Salt + Light Fort Worth

Good morning.

Morning.

It's good to be with you.

This is, uh, Justin, my first,
uh, time to get to be with salt

and light so far this year.

And so, uh, we're,
there's no nowhere else.

We'd rather be, uh, for sure.

So we're gonna be Matthew four.

You're welcome to turn there, but,
uh, I'm also gonna ask you to do

something a little odd, so if you
will, I'll stand up for a moment.

And then be careful with, you
know, drinks and that kind of

stuff, uh, down at your feet.

Uh, 'cause I'm gonna have you close your
eyes and turn around as you're able to.

This is challenged by choice here.

So, uh, turn around until
I tell you to stop and then

I'll tell you what else to do.

Eyes closed.

Turn around, carefully, ready to go.

And everybody stop.

And point north with your eyes closed.

Point North.

Some of you're having debates
and you may open your eyes.

All right.

Nailed it.

All right.

Great job.

You may take a seat.

That is amazing.

Well done.

That has nothing to do with anything.

I just felt like y'all were a little
sleepy and needed to, uh, to move around.

No, no, no.

Uh, that is a really
silly little exercise.

We do a lot when we work with
pastors as it relates to the

definition of discipleship.

Because what you just experienced
viscerally, uh, is how a lot of

folks feel about discipleship.

It's one of these words that's
used a ton In Christian circles,

we talk about discipleship.

You, you know, you're supposed to
be in discipleship relationships.

You know you're supposed
to disciple others.

You are a disciple of Jesus,
and yet, it's one of these words

that is rarely, rarely defined.

What does it mean to be a disciple?

And if you weren't here last week,
um, as I was not, uh, we started

in, in our Salt and light Sunday
gatherings talking about what it looks

like to live a disciple making life.

And so, so just different aspects
of what it looks like to obey Jesus'

Commission, go make disciples,
and here's why we did that.

Without a definition of discipleship,
we have no idea what that means.

Is that fair?

Without knowing what a disciple is,
we don't know where we're going.

We don't know what we're supposed
to be calling people into.

If there's no true north,
see what I did there?

There's no true north if there's
no definition of discipleship.

How do you know how to make a disciple?

Fair.

Um, so Justin and I haven't been here.

We, we had the, the honor, the unique
honor of starting this year in Antalia,

which is a city on the Mediterranean
coast of Turkey, uh, with leaders

from Soma Global, um, some of whom
have been here with us in Fort Worth

from places like Japan and, um,
Australia and Russia, and Romania and

Slovakia, Sierra Leone, Mexico, us.

Um, we were in Analia, which
is this port city up here.

Um, which is really cool.

Antalia is actually in, in, in
the Bible, which is, you know,

nowhere in the US is in the Bible.

So that's cool to see Antalia.

So, uh, Paul preaches in Perge, Paul
and Barnabas on their first missionary

journey preach in a city called Perge.

And then they cross over a little
mountain to Antalia Talia is

what it says in Acts chapter 14.

And they take, um, a, a boat
to Jerusalem at the end of

Paul's first missionary journey.

So this is the port that they
sailed out of ships, looked

a little different back then.

Um, this is the port.

And then these are some of the
folks that we were work with, again,

from, from all over the world.

Again, maybe some of you recognize
some of them, um, from different Soma

retreats that have been in Fort Worth.

Um, but, but here's why I share this,
uh, not to compare my start of 20,

20 60 years, um, but rather because,
uh, this group of folks had a lot

of conversations about this topic.

What is the definition of disciple?

What are we calling people into?

Again, these are folks who are leading
efforts in churches just like ours

in, in all corners of the world.

Um, and, and, and, and the question
is, what is the true north?

What is discipleship?

What are we trying to call people to?

And in part, a lot of those conversations
started contrasting what it look like

to, to call people, to discipleship, to
Jesus in Jesus versus if I can say it

like this, discipleship to other things.

Being disciples to other things.

Uh, because turns out it's not just in the
US but in every country represented here.

