Making Disciples Together
Come Together

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All right, good morning church! It is good to see all of you here. Today, we’re in part four of our series, “Come Together.” Today, our emphasis is discussing this idea of “Life on Life Discipleship.” When we talk about that, we’re really just talking about the way that Jesus discipled his disciples, one “life on one life.” Throughout your life, maybe there’s been someone that’s a little bit more mature than you or, at least, a little bit ahead of you in the Lord that’s “pouring” into you. Then, the idea is that you “pour” into another person.

In 2016, after twenty years of making disciples in our church, (our church is 31 years old) our leaders commissioned me to write a process of making disciples. So, I wrote it down formally. What would it look like to make disciples? We came up with a workbook called, “Life On Life Discipleship. ” We’ve been using that for the last six years.

My wife, Robin, has been disciplining women, using this process, for a little while now. Tell us, Robin, how many years have been doing this and how many women have you discipled so far? Give us a “heads up” about what’s been going on in your discipleship ministry. (Robin – “I began the process in 2017 and I have discipled nine through the work book and I am disciplining two more at this time. That makes eleven disciples so far.”) That’s awesome. So you’ve had the opportunity to pour into eleven different women . As you’ve been doing this for the past few years and you say that you’re actively still disciplining two women, as you’re doing that, give us an idea of what has been the most meaningful thing about disciplining women. Also, answer this question along with it, “Who gets the most out of it? Is it being the disciple or discipline others, “pouring” into someone else?” When, when did you feel like you were really getting the most out of it? Tell us a little bit about your experience. (Robin – “I think, as far as meaning, it is developing relationships. If you’ve ever done “Life on Life,” then you know that the relationship with your discipler or your disciple is so rich in meaning. Not only that, and especially, it’s meaningful because your relationship with the Lord, as you gather together with that one person is just so wonderful. It is the time that you have together studying God’s word. As for myself, I have gotten the most out of teaching others. Anyone out there that has been a discipler would agree with me that you learn so much more as a discipler, possibly because of the questions that you might get from your disciple. Several times, we would come to a word that we would get stuck on or maybe some part of the scripture, a passage of scripture, and my disciple would say, ‘What does this mean?’ From there, we would work a little bit, we would “dig” a little bit. It would cause me, as a disciple, to go home and study. Maybe, finding another passage of scripture would help us. So, yes, definitely being the discipler.” That’s surprising. You’d think you’d learn the most in gaining the material, but you really learn the most teaching someone else. That’s when the teacher always learns the most. That’s a great insight. There are people out here at various levels of discipleship. Some people might be visiting with us today and this is just a new idea to them. There might be people that have been hearing about it but have never said “yes” to it. What could we say to encourage that person who’s never really been discipled in following Jesus? What would you say to encourage them? (Robin – I would say, first of all, that “Life on Life Discipleship” started with the staff, with Gary leading us through the workbook first. Then, we were “spurred on” to make disciples. The thing for me would be that you never stop learning in this process. If you want to learn about more about Jesus, learn more about the scriptures, learn more about beliefs, anything like that, this is for you. It’s a non-threatening environment where you meet with someone, discuss the book and pray together. There’s been many times that our fellowship is just so powerful that we pray and we cry. We look over the scriptures and are inspired. It’s a really beautiful time to study God’s word. I would encourage anyone if you’re on the fence to just jump right over and write on your connection card today that you want to be part of “Life on life.” You won’t regret it.”

We’re continuing this process, talking about coming together. You know, the New Testament is filled with over 100 “one another” commands in it. We’ve been teaching our church this phrase; get ready to answer this,church – “You can’t do the one anothers without one another.” You can’t keep those 100 one another commands without one another.

It’s kind of funny if you think about it. A lot of people today will say, ‘I don’t go to church but I’m spiritual.’ You’ll hear people say things like that, or maybe this, ‘I don’t go to church. I’m not part of a church, but I’m a believer. It would be like one of the disciples saying to Jesus, ‘You know, I want to follow you, Jesus, but do I have to hang around with that big mouth, Simon Peter? He’s always shooting his mouth off, or what about Simon the Zealot, who’s always talking politics? Do I have to hang out with them?’ People will check out the church and they’ll find out the church is filled with people that aren’t perfect. Then, they don’t want to be part of it. The truth is, “iron sharpens iron.” We need each other.

