Discipleship Revolution
I thought today's sermon was great. There was a guest pastor by the name of Paul Butler and he spoke about his passion - helping to bring about a discipleship revolution.
Pastor Paul used three three-word mnemonics to help us join in on this discipleship revolution. He spoke from 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 and reminded us all that we should be living as disciples of Christ, not merely believers; we should live in a way inspired by Jesus Christ with our works coming by faith, our labor prompted by the love of our God (who sent His one and only son to die on the cross for our sins), and have endurance inspired by the hope of eternal life. Faith, love and hope.
One truth that Pastor Paul brought up was that it is the Holy Spirit's work that leads people to repentance and ultimately salvation. Too often I think that the words that I use, the well-contrived arguments and my rational thinking can sway people when it comes to the truth - the truth about life, love and what purpose we serve being here on earth. Wrong. We do our best but it's by God's grace and by the Holy Spirit that people are saved. The apostle Paul makes it very clear that the power of the gospel lies not in the words that we use to present it. It comes through power, deep conviction and joy given to us by the Holy Spirit. Power, conviction and joy.
I don't like being wrong about anything - nobody does. This is especially true when it comes to worldviews. When I claim to be a follower of Christ, what does that mean I think about all the other religions out there? Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So basically, this means that if God indeed exists and Jesus turns out to be God (as he claimed to be), then any other worldview that claims to have an alternate way to heaven/God/enlightenment/nirvana/whatever is wrong. I didn't make up the rules, God did - the author of life and truth. Unfortunately, this comes across as exclusivism and rubs a lot of people the wrong way. We can and should do our best to plant the seeds and water them but ultimately it's up to God and the Holy Spirit to soften hearts...
The last bit of the sermon today was focused on how to kick-start the discipleship revolution. He spoke of Jamie Oliver and how he has taken his passion for food and cooking and written a book on the "Ministry of Food". Basically, Jamie has started this "pass it on campaign" to teach people how to cook that follows a discipleship method. You learn how to make something like spaghetti bolognaise, you invite a couple of your mates over for dinner, and using the book you talk both of them through the recipe. Once they've got it down, they can each go and teach two of their mates the same recipe and the result is a powerful, exponential explosion of people who can now make this dish.
The way Jamie Oliver is spreading the joys of cooking and food to countless people is the same way that we as Christians should be spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ - through a mentorship/discipleship scheme. In fact, we should be probably be telling more than just two people because the gospel message will determine how we spend all of eternity. Food is great and everything but most of us can't even remember what we cooked or ate a few days ago. It is such a temporary and fleeting experience and within hours (or minutes for some of us) we are hungry yet again. How must more desperate should we be to teach others about the truth of Jesus Christ so that the church can grow exponentially and fulfill the great commission? Pastor Paul told us to remember three words for discipleship (which I forgot and had to be reminded of after church LoL) from a mentorship perspective:
Intentional - it needs to be proactive; we must initiate the process or it won't happen
Investment - commit to meeting once a week with someone to talk about one thing that Jesus teaches us in the bible and how to apply it to our lives today.
Imitation - we should imitate the example set by the apostle Paul and, in doing so, imitate Christ
We need to develop a passion for people through...
Faith Love Hope
Power Conviction Joy
Intentional Investment Imitation
Was just listening to a song I really like called "Revolution Cry". I believe it was originally written by Jason Wade of Lifehouse while he was with a band called Blyss. Steve Fee did a cover of it on the Passion Worship Band album "Sacred Revolution". Have a listen below =)
Pastor Paul used three three-word mnemonics to help us join in on this discipleship revolution. He spoke from 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 and reminded us all that we should be living as disciples of Christ, not merely believers; we should live in a way inspired by Jesus Christ with our works coming by faith, our labor prompted by the love of our God (who sent His one and only son to die on the cross for our sins), and have endurance inspired by the hope of eternal life. Faith, love and hope.
One truth that Pastor Paul brought up was that it is the Holy Spirit's work that leads people to repentance and ultimately salvation. Too often I think that the words that I use, the well-contrived arguments and my rational thinking can sway people when it comes to the truth - the truth about life, love and what purpose we serve being here on earth. Wrong. We do our best but it's by God's grace and by the Holy Spirit that people are saved. The apostle Paul makes it very clear that the power of the gospel lies not in the words that we use to present it. It comes through power, deep conviction and joy given to us by the Holy Spirit. Power, conviction and joy.
I don't like being wrong about anything - nobody does. This is especially true when it comes to worldviews. When I claim to be a follower of Christ, what does that mean I think about all the other religions out there? Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So basically, this means that if God indeed exists and Jesus turns out to be God (as he claimed to be), then any other worldview that claims to have an alternate way to heaven/God/enlightenment/nirvana/whatever is wrong. I didn't make up the rules, God did - the author of life and truth. Unfortunately, this comes across as exclusivism and rubs a lot of people the wrong way. We can and should do our best to plant the seeds and water them but ultimately it's up to God and the Holy Spirit to soften hearts...
The last bit of the sermon today was focused on how to kick-start the discipleship revolution. He spoke of Jamie Oliver and how he has taken his passion for food and cooking and written a book on the "Ministry of Food". Basically, Jamie has started this "pass it on campaign" to teach people how to cook that follows a discipleship method. You learn how to make something like spaghetti bolognaise, you invite a couple of your mates over for dinner, and using the book you talk both of them through the recipe. Once they've got it down, they can each go and teach two of their mates the same recipe and the result is a powerful, exponential explosion of people who can now make this dish.
The way Jamie Oliver is spreading the joys of cooking and food to countless people is the same way that we as Christians should be spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ - through a mentorship/discipleship scheme. In fact, we should be probably be telling more than just two people because the gospel message will determine how we spend all of eternity. Food is great and everything but most of us can't even remember what we cooked or ate a few days ago. It is such a temporary and fleeting experience and within hours (or minutes for some of us) we are hungry yet again. How must more desperate should we be to teach others about the truth of Jesus Christ so that the church can grow exponentially and fulfill the great commission? Pastor Paul told us to remember three words for discipleship (which I forgot and had to be reminded of after church LoL) from a mentorship perspective:
Intentional - it needs to be proactive; we must initiate the process or it won't happen
Investment - commit to meeting once a week with someone to talk about one thing that Jesus teaches us in the bible and how to apply it to our lives today.
Imitation - we should imitate the example set by the apostle Paul and, in doing so, imitate Christ
We need to develop a passion for people through...
Faith Love Hope
Power Conviction Joy
Intentional Investment Imitation
Was just listening to a song I really like called "Revolution Cry". I believe it was originally written by Jason Wade of Lifehouse while he was with a band called Blyss. Steve Fee did a cover of it on the Passion Worship Band album "Sacred Revolution". Have a listen below =)
Labels: God Thoughts, Music, Worship
posted by Matt at 12:28 AM
1 Comments:
Cool! thanks heaps for that awesome summary matt! I can really relate to you when you talk bout worrying heaps about forming awesome arguments and stuff when it comes to telling ppl the gospel- but that we should remember that the Holy Spirit is at work and that we can only do so much!
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