Moved: Disciple Maker
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Welcome
Qualification 1: Audience
Qualification 1: Audience
This weekend, we’re going to conclude our “Moved” series that we’ve been in for the last 3 weeks. Every single weekend in this series, we’ve ended our service with a “call to action” - and this one is no different.
But let me make a a few qualifications before we even get into anything this weekend. First:
Even though you can all hear my voice, I’m going to be talking mostly to a specific group of you. Here’s who I’m primarily talking to this weekend:
SHOW DISCIPLESHIP PATH PICTURE
(Explain the Discipleship Path.)
Some of us are further along in our journey with Jesus. For those of us there, we’ve been around “the church” or “our church” for awhile. We’re not just “checking things out.” We’re not “new.” We’ve probably served on a few different teams, been in a few different small groups. We might be tithing. And for sure, we’ve heard way more sermons than we can remember.
If that’s you, you are my primary audience.
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Qualifications: I’m talking to you if...
You’re further along in your journey with Jesus.
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If that’s not you, do me a favor and trust me when I tell you this: you’re not going to want to check out. In fact, you might need to pay even closer attention—because what I’m going to talk about today is something you need to know about when you “get there.”
All of us who are on this journey with Jesus, walking with him, increasingly loving and obeying him—all of us will eventually find ourselves in this spot that we’re going to be talking about this weekend.
Qualification 2: Stuck
Qualification 2: Stuck
So that’s the first qualification. Here’s the second:
I’m not just talking to those of us who are “further along” in our journey. More specifically: I’m talking to those of us are there but who feel...
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Qualifications: I’m talking to you if...
You’re further along in your journey with Jesus.
You feel stuck.
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Some of us feel stuck.
Here’s what “stuck” feels like:
It feels stagnant. There’s not a lot of new, not a lot of growth, not a lot of exciting challenges or opportunities. We just feel stagnant - like a swamp where the water just collects and sits and stinks and attract mosquitoes and produces algae (rather than flows). “Stuck” feels stagnant.
“Stuck” feels boring. It feels like no matter what it is, I’ve heard it before, seen it before, been there/done that. No offense, Pastor Jesse, but there’s not a whole lot that you can say or do that my first reaction won’t be *shrug*. Being stuck often feels a lot like feeling bored.
And being stuck can even feel like resentment, cynicism, or criticism. When we’re at this point in our journey, and we’ve stopped growing, and we’re stuck, here’s what a lot of us do: we look around, try and figure out why we’re stuck, and sometimes come to the conclusion that… it’s my church’s fault.
The messages are dry, familiar, too surfacey, or not interesting to me and where I’m at.
The “Next Steps” are simple things that I’ve been doing for years and years now. If I get told that I need to “serve” or “connect” or “give” one more time, I swear…
We’re further along, but we feel stuck. If that’s you, I’m talking to you.
Qualification 3: Warnings
Qualification 3: Warnings
But just let me put an even finer point on this with just one more qualification.
As we jump into Scripture this weekend, we’re going to jump into a couple of passages that are “warnings.” That’s what they are: warnings.
And, confession time: we don’t talk about these kinds of passages very often at PLC. We don’t.
But we need to this weekend. So as we do, here’s my really important final qualification:
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Qualifications: I’m talking to you if...
You’re further along in your journey with Jesus.
You feel stuck.
You don’t get confused by warnings.
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When I notice a pattern in my kids that needs to be corrected—maybe an attitude, or a behavior, whatever it is—and I give them a warning, here’s what sometimes happens:
Tears.
I didn’t punish them. I didn’t yell at them. I didn’t get angry. But I gave them a firm warning.
But sometimes that produces tears—because they’re young; sensitive; and the warning makes them feel insecure, or like I don’t love them, or like their position in relationship with me is in question.
Now of course, it’s totally the opposite: I’m warning them because I love them. Because I care for them. Because they matter to me... not the other way around.
Nevertheless:
We’re going to dive into a couple of “warning” passages of Scripture this weekend. And while I’m going to be as clear as I possibly can be as we unpack these passages together, it’s possible that you’re going to feel a little bit of uncertainty, fear, anxiety, or confusion as we put our eyes on these passages.
And the last thing that I’d want for you is that—especially if you’re a guest, or you’re just starting on this journey. You’re still at a “No Matter” Church. Wherever you’re starting from, this is a safe place for you to look for God. It really is.
But I need you to understand: warnings come from a place of love, not condemnation.
Alright. Let’s dive in.
Illustration: Wrong Way Sign
Illustration: Wrong Way Sign
Let’s start with a simple question:
What does this sign mean?
SHOW ‘WRONG WAY’ SIGN
What’s it mean?
Well, if you don’t know what it means, you’re probably going to find out the hard way.
Now, most of us listening right now live in Iowa. We don’t live in cities with a lot of complicated one-way traffic. We don’t often have to pay attention to going the “right way.”
But there are quite a few of these kinds of signs in our state. And they’re usually strategically placed as you’re getting on a highway or an interstate where there’s traffic coming off that interstate as well. As you start getting on the on-ramp going east-bound, west-bound traffic is coming off on the other side of the ramp. And if you go left and around rather than stay right and straight, you’re going to find yourself in a world of hurt.
Now, here’s my next question for you:
What would you call someone who, after looking at that sign, asked themselves:
“How far is too far?” “How far in the wrong direction can I go before it’s ‘too late?’” What would you call that person?
You’d probably call them a name that I can’t repeat at church. (Shame on you.)
But you’d be right about them. Because here’s what we know:
There’s only one right response to this sign. Only one. What is it:
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Turn around.
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Turn around.
This is what the Bible calls “repentance.”
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Turn around.
Repentance: Realize that you’re going the wrong direction, and go the other way.
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It’s not “have I gone too far?” It’s not “how much further can I go before it’s really a problem?” No. It’s “I’m going the wrong way, and I should go the other way, or I’m going to crash and maybe die.” That’s the only right response.
Transition
Transition
There’s a couple of “wrong way signs” in Scripture that...
But let’s get the “right way” in mind first (great commission)
Warning #1: parable of the seed
Warning #2: Hebrews
What they have in common: multiplication (not how much, but multiply… if you’re not multiplying, you’re going the wrong way)