January 5, 2025|Marks of a Disciple
John-Daniel Cutler
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Back in August between our Ephesians series and our 1 Corinthian series we looked at our mission strategy during a sermon entitled ‘On Mission’. Our mission strategy seeks to answer three basic corporate questions, who we are, what we are to be doing, and how we are to be doing it. Our answer to those questions is a simple statement, We are a covenant family pursuing Christ in community.
We know the mission of every church body, in ever time, and in ever location is the same, to make disciples who make disciples and we know here at Emmanuel Baptist Church we have stated our strategy for fulfilling that mission is to be a covenant family pursuing christ in community. As we gather this morning for the first Sunday of the year, I want us to think about the question ‘what are the marks of a disciple?’ What, as a church are we encouraging one another to and what are we aiming at?
How would you finish this sentence? A disciple at Emmanuel Baptist Church is…. There are many things we could list there. If we ask a 100 of you we may very well get a 100 different answers. This was the question facing our Regenesis team as we went through the process of Regenesis with the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention last year. I hope you can at once, see the importance of not only answering this question, but uniting around our answer as a body. If we are both individually and corporately called to make disciples, then we need to have a pretty good idea of what the end goal looks like.
As I stated in that previous sermon on our mission strategy, what we came up with is neither perfect or profound, but through our Regenesis process we identified three main areas that reflect maturity in a follower of Christ. They are the areas of commitment, pursuit, and community. Today, I hope to help cast a vision for what these things look like in a disciple of Christ, help you evaluate where you currently are as well as establish targets for you to aim for this year and beyond in your own lives as well as those you are discipling.
One of the documents that came out of our work through Regenesis was our church covenant. A document, that if you went though our membership matters class, you are familiar with. This is one of two documents you must affirm in order to be a member at Emmanuel Baptist Church. The other being our statement of Faith. Together these two documents make up a statement of what we believe and how we agree to live together as believers.
In our Church covenant there are three identity statements that help us understand what it means to be a follower of Christ, that seek to answer what a disciple looks like. I want to look at each one of these with you this morning. The first statement is…
I. We are people of commitment.
We believe that scripture shows that a disciple will display commitment to both Christ and His church.
It has become increasingly popular in America for someone to say, I love Jesus but I hate organized religion. In fact, for a time of my life when I was far from God, I uttered something very similar from time to time when someone would bring up church. The problem is summed up by John MacArthur well when he says.
The Bible does not envision the Christian life as one lived apart from other believers. All members of the universal church, the body of Christ, are to be actively and intimately involved in local assemblies. John F. MacArthur
The reason that both commitment to Christ and commitment to His church are tied together in our covenant is that in scripture we see the inseparable nature of Christ and His church. We can see this both by how Christ referred to his people as well as the way New Testament scriptures discuss the church. For example, in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus tells the disciples that he will build ‘my church’. It is not Peter’s church, it is not Rome’s church, it is not the Jew’s church, it is Christ’s church. In Ephesians Paul tells believers that Christ is the head of the church, his body. As inseparable as your head from your body, Christ is joined to his church. Perhaps one of the most powerful reasons for us to see an inseparability between Christ and his church is what we find in Acts chapter 9. Turn there now with me.
9:1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
Who is Saul threatening, arresting, and putting to death? The disciples of the Lord, God’s people, his called out ones. Which by the way is where we get the word ‘church’ from. The ekklēsia, or assembled ones. It is those God has called out of the world to be His people. Furthermore, he is not just persecuting them in Jerusalem, but wherever he finds them.
What does Christ say to him immediately after he knocks Paul off his feet and surrounds him with his glory? “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Jesus so closely identifies with those that belong to him that he places himself in the place of the one being persecuted.
Another instance that is important for us to see where our Lord teaches how he is related to his people. Turn over to Matthew chapter 25.
Matthew 25:31–45 (ESV)“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
Twice, concerning His final judgment, Christ makes a statement with profound implications.
‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
Jesus says that when we minister to a brother, even in the simplest ways, when we feed a brother or sister in Christ, when we supply water to them, when we welcome them, clothe them, visit them, He receives it as though we did it for Him.
So not only in persecution as is the case in Acts, but in ministering to another believer, Christ is so closely identified with his people that make up his body, his church, that it is as though we are interacting with Christ himself.
Maybe you think I am seeing too much into these verses. Can’t I love Christ and not love the people, his church? Isn’t it just about me and Jesus? Turn with me again, this time to the book of 1 John. The Apostle John was one of Jesus’ closest disciples, he sat at his feet, he learned from him, he was privy to experiences not all the other disciples got to participate in. What do you think he says about this idea of loving Christ and not loving his people? 1 John 4:20 “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
The Apostle John essentially says any profession of love for God apart from the expression of love for his people is false.
