Today I want to talk to you about being a family of missionary servant disciples.
! Family of missionary servant disciples.
This is our church.
We say, what do you guys do as a church?
What kind of constitutes the life of your church?
And we organize the life of our church into what we call missional communities.
Missional communities are a small family of believers
on a mission to specific people and places.
Okay?
And those missional communities are trying to do all four of these things.
Be a family that's on mission, that serves one another,
and that really becomes disciples and helps each other become disciples.
So, family of missionary servant disciples.
These four identities are the things we're trying to identify with as a missional community.
And the reason this is important is because our mission flows out of our gospel identity.
Okay?
And if we forget this, we're in danger of finding both positive and negative identity
in what we do, falling into a religious performance trap.
Okay?
Which we don't want to do, obviously.
Christ's work has given us identity that we work from, not for.
You hear me on that?
Christ's work has given us identity that we work from, not for.
We are not saved by good works.
We're saved for good works.
Do you follow me on that?
Okay?
Our doing flows out of our being.
All right?
Ephesians 2, 8 to 10 kind of articulates this.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing.
It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them.
So our salvation is not a result of works, but the result of that is good works once we
know who we are, who Christ has made us.
And this is really important because we can seek to strive to be a bunch of things that
we can do to our own strength and we can do to our own energy.
And eventually we're going to fall flat or we're going to get burnt out.
We're going to be like, forget this.
This doesn't sound like life.
This doesn't sound like peace.
This doesn't sound like the fruit of the Spirit.
And you know why?
Because it's not.
The fruit of the Spirit is fruit of the Spirit, not of the flesh.
Okay?
And so if we are not seeing first what our identity is and living out of that identity,
we're going to end up falling into this religious performance trap.
And I don't know about you.
I've done that before.
Don't ever want to do it again.
And if you've done that before, I'm sure you never want to do it again.
It's a racket.
It's a rat race.
It's a hamster wheel.
It's not what Jesus Christ died and resurrected for.
He didn't do that so that we could just try harder and we could just be better people.
He's not a humanist.
Okay?
Christ lives for the glory of God, believes that we function best when we live for the glory
of God by the identity that is given to us and imparted to us through the gospel.
When Jesus died and was buried and rose again and we put our faith in him, our identity changed.
Who we are changes.
There's implications to his death, burial, and resurrection.
There's implications to the gospel.
And we live out of those identities.
Okay?
We don't have to strive to be those things.
God has already made us those things.
The question is, do you believe that?
What is your motivation?
Is it the gospel?
Is it, or is it man-pleasing?
Is it insecurity?
Am I insecure?
Therefore, I'm trying to fill that void of insecurity with performance.
All right?
Do I care a lot about what people think?
And so I'm doing things so that those people will be pleased.
Which eventually I can maybe do for a little while, but it's not going to last.
Okay?
Romans 12 verse 1 in the CSB says,
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God,
I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
This is your true worship.
Okay?
And I want to read that before we jump into these,
because I don't want any of us hearing this message and think,
you rah rah, try harder.
Okay?
I want you to hear this message and say,
God has been merciful to me, therefore.
Right?
God has been merciful to me, therefore.
In view of God's, it says, therefore, in view of God's mercies.
His mercy to us causes us,
out of the overflow of who he has made us in him,
redeemed, washed, cleansed, forgiven, saved.
When those things come upon us and transform us,
in view of that mercy, we offer our bodies as living sacrifices.
If you offer your bodies a living sacrifice to get something,
you have not understood the gospel and you're missing Christianity altogether.
And we don't want to have a church that functions that way.
Okay?
So, these are four things that we're always trying to do
in the context of our missional communities.
These are four things, four cylinders.
You know, someone says, hey, now we're firing on all four cylinders.
Here you go.
Here's the four cylinders.
Okay?
These are the four cylinders we want to be firing on.
And there's going to be different seasons where we emphasize one over the other,
because that's the season we're in.
Kind of think of it when you're riding a bike.
You never push both pedals when you're riding a bike.
You only push the pedal that's up.
And there's going to be seasons of time, and it's like, you know what?
Now's the time to focus more on family.
Now's the time to focus more on discipleship.
Now's the time to really focus on serving one another.
Now's the time to focus more on mission.
Okay?
And recognizing those things and not getting caught in some weird performance trap.
Again, when you're hearing this and saying,
we've got to do all four of these, and we've got to do them all at the same time.
And we're doing this, but we're not doing this.
And we're a failure, and we're not doing church well.
And it's just like, whoa, chill out.
Just like, what's the season we're in?
What are we focused on right now?
We can do a couple of these things at the same time, maybe.
All right?
But there's freedom and rest in the gospel to be able to say,
as a church, let's just cultivate these things.
Let's learn and grow and see how we can cultivate these things better
in the context of our missional communities.
Before I jump in, I want to say one thing.
The difference between addition and multiplication.
Okay?
Most churches would say they want to grow.
Any healthy thing grows, so you should say that.
Okay?
A church should want to grow.
I don't think that's selfishly ambitious, although it could be.
But it's good to grow.
All right?
But there's two ways of growth the Bible talks about.
It talks about addition and multiplication.
All right?
In concept, maybe not in specificity.
And addition happens a lot of times in churches in the sense that a really slick Sunday morning
presentation, the charismatic preacher, the amazing worship team, and the killer kids
ministry, kind of the holy trinity of church planting, right?
You know, preaching, worship, and child care.
You nail all those things.
Those things themselves will add people to the church.
What do I mean by that?
Well, you ask someone, why do you go to that church?
Oh, man.
Killer preaching.
Just love the preaching.
It's awesome.
