The Purpose of The Church - Discipleship
Acts 2:42-47
Now many of you like baseball?
What is the goal of a baseball team?
To
get people across home plate.
Does a team cheer and quit when it gets a person to 1st base or 3rd base?
They will cheer because they expect to bring that person
around the bases to score.
At the end of the game, the fans and the team are more concerned about the number of people who score than they are concerned about hits.
If a baseball team does not understand that part of its purpose is to score,
then they will pat themselves on the back when they just
get base runners.
In the church we can run into the same problem.
We can get so excited about getting someone to 1st base
that we forget that now the work is just beginning.
If we do
not understand the purpose of the church, then we will stop short of what God
wants us to do.
Matthew
28:19-20 states:
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age."
We are commanded to make disciples.
This is a two part process.
The first part of making a disciple is to evangelize and baptize a person into Christ..
The second part, is
that we are to teach them to observe all that Jesus commanded.
This morning we are going to look at what we are to do,
once we have added a person to the kingdom of God.
In scripture we are called to disciple them.
But what happens in a typical church when we win a person to Jesus?
We usually leave it at that.
We are happy, we got them to first base!
When a person accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior, our job does not stop there.
That is like getting a person to 1st base and saying that
our job is finished.
Our goal is to help bring that person around
the bases to score!
Too many times we get a person to first base and then for get about them, we leave them stranded.
Dallas Willard (A Christian Philosopher & writer) says that,
Discipleship
is the great Omission of the Great Commission on the part of Churches.
Part of making a disciple is teaching them all that Jesus commanded.
The Great commission tells us this, and the early church was committed to the apostles teachings.
Acts 2:42 tells us, They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Today,
let us look at Discipleship.
I. THE DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A DISCIPLE.
What is a disciple?
The word disciple is used over 250 times in the NT, but is only
found in the Gospels and Acts.
In Acts 11:26 we find that Christians and disciples are the same thing.
Acts 11:26 (NIV) and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
A disciple
is a Christian, and a Christian is a Disciple.
That means that a Disciple/Christian is going to develop the same
characteristics as Jesus.
Quite simply a disciple is a learner, or a pupil of someone.
In the context of the Bible, a Christian is supposed to be a disciple.
Who are we to be a disciple of? Jesus!
The Characteristics of a Disciple
Love for the brethren.
JOHN 13:35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love for one another.
Love for Jesus.
LUKE 14:26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.
Be like Jesus.
MATTHEW 10:25 It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!
Commitment to Jesus.
LUKE 14:27
And anyone who
does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Benevolent.
LUKE 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Abide in Jesus.
JOHN 15:4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
How are we doing?
II. THE
OBJECTIVE OF DISCIPLESHIP
The objective of discipleship is to facilitate the spiritual growth of
Christians.
When we are immersed into Christ, (when we become a Christian) we are born again.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 3:18 says, And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
When we come to Christ, we are given a lot of new things:
Salvation - Hope - Forgiveness - Peace - Joy - etc.
But we have not arrived!
The Bible refers to us as mere infants in Christ.
Hebrews 5:11-14 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
We are brand new Christians, are lives have been made new, we have been cleansed.
Now we have to fill our lives with something.
Jesus gives us a principle in Matthew 12:43-45 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
Discipleship fills
our house with tools and encouragement for growth.
Myths
about spiritual growth.
Spiritual growth is automatic once you are born. BABY?
Spiritual growth is mystical, and maturity is attainable by only a
few
Spiritual maturity can occur instantly if you find the right key
Spiritual maturity is measured by what you know
Spiritual growth is a personal and private matter
All you need is the Bible to grow.
If we fall for these myths, then we will not work on helping people grow.
If we fall for these myths, we will not do what we need to do to grow.
If we fall for these myths, we will become discouraged if we are not growing.
If we fall for these myths, we will become lazy.
The Bible says clearly that we are to teach and to be taught.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
2 Timothy 2:22 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
Titus 2:1-15 You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. 6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. 9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
We need to get people to go from 1st base (membership) to 2nd base (commitment to maturity) to 3rd base (commitment to ministry) to home plate (committed to evangelism or missions).
The only way this is done is by teaching and by being taught.
III. WAYS TO
HELP A DISCIPLE GROW.
Church programs
Bible
studies. Logical, the early church was devoted to the scriptures.
Sunday school.
This cannot be the only food we eat.
Preaching.
This cannot be the only food we get.
Service
opportunities.
Providing
fellowship opportunities for people.
Mentoring
programs.
Individual
Personal devotion time.
Prayer
time.
Serving others
Bible reading
Mentoring
Giving
Fellowship with other Christians
Have a person that you are accountable to.
The key to growth, is commitment to the truth of the word of God.
Notice that
part of the great Commission is teaching, and the early church was committed to
teaching the word.
If we are not putting the word in peoples lives,
then we are not fulfilling the purpose of the
Church!
What we need to understand about discipleship, is that I cannot be a disciple without being taught.
The more I learn, the more God can use me.
The mark of a disciple is continual growth.
The real key to becoming more Christ-like, is a desire to grow in
Christ.
To learn more about Christ, His Church, and the things of
God.
We can not be a true disciple is we are not actively learning about and teaching others about Christ!
If a child is not growing, we try to find out why, because that isnt normal.
If we are not growing in Christ, becoming more mature as a Christian,
then we most likely know why.
We are not being a true Disciple, a true learner.
IV. THE
BENEFITS OF DISCIPLESHIP
The Church grows deeper through discipleship.
Discipleship gives us principles to live by.
A foundation to build our lives on.
The Word of God.
It gives us stability.
The world is in turmoil, because they dont have a
foundation under them.
As we become more Christ-like, we will
experience more blessing than we can imagine!
CONCLUSION
When the church stops making and developing disciples, its no longer a church.
When we get a person to 1st base, our job is just beginning.
It takes time, effort and resources to develop disciples.
As a Church, we must make sure that we are fulfilling this purpose.
As individual members of the body, we must make sure that we are
committed to growth.
Are you willing to invest your time to help others grow closer to Jesus?