Scripture wants us to come together, to do the “one others” together and to grow more like Jesus. Let’s come together! We’re in a season right now, as a nation, especially since COVID, that has accelerated and accentuated this isolationism to where we’re pulling apart. The social fabric of our culture is really coming unraveled.

As a church, we want to “come together” to follow Jesus. One of the ways that we’re talking about doing that this week is to make sure you’re in a discipleship relationship with another believer, that there’s someone “pouring into” you and there’s someone you’re “pouring into” so that you’re being discipled.

What we’re talking about here today is the Great Commission. Have you heard that phrase before? The Great Commission? It’s the command that Jesus gave to all the believers in the church to “go and make disciples of all nations.” That’s the great commission that He gives us.

The problem that we see in the Western church today, according to Dallas Willard, who wrote the book, “The Great Omission,” he’s making a “play on words” there, as we have “omitted” the Great Commission. We have failed to make disciples. The church has become more of a place where we make converts. We say, ‘Ok, get saved,’ and then we just leave them. It would be like having a baby and just leaving them on your doorstep or someone else’s doorstep and never feeding them, never giving them what they need to grow up.

The church has really been failing; the western church, especially, to differentiate between evangelizing and discipling when they should be all one thing. Dallas Willard calls this failure by the modern Church the “great omission.” He notes that the word ‘disciple’ occurs 269 times in the New Testament, while ‘Christian’ is found only three times. He goes on: “For at least several decades the churches of the Western world have not made discipleship a condition of being a Christian. One is not required to be, or to intend to be, a disciple in order to become a Christian, and one may remain a Christian without any signs of progress toward or in discipleship.” We’re not commanded to make Christians; I’m being careful here about this. We’re commanded to make disciples. What is a disciple? It’s someone who’s a learner.

Here’s what Willard says in his book, “The Great Omission,” “Most people have never been offered a meaningful opportunity to become a disciple.” We’re offering you that opportunity today. Whether or not you say “yes” to it or not, that’s up to you. But we’re offering you an opportunity to be disciples and to be a disciple maker.

Back to the question, “What is a disciple?” Here’s how Willard defines it. He says, “A disciple is a learner, a student, an apprentice –a practitioner… Disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess certain views as their own but apply their growing understanding of life in the Kingdom of Heaven to every aspect of their life on earth.” A disciple is a learner. If you think about the words, “disciple,” and “discipline,” they have the same root. It involves a discipline, a decision to say, ‘I want to spend my life focused on becoming more like Jesus.’

Are you a disciple of Jesus? Would you say that’s true of you? ‘Yes, I’m a disciple of Jesus.’ Would you say that? Are you a lifelong follower, learner, that, for the rest of your life, you want to learn from Jesus and become more like Him? There’s some of you here today that would say, ‘Yes, that’s me. I’m committed and, not only am I committed, but I’m committed to keep His commandment to make other disciples. That’s the calling of my life. I really feel that.’

Others might be here today and you might say, ‘I’ve never given my life to Jesus. I’ve never taken the first step to say, Yes, I want to follow Jesus.’ Maybe, that’s you. Maybe, you’re watching online or maybe, you’re watching next door in the room next door and you’ve never made that commitment. We’re going to give you an opportunity before this message is over today to make that commitment. You can do it today. It’s just a decision away. Today, you can say, ‘I want to give my life to Jesus. I want to become a disciple of Jesus. I want to turn my life over to Him.’ That’s some of you. Others are here today and you’ve done that; you’ve said “yes” to Jesus. You believe in Him. You want Him to be your Savior. You believe that He is the son of God and He died for your sins. But, there’s certain arenas that you are not ready to give to Him yet. For example, you’re a single guy and you’re not ready to turn your dating life over to Jesus yet because you feel like you have control of that. Maybe, you’re a married couple and you’re having some struggles, but you’re not ready to turn your marriage over to Him. Maybe, you’re having some finance hardships,, but you’re not ready to give your finances over to His Lordship.

I would say to you, the very area that you’re holding back from Jesus is the area that’s preventing you from being a real disciple. You’re really not a disciple. You’re a believer, but you’re not really allowing yourself to grow. You’re holding yourself back. Maybe, it’s some other area of your life. Maybe, it’s your sexuality or your job or something else that you’re thinking, I’ve got that. I’m going to keep that to myself. I’m not going to turn that over to Jesus. May I say to you, the thing that you’re holding back from His Lordship is the thing that’s costing you the abiding peace and the abundant life that He offers to His disciples. The place that you’re saying, ‘I got this’ is the place that ‘you don’t got this.’ It is the place where you’re not trusting Jesus as Lord. To call Him, “Lord,” means to say, ‘Everything that is in my circle of influence is now His.’