That guy.
He's great.
All right?
Or you say, you know, why do you go to the church?
Oh, the child care is amazing.
Why do you go to the church?
Oh, I just love times of worship.
It's so awesome.
And those things add people to the church.
But they're limited.
It's just three things.
Those three things, we're not adding.
Well, I really, and then now we also do, I don't know.
I don't know what else you'd add.
But it's just those three things, right?
And they're constantly adding people to the church.
That's not a bad thing in one sense.
As long as Christ is preached, like, and people come and they hear the gospel, that's great.
We rejoice that Christ is preached.
But I don't think it's what God intends for church.
I think he's wanting multiplication.
Okay?
And if you have addition, you have this maybe just kind of growth all the time.
The way we're trying to build is through multiplication.
And what that looks like, it's going to be really slow on the front end.
But over time, it's exponential.
What do I mean by multiplication?
What I mean is the attraction is not the show we put on.
It's not the things we do necessarily on Sunday morning, although that can be part of it.
It's the people.
It's a quality people that function together as family, that function together as servants,
that function together as disciples, that function together on mission.
And it's in the everyday stuff of life.
It's all the time.
And when that group of people is solid and they are representing Christ, living like Christ,
when that group of people becomes a people on mission that is filled with the Holy Spirit
and they're functioning the way that God has called us to function,
then the church multiplies because any given one of those people is going to interact with other people
and be on mission to them and reach them and love them, see them get saved.
And then you have exponential multiplication.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
As more and more people come to the church, you have more and more touch points for impact
and gospel impact especially.
And so that's what we're going for.
We're not just looking for, you know, let's get some really good paid professionals.
We can get in here to do all the work of ministry.
The work of those guys is to equip the saints for the work of ministry.
God wanted the church to be saints who are doing the ministry,
not a few paid professionals that everybody else consumes from and is a spectator of.
Church is meant to be all of us participating, using our gifts,
recognizing no one person is the whole enchilada.
We all have a certain part that we play.
And as we all do that together, the church builds itself up in love and grows and grows.
That's the multiplication we're seeking.
It's slow on the front end because we don't have that many people, right?
But more and more as we just interact with people and we're faithful and we're not in a rush,
we're not in a hurry, we're just faithfully conducting our lives, glorifying Christ,
building relationships with people, preaching the gospel, growing in discipleship,
challenging one another, confronting one another, loving one another, praying for one another,
being there for one another, comforting for one another, all these things.
People start, we start interacting with people and they're exposed to the family of believers.
They're experiencing Christ in a myriad of ways from a myriad of people.
That's multiplication.
You follow me on that?
Some of you do, maybe some of you don't.
Okay, good.
We can talk more about it.
So let's jump into it, all right?
First one, family.
We're family.
In Christ, we are children of God, which makes us family.
Okay, John 1 verse 12.
Great verse.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to be called children of God.
A lot of times, especially as Americans, we like to talk about our rights.
My favorite right as a human being in Christ is the right to be called a child of God.
That's a good right.
That's a right I will stand up for and boast in, right?
I've been given the right to be called a child of God.
And together, we have been given the right to be called children of God.
And what does that do?
That identity makes us family.
That identity means we function together as brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers.
Verse Timothy 5, 1 to 2 says,
Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as he would a father.
Younger men as brothers.
Older women as mothers.
Younger women as sisters in all purity.
Seeing the language here?
Again, this speaks of our identity as a church.
We're family.
This is the same that's true when it speaks of overseers or elders or pastors.
Verse Timothy 3, 4 to 5 says,
He, speaking of an overseer, must manage his own household well,
with all dignity, keeping his children submissive.
For if someone does not know how to manage his own household,
how will he care for God's church?
Again, basically saying, if you can't take care of your own family,
how will you take care of what is also called the family, the family of God?
The training ground is your own family because this larger entity is a family.
And the skills transfer.
You being able to manage your own household, your own family,
carries over to the household of God, which is also a family.
1 Corinthians 4, 15.
Paul said to the Corinthians, he said,
Though you have countless guides in Christ,
another version says 10,000 instructors in Christ,
you do not have many fathers.
For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
See this familial language.
1 Thessalonians 2, 11 to 12.
For you know how like a father with his children,
we exhorted each of you and encouraged you and charged you.
Okay?
Like a father with his children.
1 Thessalonians 2, 7 to 8 says,
We were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.
Okay?
Does this mean Paul was trans?
No.
It means that Paul was able to...
You didn't see that question coming, did you?
Okay?
Well, what's the deal here though?
Paul says, he just said in the same book,
that like a father with his children.
Just making sure you guys are awake.
And then he says like a nursing mother.
Okay?
This again flies in the face of macho Christianity,
where men think that they can't have any kind of tenderness to them.
All right?
They must be tender.
Paul unabashedly says like a nursing mother taking care of her children.
And he says,
I was so affectionately desirous of you that we were ready to share with you
not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves,
because you had become very dear to us.
This is the language of family.
This is the language of fathering, mothering,
becoming dear to one another, affectionately desirous of one another.
You ever been a part of church where you'd say,
I'm affectionately desirous of the other person?
I hope you have.
If you haven't, we can be.
Okay?
And again, it's not about,
well, I just have to try really hard to make sure we're a family.
No.
God has given us the right to be called children of God.
We just need to act out who God already says we are.
We need to believe, and our belief will inform our behavior.
Okay?
Our belief will inform our expression of church.
Do you believe?
Do you believe that we are children of God in a family together?
Lastly, Philippians 2.22.
Paul said,
You know Timothy's proven worth how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.
Okay?
So how do we live out our identity as family?