And I'll bet we could say probably every
country and every pocket around the world.

There's other things
saying, be a disciple of me.

Let me be the primary thing that
shapes your identity, not Jesus.

Let me be the best story you
believe, not the story of Jesus.

Let me, let me be good news to you.

Not the good news of Jesus.

I agree.

You feel that daily here, uh, it's easy.

I mean, we've already talked
about this a little bit.

Like, like politics is
an easy thing to say.

Be a disciple of me.

Be aip, disciple of this party.

Be disciple, disciple of this philosophy.

Especially whatever you
do, don't be disciple of.

I see skipping the D and disciple.

Don't be disciple.

Um, don't be a disciple of that party.

Don't be a disciple
of, of that philosophy.

But you know what?

As much as we feel that divide massively
divided country right now, we're not

the only country experiencing that.

Um, two folks in the middle, um,
of, of this, uh, picture here,

uh, were our hosts in in Turkey.

Um, and they were talking about the
Turkey as an officially secular country,

and yet there's a lot of religious
persecution that they face every day.

Um, Analia is a city of 3 million.

There are six churches.

He actually said there were
six, seven churches, but we're

not gonna reference that today.

Um, in a city of 3 million.

And some of that is because multiple
pastors and multiple churches

have been run out of the country
in an officially secular country.

Um, a few of us, uh, were sitting at one
end of the table, uh, with some, some

of our Slovakian and Romanian friends.

Um.

And they're recounting the communist
revolution in their country in 1989.

Um, which many of us in
the room were alive in?

Some of you remember?

Um, as I think about communism, i, i i
I, I think about it in a history book

of something that happened long ago and
far away, and yet he's recounting, uh,

the, the, the communist revolution, how
even this year they had to have a, a

different kind of special election because
there was some communist influenced, uh.

Deception going on in, in,
in their national election.

Um, and so the, the roots of that run deep
and he is basically like we can either

choose between this communist leader or
that communist leader 20 some odd years

after communist dance, communism ends.

Um, obviously, uh, our friend Katya,
who's been with us before, we're

talking about the war, um, in, in
Russia and Ukraine, um, and, and, and

on week ago, other, other countries.

Every country talked about some
corrupt and weak government.

But, but, but the point is, like,
politics is a shaping story in every one

of these countries except for maybe one.

It's, it's a commonly shaping story.

It's a place to find one's identity.

It's me versus you.

That's, that's a version of discipleship.

If you're called into that and
see it as your shaping story, uh,

beyond politics, uh, belonging or
success, um, or your identity, these

are other areas of discipleship.

Everybody wants to
belong somewhere, right?

You wanna know if you fit
in, you wanna be known.

And one of the beautiful aspect
of, of Christian community

says that everyone is welcome.

Everyone is welcome.

Nobody's perfect.

Everyone is welcome and outside
of Jesus community or belonging.

Looks like finding a club to
join or or finding a hobby.

And if you join a club or a hobby
for a season, that's great, but when

things change, you don't fit anymore.

Little League Soccer, we're
gonna, gonna, gonna rally around.

We're all gonna be part of this soccer
team until your kid stops playing soccer.

Then it's weird if you start showing
up to the games without your kids.

Um, or you have to make
yourself look like this.

Or act like that in order to belong,
that that's a form of discipleship

starting to look like this.

Act like that.

Believe this.

That's discipleship.

Sports bands, favorite
restaurants, people, I'm gonna

use this term intentionally.

People evangelize other
people to the things you love.

Right?

We talk about the things we love.

Some people in our country were
massively let down over the weekend

as some college championships or,
uh, excuse me, uh, NFL Championships.

Uh, the team, they put their
hope in, lost some of them.

The money, the team they
put their money on lost.

Others were elated this weekend.

The team, they put their
hope and their money in.

One.

We evangelize to the things that
we love, to the things we think

are gonna work to the things we
think are gonna give us hope.

In a sense, we're, we're making
people disciples of these things.

Does that make sense?

We can go on and on and on.

