TRUE AND BETTER
“Not every one that says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that does the will of My Father who is in Heaven.
Most prominent Teachings today?
What is it that the Lord wants us to do?
CLEAN YOUR ROOM
You might have heard it said that in order to come to Christ, we must first hear the gospel and believe it (Ephesians 1:13). But even the demons believed. Colossians 1:23 repeats the idea that we need to hear, believe and NOT be moved away from the truth. So faithfulness, persistence, and steadfastness in the Gospel is imperative (1 Cor 4:2, Rev 2:10) to Following Christ.
Let's spend some time thinking about the how we make disciples and how we can become a community "on mission" - OIKOS (The family of God's own possession)
Christ came to forgive sins and to continuously cleanse those who walk in His Light (1 John 1:7) He died on a cross, was buried, and on the third day, God raised Him from the dead and finally took Him to Heaven where He is Both Lord and Christ, King of His Kingdom (Acts 2:36)
After hearing the story of Jesus Christ, it is our choice whether we make Him Lord of our hearts (1 Peter 3:15). It is our choice to either place him on the throne of our hearts, commit to Him a Lord and agree to die to ourselves (John 12:25) or to crucify Him anew (Hebrews 6:6).
Matthew 16:24 - Then Jesus said unto His disciples, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
A Christ Follower agrees to commit suicide. Dying to self means that we put ourselves on the cross and Christ on the throne of our hearts. With this decision made, we are able to confess Him before men as our Lord (Matthew 10:32), and turn away from our selfish, sinful ways to become a Follower of Christ.
Following Christ into Baptism. Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father, we are crucified, buried, and raised from the dead in our submission to water baptism (Romans 6:3-11). It takes someone else to raise us up because it is not a work that we do, it is something that we submit to....just as Christ submitted to God to the point of death (1 Peter 1:21, Phil 2:8). Christ submitted and His followers submit. In fact, the entire life of a Christ Follower can be summed up in that one word - "submission" to God.
Submission
We submit in baptism, we submit to Christ's Lordship, and we submit to His vision and plan for the rest of our lives. You will hear some people refer to this as accepting the sovereignty of God. But God does not need our acceptance, He desires our submission.
You are buried with Him in baptism, wherein you were also are raised with Him through the faith in the working of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
Baptism
We enter baptism having faith that God will do His work, to make us a new creation in Christ. Baptism is the portal into the Body of Christ, into relationship with Christ. Once in a relationship with Christ, it would not be the truth for Him to ever say, "Depart from me. I never knew you."
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.
Baptism, essentially, is a prayer in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost for the Godhead to place you into Christ and give you all spiritual blessings (Eph 1:3). Baptism is where we are united in death with Christ and contact the cleansing blood of the Lamb of God. Romans 6:3-11
in Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace,
Ephesians 2:13
Ephesians 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus, ye who once were far off have been brought nigh by the blood of Christ.
Colossians 1:14
Colossians 1:14
in whom we have redemption through His blood,
even the forgiveness of sins.
even the forgiveness of sins.
But baptism is only the door, it is not the destination. True baptism requires that a repentant believer submerge himself, saturate himself into full discipleship, servant-hood becoming a witness on mission for God.
Covered
Just as the cleansing waters in Noah's day covered the sinful earth, our baptism into Christ covers us with His glory, hides us from the wrath of God on that last day. We are to submerge ourselves into His work, His plan, His focus - His will.
Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
REFLECT in your GROUPS: What does it mean to follow Christ into the watery grave?
What does it require of us?
What does it mean to crucify ourselves daily?
Are we willing to follow Christ into the Grave?
Unfortunately, too many folks do not actually die to self. If you do not die, then you are not raised up to walk in newness of life. Notice the "If" statements: Read Col 2:11-13, 20, 3:1-17
The New Life glorifies Christ in all things because He rules the heart. If we truly died to self, we realize the depth and magnitude of God's grace. His mercy inspires each of us to grow toward our full potential in love, unity and power to accomplish the vision of Jesus Christ in the world.
What Blessings do we have in Christ? Refer to Eph 1 the whole chapter.
Baptism IS a gracious work of God to which we must submit as an obedient follower of Christ.
What work does God do in Baptism while we Submit?
When we are raised from the dead, what does Christ demand of us?
Colossians 3: 1-5 If you have been raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.
Our lives then, must be saturated, infused, and completely in tune with following Christ.
Saturate: Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life (Jeff Vanderstelt & SOMA) from Crossway on Vimeo.
Telling your Story:
3 Examples of folks who took unusual opportunities to tell their stories:
(1)
Can your children tell the story? Can you?
(2) HS Student - https://www.dropbox.com/s/sgodtjyx4ywjfwp/Hannah6.mp4?dl=0
(3) NBA Player, Monty Williams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-y2cdOA8P4
HOMEWORK & APPLICATION:
(1) Pray with someone this week who is not a member of the Lord’s Body.
(1) Pray with someone this week who is not a member of the Lord’s Body.
· Begin thinking about how you might invite a friend to begin a conversation with you about salvation.
· Ask the Lord to help you become creative and wise in the way you approach your friends.
(2) Listen to the Followship Lessons.
(3) Reflect on this question: How do we infuse Christ Following into everyday life? When we can answer that question, we can tell our story.
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