Where are you at with this today? Are you ready to pull your affections off of your idols and put them on the worship of Jesus and following Jesus? You can do something about this today. This is what we’re gonna be talking about today; we are going to talk about what it means to make disciples. We’re going to go to the Great Commission passage in the book of Matthew, chapter 28 , verses 18 through 20 , where Jesus gave the disciples this command to “go and make disciples of all nations.” I believe, as we look at the text today, we’ll see three steps on how we can work together to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Let’s “dig in.”

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV) 18 And Jesus cameand said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is God’s Word, Amen.

HOW TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF JESUS TOGETHER:

1. We can recognize Christ’s great authority.

Look at verse 18; let’s start there. Circle, in verse 18, where it says, “all authority.” If you have your bulletin, look at the sermon notes and circle, “all authority.” How much authority belongs to Jesus? According to Him, it is all authority. He says, “All authority in heaven and on earth.” How much authority? All.

This passage is full of superlatives. Notice that the word, “all,” is there four times in the text –- all power, all nations, all things and all ways. This is four times that He uses this superlative. His authority is great. His authority is all encompassing.

Now, who’s He talking to? Let’s start there. Verse 18, “And Jesus came and said to them. Jesus came and said to them. Who is “them?” If you read the previous verses, He mentions that He told his eleven disciples to go to a mountain in Galilee. There are eleven disciples because Judas Iscariot is no longer with them. Jesus has already resurrected from the grave, having defeated sin, death and the grave. He’s already appeared to the eleven disciples. On the day of His resurrection, He appeared twice on that Sunday. The following week, He appeared again while they were in Jerusalem. So they’re convinced. Even Thomas has been convinced now.

Jesus says to the eleven disciples to go to Galilee to the mountain. It doesn’t name the mountain. So, which mountain is it ? Well, the majority position for most theologians is that it was that particular mountain in Galilee where Peter, James and John saw the transfigured Jesus; they saw Him in His glory revealed. So, maybe, whenever He said to go to the mountain, Peter, James and John knew which mountain. They knew which mountain it was, traditionally speaking.

There’s a church there today. If you go to Israel today, there’s a church built on this mountain. Its name is Mount Tabor; it’s called “the church of the transfiguration.” The majority position for most theologians is that’s where the disciples went. To hear this great commission, they went to Mount Tabor, to the mountain. It was certainly the eleven disciples, as Matthew reports here. Perhaps,

It also included those 500 that saw Him at one time that Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians. Uh He talked about how 500 saw the resurrected Jesus at one time. That would make sense because Galilee was really the center of His ministry. He ministered in Jerusalem, but he mainly ministered around the sea of Galilee, so, the majority position for many theologians is that here’s Jesus and when He’s talking to them, it’s the eleven disciples, plus other disciples gathered there. It was, perhaps, the 500 that Paul spoke of that saw the resurrected Jesus at once. So, who’s “them?” It’s the church. It took me a while to get there, didn’t it, but that’s who He’s talking to. The commission is given to the church. Who is over the church? It is Jesus. He’s the head of the church. He’s got how much authority? All authority.

There are two Greek words in the New Testament that could be translated for the word, “power.” Actually, the King James version says, “All power in heaven and on earth.” There are two Greek words that can be translated, “power.” One is where we get the words, “dynamite” and “dynamo.” . It’s not this verb here or this word here. It’s actually the idea of the power to rule authority. So, authority is a really good translation here. It could be translated, “power,” but it has more of the idea of power as active power, like dynamite power. Whereas, this Greek noun has more the idea of power invested and power to rule. It’s important to know that Jesus has the power to rule over all things in heaven and on earth.

Why is it important to us as disciples? Well, first of all, it’s important because He has the power to tell us that the most important thing for us, as a church, is to make disciples. It doesn’t mean to make “converts.” You make converts; they pray to receive Jesus. That’s good. You’re done. That’s not what He says. He says to “make disciples,” which is lifelong apprentices of Jesus, deciding to conform their life to that of Jesus, so that it becomes like Him in every regard.

