Family Discipleship and God's Mission

6 · The pastor defines family discipleship as the dual aim of growing in relationship with Christ while growing relationally with one another

And within our community groups, we've been trying to lean into this value, family discipleship. And what that simply means is when we gather in our groups across our city, our goal and our aim is to grow in our relationship to Christ while growing relationally together. But that's not just a community group thing. That's something we do all the time as Christians. Sunday mornings, when we're having dinners with one another, We have the intentionality as Christians, the purpose behind what we do to grow in our relationship with the Lord and to help other people grow in their relationship with the Lord as well.

7 · The pastor states the sermon's main thesis and previews the three-point structure: family discipleship is missional, relational, and lived out

So my hope is today that scripture would inform our hearts and our minds what it means to be fully immersed as a disciple of Jesus and that family discipleship ought to be the breathing in and breathing out of of everything we do at Cross of Grace. So our headline for today's message is this: Family Discipleship Accomplishes God's Mission. We're gonna look at this in 3 points. Family discipleship is missional, it's relational, and it's also lived out.

8 · The pastor exposits the word 'disciple' from its Greek root, defining it simply as 'learner

So our first point, family discipleship is missional. Verse 19, go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Nations. That word disciple in its original Greek meant learner. That's it. To be a disciple is to be a learner. To be a disciple of Jesus means that we learn from Jesus. It means we follow Jesus. And when Jesus says go and make disciples, that means we go help other people follow Jesus. We help other people learn how to learn from Jesus. It's followership.

9 · The pastor describes Jesus's choice of disciples as ordinary, flawed men, using this to demonstrate that Jesus seeks imperfect people for His mission

And we get a clear picture of how Jesus modeled this in the Gospels. See, he spent 3 years with 12 average Joes consisting of fishermen, a political zealot, a tax collector, doubters, a hothead, a traitor. Not exactly the ideal draft for a team. Just ordinary men. They're not the brightest, not the strongest, they weren't perfect, they weren't the most patient, but this tells us these are exactly the kind of people Jesus is looking for. He's not looking for the people that have it all together, that look the part. He's looking for people like you and me, and when we follow him, he gives us a mission: go and make disciples.

10 · The pastor exposits the transfer of mission from Jesus to the disciples

What Jesus says to the disciples is basically this: I have taught you everything you need to know about what it looks like to follow. Everything we've done the last 3 years together, all the hours of praying, all the teaching and the parables, living life together, now it's your turn. Go and make disciples. Jesus' mission becomes our mission.

11 · The pastor shares a personal story from his Army service about receiving an unexpected and dangerous deployment order while unprepared

Back when I was in the Army, I remember I got a call from my commander asking me to swing by his office after work. As I walked into his office, he told me these words: 'I know Amanda is expecting your first child, and I know you were told that you would be staying in the rear and not going forward with us to Afghanistan. But we're going to be moving you to a new platoon, and you will be deploying with them to Afghanistan. And by the way, I just want to give you a heads up, this might not serve your wife to know this, But where you are going, where you will be living in northern Afghanistan, just on the other side of the walls, you're gonna be living with a lot of Afghan soldiers who are in their own area, and we've been receiving a lot of reports that they're turning on Americans. So you're gonna be surrounded by that. And also, where you're gonna be at, there's lots of mountains. There's Taliban everywhere in those mountains. And while I gave a stoic, fearless, ready-to-conquer-this kind of look, as you can imagine, I had a lump in my throat the size of a baseball. Amanda was almost due. I was just a butter bar. I had no experience as a second lieutenant. I mean, my uniform still had the creases on them. They were brand new, right out the box. You want me to lead soldiers? You want me to lead them with a job I've never done before? In a combat environment where everyone is trying to kill me. I'm not gonna lie, that— it was terrifying as a 23-year-old.

12 · The pastor applies his Army illustration to the disciples' position after the Great Commission

But what happened in that moment was that the Army's mission became my mission. We can imagine that the disciples may have felt this way too, even though they had spent the last 3 years with Jesus witnessing and experiencing the kingdom of God clashing into earth They are now taking on a God-sized mission that they too must have felt unready for. They had the choice, accept the mission or reject it, but you cannot ignore it. And that is the same choice we have today. We can accept the mission to go make disciples, we can ignore it, or we cannot ignore it. We can accept it or reject it, but ignoring it is not an option.

