Luke 22:21-30: Preparing the Disciples: Part One
OUTLINE Exposing a false disciple Explaining true discipleship Encouraging faithful disciples INTRODUCTION If you knew you were having your last meal with your loved ones before you died, what would you say to them at this meal? We know of several things that happened at Jesus’s last meal with His disciples. We know that Jesus washed the disciple’s feet. We know He gave the new Commandment. We know that He instituted the Lord’s Supper. In John’s gospel we have what is called the Upper Room discourse where Jesus lectures on many deep and wonderful topics including the coming and...
Read More
Luke 14:25-35: Marks of a True Disciple
The word ‘Nominal’ in nominalism or nominal Christianity means, in name only. It comes from the Latin word nomen which means name. One of the biggest hindrances to Christianity has been nominal Christianity, or cultural Christianity. So many have turned away from Christianity and viewing it as credible because of the hypocrisy of those who call themselves Christians who are only Christian in name. So called Christian countries have engaged in war; colonized other countries; built economies on the backs of slaves, and many other atrocities as so called Christians. Even today many social ills are laid at the...
Read More
Matthew 28:18-20: Baptism and the Great Commission
One of the distinctives of a Baptist Church is that only those baptized by immersion as believers, in other words baptized according to Christ’s command, can become members of a local Baptist Church. We believe that we do not have the right to make baptism into whatever we want it to be, nor decide on any old practice being defined as a legitimate baptism. I am sure you will agree with us that baptism is defined by Christ not us, and we are obliged to practice what He commands and not what we think. Today we are having a...
Read More
Luke 10:1-16: Preparation for Ministry: The Message we Preach
We are continuing our look at Jesus sending out the 72 to go preach in Israel. We have seen how Christ has called the disciples and us to exercise trust in the area of prayer, persecution and provision, but central in Christ’s sending out the disciples is their message, what they are to say. We are here reminded of our primary identity and purpose. We are heralds, ambassadors, and witnesses. We are to preach, proclaim, and teach. We are looking at Jesus send out His disciples into the ripe harvest field of Israel, but there are many similarities that...
Read More
Luke 10:1-16: Preparation for ministry: The trust we exercise
Phillip Ryken tells the story of ‘The China Gospel Fellowship—also known as Tanghe—is a large network of Chinese house churches. Early in 1994 the fellowship began collecting donations for a special missionary trip. Since most of the group’s members live in poverty, their giving was sacrificial. People sold their chickens or gave up money they had been saving for marriage. No matter what the cost, they wanted God to be glorified in China. When sufficient funds had been raised, the fellowship held a worship service at which they commissioned seventy young evangelists to go out two-by-two and preach the...
Read More
Luke 9:57-62: The Cost of Discipleship
In the West we no longer know what it means to count the cost to become disciples’ of Christ. We live in an age where Christianity has been in the majority, but is now on the decline. This has led to a backlash in trying to market Jesus in a way that He stops losing popularity. We have removed all the offensive elements from the Bible, from our language and tried to sell a Christianity without the cross. Come to Christ to get a life coach who chases all your depression, all your sickness, all your failure away, and...
Read More
The Discipline of Discipleship: 2 Timothy 2:1-2
Introduction: To some degree or another every single one of us is selfish in our approach to church. You are a selfish Christian. The question is how selfish are you. Think about the seat the people that you choose to sit with this morning. If you were not consciously thinking about how to serve others, you most likely choose your seat entirely relative to what was most comfortable for you. That is selfishness. Selfishness is a sin that I have been particularly challenged with this year and the truth found in our text this evening was the vaccination that...
Read More