Let me say it this way, according to what scripture teaches, your love for Christ is reflected in your love for His people.
Having established, from the scriptures, the inseparable nature of Christ and His church, let us return to the idea of commitment.
I think if you asked any Christian, they would say they were committed to Christ, but have you ever stopped to ask what genuine commitment looks like? How do we put handles on this idea of being committed to Christ? I think too often we treat our commitment to Christ as intangible, as something we can simply say and it is unchallengeable.
However, commitment to Christ, like commitment to anything, is absolutely both measurable and observable. As I was studying for this sermon I came across an article on commitment that helped me think about it. It said, the quality of our commitment can be measured in terms of three basic standards. duration, intensity, and priority.
duration- how long a person is willing to give unreserved love and support to another (does not refer to quality)Time span, however, has little to do with the quality of a relationship, which is also important to commitment.intensity- the strength of feeling and depth of concern for the partner (does not refer to duration)
Just as enduring relationships may be shallow, brief encounters may be intense, so this quality too is not enough.
priority- the extent to which the relationship takes precedence over other matters
It goes on to say that these three function like braids of a rope and concludes this way.In essence commitment is measured by the value placed on the relationship and the willingness to take the responsibility for maintaining it.
If we can measure your commitment to Christ by measuring your commitment to His people, what does the value you place on the relationship you have with your church and your willingness to maintain and nurture them, say about your commitment to Christ?Don’t hear what I am not saying. I am not saying that simply being at the church every time the doors are open indicates that you are or are not committed to Christ. You can be here every time the doors are open because it is simply convenient and cost you very little. No, I am talking about the value you place on those in the pews around you, on how willing you are to engage, maintain, and nurture those relationships.
How can you self-evaluate your commitment? Here are a few questions to think about. Is there anything that could happen that would challenge my commitment to Christ or his church? How much does my concern for Christ and His church affect my day to day life? Is there anything in my life that takes precedence over Christ and his Church?
As we think about our life together as a covenant family, ask yourself how can I grow in my commitment to Christ and his church and how can I encourage those you I am discipling towards this kind of commitment?
Not only are we are people of commitment, the second area is that…
II. We are people of pursuit.
We believe that scripture shows that a disciple will display a pursuit of Christ through the Word and prayer.
I think the word English word pursue captures what we have been called to do better today than the word follow. Now, before you say it, I know that ‘follow’ is the English word that is often translated in Jesus’ call to disciples, but look at his call with me and see if you don’t agree. Turn with me to Luke chapter 9 at verse 23.
Luke 9:23–25 (ESV) And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
If anyone- this is Jesus’ call to the crowds, this is him laying down the cost of becoming a disciple, which he says looks like someone coming after me. Literally, walk behind me.
Let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me- this is where we begin to understand, he is not just talking about following him around and learning from him as one option among many, but a total abandonment of self, an embracing of the death of self, and becoming a follower of Christ’s way.
Then Christ is going to explain the two options before every would be follower. You can pursue what the world has to offer and lose your life, or you can forfeit your life, pursue Christ and save it.
We are by nature a pursuing people. From the moment we are born we are pursuing- whether its satisfaction, desire, success, comfort, fame, and the list goes on. But by nature, none of us pursue God. Turn with me to Romans chapter 3. Paul, quoting the Psalmists, says in Romans 3:10-12 Romans 3:10–12 (ESV)as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Christ says to be His disciple, you must turn from the pursuit of self and to the pursuit of Christ, which can only happen with divine intervention. When God brings you to life, removes your heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh, giving you new desires and a new pursuit in life.
Then, why do we, as believers still struggle? Because although we have been made alive in the spirit, we are still dead in the flesh. We still carry around the sinful flesh, which the Bible says, wages war against us. So do we give in and just continue to pursue the things of the flesh? God forbid!
No, God did not just bring us to life, he sends the Spirit of the Son into our hearts, right? This is what we saw last week, who cries Abba! Father! We are not alone in our battle against the flesh and its desires.
As believers, we now possess something we did not before, the Spirit of God who empowers us to pursue Christ likeness, to pursue holiness, to pursue God. We are now connected to God in a way that we were not before. To pursue Christ is to both want and pursue what God wants for your life. What is God’s purpose for your life?
Romans 8:26–30 (ESV) Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Here Paul says God’s purpose in predestination of those whom he is going to glorify is that they be conformed to the image of his son. To come to Christ is to become like Christ.