13 · The pastor makes a universal claim about the scope of the Great Commission

I just want to make sure we understand who Jesus is talking to here, because we would be sorely mistaken to think, 'Oh, this is not a passage for me.' But disciple-making is not just for the extroverts. Disciple-making is not just for those who have seminary degrees or for those who want to do this or who don't want to do this. It's for everyone who says, 'I choose to serve Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He is the one I follow.' And if that is you, this is your mission. There is no plan B according to Jesus. He says this is the cadence that you march to. Be discipled, make disciples. Follow Jesus, help others follow Jesus. That is our cadence. Jesus says, 'I'll build my church. You make disciples.' That's our job.

14 · The pastor issues a direct diagnostic question to the congregation, forcing them to assess whether they are actively making disciples or avoiding the mission

So my question for you is, are you actively making disciples in your life right now, or are you standing on the beach? Are you standing outside the pool? This is the mission.

15 · The pastor offers pastoral encouragement to those who recognize their passivity in disciple-making

Guys, let us be also encouraged today if we have been a bit passive in that area. Look all around us at how the mission is unfolding. Just because we may not be actively making disciples, Jesus' mission continues forth. It continues onward. Think about this, guys. The gospel has traveled 7,400 miles to El Paso. Where we ourselves have been transformed and our lives have been changed forever because of that message. Think of all the faithful people in your life who said, we're taking on that mission, we're gonna follow Jesus, we're gonna help other people follow Jesus. And that's why you're here today, is because someone helped you follow Jesus.

16 · The pastor exposits the literary structure of Matthew's Gospel, noting that it opens and closes with the theme of God's presence

Let us be reminded of how— look how Matthew bookends his gospel. He starts and ends reminding us that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. And he ends his— this gospel saying, 'Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'

17 · The pastor returns to his Afghanistan deployment story, this time emphasizing the comfort he found in not going alone

And when I went to Afghanistan, I did not go alone. I had 30 soldiers with me, and it was comforting to know that we had each other, that we were all going through the same things. That we all missed our families, we all missed our homes, but there's a comfort knowing we're not alone in this.

18 · The pastor makes a theological claim contrasting the church's mission with military power

And even though America's number one— is the number one military in the world, with the Army leading the way, that's right, we as a church have something that the Army does not have. I was talking to Steve about this after the service, and I was like, that is so So good. But we have something that the world's greatest military in the world does not have. And that is a victory that has already been won. We have all authority on heaven and on earth backing our mission to make disciples. So when it's unfamiliar, when we are worried, 'Oh, how are they going to respond?' We have Jesus with us. We have his authority, so we go boldly making disciples, helping people following Jesus. That's our mission.

19 · The pastor transitions to the second point by asserting that relationship is what fuels the mission

The thing that fuels the mission is a very important ingredient: relationship. Point number 2: the disciples had a clear understanding what it meant when Jesus said, 'Follow me.' They're like, yeah, I get what this means.

20 · The pastor exposits the first-century rabbi-disciple cultural practice

Back then, in those days, disciples were invited to follow their rabbis. And as they followed rabbis all throughout the town, all throughout the synagogue, they learned how do they teach. They learned how do they react with people that are difficult. They learned how do they do everything and anything. It was so common and obvious in their world that during that time there was a common blessing spoken over disciples who followed their rabbis. And this was the blessing they would speak to them: May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi. May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi, meaning that you follow your rabbi so closely that even the dust from his sandals are covering you.

21 · The pastor applies the rabbi-disciple pattern to Jesus's relationship with the Twelve

And what Jesus says is, that's the relationship I want with you. I want you to follow me so closely that everything I have done, you now do it. Everything I do, whatever it looks like, the way I talk, that's how you imitate me and do that as well. 'Cause these 12 men followed Jesus everywhere. They listened to him teach. They camped out by bonfires under the stars. They joked with him. They ate meals together. They asked Jesus questions. They learned who he was, what the kingdom of God was all about. But they learned by following him personally. A personal relationship, guys, is something that God desires for all of us. All of us. That was Jesus's mission and objective. You. Your heart. He gave everything to have you. And if you are in Christ, that's mission accomplished in your life for the Lord.

