31:37] That's the struggle for you and for me. It's going to be the struggle for every generation to come. To obey that all of what Jesus commanded. From age to age, there's going to be certain things that are going to be harder. In different parts of the world.
[31:49] You go to eastern countries, the concept of grace and forgiveness is harder. Whereas in western countries, the concept of judgment and holiness is harder for them to understand. And there's going to be different things that pop up.
[32:00] But we need to teach people to obey Jesus in all that he commanded. I heard it said. I don't know if it's true. I've heard it repeated a few times. That in the Crusades. The Crusaders, before they went on their crusade.
[32:13] They would be baptized in their armor. And you know what they would do? They would take their sword with them. And they would hold their sword above the water. And the rest of them would be washed and dunked in water.
[32:24] And what are they doing? It was as if to say, Jesus, I am dedicated to you. I am yours. Accept what? My sword. My sword is going to go get the infidels.
[32:36] You don't get that part of my life. Discipleship is all-encompassing. And that's the struggle for you and for me. We want to hold things back from Jesus.
[32:46] Jesus, you can have every part of my life. But not what? My money. We feel uncomfortable talking about giving and generosity.
[32:58] So don't talk about it. Because we want to hold on to that. You can have everything, Jesus, as long as I don't have to suffer. Whew, that's a hard one. It would be great if I never had to have a hard conversation, Jesus.
[33:11] Praying. That's actually really hard. Could I just listen to other people pray? That would be great. Talking about lust makes me feel uncomfortable. So let's just agree that it's a private matter. And because of this reluctance in different areas of our life, the more and more that they are, and the more that they become in a church community, the less likely we're to be like Paul and to say, imitate me as I imitate Christ.
[33:35] Because we know in our shame we've sectioned off areas of our life from following Jesus. And we feel very unworthy for other people to imitate us. Paul's not claiming to be perfect.
[33:47] And remember, he says he's the chief of sinners. Right? But he's just saying, listen, this is what it looks like to wholeheartedly follow Jesus. He said just earlier in 1 Corinthians 10, whether you eat or whether you drink, whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
[34:04] He says, imitate me then in that. I'm not going to do it perfectly, but follow me. See what it looks like. But instead, our spirituality can become like a Spotify playlist.
[34:14] It's just like targeted and tweaked just to you, so it's only the hits that you like to listen to. Oh, Jesus, I love that stuff. Oh, not that. Dislike.
[34:25] Skip that one. So we seek to teach the whole counsel of God, even the parts that are hard for modern Western ears to hear. Of course, we say things with prudence and patience, and there's better settings than other ones, and if possible, relationship with someone.
[34:42] If you're going to talk about something hard and difficult and private, a relationship matters in talking about those things. But the point in that discipleship is all-encompassing. There's no subject that's too taboo to talk about, to talk about discipleship in.
[34:58] We need to bring everything under the lordship of Christ because he has all authority. So, discipleship. It's essential. Main command. Make disciples in the Great Commission.
[35:08] Discipleship is covenantal. We baptize and pass down the faith and care about the future, unlike Hezekiah in Isaiah 39. Then third, discipleship is all-encompassing.
[35:20] We seek to bring all of our life under Christ's lordship and train others in the church to obey all that Jesus commanded. Last thing, discipleship is about Jesus.
[35:32] I've got to say this because I don't want us to miss the forest for the trees. Paul says, follow me as I follow Christ. The point in our discipleship is never that we're an end in ourselves.
[35:42] Look at me. I've got my life together. Follow me. No. I don't have my life together. I'm a mess. I need Jesus' grace every single day. But we're saying, look, follow me because I've found the pearl of great price.
[36:00] And I've counted the cost. And it's worth it because He is worth it. And His promise in the Great Commission is that you're not going to go alone in this.
[36:14] We're going to mess up. We're not going to do it perfectly. We might even have to change the name of the spheres to rounded rectangles. Jesus is with us.
[36:25] You can bank on that. Anybody, when you're updating your computer or your smartphone, does anybody read the terms and conditions? No.
[36:37] If you do, I would love to know if you do. He's, agree, whatever. Here, Apple, here's all of my life. You can have it. But Jesus doesn't hide the terms and conditions. He's not trying to trick us to pull a fast one on us.
[36:52] He's very honest. You've got to count the cost. It's going to be hard. We're going to lose things. We're going to have to die to self. But here's the term and the condition.
[37:06] As we do that, He's never going to leave us. He's never going to forsake us. That's the best promise.
[37:17] As we go and we do these things, we're not trying to find our way to the Savior. But rather, by His grace, He's come to us. And we get to follow Him and go with Him.
[37:30] So we ought to pray that we'd be a disciple-making church that baptizes people into a new covenant family and seeks to follow Jesus wherever He leads.
[37:42] In fact, let's do that right now. Let's pray together. Father, we ask that You'd make us a church filled with disciples who are hungry for Your Word and Your presence.
[37:58] And out of our following our King, we ask that You'd make us a church that is relational, that is sacrificial.
[38:12] And that says it's all about Jesus, not about us. Would You do this, Lord, for Your glory, our good, and the good of our neighbors, and the good of generations to come.
[38:24] We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. Theo. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Uhm.
[38:34] Amen. K podcast. Amen.