This is what radically turned the world upside down – men and women who followed Jesus were disciples of Jesus and the world had never seen the likes of Him. They turned the world upside down. This is the kind of authority that He talks about.

Another way of saying “all authority” is to say it in Latin–“omnipotence.” Omnipotence is all power. He has all power.

Charles Spurgeon says this, “What mind shall conceive, what tongue shall set in order before you, the meaning of all power? We cannot grasp it; it it is high, we cannot attain unto it. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us. The power of self-existence, the power of creation, the power of sustaining that which is made, the power of fashioning and destroying, the power of opening and shutting, of overthrowing or establishing, of killing and making alive, the power to pardon and to condemn, to give and to withhold, to decree and to fulfill, to be, in a word, “head over all things to his church,” — all this is vested in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The apostle Paul describes this. with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul writes to the church at Ephesus. He says, Ephesians 1:19-22 (NLT) 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe in him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.

What are you facing today that you just wish you had the power to do something about? What are you facing today? Maybe it’s at work. Maybe it’s at school. Maybe it’s at home. Maybe the doctor gave you some bad news about your health. Maybe you’re going through something. Why God? How am I gonna get through this? So many of us today are not experiencing the abundant life that Christ promised to give because we’re not relying on Christ’s power. We’re trying to live the Christian life on our own strength. We’re trying to say, like a Christian atheist if you will, we believe, but we just don’t act on it like we believe. We try to live the Christian life on our own power.

Those that have been coming to our church for the last few months, you know that a few weeks ago, your pastor was working on his motorcycle and had a little accident and broke his back. That’s me. That’s who we’re talking about. I’m trying to bring the “cumberbund” back; I have this back brace on. I have to admit, I’ve been asking God, ‘Why? I was being a good boy. I was just working on my motorcycle and I had a little accident with it and broke two vertebrae and had to have back surgery. That wasn’t in my plan.’ Do you ever talk to God like that? God, I had a plan. I thought I was being good and then this happened and it’s not good. This thing that’s happened to me. I don’t feel good. It’s important to me to say to God, to say to Jesus, ‘You’re God and I’m not. I know that nothing can touch me without passing through Your fingers first. If it brings You greater glory for me to be in weakness, then I glory in my weakness so that You might receive greater glory.’ I’m not happy about my physical condition right now, but I’m reminding myself He’s God and I’m not. He’s the authority and I’m not. He’s over me and I know that He’s going to cause all things to turn to good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. That means bad things, too.

I don’t know what you’re facing today, but stop trying to go through it by yourself. Stop trying to go through it alone. First of all, come together with other believers and share one another’s burdens. Then, give your burdens to Jesus and say, ‘You have all authority and You have all power. I trust You.’ It’s easy to trust when you’re going through the good times, but trust is tested when you’re going through a bad time. That’s when you find out what you really believe.

Verse 18 says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Do you believe that today? We read in Acts 1:8 (ESV) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…”

For many of us, the reason that we’re not being discipled and being a witness is because we’re not empowered. We don’t leave the house. We are “unplugged.” Plug into the power available to you through the Holy Spirit; the spirit of Christ. Holy Spirit, fill me afresh today.

Do you think I come strutting up here, just Gary? No, I’m terrified to come up here by myself. I come up here praying, ‘Lord, anoint me again; I’ve already preached the first service.’ I go to my office between services and I pray, ‘Lord, empower me, because I’m just little Gary.’ As I tell you often, you commissioned me to be the “newspaper boy.” I give the good news. I roll it up nice and neat, put a rubber band around it and throw it up on your front porch. That’s what I do, but the word and the power is yours. God empowered me to throw it out there so that you’ll receive it. I pray that when I’m preaching, you don’t even hear me. I pray that the Holy Spirit penetrates your heart so that you know that it’s God speaking to you. He’s given us the authority, for the benefit of the church, that we might know this power, this authority.

Do you remember that time when Jesus asked the disciples to go out on the sea of Galilee. He’d been ministering a lot and He was probably tired. He just needed a break from the crowd . Do you ever get like that, when you just need some time alone with the family? So, Jesus is out with the disciples on a boat. He has His professional fishermen in charge – Peter, James, John, Andrew and those other guys. They know the sea of Galilee. Jesus lays his head down and goes fast asleep. As the story goes, as it’s told in Mark chapter four, a sudden storm comes up, like a hurricane. It’s so bad that it scares the sailors. Peter James and John have never seen a storm like this; they think they are going to die. They look and there’s Jesus asleep in the bow of the boat and they say to Him, ‘don’t you care that we’re going to drown, that we’re going to die? Wake up, Jesus!’ Do hou ever feel like that? Do you ever wonder, Jesus, are You sleeping? Look what I’m going through right now. Do You see? Don’t You care?