22 · The pastor issues an evangelistic appeal

I just want to say, if you are not following Jesus, that's his desire is that you would follow him. God is not some inanimate object that we talk to. God is real, and God is with us. And here's how he did this. Guys, because of our sin, we were separated from a holy and just God. And the Bible says that because we sin, the penalty for our sin is death. And Jesus wanted so badly to have a relationship with you, that he said, 'I will die your death. I will die in your place so that I can have you.' And he's— all we simply need to do is repent and place our trust in Jesus. We repent, we turn from the way we are living, and we say, 'Lord, I'm just going to turn to you and follow you with my life.'

23 · The pastor describes what a personal relationship with Jesus looks like in concrete terms: talking to Him, spending time in His word, allowing transformation, asking for help, praising Him, thanking Him, and depending on Him

This is the type of relationship Jesus desires. He doesn't want us sitting outside the pool. He doesn't want us on the beach. He wants us fully immersed with him. It looks like talking to Jesus. It looks like spending time with him, learning from him through his word, allowing him to transform every area of our lives with his word and his example. It's saying, Lord, I need help. Lord, here's what's going on in my life. I'm gonna just be limited here. I need you to help me. It's praising him. It's thanking him for his goodness in your life. It's learning how to depend on him. This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

24 · The pastor offers a concise restatement of the definition of disciple-making: helping other people follow Jesus

And to make disciples simply means we help other people follow him.

25 · The pastor introduces a four-quadrant diagnostic chart mapping relationship (vertical axis) against mission (horizontal axis)

Now, we've done a little bit of talking here. I want to give you a visual that I think is so helpful to see, man, where am I at when it comes to discipleship? So on this graph here, on this chart, we have relationship at the top and mission on the side. And when the two come together, we have that top right quadrant. That's called the discipleship quadrant. That means high relationship with others, high mission mission as well happening at the same time. This is the Christian who is following Jesus with all their heart and who has a desire to help those around them follow Jesus as well. This Christian dives headfirst into the pool. And then next to that we have what's called the cozy quadrant. This is high relationship, low mission. Discipleship to this Christian is, is very relational, which is good. But the problem is there is no spiritual growth happening. They are not opening their lives to anyone. They don't know anyone where they're able to press into their lives. They have relationships, they're in, but they don't go deep with people. So they're not really in. Then we have on the bottom right the stressed and discouraged quadrant. That is when the mission is very high, but the relationships are low. And this is the Christian who just emphasizes mission so much so that relationships can take a hit. This might look like someone who's like, now in my old church, this is what we did. But because you do it differently, you're putting an obstacle in the way of relationships. It's not balancing relationship and mission. And then in the bottom left, we have the low mission, low relationship quadrant that— or what you can call the apathetic quadrant. And this is the people who are indifferent to God and to his mission and to God's people. And after talking to Steve and Ricky about this after the first service, this can even be the place of people who've been just burned. Who've been wounded and hurt by other people in the church. And the way out of this quadrant is to be part. What they truly need is not to stay on the beach, not to stay out of the pool. What they need is a healthy Christian relationship to be plugged into.

26 · The pastor applies the four-quadrant chart by asking direct diagnostic questions

So when it comes to making disciples, which quadrant are you in? Are you someone who leans more heavily on mission, but the relationships are lacking? Are you someone who leans more heavily on relationship, but are afraid to open up your life to people? This is the cadence as soldiers of the Lord. We be discipled, we make disciples. We follow Jesus, we help others follow Jesus. It's relationship and it's mission. Together. That's family discipleship in the church.

