A Vision for Discipleship

Pastor Mike will be speaking on A Vision for Discipleship. He will be in Colossians 2:6-7.

When people say, well, you know, I’m not good at sharing my faith. I’m not good at being an evangelist. I tell them, look, you don’t have to be good. What you have to do is to have a heart that desires to see souls won to Jesus Christ.

Happy Father’s Day. I hope you’re ready to look into the Word of God and to be encouraged and challenged, not just as fathers, but as even believers, as we are following Christ. We’re going to be in the Book of Colossians, chapter 2, verse 6 and 7.

I’ve entitled my message, A Renewed Vision for Discipleship. At the heart of parenting is really discipleship. Sometimes we complicate parenting with all the techniques and tactics of trying to manipulate the will of a child and to get certain outcomes that we desire when really all it’s about is discipling them in the faith and helping them to mature to be more like Christ each and every day.

Well, let’s get together and let’s get into our Bibles and let’s study A Renewed Vision for Discipleship. I want to cast before us A Renewed Vision for Discipleship on this day that is celebrated for dads.

This day where we remember and we give thanks for fathers in our life. I want to challenge all the men in our church to have a renewed vision for discipleship. Now, ladies, you are not left out because these principles are applicable to you.

And I want to encourage you, ladies, as well to understand that God is calling you to a new vision, a renewed vision, excuse me, of discipleship. Remember, the Scriptures teach us this, that the men are to train the young men and the women are to train the young women.

This is how God designed it. that the older men and the older women would train the younger men and the younger women within the church family. And we have this responsibility of discipleship. When we think of discipleship, I want you to think on two tracks this morning.

First of all, my own spiritual growth, my own spiritual formation and discipleship. How am I doing? Am I on this track where I am growing? Am I progressing in my faith where I am being stronger and I am better and I am more committed to Christ than I have ever been in my life?

But I also want you to think on the track of who am I helping? Who am I helping in the church that I might help them to spiritually grow? That I might help them to encourage them in their faith. So a renewed vision of discipleship.

In the New Testament, the word disciple means a learner. or a follower and really you could term it like this a disciplined learner a disciplined follower that is a true disciple a disciple is one who walks with christ who grows in his or her relationship with christ just as it is true in the physical world growth in one’s spiritual life requires that we get plenty of food and exercise in our life and so spiritually if we are going to spiritually grow we need to have the intake of god’s spiritual food and then we need to practice and exercise if you will what god is calling us to do and to live out what we have been taught sometimes i tell people that you’re educated beyond your obedience you’re educated beyond your obedience and they look at me and they say pastor what in the world are you talking about and that is this that you have so much knowledge and you have so much information in your head and your heart about jesus christ but you’re not taking it out there and obeying what god has taught you and living out what christ has given us so i challenge you today that it’s not just that i want you to be intellectually smart about jesus or the bible but i’m challenging you to obey god and live out your faith every day of your life spiritual maturity is not automatic you don’t just wake up one day and say hey i’m spiritually mature no my friends it is a process in our life that requires effort on our part so god’s goal is that we would grow and that we would do this by being discipled and discipling others so how can we do this let’s learn a little more about this and i want you to look at colossians chapter 2 And verse 6 through 7 gives us some basic principles to help us as we have a renewed vision of discipleship.

The Bible says in verse 6, As you therefore have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in Him. Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

So the first thing I want you to learn this morning is that discipleship has a beginning. Notice that in verse 6 again. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus, the Lord. Walking with Christ has a beginning for every disciple.

And that beginning is to receive Jesus Christ. And I know that some of you might say to me, Mike, why would you talk about that? Because it’s important to understand that you cannot. Be a disciple without being born again into the kingdom of God.

The scripture says as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in his name. This is where it all begins. It begins with faith in Jesus Christ.

You want to walk with Christ? You don’t get religion. You don’t just simply go through the motions and take a bunch of classes. Know my friends, you must come to the point where you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.