Okay?
Two main ways, before we get into more specifics,
is just, number one, time together.
Any healthy family spends good time together.
Quality time together.
All right?
And a lot of people love to say,
Well, I want the church to be a family.
Or the church is a family.
But, or,
Are you willing?
Is your desire consistent with your level of time you're willing to invest?
Someone once said,
Time equals relationship.
Okay?
You really can't have a relationship much deeper than the time you spend.
Time is what builds relationship.
Time is what builds a sense of family together with people who aren't your blood.
But it can be stronger because you have that bond of the Spirit,
or what the Bible calls the fellowship of the Spirit.
And so it's important for us to be able to say,
Hey, I am not only just willing,
I am prioritizing and setting aside time to cultivate family with the people around me.
Okay?
And that doesn't mean being really awkward and weird and contrived.
Because again, that doesn't build family.
That just builds divisive weirdness.
All right?
We don't want that.
You don't want that.
It's just being normal with each other.
It's doing the things you'd like to do with people and enjoying one another,
enjoying life together.
Okay?
So that's one aspect of family.
It's just cultivating time.
Just making time for one another.
The other side, though, which I say is almost as important,
and the longer I'm at this, I'm starting to think maybe it's even more important.
Jury's still out on that.
But is growing as a family together through mission.
You know, you hear the term even band of brothers.
What caused that band to become brothers?
Mission.
War.
You know?
And when you get in the trenches together,
when you fight for other people together,
when you're preaching the gospel together,
when you're on mission to specific people and places,
when you're ministering to people and in the trenches with people and crying with people
and burdened with people and losing sleep over people together,
you know what I'm saying?
Where, I mean, have you ever been so burdened by someone or a situation or their sin
that you can't even eat,
and there's other people who can't eat because they're so burdened by it?
I've experienced that before.
When you go through the trenches like that,
and then you come out on your side,
and you see God's faithfulness,
and you see the victory,
and you see God redeem broken things,
and people repent of their sin,
what does that do with those other people?
You might have nothing in common with them,
but you know what you have in common with them?
You've been in the trenches together.
You've been at war together.
You've grieved together.
You've cried together.
You've pleaded together.
You've prayed and fasted together.
You've been on mission together,
and what happens is it forms deep familial bonds
that in some ways time together can't really touch.
This is why, you know,
the people who come back from war have a bond
that they didn't have when they started,
even though when they went out there together,
they had really nothing in common.
What drove them together?
The mission, okay?
And so think of those two things.
I think those are primary in cultivating family together,
but just trying to be brothers and sisters to one another.
What does it mean to be a brother?
What does it mean to be a sister?
If we're older,
thinking about what it looks like
to be fathering or mothering people.
You might say,
well, I don't want to be a father or mother.
I don't know how to be a father or mother.
No one fathered and mothered me.
Well, you can find out.
Ask someone you do know who is.
Get into the scriptures and learn how,
because if you're older,
invariably someone is looking to you in that way,
and you might not even be realizing it.
They're looking at you and they're thinking,
oh, you're a father figure.
You're a mother figure.
And you're thinking,
I don't want to be a father figure or mother figure.
Why not?
A family screwed us up.
It's going to be a family that puts us back together.
It's part of the reason why we have the family of God.
The church is that entity
that can come and redeem those broken places
where our own natural families have screwed up.
We can still experience the father with skin on it.
The father fleshed out in a group of people
where you understand who God is
and what he does through people,
the way they love you,
the way they listen to you,
the way they're there for you,
the way they're consistent with you
and faithful with you.
You get to be able to see the faithfulness of God.
Okay?
This means meeting regularly with people
in your missional community.
It means eating meals together
with your entire missional community
or just certain people in your missional community.
All right?
Meal sharing is all throughout the scriptures.
Don't negate that as not a big deal.
You may say, well, that's just life.
No, that's actually intentional.
Jesus would see someone when he saw Nicodemus.
What did he say?
Hey, I want to go over to your house.
We're going to eat.
We're going to eat together.
That's a form of ministry.
Get to know each other
and get familiar with one another's stories
and their testimonies.
If you know that a person knows what hurts you,
there's a deeper bond there, right?
If you know that they know you
and they know what's been hard for you,
they know what you've been through.
Party and celebrate together.
Their birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers,
wedding receptions, holidays.
Do we do this stuff together?
That's what families do.
Families do that together.
Okay?
Families should be, if they're healthy,
they're good communicators.
You think, well,
my family isn't very good communicators
and there's pain because of that, right?
What is the key to communication?
Or, I'm sorry,
what is the key to community?
Just gave away the punchline, sorry.
What is the key to community?
Communication, right?
Same root word, right?
Community, communication.
It's communing.
People say,
well, I want community,
but I don't want to communicate.
Tell me how that works.
It doesn't.
I want community,
but I never want to return people's phone calls,
texts, boxes,
whatever it may be,
or I just want to do it on my own time.
How's that working for you?
It doesn't.
Okay?
You can't have community
or what's even deeper than community,
family,
if we don't,
if we aren't good communicators.
Okay?
This looks like,
family looks like being voluntarily open
with one another.
Family doesn't wait to be asked.
Family just opens up.
Okay?
Makes that really open.
Whenever someone asks me,
I answer their questions.
What about being voluntarily open?
Where you don't wait
till they ask your questions.
You know people like that.
They're the ones you feel you know the best
because they're an open book.
And being an open book,
having the windows open,
is one thing,
but is the door locked
and bolted
and chained shut?
Do you let people in
after you're open?
Are you vulnerable?
This is what family is.
Family lets people in.
They say,
well, my family doesn't let me in.
