Sermons on Discipleship
Seek to be what you want others to become.
David looks at John 10 (The good Shepherd) and John 11 (The raising of Lazarus), focussing especially on the way that Jesus said he did nothing by Himself. He said He only did what He saw His Father doing. Jesus’ relationship with the Father is the example that we should follow – praying, listening, trusting, obeying – just as our Lord Himself did. 1 Cor 11:1 “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.”
#6 Discipleship – Following Jesus
Reading from Acts 8, we see that Phillip was living out his relationship with Christ. He was listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit; he was so responsive and obedient to God’s voice that the Ethiopian eunuch became a disciple of Christ also.
#5 Discipleship
A disciple is someone who follows Christ and offers their own example so others can follow Him too. Matt draws from Matt 28:16-20, John 13:12-15 and Luke 14:16-24 reminding us that we need to invest in people ‘long term’. What good is a half-hearted Christian?
#4 Discipleship
David speaks from Matthew 18-20 highlighting various aspects of a disciple from the teachings of Jesus including repentance, humility, service, grace and “giving up the right to myself”.
#3 Discipleship
Chris speaks from Eph 4 noting that Discipleship means striving for maturity as Christ’s body. To this end, we are called to unity and to use our gifts to build up the church.
#2 Discipleship
Discipleship is following someone in the hope that we might become like them. Here we are challenged to know what we believe so we can be comfortable to share the hope we have in Christ. We need to read and apply the bible so we can teach others, especially our families.
#1 Discipleship – Following Jesus
Steve speaks from Luke 5:1-11, the passage where Peter was challenged to follow Jesus. Religion says ‘change and you can join us’. Jesus says ‘Follow me and you will change’. The quickest road to, and the best indicator of, intimacy with God is not knowledge or time, but trust. Will you TRUST Jesus? Will you FOLLOW Jesus?
Life in Christ
Using John 10:10 as a starting point, Daniel looks at “fullness of life in Christ”. A full life is not found in seeking an abundance of things or seeking experiences outside of God’s will for us but it’s found in experiencing life God’s way. It’s found “in Christ”. Phil 3:7.
We have a problem – What’s the solution?
Interestingly, David looks at Hebrews 12:1-3 as Peter did last week – with the challenge to “Focus on Christ”. The world has so many problems and there’s plenty of problems in the church. Christ IS the only solution!
Focus on Christ
Peter talks about obedience to God and relationship with God based on Heb 12:1-3 where we are challenged to keep our eyes on Christ. We often get carried away with ‘outward things’ instead of growing our relationship with our God. God longs for a deep, abiding relationship with His people.