And that is the question. Are we true disciples? Have we truly been born again? You can grow up in the church, cut your teeth on the pew, and you can be raised in a Christian home, but never know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Remember this, that many people miss heaven by 12 inches. They have the head knowledge, but they do not have Jesus in their heart. The most important thing is that we make sure that we know Jesus Christ.

That it is your responsibility to make sure that your children know Jesus Christ as their Lord. Number two, it is your responsibility to make sure that they are growing in their faith. But it all begins with faith in Christ.

When people say, well, you know, I’m not good at sharing my faith. I’m not good at being an evangelist. I tell them, look, I think that you need to understand. You don’t have to be good. You don’t have to be highly skilled.

You don’t have to be highly effective. What you have to do is to have a heart that desires to see souls won to Jesus Christ. And maybe you’re scared to go out there and knock on a door. But let me tell you where you can begin.

You can begin with your children. You can begin with your grandchildren. Let me ask you, have you made sure, have you had the tough conversation with your children? to make sure that they know the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you taken time to talk to them about the gospel of Jesus Christ? Have you talked to your grandchildren? Have you talked to them? Let me encourage you. Some of you, you’re at the fourth quarter of your life where you have come upon this season in your life where I’m sure that you think a lot about your children and grandchildren and where they spend eternity.

That’s the most important thing. And I wanna encourage you to write letters, send cards, pick up the phone, and find ways to connect with your children and grandchildren and make sure that they know Jesus Christ because this is where it all begins.

It begins as you have received Christ. And I want to encourage you to make sure that you are having that conversation. Now, how is it that we receive Jesus Christ? First, we hear the message of the gospel.

You know the Bible says faith comes by what? Hearing and hearing the what? Didn’t you miss all that? Didn’t you miss that, that Pastor Mike keeps asking you to finish the Bible verse? Well friends, we’re back at it.

And here’s the thing, you gotta hear the gospel message. When I was a young boy at 11 years old, I had never heard the gospel message, never. But this little church had a little bus ministry and they brought me to church and they put me on the front row and the preacher taught me that I was a sinner.

And he taught me that Jesus loved me and that he went to the cross and died for my sins and that if I would only believe in him and trust him for my salvation, that God would forgive me and my friends, it was the first time I ever heard it.

And it was the first time that I ever understood it. And you see friends, the key to helping people understand the gospel is to share the gospel. You don’t have to be a Bible college graduate. You don’t have to be eloquent in your presentation.

There are many times that I’ve stumbled and fumbled in sharing the gospel and people repent and believe in Jesus Christ. And I think, wow, that was the worst presentation ever. I mean, there have been times I’ve gotten up here and preached on money, how you ought to give and you ought to be a good steward of your resources that God’s entrusted and people get saved.

And I think, how is that possible? It is the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Do you believe that church? The Spirit of God takes the word of God and breaks the heart of a man, a woman, and a child and helps them to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I really don’t remember much of the sermon, except John 3 16. I don’t remember much of what the preacher said, but he just kept hammering down that I needed to get saved, that there was a heaven to gain and there was a hell to shun and he encouraged us to give our lives fully to Jesus Christ.