27 · The pastor transitions to the third point by addressing the 'what does this look like' question

Now I want to talk about what does this look like. We have an idea of, okay, cerebrally I understand following Jesus, helping others follow Jesus. I see where I'm at on that chart, but what does this look like? What are some action steps we can take? So if you got your Bibles, turn to Acts chapter 2. We're going to be looking at verse 42 and picking up from there. But this is what happens when both mission and relationship are bridged together. This is what family discipleship looks like. Our last point, family discipleship lived out, picking up in verse 42.

28 · The pastor reads the Acts 2:42-47 passage in full, establishing the biblical pattern for the early church's life together

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts. Praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

29 · The pastor exposits the repeated 'together' language in Acts 2, emphasizing the corporate nature of the early church's life

And as coy as this sounds, many of you may— or some of you might just start rolling your eyes as soon as I say this, but family discipleship is a together life. There really is no better phrase that fits this description of Acts chapter 2. In these 6 verses, we see they devoted themselves to the teaching and fellowship. All who believed were together. They were selling their possessions. Together they attended the temple. They, plural, that's just plural. There's no lone rangers here. There's no singular Christians. It's a plural. It's a togetherness. That's what family discipleship is. It's a together life.

30 · The pastor exposits the early church's devotion to apostolic teaching as more than passive listening

But notice what we learn here is they made disciples by devoting themselves to the word of God. This looks like not just showing up to hear the preached word taught, but showing up and hearing the teaching of the word and allowing it to shape us and to mold our lives. As Tim Keller puts it, he says, discipleship is not just the ABCs of the Christian life, it's the A through Z where we are learning to apply with God's word and Jesus's example how our lives need more of Jesus and how it needs to look more like Jesus.

31 · The pastor makes a theological claim about the two-dimensional nature of discipleship

In addition to devotion to the word, life together looks like devotion to one another. God's word disciples us, it helps us learn how to follow Jesus, But discipleship is not just one-dimensional. When we open our homes, when we open our lives together, when we devote to fellowship with one another, we learn from each other how to follow Jesus. In the Christian life, we need both. We need God's word and we need one another. We help one another understand scripture. We help one another ask questions. How are you living this out? What does it look like in your life to apply it? What does it look like in that context to apply it? Apply God's word. Word and each other go together.

32 · The pastor applies the Acts 2 pattern by contrasting passive Sunday attendance with active togetherness

It's one thing to attend Sunday and then leave. But it's another thing to attend Sunday and then to talk about that message with your family over the dinner table. To talk about that message with your community group or with your friends. A together life looks like devotion to the Word and to one another. It's staying late on Sunday, sharing with others. Man, this was so encouraging to me from the sermon. It's saying, man, that was really challenging for me. Let's talk about it. What was challenging? That's what a together life looks like. It's playdates during the week. It's dinners together. It's fellowship on the golf course. There is no limit to where discipleship can take place, but it happens together.

33 · The pastor offers a pastoral aside on the 'breaking of bread' phrase, appreciating its inclusion and noting it could mean communion or common meals — either way, it serves as a reminder of God's goodness

I so appreciate the part about breaking bread. Just so thankful that that's in there. Yeah, it could have meant communion, but it could also have meant just enjoying a common meal together. And either way, life together, guys, should serve as a reminder of the goodness of God in our lives. One another reminds us of just the Lord's kindness to us. When we're worshiping the Lord together on Sunday mornings and we're— sometimes I love how John encourages us to sometimes just take a step back and observe. But when we do that, when we watch someone who has cancer and is still praising the Lord, when we watch someone who's going through something difficult at work still taking notes in Scripture for what we are reading about. Guys, they're teaching us. We're watching, we're observing. Discipleship is multifaceted. We learn how to follow Jesus also by watching one another.

34 · The pastor issues a challenge to get creative in enjoying life with other Christians

So I want to ask you guys, how can you get creative and enjoy life with other Christians? But here's the thing, we cannot separate relationship and mission when it comes to discipleship. Coming to church and bolting out the door right after the service is not helping get the mission done. Deep devotion to God's Word but not to God's people is only half the battle. And spending time with Christians and not sharing what the Lord is doing, that's not what it's about. You cannot separate mission and relationship. We need both.

