Are You In The "D" League?

In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Martha shared with us the need for every believer to be committed to discipleship.

Our pastor noted that, for many Christians, there is a tendency to ignore or postpone spiritual disciplines that ought to be central to our lives. If we are not devoted to personal development as disciples, it becomes virtually impossible to effectively disciple others.

Pastor Martha reminded us of Jesus’s words: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19a). And, in reminding us, our pastor also cautioned us. She said (paraphrased here), We were not told to go and make believers. We were called to go and make disciples.

So, as we continue our faith-life, let us be diligent in obeying our Lord. If we are aware that our current state of spiritual development is not where it should be, we have an opportunity today to draw nearer to God.

Read the word of God, every day.

Pray, every day.

Look for opportunities to share His love, every day.

Will you, believer, live the life of a disciple?

Lord God, please forgive us for having drifted away from Your presence. Renew in us the desire to do Your will in the simple, basic, necessary acts of the Christian faith. Help us to connect with You: not merely in times of crisis, but every day. Help us to be true disciples, so that we can make true disciples. We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Clarion Call

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. (Luke 24:50-53)

Pastor Sam shared with us that Jesus responded to the disciples’ doubt with a clarifying mandate. The mandate was to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19a). The Luke account of the disciples’ commission describes how the disciples returned to Jerusalem: “with great joy” (Luke 24:52b). Their ministry was launched not in fear of the Pharisees and religious leaders of the time, but with praise to their Lord.

We, too, are called to go and make disciples. It is not solely a call to those who hold the ministry office of apostle, evangelist, or pastor. Every Christian holds this call to share the gospel.

Let us approach our evangelism mandate with great joy.

Let us praise God, completely freed from the fear of man.

Let us share, everywhere, the truth of the gospel.

Lord God,

You have called us;

You have saved us;

You have sent us.

We praise You!

We rejoice in You!

God, search our hearts and find no fear.

Find in us pure adoration of Your Grace.

Find in us pure desire to do what makes You smile.

We love You… and we will go wherever You send us.

Empower us to draw the world to You.

We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Thomas And “Them”…

When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. (Matthew 28:17)

On Sunday, Pastor Sam gave us an encouraging word: there can be authentic worship even in the face of doubt.

When we think of the word “doubt” in Scripture, most Christians familiar with their Bibles tend to default to Thomas, the disciple who had missed the first post-Resurrection meeting between Jesus and the other ten disciples. Thomas was very vocal about his unbelief concerning the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. But Thomas was present for the second encounter, and he believed. These eleven disciples then met the Lord in Galilee, having walked about 90-100 miles from where they had seen him in Jerusalem (see John 20:19- 21:14).

So, we have this curious post-Resurrection situation: Thomas had seen Jesus twice. The other ten disciples had seen Him three times. And, in the face of these multiple appearances, there was still doubt… and not just in the heart of Thomas. Other disciples felt it too.

What about you? Do you feel it? Have doubts clouded your discipleship? Do you have things happening in your life that make you question whether you've really had an encounter with the living God?

The prescription for doubt is authentic worship. Pastor Sam said (paraphrased here), If you are obediently worshiping instead of disobeying by staying away, if you are doing your best even in the face of doubts, if you are engaged with God through sincere worship of Him, then your doubts will be addressed by the resurrected Christ.

We serve an amazing Lord. In the Matthew 28 account, Jesus responded to the doubt with a declaration of His power and with a dispatching of His disciples: Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:18-19a). In other words, doubt could not disqualify the disciples from service so long as they were found obedient in worship.

Is there doubt in your heart today? Don't let it deter you from your devotion.

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Unexcused Absence.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)

As we read Matthew 28:16, we see that Jesus told the disciples to go to Galilee. In the narrative, though, we see that Matthew begins the verse with a significant head count: “Then the eleven disciples…”

In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Sam encouraged us to reflect on a question: Who is missing, and why? Most people familiar with Christianity know that Jesus called twelve disciples, and that Judas Iscariot was the disciple who was missing from the head count. But, have we taken the time to really consider the “why” of Judas’s absence?

It is not simply that Judas had committed suicide after his betrayal of Jesus. Pastor Sam noted that, prior to the betrayal, Judas exhibited certain behaviors that indicated he was not exclusively devoted to our Lord. We were asked to remember the story of Mary’s offering in John 12:3-6. It says:

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Let’s consider three points that our pastor shared:

Judas loathed authentic worship. In the face of Mary’s offering, Judas responded not with praise of God, but with a harsh criticism of Mary’s worship: Why did she give to Jesus what could have been given to someone else?

Judas lied about his motivation. Though his mention of the needs of the poor seemed noble, Judas was using the plight of the poor as a cover for his own indiscretions.

Judas lived a life of compromise. Entrusted with the role of treasurer, Judas had grown comfortable with embezzlement. He maintained his position as a disciple while also being able to satisfy his desire for money.

Pastor Sam gave us an important warning (paraphrased here): Judas was a ranking disciple, and yet he was derailed by his unwillingness to renounce his love for monetary gain. And so we ask ourselves the hard questions:

v  Are we, at the risk of our soul’s salvation, modeling the way of Judas?

v  Is there something, or someone, that we have permitted to overtake our desire for Jesus?

v  Is there something, or someone, that we have decided to embrace even though we know our decision is in disobedience to the commands of Christ?

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.