And so friends, that’s what I want for you. You receive Christ by hearing the Bible. message you receive Christ by repenting and believing don’t let the word repent cause you to stumble because it does not mean that you got to do some big cry fest but what it does mean is you have to change direction you have to change directions do some people get very emotional certainly and we rejoice but emotion does not authenticate your repentance you understand that a lot of people cry but it doesn’t mean they’re sincere what I’m telling you authenticate your repentance is that you walk out of here changed and you walk a different direction and you see friends there wasn’t a lot of crying when I got saved it would just made a lot of sense to me Jesus loves me he died on the cross for my sins the pastor said come forward get saved I went forward they came down the altar worker said Mike you’re a sinner I said okay I’m a sinner and he said then you need to understand Jesus died for you and I said okay and he said do you want to ask Jesus to be your Savior I said yes and he said well then let’s pray together and I said yes and when I got up listen to me friends it’s not that all of a sudden I was this perfect man but my heart had changed I now wanted to learn the Bible I wanted to know more about Jesus I drove my pastor crazy I was one of those crazy new Christians you ever met those crazy new Christians they call you and they’re hungry and they want to learn the Bible that’s so wonderful I love it and that’s the change it’s within and that change continues to grow that’s true repentance and faith is trust that I’m trusting in Christ for my salvation I’m not trying to work my way there I’m not trying to earn my way there I’m not trying to impress anybody to get to heaven but I’m fully trusting in what Christ did on the cross for my salvation so that’s what the beginning of discipleship is is receiving Jesus Christ the second thing that I want you to learn is that discipleship involves action now let’s look at verse 6 and 7 again of Colossians chapter 2 he tells us that we are to walk in him rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as you have been taught abounding in it now friends it requires action you got to walk like you just can’t spiritually sit on the couch and eat potato chips all day and watch pastor Mike online forever you got to get up and you got to start walking with Christ and walking for Christ you have to understand that it’s wonderful to be saved but God wants you to grow God wants you to continue to be built up in him it’s just like you as a father just like you as a mother you want your children to grow you don’t want them to be stunted now I know some of the ladies they want their children to be little babies forever,

amen? That’s what some of the ladies tell me. And I say, no, listen, here’s the thing about parenting is that your job is that they grow up and they move out. Yes, that’s your job. Okay, now some people parent their kids that they’ll be forever dependent on them and that they’ll be forever living with them.

Now look, I know some of you may fully disagree, but here’s my point. You grow up your children and we want them to move on. We want them to move forward in life. We don’t want them to stay little babies.

And so it is spiritually, God does not want you to stay as a little baby. He wants you to grow. So let’s look at some words and phrases in this text that help us to understand the action that God wants.

First, he uses the word in verse seven being rooted. It’s the image here of a tree. We only see when we look at a tree, what is above the ground. We can’t see the roots, but it’s the root system that provides.

the support and the nourishment of the tree strong roots stabilize growth in your spiritual life you are called to be rooted in the faith rooted in Jesus Christ rooted now when I moved from Oklahoma I was born and raised in Stillwater Oklahoma and one of the biggest changes I went from Stillwater to North Carolina how about that and you know in Oklahoma all the trees are short and stubby they’re short and stubby there’s hardly any trees in Oklahoma by the way and the reason is is because we have a lot of tornadoes and if those trees aren’t rooted guess what they’re leaving they’re being uprooted thrown around when you go to North Carolina all the trees are tall and skinny and I thought what in the world what’s up with these trees and you see friends a tree that is rooted is a tree that is stabilized and can handle the storms of life God is calling us to make sure that we are rooted the scripture refers to this about a believer who is firmly rooted psalm 13 and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season his leaf shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall prosper this is what God wants you to be rooted why should I be under the word of God in its teaching so I can be rooted why should I read my bible every day so I can be rooted why should I have time with Christ to learn and grow in my faith so I can be rooted I’m challenging you this morning to be rooted but I’m also challenging you to help others get rooted in the bible I’m challenging you to take on this renewed vision of discipleship and that you yourself would be committed to growing and being rooted in God’s word the second phrase that he uses is that we are to be built up in him.

Now this is the idea of a building. This is the idea of a building that is growing brick by brick, block by block. The Scriptures tell us in Jude chapter 1 verse 20, you beloved building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.

And the point is that we’re to be building ourselves up on the most holy faith. Now he’s not just talking about when he refers to faith here about trusting God, but he’s talking about the faith of what we believe.

You need to know what you believe, why you believe it, you need to be able to defend what you believe. And so you’ve got to help people. So one of the things that I do as a pastor is that I always want to be discipling others.

And so just yesterday morning, met with a young man, helping him. We’re going through a Bible study together. I’m trying to help him understand what the Bible teaches about the basic doctrines of the faith.

What are the basic things that he needs to believe? And I want him to be built up in the most holy faith. I want him to be built up in the faith that has been handed down to me. And it was handed down to my mentors.

