Disciples
It is the Lord’s desire for us to be His disciples. This past Sunday I shared what the Lord has been laying on my heart concerning this. He has not just called us to saving faith, but to be His disciples. He has not called us to merely make converts, but to make disciples. It seems that the Lord sees this as something extremely important, it is His plan. The question is, is it our plan? I want to remind you what I shared Sunday about the three types of people we find in our established churches. I divide these into three groups…the followers, the believers, and the disciples.The followers are characterized by being curiosity driven. They want to have Jesus as a means to get their personal agenda accomplished. They are the crowd looking to be excited through an event, more than through a continual long term growth process. Finally, they are always looking for the latest and the greatest. There is no discipline, no growth, no commitment…they are not about Christ, but about their personal stimulation and agenda. The believers have put their genuine trust in Christ as Savior, and this is where we all must begin. The unfortunate thing is that far too many in this category have seen this as the goal instead of the beginning of their Christian faith walk. They are characterized by having faith as a part of their life, and not their life. They have a love for God and for others on a limited basis. This group trust God for their eternal destiny, but have difficulty trusting Him as God of everything. They have the tendency to desire comfort rather than being challenged. Finally, their Christianity is a mile wide and an inch deep. Unfortunately, this describes the majority of professing Christians in the Church. The disciples are those who are moving toward applying Jesus’ requirement for His disciples. They are willing to deny themselves; to give it all up for Christ. They are willing to take up the cross; to die to self. Finally, they have made a decision to genuinely and completely follow Christ. Unfortunately, this is a minority of professing Christians in the Church. May God find real disciples here at First Baptist and not just followers or mere believers.
(September 2011 Newsletter)
Disciples
It is the Lord’s desire for us to be His disciples. This past Sunday I shared what the Lord has been laying on my heart concerning this. He has not just called us to saving faith, but to be His disciples. He has not called us to merely make converts, but to make disciples. It seems that the Lord sees this as something extremely important, it is His plan. The question is, is it our plan? I want to remind you what I shared Sunday about the three types of people we find in our established churches. I divide these into three groups…the followers, the believers, and the disciples.The followers are characterized by being curiosity driven. They want to have Jesus as a means to get their personal agenda accomplished. They are the crowd looking to be excited through an event, more than through a continual long term growth process. Finally, they are always looking for the latest and the greatest. There is no discipline, no growth, no commitment…they are not about Christ, but about their personal stimulation and agenda. The believers have put their genuine trust in Christ as Savior, and this is where we all must begin. The unfortunate thing is that far too many in this category have seen this as the goal instead of the beginning of their Christian faith walk. They are characterized by having faith as a part of their life, and not their life. They have a love for God and for others on a limited basis. This group trust God for their eternal destiny, but have difficulty trusting Him as God of everything. They have the tendency to desire comfort rather than being challenged. Finally, their Christianity is a mile wide and an inch deep. Unfortunately, this describes the majority of professing Christians in the Church. The disciples are those who are moving toward applying Jesus’ requirement for His disciples. They are willing to deny themselves; to give it all up for Christ. They are willing to take up the cross; to die to self. Finally, they have made a decision to genuinely and completely follow Christ. Unfortunately, this is a minority of professing Christians in the Church. May God find real disciples here at First Baptist and not just followers or mere believers.
(September 2011 Newsletter)