A GROWING DISCIPLE OF JESUS - Razor Planet



Discipleship Series (Lesson 1) 9-19-12 P.M.

Becoming Healthier Followers of Jesus - Together

Memorize: 2 Peter 3:18

Peter Pan Christians – Christians who never want to _________________________.

______________of Jesus. Matthew 4:18-22; 21:18-22; 10:27

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

_______________.

People whose theology is unbiblical are ________________Christians.

_____________________. 1 John 3:2; 1 John 1:9; 2 Corin. 3:18

_____________________. Hebrews 3:12-13; 10:24-25

What are some advantages of being part of a family?

What are some ways we can encourage one another?

Romans 12:10; 12:16; 13:8; 15:7; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:32; 5:21; Colossians 3:16;

1 Thessalonians 5:11; 1 Peter 1:22; 4:9; 5:14; 1 John 4:7

We follow Jesus best in _______________________________.

Memorize: 2 Peter 3:18 Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

BECOMING HEALTHIER FOLLOWERS OF JESUS - TOGETHER

Text: Matthew 4:18-22 Memory: 2 Peter 3:18 Disc101-01

Three years ago we began a series of Sunday night teachings dealing with the topic of Discipleship. We started with Discipleship 101 – “The Marks of a Disciple”. Then we went on to Discipleship 102 – “Communicating With God”, and then 103 – “The Character and Nature of God”.

The next year we did Discipleship 201 – “An Introduction to the N.T.” where we went through the entire N.T. one book a week. Last year it was Discipleship 301 – “An Introduction to the O.T.”

This past spring and summer as we have been discussing how we can help more people grow spiritually we have decided to start back at the beginning again. But we decided to do the teachings on Wednesday nights at the same time there is Royal Rangers and Missionettes for our boys and girls and RC Church for our Middle and High School students.

One reason we decided to do the teaching here in the Worship Center is for us to have time and a place to do some praying after each session – that and the fact that the Royal Rangers use the gym.

Years ago the sign on the front wall here said: “Becoming Healthier Followers Of Jesus – Together”. It seems to me that spiritual health is still an important thing for us to talk about and think about. My desire and prayer for you and for me is that as we meet together from week to week we would make the necessary decisions that would lead us to greater spiritual health.

A few weeks ago I heard a pastor on TV refer to “Peter Pan Christians”, Christians who never want to grow up. Do you remember the story? Wendy Darling and her brothers receive a visit one night from Peter Pan, a boy who can fly and never gets any older. And he teaches them to fly, and takes them to “Neverland”, a place where Peter leads a gang of never-aging lost boys as they battle against the pirate, Captain Hook.

Never-ending childhood – that’s where some Christians are: loving immaturity & not taking the steps that would lead to spiritual maturity.

Growing, maturing, BECOMING HEALTHIER FOLLOWERS OF JESUS – TOGETHER. What I want to do this evening is to unpack that statement a bit, and then in the next 11 Wednesdays to see what we can do to make that happen. Let’s start with…

FOLLOWERS OF JESUS. Turn with me to Matthew 4:18.

From the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew to the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus repeatedly said to people: “Follow Me.” 20 times it is recorded that He used that phrase. It could have been many more times, but at least 20 are recorded. “Follow Me.”

Read Matthew 4:18-22.

Jesus never said: “Come and be religious”. He never said “Come be a Christian”. He never said: “Come & get saved.” He simply said “Come, follow Me.”

Close to the end of the book of John, Jesus is having a conversation with Peter. Jesus had been crucified, He had been dead for 3 days, He has been raised from the dead and had appeared on numerous occasions to His disciples. And as John records this final conversation, Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” (asking about John.)

Here are Jesus’ words to him: “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me.”

Lots of people call themselves Christians today, but what you call yourself is not what’s important. I one time bought an apple tree, a Granny Smith apple tree. And I planted it and watered it. That first year it had no fruit, but the second year it did. But they were the strangest apples I had ever seen. They looked more like Asian pears. And when I tasted one, that’s what it was.

It had claimed to be an apple tree; the nursery where I bought it claimed it was an apple tree – that’s what the tag said. But tags are not what are important. It’s the sap that counts. It’s what’s on the inside.

“I’m a Catholic”. “I’m a Protestant”. “I’m a Baptist”. “I’m a Lutheran” “I’m a Methodist. “I’m a Pentecostal.” “I’m Assemblies of God.” But those are only tags that we wear, and sometimes what’s on the inside is different than what our tag says. Here’s the real question: “Are you a follower of Jesus?” What does that mean – to be a follower of Jesus?

Together in small group, discuss that. RESPONSES.

To follow Jesus involves letting the things that are important to Him be important to me. It involves listening to what He said and seeking to put it into practice in my life.

Jesus said in John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

We hear His voice – as we read His word, as we talk to Him in prayer and listen for Him to answer us, as we sense those inner urgings. We see Him as our Shepherd, caring for us & guiding us & protecting us.

When Jesus first spoke those words, He was inviting people to physically follow Him, to become a disciple of His. Today following Him is more of a spiritual thing, but it affects us as we live in this physical world. It’s not a thing that is divorced from the life we live as physical human beings. How we live in everyday life is one of the great indicators of whether we are in fact following Jesus.

