The first message in our Summer Series of Walking With Jesus: Learning to Be a Disciple was about the DNA of being a Disciple.
That DNA of being a Disciple was described as:
• Divine Truth. Truth comes from God. It is the revelation of God to humankind. This comes from the Son, the Spirit, and the Scriptures. The Son (Jesus) is both God and human and came to reveal to us in his person what God is like and what God requires. The Scriptures were authored by God and reveal God’s unfolding plan for humanity. The Spirit of God is also Divine Truth, since he brings revelation and direction to believers.
• Nurturing Relationships. Humans were never created to be alone. We are social creatures and have an intrinsic need for relationships. Our relational orientation is a reflection of the image of God in us. God Himself is relational and exists in a community—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is love because God is relational. To the Christian, God is love because he has always existed in relationship. Is love possible without someone to love? This should be the defining characteristic of our faith. All men should know that we are Christ’s disciples by the love that we have for one another.
• Apostolic Mission. Apostolic means that someone is sent as a representative with a message. We are here for a purpose. We have been given a prime directive to fulfill—to make disciples of all the nations. This part of us also comes from the nature of God. Jesus is an Apostle. He is the Chief Cornerstone of the apostolic foundation. Before he left this planet, he sent his disciples into the world with a mission.
One of the key tools we talked about in Walking With Jesus was Life Transformation Groups. Find out more on our website.
Below is the full Sunday Morning message by Phil Helfer:
Phil Helfer - November 3, 2019
Don’t Be Like This Guy-Matthew 18
This week in “It’s Like This”, Pastor Phil gave us a glimpse of what Forgiveness looks like in the Kingdom of Heaven. We looked at Matthew 18 and Jesus explaining how many times we must be able to forgive those who have wronged us. The number 490 comes up, but really Jesus is implying there is no limit to the number of times we need to forgive others, in the same way that God’s forgiveness of our numerous sins does not suddenly stop at some arbitrary number. We should be very thankful for the measure of forgiveness Jesus bestows upon us considering the punishment He took on our behalf. Additionally, it is important we understand forgiveness to be the complete release of whatever debt someone owes us. Failure to do so only hinders our own ability to move on and be in kingdom relationship. Pastor Phil gave us the following quick and easy checklist: Acknowledge the Hurt; Accept the Pain; Forgive the Debt. He then challenged us to think of people in our life who we need to forgive. Holding tight to a grudge or some other debt owed only hurts us. We must allow ourselves to release ourselves from that bondage. Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
Recent Comments