Jesus wakes up and says to them, ‘You of little faith’ and He says, “Peace be still.” The sea becomes like glass. The waves disappear and the sky turns blue. The disciples, who were greatly afraid, the scripture says, now were no longer afraid of what was on the outside of the boat, but they were terrified of the One that’s inside the boat. They were afraid. They said, “Who is this man who commands the sea and the waves and they obey. Who is this man?” His name is Jesus. He has all authority in heaven and on earth.

Have you willingly come under the authority of Jesus? Have you submitted every arena of your life to Jesus? He’s either Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all in your life. What are you holding out? Turn it over to Jesus. Give Him authority over your life. Will you recognize His authority and will you depend on His power?

Let’s keep going .

HOW TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF JESUS TOGETHER:

2. We can obey Christ’s great command.

Let’s look at the text again. We’ve covered verse 18 fairly well. Let’s go to verse 19. Take note in verse 19, for you teacher types and people that studied English and made good grades when you were taking English grammar. I’m going to point out something here. The active verb that’s in the middle of verses 19 and 20 is “make disciples.” In the Greek, “make disciples” is just one word. It’s two words in English; “make disciples” is one word in Greek. This imperative verb has three dependent participles: “go” (going), “baptizing” and “teaching.”

I know that some of you are remembering eighth grade English right now and thinking, I hated eighth grade English . You had to go up to the board and do those sentence structures and all that stuff. The only reason I’m telling you this is because this is God’s word; I believe even the grammar is inspired. The grammar reveals something to us.

How do you make disciples? He gives you three participles and you can see two of them. Participles tend to have “ing” at the end. We see two of them – “baptizing” in verse 19 and “teaching” in verse 20. You’ll miss one in the English that you wouldn’t miss in the Greek that’s going here. It just says, “go,” but in the Greek, it literally says, “going” make disciples. “Going” make disciples of all nations.

The first word that I would say to you about obeying Christ’s command, as a church, is first to observe the word “going” as the first activity. The idea here is you’re already going somewhere. You’re already on the go. You were “going” when you came here and you’ll be “going” when you leave here. You’ll be “going” to a restaurant or you’ll be “going” home to have a meal. Tomorrow, you’ll get up and you’ll be “going.” Do you see what I’m saying? Making disciples should be a way of life that you do as you’re “going.” That’s partly what it means; this idea that as you go through life, make disciples “going.” You’re already “going.”

But then, it means something even more, because the “going” and the “making” disciples agree in their Greek “tents.” They go together, “go” and “make.” Where am I supposed to “go” and “make” disciples? You are to “go” and “make” disciples as you go, but with a particular direction in mind. Where? To all nations go and make; go and make disciples of all nations.

Another Greek word of interest here is “ethnos;” of all “ethnos.” All ethnic groups are to hear the gospel from you, as His disciples. You’re to pay particular attention, to make sure it goes out to all “ethnos;” all nations. As you go, but have a certain intent, as a church, to make sure that you go to the whole world, so that every nation hears.

Church, are we involved in that? Do we focus on our city? Do we focus on Eastern North Carolina? Do we focus on the world? We’re just a little church. How can we do all that? The reason we can do all that is because all authority in heaven on earth is under our Lord Jesus. He’s got that for the benefit of the church. Therefore, we can do that. We can reach the whole world and we’re to carry this message to the whole world, going therefore, to make disciples of all “ethnos,” of all nations. We are to do this, because the church is not the steeple. The church is the people . You’re the church. I’m the church. We’re called to make disciples; that’s what we’re called to do.