For the first disciples following Christ meant physically accompanying him, leaving their old lives behind and going where he went, spending time with him, learning from him, being encouraged, challenged, and confronted by him. There was a relationship between disciple and teacher, one that Jesus expected to continue through his disciples. Go make disciples who make disciples. (great commission)
The question is how to we pursue Christ today, post ascension and pre-return? Christ has given us many gifts that enable us, His bride, His under-shepherds, and His Spirit. Personally, the Spirit enables us through gifts and through sanctification, but how are we to relate to Christ through these, what boundaries are in place that help us remain both connected with and grounded in our relationship to God through the Spirit? There is much out there attributed to the work of the Spirit, how do we know what is both genuine and what we should be looking for in our own lives?
Warren Wiersbe says it this way.
The Holy Spirit empowers us from within through the Word of God and prayer. Warren W. Wiersbe
We know the Spirit of God helps us understand the Word of God, which contains everything we need for maturity in Christ. We do not need to look outside of God’s Word in order to grow in Christ. If we believe the word of God is true, then we believe what it says concerning itself. In 2 Timothy we find some of Paul’s final words to his disciple Timothy. He says…
2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
All scripture is breathed out by God- This is God’s word, literally Paul says ‘God-breathed’. It is profitable for- it is advantageous, good for what?For reproof- convicting us of what is Godly and what is notfor correction- having convicted us, it shows us what is correctfor training in righteousness- having convicted us, having shown us what is correct, it guides us to live out God’s truth
What does Paul say the outworking of this ministry of God’s word is? Two thingsThat the man of God may be complete- fitted or formedThat the man of God may be equipped for every good work- furnished
Don’t miss this. Paul says God’s word is all we need to be fitted and furnished for what? Every good work.
Does that sound familiar? In Ephesians Paul tells us the purpose God saved us for is that we should walk in the good works God prepared beforehand. How do we walk in them? By being shaped and equipped through the scriptures. So one of the ways we pursue Christ is by being in the word, understanding and implementing Biblical truths. We do this through not only our corporate Bible studies, but through personal study. We pursue Christ by submitting to the authority of the scriptures and the truth it contains.
The second way we pursue Christ is through prayer. I really liked one definition of prayer that I found in my studies that said in part “Prayer is continuing a conversation that God has started through his Word and his grace”.
A conversation that scripture tells us that we are to be constant in, to be praying at all times, to be devoted to this ongoing conversation with God. Why? Because apart from God’s power we cannot fulfill the purposes of God in becoming more Christ-like or evangelizing the world.
A former pastor of mine used the analogy of a plane. If you imagine the body of the plane, the fuselage as the Christian life, the wings that carry us along are the Word and Prayer, and the destination Christ-like maturity. The word and prayer are the things that carry us forward in the power of Christ. We cannot pursue Christ if either one of these elements are missing in our lives.
Why? Because following Christ, or pursuing Christ is not a one time decision, event, or moment in time. It is an ongoing, lifelong pursuit. Finally this morning, not only are we people of commitment and people of pursuit…
III. We are people who connect and care.
We believe that scripture shows that a disciple will display a love for and building of community through connecting and caring.
If you think about it, this is the natural outworking of the first two. If we are committed to both Christ and His Church, if we are people pursuing Christ through his word and power, how could we not be people who minister to those around us?
In the New Testament, there are over 50 ‘one another’ passages in the New Testament that instruct us on how to relate to one another. Our literal manual for how to live the Christian life is constantly pointing us to how to love one another within the family of God.While we cannot possible go through every one of them, we can get a general idea by examining the things they address. (from https://overviewbible.com/one-another-infographic/)
Unity. One third of the one-another commands deal with the unity of the church. Such as…Mark 9:50 …be at peace with one another.”” John 6:43 …“Do not grumble among yourselves.” Romans 12:16 “Live in harmony with one another…Romans 15:7 “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you…Galatians 5:26 “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” Ephesians 4:2 “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,” Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” 1 Thessalonians 5:15 “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.”
Love. One third of them instruct Christians to love one anotherThe most common one simply to…Love one another (repeated some 11 times)Galatians 5:13 “…through love serve one another.” Romans 12:10 “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
Humility. About 15% stress an attitude of humility and deference among believers.Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Romans 12:16 Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.” Ephesians 5:21 “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” 1 Peter 5:5 …Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another…
The rest tell us things like…Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Ephesians 4:25 …let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” Hebrews 10:24 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,” James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another…1 Peter 4:9 “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”
All of these point us to relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ that go beyond casual or superficial relationships. These commands require depth of commitment, an posture of self-sacrifice, and an attitude of intentionality.