And it was handed down to their mentors. And it eventually came from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who mentored the apostles and they mentored other disciples and it continued on and on and on. And this is your job church.

And how simple can it be that you would mentor others even within your own family. That you would have a passion to make sure that people are being built up in the faith. Now we must build on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter three, I want you to just flip over there real quickly. 1 Corinthians chapter three. And I want you to note in verse 11. For no other foundation can one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

That’s important, that’s the foundation. As we are building people up, they must know Christ. They must believe in Christ. They must have received Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw, each one’s work will become clear for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one’s work of what sort it is.

If anyone’s work which he has built on, it endures he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss but he himself will be saved yet so as through fire. Now here’s what he’s teaching, is that all the materials that we are using to build our faith up, all that we’re doing to help our faith be built.

in the most holy faith is going to be tested before God. It is gonna go through the refiner’s fire. And if you have built your faith on wood, hay, and stubble, it will all be burned up. But if you have built it upon the precious stones and gold and silver, it will come out of the refiner’s fire and it will be stronger than ever.

God, on the day of judgment, will test all that we have done and are doing for the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why when you build up your faith, when you build up what you know and understand about the Bible and God’s Word, it must be done with the right material.

Now, I want you to understand when we think about the right material, that first of all, we must think about our motives. Why do we study the Bible? Are you studying the Bible to impress others? Are you studying the Bible so you can be Mr.

Bible Man? Are you studying the Bible because you want others to think you’re highly intelligent? All that burns up. That’s wood, hay, and stuff. Our motives are part of the material. Now, what are these materials?

God’s work is part of the material, you see? When you align your faith with the Word of God, not the philosophies of man, not with the opinions and preferences of man. Don’t build your faith. Now, listen to me, church.

I know you’re going to struggle. But don’t build your faith on politics. Build your faith on the solid Word of God. Because it will endure. It will last. And you see, friends, all that’s going on in this crazy world, I just continue to filter it through the Word of God.

And I am not shaken. I am not frightened. Why? Because my faith is built upon the Word of God. And it’s important that you use the right material. Prayer is an important material in building your faith.

You know, when Jesus had his disciples come to him and they said, teach us to pray, he did not offer a class. He did not even say, read this book or this manual on how to pray. But you know what the Bible says?

He began to pray because more is caught than taught. And one of the greatest ways you can be a mentor and you can disciple your family and you can disciple people within the church is to simply bring them along with you and that you could get together and pray together.

You could get together and read the Bible together. You could get together and you could make a visit together. You could go and encourage others. You see, more is caught than taught. And so it wasn’t that Pastor Mike went to all these wonderful…

classes in his little church. It’s just that, the deacons, the pastor, different people in the church, my Sunday school teacher, they just said, come along with us. And I learned how to pray by being with God’s people.

On Wednesday night, we would all gather around the altar in Oklahoma. Everybody prays at the same time. There is no, you pray first, you pray second, you pray third. We’re all praying at the same time.

And when I was a young Christian, I didn’t know or understand that. And I was a little scared at first, but that’s what they did. But I learned how to pray by watching other great godly men in the church pray.

I learned how to pray by looking at the examples. And this is why I’m saying dads, be an example. To be a leader is not to have a position. To be a leader is not to have a title. But to be a leader is to be an example.

Be an example in the church. I challenge you. to be that example, be the example of prayer, the example of Bible study, the example of a servant for God. He teaches us not only are we to be rooted and not only are we to be built up, but we are to be established in the faith.

Now the word established might also be translated confirm. And it is the idea of continuous action that we are to continually be established in the faith, that it’s a lifelong journey. You’re always growing.

You know, the Bible teaches us, we never arrive. We never get to the point that we are perfect on this world. We thank God that one day we’ll be called out of this sinful world and we will stand before God flawless.

But now we’re on this journey and we’re still growing and we’re still learning and we’re still being established. The apostle Peter taught us, he that lacketh these things is blind. He cannot see afar off and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sin.