Right,
but that's not healthy family.
Healthy family lets you in.
Okay?
Family helps each other.
They share stuff with each other.
Intentionally blessing one another.
They share hobbies
or interests together.
And you don't just share
your own interests,
you share the other people's interests.
Okay?
Getting into other people's worlds.
We have fun and relaxed together.
Okay?
Maybe even get,
you know,
a missional community
going away together
on a trip together.
Just growing together,
having fun together,
and then looking for the seasonal rhythms
of when that makes the most sense.
Family can be cultivated
all year round
very easily.
Okay?
Secondly,
we're servants.
In Christ,
we belong to God,
which makes us servants.
Okay?
1 Corinthians 6,
19 to 20
says,
you're not your own.
You were bought with a price.
So glorify God in your body.
Okay?
Because we're not our own,
we glorify God with ourselves.
Like,
we're no longer
at the disposal of ourselves.
We can't just do what we want,
when we want,
how we want,
the way we want.
We've been bought.
Jesus bought us
with the blood of Christ,
and now we're his servants.
Okay?
That's the identity we have.
But it flows out of his purchasing of us
by his blood.
When we take the Lord's table,
we remember
not just that he died for us
to be forgiven,
we remember that he died
for us to be bought,
that we were purchased,
that our life is no longer our own.
And so we glorify God with our body,
not out of obligation,
but out of response
to the death of Jesus on the cross
when his blood was shed,
so that ours wouldn't have to be.
He died in our places,
as Sean shared this morning,
right?
The substitutionary sacrifice
of the Savior.
Galatians 5.24 said,
those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires.
So when you know
that it's our identity,
that we belong to him,
that he's purchased us,
the implications of that
are that we crucify the flesh
with its passions and desires.
That's the fruit of someone
who knows they belong.
That's the fruit of someone
who knows I'm a servant of Christ.
Because I belong to him,
I've put to death the flesh
with its passions and desires.
Mark 10.43-45 said,
whoever be great among you
must be your servant.
Whoever be first among you
must be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man
came not to be served,
but to serve,
and to give his life
as a ransom for many.
What is your heart
when it comes to service?
Galatians 5.13 says,
through love,
serve one another.
1 Peter 4.10-11 says,
as each has received a gift,
use it to serve one another
as good stewards
of God's very grace.
Whoever speaks
is the one who speaks
oracles of God.
Whoever serves
is one who serves
by the strength
that God supplies.
In order that in everything
God may be glorified
through Jesus Christ.
Okay?
You each have gifts.
We all have gifts.
Are we using them
to serve one another?
Yeah, knowing that
my gifts don't belong to me.
I don't belong to me.
I've been purchased
by the blood of Jesus.
Therefore,
everything that's given to me
is for the body.
It's for others.
I've been given a gift.
It's used to serve one another.
I've been given things.
It's used to bless one another.
That's the heart of a servant.
And I think there's two ways,
I think,
that this service fleshes out.
One,
just the service
of the family of God.
We serve one another.
We look for ways
that we can help one another,
do things for one another,
but also missional service.
Where we can,
there's sometimes
when you're trying
to reach out to someone,
I remember
even one of my neighbors
many years ago
when I moved into the house
we lived in before this one,
I was trying to reach out
to a neighbor
and there was no
getting through to them.
And I remember just,
they were out
sealing their front deck.
Kind of an innocuous little thing,
not a big deal, right?
I just said,
hey, we'll help you.
They're like,
oh, you don't have to help me.
No, no, no, we'll help you.
Went back in the house,
put on some paint clothes,
came out there.
We just sat there,
talked to them.
I mean, it wasn't hard work at all.
But you would have thought
we gave my firstborn kid
to them or something.
They were like super overjoyed
that we would help them.
And you know why?
Because they probably
don't have any friends
who do that.
And you might think,
well, that's normal for us.
We do that for each other
all the time.
It's not for them.
They don't have friends
that do that.
They were so taken aback
that we would help them
seal their deck.
It was a very tiny deck.
It wasn't that big of a deal.
You know, so easy, easy win.
But in their world,
that was big.
Okay?
Serving the lost
is a huge way
to break down walls.
Doing different things.
It's not hard.
And it's fun.
It's fun when you do it
because you belong to Christ.
It's not out of
religious obligation.
It's not out of striving.
It's that,
hey, I've been bought
with a price.
Seal a deck?
Yeah, I can do that.
I can do that.
Jesus purchased me.
This is no big deal.
And if this is an inroad
for these people
to be open,
to be talking to them
about the gospel,
let's do it.
That conversation
on that deck
led to me
going on a trip
down to Haiti
with them
and their parents
where I preached
the gospel to them,
their parents,
to all the workers
down in Haiti
that I met,
and a bunch of other people
that I met
throughout that whole trip.
It was like a paid
missions trip
through them
that they didn't know
that I was on.
And it all started
with me just going
over there
and doing their deck.
So,
look at that.
That worked out
pretty awesome.
What are some ways
we can serve one another?
Help each other
when in need.
Okay?
And here's a key one.
And not letting people
do things alone.
You know the thing
that you have to do
that you don't want to do
but you have to do it
and you hate to do it alone?
The best thing to do
is to help the person
with that thing
so they don't have
to do it alone.
I remember one time
I was working on my house
when I first moved
to Kansas City in 2008.
Bought a house
in the Northeast
and I was
flew down here by myself
and was working on it.
And another guy
I had known here,
a spiritual father of mine,
showed up
on a date night
with his wife
in their nice clothes,
saw me there alone
and had compassion for me
because they had known
what it's like
to be working on a house
late at night
all alone.