35 · The pastor becomes extremely vulnerable, sharing his own spiritual dryness during his son's medical crisis and how Todd discipled him by asking about his time in the Word and prayer life

Here's the reality: we are all under construction. I'll be the first one to say I am in the center of the construction zone, ready for that bulldozer to take me out, because there are just things in my life where I'm just constantly needing to depend on the Lord. And just to be personal and honest with you guys, just everything that went on with Bodie, there was so much stuff happening in our lives that that there the Lord graciously revealed in my own life some cracks that were in the foundation. And so Todd and I were sitting down for about an hour and Todd just said, hey, let me hear about your time in the Word. What's that been like? We talked about that. He said, hey, let me hear about your prayer life. And I said, Todd, I'm in a season of dryness there. Like, I'm not praying in a way that helps my personal relationship with the Lord. I'm just kind of praying. Without intentionality behind it, without seeing that, man, God calls us to pray because he relates with us. But I learned that, man, we need each other. And when Todd sat with me, he said, here's how I pray. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. It's like, this is what I do every day. This is how I do it. Guys, that's discipleship. That's discipleship. It's opening up God's Word. It's sharing, here's how I'm following the Lord. It's helping one another follow Jesus.

36 · The pastor isolates Acts 2:45 to exposit the early church's radical generosity

I want to look at one more point, and then we are getting close to landing the plane. But look at verse 45 in Acts chapter 2. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

37 · The pastor makes a theological claim that family discipleship includes practical care, not just spiritual instruction

Because family discipleship does not just mean spending time together and pointing others to God's word. It also means that we meet the needs of our family members.

38 · The pastor shares the intensely personal story of his son Bode's heart failure and how the church cared for his family during that crisis

I mean, you guys know everything our family went through with our son, but I remember as I was with my son last night, putting him down for bed, I was thinking about this sermon. I was thinking about what does it mean to be family? And I— as I looked at my son, and as his heart was failing, and we were in the genesis of that, I remember saying, Amanda and I saying, 'We would do anything for this guy, anything. If that means uprooting our lives for the next 2 months, so be it. He's our son, he's our family. We'd do anything for him.' And as I was looking at Bode last night, I was just holding him, looking in his eyes, just so blown away that I'm still doing that. I began to think about you. I began to think about your care for my family. How you met our needs with prayer, with God's Word, with joyful generosity. I said, 'Yes, that is what the church is about. The church is family. That's what life together means. It means we are family.'

39 · The pastor makes a theological claim about the nature of the church family

And no, none of us are blood related. Well, some of you are, but I'm not blood related with any of you. But there was blood spilt that we all relate to, that we all have in common. The blood of Jesus Christ uniting us. Ephesians 2 talking about joining us as a family so that we would grow. That's what family is. That's family discipleship. And we do this because Jesus met us in our greatest need. That's why we do this for one another.

40 · The pastor illustrates family discipleship with a story about church members serving one another

I was talking to a few members of our church. I don't know how this came, but I was talking to John Osmus about what's going on, how's everything going with your community group, things like that. And he told me this story about how he and Kathy got stranded out in Favens, maybe a little further than past Favens, maybe about 2, 3 hours out in the middle of nowhere. And he said he called John and Manny and said, guys, we're stuck. Here's the parts I need. I don't have the tools in my truck to fix our car to get us out of here. You know what Manny and John did? They said, 6 hours, whatever. A total of 6 hours, we're out of here. We'll go do it. They got in their car, they took the parts, They went and served John and Kathy. That's what family does.

41 · The pastor shares a brief testimony from Cherry about the church's care during a memorial service

I remember Cherry during the memorial, I was asking as I got there, anything else you need help with? Cherry said, my church family's got my back. They always take care of us.

42 · The pastor applies the illustrations by listing concrete ways the church meets one another's needs: meal trains, hospital visits, prayer, house projects, doing life together

This is what we do. It's meal trains. It's visiting one another in the hospital, praying together. It's helping one another with projects around the house. It's simply doing life together. Man, when we serve one another, guys, get this please, what we are doing as we are serving others is we are teaching them this is what it looks like to follow Jesus. That's it. You guys showed Amanda and I what family discipleship is really all about. We learned so much from the Lord during the last 3 months because of how you served us, because of how you loved us, how you cared for us. It's devoting time to God's Word, one another, meeting our needs, and so much more. We could spend a series on this.