The apostle Peter was teaching us that there are many things you need to add to your faith. And he goes through a whole list of them and I encourage you to read them. And he says, if you don’t do these things, you are someone who cannot see afar off.

You have become blind. The idea is that you are nearsighted. Now I’m nearsighted, so I relate so much to this verse. I wear contacts and I have glasses. I just rarely wear them outside in public, but I do have glasses.

And when I don’t have my contacts in and I don’t have my glasses on, I’m blind as a bat. Honest to God, I can’t see anything far away. I can see it right in front of me, but I can’t see anything far away.

And here’s what I think happens spiritually, is that when our faith is not growing, we lose sight. We lose perspective. We become blinded by the circumstances of this world. We lose purpose. And we can’t see God’s perfect plan, even in the midst of all this chaos.

We can’t see that God is at- work even in the midst of all this that is going on. I can tell you that this has shaken a lot of people and has opened new doors for me to witness for Christ and to be able to share Christ.

I can tell you that more people, even since we’ve opened our doors here, have been visiting. We have had visitors on Sunday, not at eight o ‘clock. Nobody’s visiting at eight o ‘clock, okay? But they are coming so far.

Every Sunday we’ve had visitors. We’ve had visitors. And I’m so glad because God is working even in the midst of all this. Sometimes God takes away your security so you’ll look up to Him, right church?

Now, the third and last point. Discipleship produces results. Now, what are the results of walking with Christ? I want you to look at verse seven. He’s already taught us as you have been taught abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Now, notice that as you have been taught, that’s why I’m trying to say to you is that when you become a disciple, You teach others. That’s one of the results. When you are walking with Christ, you’re so full of Christ.

You wanna tell others. You wanna help others. There are other Christians that need you. They need your friendship. They need your fellowship. They need your prayers. They need for you to be a blessing to them.

The second result is that you will be abounding in it. You see, when I am growing, I continue to grow. Growth leads to growth. Momentum brings more momentum. And you see, when I’m just sitting there and I’m not really activating my faith, then I lose that momentum for God.

But as I am growing and discipling and discipling others, I continue to abound. How many a teacher has told me, pastor, I’ve grown more as a Bible study leader, as a Sunday school teacher than I ever did before.

But here’s the last result. Did you see it? Did you see it in verse seven? With what church? Thanksgiving. Okay, when it’s all said and done, there’s only two things that matter, faith and family. When it’s all said and done, the legacy that you leave will be your faith and your family, that’s it.

Who have you passed the faith onto? Who in your family that when you leave this world, you need to make sure that they know Christ. You can’t go another day without making sure that they are not only know Him, but are growing in Him.

That’s all that matters, church. And there’s nothing that’ll bring more Thanksgiving to your heart than the legacy of your faith. You may not have a lot to leave your children and your grandchildren, but the most precious thing you can leave them is your faith that is founded in Jesus Christ.

Walking with Christ has a beginning, and that beginning is receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord. That’s the most important thing when it comes to discipling our children, is making sure that they know Christ, and then after they know that they’re growing, and then teaching them to serve, and helping them to share.

Christ with others. As we take this strategy of discipling our children, no matter where we are, maybe some of you are grandparents and some of you are mentors and maybe you’re a teacher, whatever your role is in life, remember that God always puts people in our life, that we can disciple, encourage, and that we can mentor.

So take advantage of that opportunity knowing that God is at work. Have you heard about our podcasts? Yes, you can go to our website, hopeworthhaving .com, and you can sign up for our podcasts. You can go to Google, Apple, whatever kind of phone you have, and I want you to know that you can have those podcasts downloaded to your phone each and every day.

So you might be out exercising, you might be taking a beautiful walk enjoying the creation that God has for each one of us to enjoy, and how wonderful it would be to get the podcasts of Hope Worth Having and each and every time it’s an opportunity for you to grow in your faith, to be stirred and inspired to love God and to love people.

I want to encourage you to take advantage of that opportunity. This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having.