And they started
going to work.
I'm like,
no, no, no.
Do not do this.
And they're like,
no, no, no.
We are doing this.
We're not letting you
do this alone.
And I'm like,
no, you guys are all
in your nice clothes.
And they're like,
we have been in many nights
like this
where we've done stuff alone.
We're not letting you do this.
And it just meant so much.
I mean,
in one sense,
I didn't want them to do it
because I'm like,
you guys just want to date.
You're in your nice clothes.
But it really meant a lot to me
because when someone says,
I won't let you do this alone,
there's something really bonding
in that moment.
So that's how we can serve
when I look for opportunities.
When someone's doing something
by their self
and that you can tell
they're really burdened by it,
just like,
hey,
I'm not going to let you
do this alone.
Let me come help you.
Let me come over there.
I'm coming over right now.
And they say,
no, no, no, no.
Come over.
No, no, no.
I'm coming over right now.
Okay.
And then you just go help them out.
So that could look like home repair.
It can look like working
on each other's houses,
babysitting each other's kids,
serving.
You know,
some people just never get a date
because they don't know
when to watch their kids.
That can be huge.
Making or paying for meals
for each other,
praying for one another,
helping each other move.
Okay.
We've been able to bless
a lot of people through moves,
making one of the missions
of my life is to make
moving suck less for people.
So I'm just trying to,
create like a lot more people
to help move.
So let's just go short and quick.
And it's not as a horrible experience.
Helping each other budget.
All right.
Listening to each other,
showing hospitality without grumbling
by opening your homes
to one another
for gatherings or meals or parties.
Barring your stuff to each other,
borrowing vehicles,
tools, clothes,
and then just looking
for those seasonal
kind of rhythms of service.
Maybe there's certain seasons
where it makes more sense
than others,
but service is pretty much,
I think,
a year round thing
that we can be doing
here and there.
Okay.
Next thing.
Number three,
we're disciples.
Okay.
We're disciples.
In Christ,
we abide in his word
and bear much fruit,
which makes us disciples.
John 8 31 says,
so Jesus said to the Jews
who had believed them,
if you abide in my word,
you are truly my disciples.
And then John 15,
eight says,
by this,
my father is glorified
that you bear much fruit
and so proved
to be my disciples.
Okay.
So because of what God
has done for us,
we abide in his word.
And in that abiding,
what ends up happening
is we bear much fruit,
which proves
that we're disciples.
Okay.
You don't strive
to be a disciple.
Discipleship
and the fruit
of discipleship
comes out of abiding
in who Jesus is
and what he's done
for us.
Okay.
It's a fruit
that comes out of us.
It should be coming out.
It should be coming out
of us in some ways,
some ways effortlessly,
not always,
but there's just,
it's just,
it's growing inside of us.
There's a seed inside of us
that grows.
The word of God
grows inside of us,
our abiding in him.
And it's Christ
who lives in us.
It's no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in us.
When Christ lives through us,
does Christ have a hard time
living the Christian life?
No.
Does Christ have a hard time
bearing the fruit of discipleship?
No.
Has he ever?
No, he doesn't.
And when you are in Christ,
it's no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in you.
And when Christ lives in you,
the fruit of Christ,
the fruit of the Spirit,
the fruit of discipleship
comes out of you.
Okay.
And it proves
that you're a disciple.
If you abide in my word,
you are truly my disciples.
If you bear much fruit,
you so prove
to be a disciple.
Fruit is the proof
of discipleship.
Okay.
This is why we look for fruit.
This is why we confront fruit.
This is why we have conversations
about fruit.
And this is why we don't judge
people's hearts
because we don't know
each other's hearts.
But we do know each other's fruit
and we can speak to the fruit.
Okay.
Luke 14, 26 to 27 says,
If anyone comes to me,
it's not hate his own father
and mother
and wife and children
and brothers and sisters.
Yes, even his own life.
He cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not bear his own cross
and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
And verse 33 says,
Any one of you
who does not renounce
all that he has
cannot be my disciple.
So discipleship
has it with a great cost.
And for us to be disciples together
means we're going to have
to challenge one another.
We have to hold each other accountable
to walk in divine order
to make sure we're not exalting
good things like family
above Christ.
We're not exalting good things
that we're supposed to do
without not doing the right things
in the wrong order.
All right.
But we're doing the right
and they're not just doing
the top things
and neglecting the lesser things.
We're doing all the things
in the right order.
Okay.
That's discipleship.
That's the kingdom of God.
We're seeking the kingdom.
We're teaching one another.
Okay.
Acts 11 26
says that in Antioch
the disciples
were first called Christians.
Some people teach
that disciple
is different from Christian.
The Bible doesn't.
Disciple and Christian
are synonymous.
When it says disciple
it means Christian.
When it says Christian
it means disciple.
So when we make disciples
we make Christians.
Okay.
When we encourage people
to be disciples
we encourage people
to be Christians.
In 2 Timothy 2 verse 2
says what you have heard
from me
in the presence
of many witnesses
entrust to faithful men
who will be able
to teach others also.
Okay.
And is this not
the essence of discipleship?
You hear things
you grow in things
you learn things
and then you entrust
them to others.
You teach them
to other people.
This is what we do
as parents right?
We've learned things
and we hope to bring
our kids up
in those same things.
It's not just
in these set times
of discipleship
it's in their coming
they're going
when they're rising
when they're going to bed.
We are speaking truth
to them
and it should be
the same way
in the church.
It's not just
relegated to Sunday mornings
and Wednesday nights
it's in the everyday
step of life
where we're learning
and teaching
and imparting things
to other people
that we have received
from others.
Okay.