Do I live in such a way that people can see that the things that are important to Jesus are important to me? Do they see me endeavoring to put into practice the things that Jesus taught?

Let’s look at the next word: HEALTHY

What does it mean to be a healthy follower of Jesus? That’s what I want for us to spend the next several weeks looking at.

I have been a pastor for the past 50 years. I have seen my share of Christians. Some who have called themselves Christians were not even following Jesus and in my estimation were not really Christians. But I have seen many others whom I sensed really were followers of Jesus, but they were not healthy followers of Jesus.

I know that theology is not a popular word with many church people today, but we all have a theology. When you believe that God’s does not care what you do, that is a theological statement. When you say that God cares about your spirit but is not all that interested in your body, that is a theological statement. When you say that your sexual activities are none of God’s business, that’s a theological statement.

People whose theology is not Biblical are unhealthy Christians. They are believing things that are not true. I have seen people whose theology was so detrimental to them that my heart ached for them.

I have seen people who are unhealthy – physically or mentally or emotionally or spiritually – because of their own actions that are not in line with Scripture.

Or perhaps it’s because of the unbiblical thought patterns they engage in, or because of the unbiblical beliefs they hold to, or unbiblical attitudes. Followers of Jesus are meant to me healthy followers.

I’m not saying we will never be sick as Christians. We live in a fallen world and according to Romans 8 our bodies have not yet been redeemed. John Milton began his epic poem “Paradise Lost” with these words: “Of man’s first disobedience and the fruit of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste brought death into our world and all our woe…”

Adam’s sin brought sickness and death into our world where previously there had been none. Christians get sick because of that. But what I’m talking about are the things that we suffer because we have made unbiblical choices – in our thoughts, in our actions, in our attitudes.

So next week we will begin looking at what are some marks of spiritual health. And that’s mostly where we will concentrate in the weeks ahead.

In groups of 2 or 3, come up with at least 3 things that you think are marks of a healthy follower of Jesus. “They…” FEEDBACK.

BECOMING

What we are going to talk about during our time together is a journey more than a destination. 1 John 3:2 says: Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. That’s the end of this journey we are on.

The Bible says that as followers of Jesus we are “in Christ”; there us a connection between us and Jesus. And in that relationship, the Bible says that we have already been made holy. But in everyday life we are in the process of being made holy, a process that is not complete until we die and go to heaven, or Jesus comes back.

I don’t think God expects perfection from any of us at this stage in the journey. We are to be striving for holiness, to be pursuing it, but we will sometimes fail. And God is smart enough to know that. That’s why He makes forgiveness available to us on a regular basis, because we all need it. 1 John 1:9 says If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

His desire is that every one of us would be growing more and more like Jesus – in our thoughts, in our words, in our attitudes, in our actions and reactions. But I’m not there yet, and neither are you. But we are becoming, going through a process of growing spiritually.

2 Cor 3:18 is one of my favorite verses in this area: 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. We are being transformed – it’s an ongoing process.

And that’s my desire for our time together during these weeks – that each of us would grow and become more spiritually healthy because of the times we spend together. And then our final word…

TOGETHER

How many of you could say from memory the Lord’s Prayer? What’s the first word? (Our). Why not “my”? Responses. God wants to remind of us on a regular basis that we are not on this journey alone. We are part of a family.

Discussion: What are some of the advantages of being part of a family? Responses.

Listen to two passages from the book of Hebrews:

Heb 3:12-13 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Heb 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

We need each other. And the nearer we get to the return of Jesus, we will need each other all the more. In both of those passages the word “encourage” is used: Encourage one another.

Ask: What are some of the ways we can do that? Responses.

What happens to a person who never receives any encouragement? Responses.

On my computer Bible program, I entered the words “one another” in the N.T.

Rom 12:10. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Rom 12:16. Live in harmony with one another

Rom 13:8. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another

Rom 15:7. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you,

Gal 5:13. Serve one another in love

Eph 4:32. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Eph 5:21. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Col 3:16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom

1 Thess 5:11. Encourage one another and build each other up.

1 Peter 1:22. love one another deeply, from the heart.

1 Peter 4:9. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

1 Peter 5:14. Greet one another with a kiss of love.

1 John 4:7. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

Wouldn’t that make a great sermon series!

God knows that we follow Jesus best in the company of others. The idea of being a spiritual Lone Ranger is foreign to the New Testament. The old gospel song said: “Now it’s just Jesus and me, for each tomorrow” but that song was not theologically correct. It’s Jesus and us for each tomorrow. We are in this journey together.

BECOMING HEALTHIER FOLLOWERS OF JESUS – TOGETHER.

It’s going to be a great journey in the weeks ahead. I have been praying and believing God that each of you who attend each week will experience significant spiritual growth. God wants you to grow.

2 Peter 3:18 says: Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and “Savior, Jesus Christ.” I used to be an English teacher. That verb “grow” is in the imperative. It’s a command. God has commanded us to grow.

If you will come week after week with an open and expectant heart, you will grow. I believe it’s going to be a great 8 weeks together.

PRAY

Invitation to become a follower of Jesus.

Weekly Memory verse: 2 Peter 3:18 (go through).

Time of prayer around front for God to help us to grow in His grace and in our knowledge of Him.

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