43 · The pastor issues a series of diagnostic questions about awareness of others' needs

So as we wrap up, I just want to ask you guys, are you familiar with the needs going on around you in your community group, the people next to you on Sundays, the people you chat with as you are munching down a donut next to the playground watching the kids tackle each other. Are you familiar with the needs of your brothers and sisters here in our family? Do you know who's wounded spiritually in your community group? Do you know who needs help with practical things in your community group because their spouse is deployed? Do we know one another?

44 · The pastor gives a direct call to action for those not yet in community groups to sign up at the information table

Well, today is our— I'm going to kind of wrap it up, but I wanted to end with just some application for us today. Today is our big community group fair kickoff that happened in between the services. So if you're not in a community group, didn't get a chance to sign up and join a community group, I want to encourage you guys, go to the information table, sign up. We'd love to get you plugged in.

45 · The pastor gives extremely concrete, actionable steps for making community groups succeed

But here's how I wanted to end today's sermon. These are tips for how you, you can make your community group special. I hope you heard that rightly. This is not— here, community group leaders, listen to me. This is everyone who is part of a community group. Here's what you can do to make your community group successful. I'm going to break this off into 3 phases. The first phase, before you even go to community group, are the dates on your calendar? Are you prioritizing this? Do you schedule things around your community group gatherings? Do you save the dates? All right, number 2, while you are there, when you show up, do you come in ready to help other people follow Jesus? Or do you come in being open and honest and saying, guys, I'm struggling, I need you to help me follow Jesus today? Do you open up your life? Do you ask questions that build deeper relationships that go beyond news, weather, sports? Everyone brings something to the table. We need one another. The Lord has made it so that we can depend on one another. After the gathering, when community group is over, here's how you can make group successful. Do you jet out the door, or do you linger to get to know people and their stories? If they shared something during the discussion, if they confessed a sin that was difficult, do you go afterwards and pray and encourage them? When you're home, are you praying for your group? Do you pray for the people when they share prayer requests? And not the, 'I'll be praying for you,' but the actually, 'I am praying for you,' and letting them know to encourage them. Lastly, do you follow up with people in your group? If people have an upcoming appointment, if something difficult is going on at work, a job interview, are you checking in with them that day and saying, 'Hey, I just want you to know I remembered you shared this with the group. Praying for you. Let me know how it goes.' I want to follow up with one another. That's what builds relationship. Alright, one more. When you're driving home, how do you decide if it was a quote-unquote good meeting or not? Are you looking at your preferences? Did it meet your preferences? Is the products you went to group looking for, were they met? Or are you going to community group recognizing, man, this is God's purpose to join us sinners together to help one another follow Jesus. Is that the first thing you're thinking about? Are you just amazed God, I can't believe you brought these people into my life. Yeah, some of them are weird, but Lord, thank you. Thank you for bringing them into my life.

46 · The pastor concludes by restating the sermon's main thesis: God's mission to make disciples is accomplished through following Jesus and helping one another follow Him

So church, to wrap it up, God's mission to make disciples is accomplished when we follow Jesus and help one another follow him too. It's family discipleship at Cross of Grace. We do not separate family from discipleship. We cannot do mission without relationship. So let us, by God's grace and with God's help, be a church family that moves from the sand, that moves from being waist-deep with others to being fully submerged and immersed into one another's lives, helping one another follow Jesus more.

47 · The pastor closes with a prayer asking God to give the church love and humility to follow Jesus and help others follow Him

Pray with me. Father, we just thank you for your word. Lord, we thank you for the example set before us in your word. As we look at the community of the early church in Acts chapter 2. Lord, my prayer for us as a church is that you would give us love and humility to follow you and to help others follow you as well. Would move in our hearts to be more intentional, Lord, to be more sacrificial of our time, Lord, and to have a desire to help others follow you the way you have helped us to follow you. Lord, we thank you for this time. It's in Jesus' name. Amen.