What is the
two kind of ways
to look at discipleship?
One is in seasons.
There are seasons
we're always doing
discipleship in one sense
but then there's
a seasonal aspect
of it.
I think in
especially in Kansas City
the deep winter time
and the deep center
summer time
is the best time
to hunker down
for discipleship
because when it's
really cold
people don't really
want to go out
and hang out
and do all kinds of stuff
and in the middle
of the summer
when it's super hot
people aren't getting out
those are good times
to kind of hunker down
and say alright
let's do some discipleship
let's get in the word together
let's study something together
let's talk about
some discipleship needs
in our missional community
let's use this season
for that particular time.
Okay.
But then there's also
the life on life discipleship
there's going to be
strategic times
much like we're doing
what is a man
on Monday nights
that's a specific thing
nine weeks talking about
what is a man
that's great
it's good stuff right
it's helpful
isn't it
I know it's helpful for me
but in a Sunday morning sermon
helpful
okay
hopefully what I'm preaching
is helpful
I know I listen to the other sermons
those are helpful
okay
but what about
is it just that
is that all we do
no
when Jesus
ended his life
did he have 12 disciples
when he was
crucified
and then
left this earth
did he have 12 disciples
when it was all said and done
no
he had 120
okay
well
where did the rest
come from
if disciples
are only made
in the context
of small groups
well
he spoke to them
in larger groups
so it's in all things
it's the large
it's the small
it's in the public
it's from house to house
okay
that's why we're not
one or the other
it's both
all right
the bible says
in public
and from house to house
do we believe in public
yes
I'm preaching right now
in public
do we believe in house
absolutely
we open up our homes
you guys open up your homes
this is intentional
and this is where
discipleship happens
in the life on life
in the context
of life on life
you're with each other
and you're talking
with each other
and these things happen
and you can be led
by the spirit
it was really awesome
last night
we had a family over
before they came over
my wife
I believe prophetically
brought up something
to me that she thought
I should talk to them about
and when she brought it up to me
I had already been thinking
about those things
so I was like
yes I like this
tell that to me again
I want to make sure
I got it right
so she told it to me again
then we sit down
and I'm just praying
and looking for a way
to bring this into the conversation
not in a weird awkward way
because it's kind of
a confrontation right
but I really care
for these people
and the guy
starts sharing
he's like
hey I have this dream
the other night
and you were in it
I was like
oh you tell
and he had this dream
it was insane
the dream was exactly
what we were going to
talk to them about
and it painted it all
perfect
and I was just kind of like
wow this is the biggest
softball I've ever received
it was
but it was
Gene and I
were so encouraged
it's just like
this is how
discipleship happens
it happens supernaturally
too
like you can trust
for prophetic words
you can see God
give prophetic dreams
and I think it probably
made him so much
more receptive
to even what I had to say
because he had this dream
like God actually
put me in a dream
to talk to him
ahead of time
so that when I talk
to him in real life
it would go better
thank you Lord
that was great
but so encouraging
I mean it just made
Gene and I both say
we need to pray
for more of this stuff
this is awesome
did you tell them
that Gene and I
said something
yes we did
we told them afterwards
she's like
can I tell them
I'm like yeah
tell them
but it's so encouraging
and but sometimes
we forget about
stuff like that
we think oh
we're just striving
in the flesh
like oh here's
some people here
they're at my house
should probably
encourage them
or challenge them
or teach them
instead of thinking
hey the God
of the universe
is present
he's with me
he saved me
I don't have to strive
I don't have to
make something
happen here
that's not my job
I have my job
just to be faithful
and so it's like
alright here we are
Lord
let's do this
what do you have
and then look what
he does
and we need to
expect more of that
that's discipleship
yes we'll have
formal stuff
we'll do man camp
you know what is a man
on Monday nights
we'll do teachings
like this
and we'll do
marriage stuff
and parenting stuff
and other kinds
of training
those are all good
things
what about the
life on life
we speak boldly
to one another
but in love
in each other's
living rooms
and kitchen tables
that's important
okay
so what are some
other ways
that we do
identity as disciples
studying and being
prepared
to teach others
the gospel
or practicing
preaching the gospel
to each other
sometimes even
taking the Lord's
table together
or being fluent
in the gospel
okay
where we can just
speak the gospel
to one another
so that we get good
and so we know
how to speak it
to the lost people
this looks like
confessing your sins
to one another
okay
and just saying
and not exalting
the sin
but exalting
the Savior
there's a way
to confess
sins
that makes
your sin
exalted
and there's
a way
to confess
sins
that exalts
the Savior
of your sins
know the difference
we don't want
to have a church
where everybody
leaves the
accountability time
and feels
morbidly
discouraged
just like
oh
that
that was rough
everybody
shared their sin
and
now
we're going to
do it again
next week
you know
like
there's nothing
I don't want
to do this
next week
this is horrible
you know
instead of
hey
this is what
Christ is
saving me from
yes
this is
this is a struggle
but I want you
to know
how I'm accessing
Christ through faith
or you say
hey
I want to confess
to you some sin
and I'm having
a hard time
believing that
Christ is saving me
I'm having a hard time
accessing the
saving power of Jesus
would you help me
would you speak
the gospel to you
would you expose
my blind spots here
I'm missing something
right
and then someone
helps you
and say
okay
now I can testify
God's saving me
because I see it
the Bible talks about
you've been saved
you're being saved
and you will be saved
it's three tenses
and so often
in the church
we talk about
hey man
hey brother
I've been saved
or we talk about
the Lord returning
and we will be saved
and then what is it
we just grit our teeth
and try to stay free
from sin
