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 17, 2019
A Great Feast
This week in our “It’s Like This” series, Pastor Phil shared with us from Luke 14. In it, Jesus paints two different pictures about being invited into the kingdom. In the first, Jesus warns us about seating ourselves at a feast in high, important places, lest we be asked to move further down the line and be embarrassed. Instead, we should seat ourselves in low places, creating the opportunity to be lifted up. In other words, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Verse 11). In the second image, Jesus describes a feast that many are invited to, but all give excuses to decline. As a result, their places are filled by others who are less fortunate and much more eager to enter the feast. Thus, the original invitees will no longer be able to take part. You have been invited to the kingdom of heaven. It is a glorious celebration. But you assume you have a place reserved, and you have a lot of distractions in your life that you want to give more importance and pay more attention to right now. Are you going to honor the invitation and participate in the celebration? Or miss out on the opportunity and spend the rest of time looking in from the outside? Jesus wants you to celebrate with Him. Don’t hesitate. Enter the celebration humbly, and let Jesus lift you up.
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