All of us have been “sent.” We have people in our church who have taken this literally. It will be eight years in September that we planted another campus in Rocky Mount. As we made plans for this second campus, we stood before you and we said, “How many of you would be willing to go and help us plant a campus in Rocky Mount? We had a number of people who said, “yes.” Some of those people actually sold their homes in Wilson and bought homes in Rocky Mount; they moved to Rocky Mount to help plant this second campus. You might be thinking, That’s crazy. I want to follow Jesus, but I don’t want to go crazy. Well, following Jesus often looks crazy to the world, but we had people to move to help plant this new campus. We’ve got a campus in Rocky Mount now, where people moved up there and helped us get it started. Now, we’re reaching people in the Rocky Mount area. So, we have a sense of calling to reach people in Eastern North Carolina with the Gospel. That’s why we’re called East Gate because we’re trying to be a “gateway” to the Gospel in eastern North Carolina. That’s where our name comes from. We want to plant more churches in Eastern North Carolina.

We want to, also, be involved in reaching the whole world. Some years ago, I was meeting with a young man regularly, talking to him and disciplining him. This young man had a family. He worked for Bridgestone Corporate. He told me that he was learning Japanese. I asked him, “Why are you learning Japanese?” He said, “Because I hope to work at the home office in Japan with Bridgestone.” I said, “Wow, you’re willing to learn Japanese and move your family to another land for Bridgestone? That’s pretty amazing.” I, then, asked him, “Would you do that for Jesus?” I thought the guy was going to punch me. He was mad at me for a couple of weeks after that. Would you do that for Jesus? That’s my job is to disturb your comfort. Part of my calling is to make you uncomfortable, so that you’ll follow Jesus. After awhile, he came back to me. He asks, “Ok, what should I do?” Over the next couple of years, we worked through some things and he ultimately listened. He ultimately took his wife and his family, they sold all their belongings, went to seminary and then went and spent eight years in Indonesia. They recently moved to Turkey. My wife and I went to see them just a couple of months ago; we went to visit him and his family. They had one of their children on the mission field in Indonesia.

I could tell you more stories like that. This is what it means to be on the adventure with Jesus, to be so radically being a disciple for Jesus. Now, do you have to sell everything you own and move to a far away country? No, but as you’re “going,” if you’ve given everything to Jesus, you’ll do whatever He says. You’ll go where He tells you to go. That’s the “going” word.

The next part of discipling is “baptizing.” “Going” baptizing. Baptism is the place where you take on Christ’s identity, in a public place where you identify your life with Jesus, His death, burial and resurrection, where you take on the Trinitarian name. What do you mean by the ‘Trinitarian’ name? Look at what it says, “baptizing them in the name.” Name is singular; it is not names. Is that bad grammar, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit ? Why is it not names? Because it is one; it is the Trinity– the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost; it’s three persons. We take on that name when we’re baptized, we say, ‘I am a new creation, a new person; I’m starting the journey. We’re to baptize people in the name of the Father Son and the Holy Spirit. Now that they’ve taken on this identity, they’ve entered into the apprenticeship. We’re “going” and “baptizing.” We’re calling people, out from the world, to identify their life with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

Then, He says, in verse 20, “teaching.” That’s the third part – teaching. Teaching them what? “To observe all.” Here’s another one of those “alls” to observe. That means to take note of, to take and hold on to,to stand guard over all that He has commanded us. So, that could certainly mean everything in the scripture . That could mean everything because He is the word of God; it is all from Him, but I think it particularly means what Jesus taught. So, that’s especially the books Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We’re to be students of the life of Jesus and to keep His words. We might say this – they will know that we are His followers because we love one another. They’ll know we are His disciples because of our love for one another. I think, perhaps, that’s the chief among all of His commandments, that we love one another, so that the world would look in and think, You’re different. You’re different than the rest of the world. You love one another. Jesus says to teach that. We’re to be lifelong apprentices, lifelong students, having entered into this body of Jesus. We’re not to be passive. We’re not just to sit still while someone else instills. You’re doing well to be here to hear the preaching of the word of God . That’s important. Jesus preached to the crowds, but He spent His most intense time, one on one, with His disciples.

Are you doing that? Are you one on one in a mentoring relationship, a discipleship relationship, where someone’s “pouring” into you and you’re “pouring” into someone else. This is what He says, 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This is the command.

It says in Mark 16:15 (NLT) “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” It says in John 20:21 (ESV) Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

You’re sent and remember His strategy for “going.” We talked about this verse earlier, Acts 1:8 (ESV) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” So, you can see it like this: Jerusalem is where they were when He was talking to them, so start at home, moms and dads. Your first disciples are your kids. Those are your disciples if you have had a child; you’re supposed to disciple them. You’re supposed to bring them up to follow Jesus and teach them. If you’re a grandparent, you are supposed to disciple those grandchildren. I have ten of them “crumb snatchers.” Robin and I have ten grandkids. You should see our house when we all get together. It is chaos. But it’s a holy chaos. It’s a wonderful thing. Lots of love. We’re making sure, as grandparents, that we’re talking to them constantly about Jesus and about the Lord. We want them to grow up to follow Jesus. Are you making disciples in your Jerusalem? Are you starting at home?