and our own strength
all through this life
no
the same power
that saved us
from the penalty of sin
is available to save us
from the power of sin
and so we can be being saved
that's sanctification
right
well that happens
in the context of body life
that's discipleship
that's our identity
as disciples
we teach each other
to rejoice
and magnify
the saving power of Jesus
even in the midst
of our sin
even in our sin
and I say
even in the midst
of our sin
where else are we
going to do it
right
I mean
that's where we need it
okay
this is studying
and obeying the Bible
together
notice I didn't just say
studying the Bible
you know
a lot of people
want to have a Bible study
how about a Bible obeying
right
like
you can study the Bible
but are we doing it
right
it's easy to study it
in one sense
like wow
that's really good
I studied the Bible
okay now do it
can we just study it some more
I mean
that's a lot more fun
no
we have to obey it as well
right
we speak the truth
and love to one another
we determine
discipleship needs
in the missional community
and then teach on those needs
and don't think
that only the lead partner
is the one who can do that
you might be seeing something
that they're not seeing
had someone come up to me
the other day
and just said
hey
this is just something
I've noticed
I think would be good
to teach on
I was like
I did not think of that
but I think you're right
like that's really helpful
thank you for bringing that up
so
those kind of things
are helpful
sometimes you're seeing
a need that someone else
isn't seeing
and maybe you're even
the one who's going to teach it
you know
like hey
could I teach on this
do you think I could
take some time
and just share this
maybe it's briefly
maybe it's a little bit
more longer form teaching
but that's helpful
for us to become
disciples together
growing and understanding
what gifts you have
and then how you can use
the gifts you have
to serve one another
and disciple one another
build one another's up
could look like
praying and prophesying
over each other
right
just praying over each other
asking the Lord
Lord would you speak to us
for this person
this person
that's being discouraged
Lord just
it'd be awesome
if you gave us a word
for them
and you're just waiting
on the Lord
maybe he does
maybe he doesn't
but you're making room
for him
to speak to you
you're listening
you're waiting
okay
maybe it's a
specific person
maybe it's a whole family
maybe it's just a couple
it could be any of those three
or teach on being
filled with the Holy Spirit
and praying for people
to be filled with the Spirit
okay
valuing the filling
of the Holy Spirit
and the power of the Holy Spirit
realizing again
we're not doing church
in our own strength
we want to be
a church
that is charismatic
in the sense
that we believe
in the power of the Spirit
not we believe
in all this weird excess
we believe
that God's Spirit
empowers us
to do the thing
God has called us to do
that can only be done
by God's Spirit
and so we're not going
to substitute
the Spirit
with the flesh
and say
this is church
that's not church
and it does not exalt
the third person
of the Godhead
which is the Holy Spirit
okay
lastly
how we can become
disciples together
is we can pray
even for freedom
with each other
sometimes
the Bible says
in Ephesians 4
that when you let
the sun go down
and you're angry
you give the devil
a foothold
okay
if we believe lies
about God
or about the Bible
and you know
it says the devil
is a father of lies
you can get a strong
hold on us
or a foothold on us
and we need to pray
sometimes for freedom
there needs to be
confession
repentance
and bringing things
into the light
darkness is the domain
of darkness
and sometimes people
walk in secret sin
and we get those things
in the light
and then we see
people be set free
there are some people
who are stuck
in certain things
you know
the Bible says
resist the devil
I mean
it says
submit
James 4 verse 7
people love to quote
James 4 verse 7
and just say
submit to God
and the devil will flee
and they skip the middle part
it says
submit to God
resist the devil
and he will flee
and a lot of people
skip the resisting part
you have to resist the devil
and you know
what's best done
with the brothers and sisters
where they can just
resist the devil with you
and of course
though
at the backdrop
of submission to God
we're not just
willy-nilly
resisting the devil
when there's not
submission of God
we're taking the whole
verse in context
we're saying
you must submit to God
and when you submit to God
we resist the devil
and then what does he
got to do
he has to flee
lastly
we're missionaries
okay
in Christ
we are sent by God
which makes us
missionaries
or people on mission
John 20 21
says
Jesus said to them
peace be with you
as the Father
has sent me
even so
I'm sending you
Matthew 28 19
the Great Commission
right
go therefore
and make disciples
of all nations
baptizing them
in the Father
and the Son
and the Holy Spirit
go
I'm sending you
this involves
getting out of our
comfort zone
have you ever met
any person
who drifted into mission
just kind of
accidentally found
themselves there
you know
D.A. Carson
says nobody
drifts into holiness
I would add
nobody drifts
into mission
no church drifts
into mission
it's like wow
we have this church
nobody was even
thinking about mission
we weren't aiming
at mission
and then we just did
we just got on mission
and all these people
got saved
said by nobody ever
that just does not happen
okay
mission is
the uncomfortable
thing to do
mission is the thing
you have to believe
that God is sending you
and then you have to
go
okay
you have to
leave your spot
you're in
and go to another spot
you have to go
nobody drifts into that
that doesn't just happen
that's an intentional action
and it flows out
of our identity
when you know
that's just not something
I do
it's something I am
that I have been sent
by God
God didn't want me
to be stationary
God didn't want me
to just be comfortable
God didn't want me
to just be in my
us four no more
bless me club
where I just listen
to good sermons
hear good music
and have my kids watch
no
God has died on the cross
and then says
if you want to be my disciple
you pick up yours too
now go seek and save
those who are lost
just like I did
follow my example
follow me
follow me to where
the lost are
don't ask them
to put the uncomfortability
on them
and to come to you
you put the uncomfortability
on you
and you go to them
that's what true mission is
