Discipleship

This is sermon series #2 for our reading thru Acts & Epistles to understand the early church.

The memory verse is Eph 5:22-23a

Sermon illustration

Exasperated woman honking and yelling at car In front of her when that car is slow to move when traffic light goes green.

Policement gets her to come out and arrests her.

Down at the station she is fingerprinted, mug shot and interrogated.

"Sorry there was a mistake you are free to go.

The car had church stickers etc 

When I heard you shouting and waving violently I thought you must have stolen the car."

Does our inside coincide with our outside?

God has  chosen us in advance Rom 8:29

and choses us to be like his son;

The process: discipleship

How?

Through catalysts.

God places us where the Spirit of God is positioned to transform us.

5 Catalyst

1] Scriptural Obedience

2] Spiritual Discipline

3] Sacrificial Service

4] Spiritual Relationship

5] Significant Situations

1] Scriptural Obedience

e.g. Acts 17:11

They listened eagerly and searched the scriptures day after day

Knowing the bible is the key

but knowing the bible does not change your life.

Only when you obey will change occur.

Ps 119:9

How does a person stay pure?

By obeying his  word.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

Discipleship: Seeing the darkness in your soul that sent Jesus to the cross.

Discipleship: Seeing the love of Jesus that kept him on the cross.

To move from information to transformation, use ROAD

R - READ

O - OBSERVE

A - APPLY

D - DO

R - READ

Read/ listen to the passage at least there times

First: to get a general sense

Second: reread passages that resonate

Third: reread these resonating passages

O - OBSERVE

what is it about

context

written observations

A - APPLY

list as many possible applications/ eternal principles

D - DO

Do what God has told you to do

Chose one from "APPLY" and apply it for a day

In one year you will have applied 365 God's truths in your life.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

INFORMATION

REVELATION

TRANSFORMATION

2] Spiritual Discipline

Read Memorise

Share

Gather

Spiritual discipline is NOT a mark of discipleship

Devotion is a discipline that places you in the pathway of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

To hide God's word in your heart... MEMORISE

Pro-tobacco lobbiest, heavy smoker, 

dying of throat cancer at 58 years...

"Each of us shares an infinite capacity for self deception"

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

Fail to recognise Jesus died for me

I am totally depraved

I am in need for discipleship

AS SINFUL AS I AM, 

GOD LOVE IS UTTERLY GREATER.

3] Sacrificial Service

motivated to serve

(More in week 6)

use your freedom to save one another.

Look for a need

Meet that need.

Goals and needs are similar...

4] Spiritual Relationship

Be challenged in areas where you need to grow

Relationships: Divine opportunities

Some see gospel as a ticket to heaven

in fact gospel is a ticket to transformation

Gospel is not a journey to go somewhere

Gospel is a journey of becoming someone

(Emerson)

5] Significant Situations

Growth spurts often happen when trouble visits

These are Significant Situations

Deep failure

"Its cancer"

Relationship going south

Your world collapsing 

Often catalysts for spiritual growth

James 1:2

Consider it opportunity for great joy

DIFINING MOMENTS
Great joy
great pain
Will you let these cause you to be bitter or better?
Drive you closer from or closer to God?
Depends on your attitude.
Dispair or hope?
Disbelief or faith?

Your relationship with others
Your relationship with God
become VIBRANT
through DEFINING MOMENTS
when interpreted though biblical world view.

Strobel quoting Billy Graham vs Charles Templeton

Graham struggled/ wrestled with his intellectual spiritual doubts
Till he allowed his faith to go beyond his intellect
Not intellectual suicide or spiritual suicide.
Rather a spiritual battle won.
Faith seeking understanding