Judea is the larger area. Our Jerusalem right now is Wilson as a church. Then, Eastern North Carolina would be our Judea.

Then, there is Samaria; that’s the people nearby but not like you. That’s another “ethnos.” How do you reach Samaria in this area? Well, my favorite way is just to go to restaurants because there’s the fringe benefit of food. If you want to reach somebody that’s from Thailand, go and eat some Thai food. If you want to reach somebody from China, go eat some Chinese food. If you want to reach somebody from Mexico, go eat some Mexican food. I can even direct you to my favorite “fishing holes.” I don’t have my phone with me, but if I had my phone, I’ve got notes of the names of the waiters, waitresses and owners. and little I’ve googled phrases, translated in Chinese, Spanish or Thai, so that I can say a few words in their language when I’m talking to them. They love that; it reaches out to the other “ethnos.” When I’m talking to a waiter or a waitress, I’ll always try my best to get their names if I don’t know them. I will say to them, ‘ I don’t think I’ve ever met you. I eat at this restaurant a lot. Have you just started working here? What’s your name? We’re about to pray over our food here. Can we pray for you? What would be something we could pray for you about?’ I have some of the best friends at some of these local restaurants. That’s my favorite ministry in town – the restaurant ministry. I’ve got to eat anyway as I’m “going.” I’m just giving you examples of how you could reach out to Samaria, to people that are different from you.

Lastly, “to the end of the earth.” Are you involved financially in giving to missions? Do you pray for missionaries? Are you willing if God told you to go, you’d go? If your corporation told you to go, would you go? If the CEO of the universe told you to go, the one Who has all authority in heaven on earth, would you go? Are you willing to obey Christ’s great command?

HOW TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF JESUS TOGETHER:

3. We can remember Christ’s great promise.

We’re at the last part of verse 20, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The word, “behold,” in the Greek, is an imperative verb. You could translate it like this, ’I’m always with you. I’ve given you this great commandment. It’s big. Reach the whole world with the gospel, but I’ve given you all authority and I’m always with you.’

That’s the fourth “all” in this passage in verse 20. It is “always.” It literally says, “all days.” It’s kind of strange. In fact, He says something like this, ‘I am with you all the days until the last day. I’m with you all the days to the last day.’ Well, he doesn’t need to say that. That’s a promise on the last day, because on the last day you’ll know He’s with you because you’ll see Him. That’s the day when He comes back again. We have to remind ourselves right now that He is with us because we can’t see him right now. He’s with us. He’s in this room right now. He’s with us, but we have to remind ourselves. We have to say, “behold,” remember, because we can’t see him. But, on the last day, at the end of the age, on the last day, we won’t need to be reminded because as John writes in his first epistle, “We know not yet what we shall be, but when we see him, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

You’re going to see Jesus someday. You’ll see Him and your faith will become real. It won’t just be faith from a distance. It’ll be faith, face to face, that your faith will become certainty. You’ll see Him, the One that you’ve devoted your life to. The One that you’ve given all things to. You’ll see Him.

Have you noticed that when you’re walking up the ramp in our church that we have a picture of the world? Some of you have been coming here so long that you have forgotten that it was there. If you’re here for the first time, you can see a little heart; that’s us in North Carolina. We want to reach the whole world, so we keep putting that in front of ourselves.

We have a great commission. We want to have a “heart for God and heart for each other and heart for our world.” We want to reach out to all nations.

We’ve got this process; we’ve been calling it, “Life On Life Discipleship.” This is our workbook. If you’ve never signed up, you’ll see that there’s a check box on your Connection Card. Sign up today, saying that you would like someone to disciple you. This workbook is organic; it’s relational. It’s one person “pouring: their life into you. The notebook gives you the “railroad tracks” for the relationship to run on. It gives you a process. There’s some stuff to learn; there’s real stuff to learn. If you’re walking up from the lobby into the hallway, we have the “life on life family tree.” We’re going to leave it up this Sunday and next Sunday just for you to think about. If you’re involved in the “family tree,” put your name up there and put the name of the person that you’re disciplining up there, also. The idea is that we are a family and we’re “pouring” our life into each other.