right
Acts 20 24
Paul
the quintessential
I love this verse so much
I do not account my life
of any value
nor is precious to myself
if only I may finish
my course
in the ministry
that I received
from the Lord Jesus
to testify
of the gospel
of the grace of God
you know why
you don't drift into it
because the only way
you can finish the course
of testifying to the gospel
is if you don't
account your life
of any value
you know precious
to yourself
and so that takes
some high level
intentionality
okay
this is why
St. Corinthians 5
talks about us being
verse 20
talks about us being
ambassadors for Christ
God making his appeal
through us
if you know you're
an ambassador
you know that's an
identity of us
as a church
we make appeals
we appeal to people
I implore you
on behalf of Christ
be reconciled to God
right
that's what we do
if we're ambassadors
of Christ
it's what Philippians 1
verse 5
calls partnership
in the gospel
partnership in the gospel
okay so how do we do that
what does that look like
it looks like
figuring out the
who what and where
people are going to be
on mission to
like we have to answer
those questions
who is the who what
and where
now it's ideal
if the whole group
can get on mission
together to somebody
but sometimes
there's not a natural
connection to a who
what or where
and so what do we do
start at least with two
you got at least
minimum two
and you're like
we're going to some
specific people
and places
and when you do that
then you report back
to the rest of the
missional community
and then the rest
of the missional community
praise and strategize
what's the next step
how do we get more
people involved
what do we do next
again
I don't cut my life
as precious or valuable
I want to see my work
fulfilled
which is to testify
to the gospel
of the grace of God
and you go
and then you're looking
for
sometimes it's just
looking at what you
already have going on
in your life
and just saying
how can I do it
with more gospel
intentionality
sometimes you're looking
for new people
in places
okay
and you're developing
strategic
kind of ways
of doing that
alright
and that's the
how and the when
what's the how
and the when
it's eating together
it's events
it's serving
it's being a regular
and it's just
cold call evangelism
you know so often
it's just easy
to get on mission
by eating with people
right
and again
this is biblical
barbecues
parties
meals
maybe
you know
having meals
with someone
after church
giving meals away
having an open
night at your home
that you just
invite people over
and it's like
that's just an open
night that we
invite people over
for meals
might be just a
coffee or dessert
night
might even be
doing something
more fun
like a food contest
like everybody
bring a pizza
homemade pizza
who will vote
on the best one
everybody bring a
dip
and we'll vote
on the best dip
you know
everybody bring a
dessert
and we'll vote
on the best
dessert
whatever it may
be
and just make
it something
more fun
and then that's
very natural
to invite somebody
to
it's like
hey you want
to come to
this we're
doing this
little food
party
and we're
doing a
contest
sweet let's
do it
right
it can look
like events
right
utilizing sports
playing coaching
or watching
could be a
block party
done block
parties at our
house before
when we lived
downtown
bonfires
game nights
okay
which many of
you guys have
utilized those
kind of things
even poker
nights together
holiday
celebrations
we did
for eight
years in our
old neighborhood
we did a
christmas party
every year for
eight years
and every year
we met somebody
new
every year we got
in relationship
to either unchurched
believers or
unbelievers that
we didn't know
and had more access
in their life
to preach the gospel
and to build
relationships with
other believers
it's easy
a holiday party
I mean who
doesn't want to do
that right
common interest
things
might even be a
bible study
inviting people to
a bible study
or even like what
we did with what
is a man
or we've done it
before we've done
even a marriage
seminar to get
people we had a
bunch of people in
our life who are
having a rough
time in marriage
so it's like
let's do a
marriage seminar
and let's invite
people to that
okay look like
serving a blessing
like I was saying
before housework
yard projects
neighborhood
cleanups
or identifying at
least one way
that you want to
express the gospel
on a regular basis
through serving
and then sticking
to it with a
group of people
or it can look
like being a
regular right
like regular
going to the
same restaurant
you're going
to the same
store
going to the
same grocery
store
same coffee
shop
same barber
hairdresser
same mechanic
same chiropractor
I mean
pick them
right
and you just
consistently go
to that people
and then you
say okay
our missional
community
let's go to
that person
together
let's all
go to the
we had one
time a friend
of ours
was a barber
and like
everybody go to
the barber
I didn't
I don't have
any hair
to get cut
but the rest
of the guys
did
you know
the guys
who had
hair
would go
to this
barber
and it was
great
because then
he started
hanging around
us
why
because we
all went
to him
they all
went to him
as his
barber
so it made
sense now
if we hung
out outside
of that
he knew
everybody
you know
those are
just easy
wins like
that
or just
cold call
evangelism
where you
just go
into a
specific place
where people
are and we're
just going
to preach
the gospel
maybe it's
a college
campus
maybe it's
a coffee
shop
maybe it's
a park
you're just
meeting people
and you're
just preaching
the gospel
these are the
ways we can
do that
and seasonal
rhythms of
that it
makes sense
a lot of
times in
spring and
fall to
really get
on mission
those are
good seasons
for mission
springtime
fall time
are great
for that
but family
missionary
servant
disciples
these are
the identities
we're trying
to flesh
out and
if we all
work on these
things and
say hey
I want to
believe that
this is who
I am and
I'm going to
live out of
this identity
what's going
to end up
happening is
health sprouts
out in all
kinds of
areas as a
church and
that's what
happens and
do we have
to do a
whole bunch
of other
stuff not
really like
when we're
just focusing
on those
four things
and doing
those things
well so
many other
things get
taken care
of we're
being a
family to
one another
we're serving
one another
we're doing
discipleship with
one another
and we get
on mission
with one
another think
of how many
things get
taken care of
when we do
that amen