What does that mean? It means we must seek to build intentional relationships with those around us, beginning in our own families, continuing into our church, the community around us, and as much as it is possible for us, extending into the far reaches of the world. These relationships will not happen by accident. I have to value you enough as not only a fellow church member, but as a brother or sister in Christ to want to personally do spiritual good to you through caring for your needs.
Furthermore, although building relationships with people who share common interests, common backgrounds, similar ages and stages of life is the most natural and easiest, nowhere in scripture are we told that our responsibility ends there. These relationships are to be grounded in Christ. I have said it before and I will say it again, I have more important things in common with a Chinese brother in Christ living half way around the world than I do with a lost neighbor who looks like me, talks like me, and shares common interests with me. If that’s true, and it is, then you can look around this place and find the believer most different than you and you fundamentally have more in common than you can possibly imagine.
Ask yourself, is your church experience on a Sunday morning going to same class of 15 or so people you already know, then sitting with handful of people you already like, and then fellowshipping with those same few people on your way out? I don’t say that to shame you, if I am not careful, my Sundays can look just like that. But friends, don’t you see, we are called to more. We are called to be so intimately involved with the people in our church that we know their burdens, that we know what would encourage and build them up, that we know how to stir them up to love and good works, that we know the best way to serve them in love. We are to be so close to one another that there is tension and friction that we gives us opportunity to forgive and to practice patience towards one another. This is what we mean when we say, we are people who connect.
Then having connected in these deeply Christ-centered relationships, we are to care for one another. God has entrusted us all, (young or old, rich or poor, able or disabled, and everything in between) with a certain amount of time, talents, and resources. Things we are to steward towards his glory and one another’s good. In a church our size, there ought to not be one genuine need among the brethren that we cannot and do not meet. There ought not be one genuine hurt that is not ministered to. There ought not be one individual who belongs to Christ that does not feel welcomed, loved, and served in this body. Amen?
This is not a social club, this is not like a gym membership, this is not a checklist, these are your people. These are who God has called you to love and serve.
Someone might say, that’s all well and good pastor, but doesn’t that mean we would just be internally focused? Aren’t we supposed to be caring for the world around us? Friends, two things. One, it isn’t either or, it is both and. Two, if we are not caring for each other, if we are not a healthy expression of the body of Christ, what good do you think we can do the world?
My family recently flew to Arizona and back and then to California and back and do you know that there is one thing that will always happen before you take off? The flight attendants will cover the relevant safety issue. After general instructions, they will go down the aisle to all the rows with children and say to the parents. In the event of an emergency and the air masks drop, put yours on first and then assist your children. To every single row with kids. Why? Because if you pass out, your not going to be able to help those depending on you. Friends, if we are not caring for one another, if we are not loving one another, there is no way we will be able to care for those who need it most in the world.
Hopefully, you see the necessity of being people who connect and care and now you are asking, where do I start? I have never done church this way. Aristotle once said, people become home builders through building houses, harp players through playing the harp. We become just by doing things which are just.
How do we become people who connect and care? By doing things to connect and care. One act of connection, one act of service, and then another, and another. Find someone you don’t know and sit with them on Sunday or Wednesday evening. Go to a different Sunday school class, invite a family in the church to your house for lunch, or game night. It is not complicated, but it does require intentionality and sacrifice. But anything less is not Christ like concern and love for one another.
We began our time this morning with a simple question. How would you finish this sentence? A disciple at Emmanuel Baptist Church is… I pray that you see that a disciple at EBC is someone who is committed, to both Christ and this body, someone who pursues Christ through his word and prayer, and someone who builds community through connecting and caring. My desire is that this would give us a common goal to strive for in our own lives, as well as those we are discipling in Christ.
This morning, our response time is going to look a little different. We are going to take the Lord’s Supper in response to our sermon. Here’s what I want you to reflect on during the supper, how in its observation we see all of these elements we have talked about this morning.
Commitment to Christ because we come to the table understanding that apart from his sustaining influence we are nothing.Commitment to one another because we do not take it as individuals but as a body of believers. Pursuit of Christ through his word, because we are obeying our Lord’s commands in scripture to observe it together. Pursuit of Christ through prayer, because as we observe it, we are to be praying. Praying for God to search our hearts, praying for him to show us anything our brother or sister may have against us, showing us any forgiveness we may be withholding. Connecting with one another, because we are not only thinking about ourselves, but about every other believer taking the supper with us. Caring for one another, because we collectively are encouraging one another to continue trusting in Christ, to continue relying on him, and to continue pursuing him.
I am going to pray for you as our ushers and deacons move into place for the supper. Let us pray.
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