Hebrews 13:5 (ESV) … “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” This is Jesus speaking. That is His promise. ‘I’m with you always. I have all authority in heaven and on earth and I’m with you to face the thing that you’re facing today.’

In Romans 8:38-39 (ESV), Paul writes it like this, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” He’s with you, believer. He’s with you.

What are you facing today? Don’t face it alone. He’s with you and He’s with us as a church. Don’t face it alone; come together. “You can’t do the one anothers without one another. “

When Joshua and the Israelites were about to enter into the Promised Land, God said, ‘Look, I want you to go in there and I want you to be strong and courageous. I don’t want you to be afraid.’ Here’s the promise He gives them, Joshua 1:9 (ESV) “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” That’s the same promise that Jesus gives to us today. He calls us out of our comfort zone.

Making disciples, at first glance, feels kind of intimidating. That’s why we built the workbook to make it simpler. I’m not saying that everything you need to know is in the workbook, but it gives you, like I said, the “railroad track” so that you can get started on the basics of what it means to be a Christ follower.

I remember when I went to college (and you’ll see his name on the family tree above mine) a fellow named Tom Llewellyn. He was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. I was a freshman at Radford University. It was the fall semester and I had signed up for a bible study; he turned out to be my Bible study leader. One day, he said to me, “Have you ever been discipled?” I had never heard anybody say that before. I had gone to church my whole life, but I had never heard anybody ask me that question. I asked him, “What is that?” He says to me, “Would you be interested in me discipling you?” I said to him, “I guess so.”

This started a two-year training process of him going through a checklist with me: Do you know how to give your testimony of faith? Do you know how to pray? Do you know how to do a Bible study? Do you know how to study the Bible for yourself? Do you know how to have a quiet time? I’d gone to church my whole life but nobody had ever sat down with me, in a very structured way, but also a relational way.

I remember when he asked me, “Do you know how to have a quiet time?” I said, “Not really.” We were at a retreat this particular time. He said to me, “Ok, meet me down front of the center at six in the morning.” I said, “I have never seen six in the morning with my eyes open before.” He says, “Ok, well, that’ll be part of your discipleship.” Remember, “discipleship” also shares the word, “discipline.” It is six am; we go off and the sun’s coming up. He shares his quiet time with me. He did a reading and prayer and let me join in. In other words, I watched one of his quiet times and then we did another one where he watched my quiet time.’ He taught me about relationship; that it is “life on life.” It made a huge difference.

I’m still thankful to my brother, Tom. He planted a church up in Michigan; he’s older now. He’s retired from the ministry. Tom, my mom and my grandma were the ones that led me to Jesus and discipled me. Many preachers, uncles and grandfathers I could mention that have discipled me, too, but Tom was the one, when I was in college, that really went through and made sure all the missing parts were covered. Have you ever done that? I’m encouraging you today to sign up and be part of our “life on life, discipleship” process.

Let’s close. I want you to consider, as we close, that He has all authority. He has great authority. Have you recognized that? Are you willing to obey His command to all believers of Jesus to be a disciple maker? Finally, will you be encouraged by remembering that He’s always with us? He’s always present . He’s always with us.

I want to pray for you now. \Lord Jesus, I, first of all , pray for that person that’s never fully surrendered their life to you. Is that you my friend? Right in your seat where you are, the spirit of Christ is speaking to you. Would you surrender your life to Nim. Maybe you’re watching from home. Wherever you’re at, maybe you’re in the next room, right where you are, you can talk to Him. He’s listening. He’s present. Pray like this, “Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I’m, today, believing that You died on the cross for my sins and that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me; forgive me of my sin. I want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I want to follow You all the days of my life. I surrender my life to You.’ If you’re praying that prayer, believing, He’ll save you. He’ll make you a disciple, You’ll begin the process. Others are here today and you’ve given your life to Jesus, but you’ve been holding back certain arenas of your life. Would you surrender all to Him today? What are you holding back? Holy Spirit, show us. What are you holding back that’s stealing that perfect peace, that abundant life that Christ promises. What are you trying to do on your own, that you would give to Him today and say, ‘I give it all to You now. I trust You all with all things. I lift it up to You now.’ In Jesus’ name. Amen.