There's lots and lots and lots
of examples, lots of competing

stories, lots of competing norths,
but there's only one true north.

Only Jesus is the one true north.

And, and, and the reason this
matters so deeply is that people

are desperate for a better story.

Yes.

There's days where you're
desperate for a better story.

Even as you know, the one true north,
you're still tempted to slip back

into these other lesser stories.

But people all around us are desperate
for a, a better story, for deep

belonging, for truly good news.

And as a follower of Jesus,
you claim to have that.

And this is why this, this life
of disciple making, this disciple

making life is vital for all of us.

And so you weren't here last week.

Nicole started this series of
conversations by, by encouraging us toward

the right posture for making disciples,
which is dependence, a disciple making

life starts with praying that God will
save because salvation is of the Lord.

'cause salvation is of the Lord,
and in God's heart is to see

people come into his kingdom.

So building on that today we're
just simply asking what is

Jesus's definition of a disciple?

And that matters 'cause Jesus's
definition is going to shape our

pursuit of our own life in Christ.

And Jesus's definition of a
disciple is going to tell us

what to pursue alongside others.

And it's no surprise if you've
been with salt and light for long.

Uh, but we summarize Jesus's definition
of disciple in three phrases,

which are be with Jesus, become
like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.

If you need help remembering
that Brian's got a tattoo of it.

And so, um, shout out for Brian's tattoo.

Um, be with Jesus.

Become like Jesus, do what Jesus did.

And today I just wanna share a little bit
of why we define discipleship that way.

So, father, would you meet us?

Would you help us see this?

And would you help us to, to not
just understand it, but to, to see

ourselves more and more fully shaped by
these three elements of discipleship.

It's in your son's name.

Amen.

So in Matthew four, the verses that Nicole
read, uh, is it's, it's Matthew's, uh,

account of Jesus beginning his ministry.

Uh, and in verse 17, he
starts by saying this.

From that time, Jesus began to
preach saying, what's the word?

Repent.

That's a happy word in
today's culture, right?

Repent, though.

Jesus says, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand.

What does repent mean?

Again, we don't hear it in
like a positive sense today.

It's usually angry sounds,
berating, sounds condemning.

Repent at its core simply means turning
from one thing, turning away from

one thing that's talked about a lot.

Stop doing what you're doing.

Turn away from that thing, but,
but the less talked about part.

If you're turning away from
one thing, you're also what?

You're turning towards something,
and so repentance is both sides.

It is turning away from something and
turning to a better thing, and, and so

again, people are discipled into many
things, many lesser stories, many, many

pretty, but fading forms of good news.

And what's better in the first century and
21st century than politics or some club

or some sport, or some lesser identity,
or some band or some restaurant, or

even some false religion or even family.

What's better than those things?

Jesus says, repent for why the kingdom
of heaven is at hand turn from all

of those other things to something
better, which is the kingdom of God.

Why is that better?

'cause only in the kingdom of God.

Will you find a king who will never
let you down, and the government

will be upon his shoulders.

They'll be called the prince of peace.

Only in the true in, in, in the kingdom
of God do we find true belonging that

doesn't end after a brief season.

Only the kingdom of God
offers eternal, good news.

And so repentance church
is not a bad thing.

It's not a condemnation.

It's, it's a, it's a beautiful
invitation to live more fully into

the life that God designed you for.

And so that's Jesus' message.

All those other things
you get to turn away from.

You get to follow Jesus.

And then we see Jesus call
his first disciples while

walking by the Sea of Galilee.

He saw two brothers,
Simon, who's called Peter.

And Andrew, his brother, casting an net
into the sea for they were fishermen.

And he said to them, we say these
phrases with me, follow me and

I will make you fishers of men.

And then immediately they left
their nets and followed him.

And going from there, they saw two
other brothers, James, the son of

Zee and John, his brother in a boat
with their father minding their nets.

And he called them and immediately
they left their boat and their father.

And followed him.

What do you notice?

Talk to me for a minute.

I haven't done this in a while.

What do you notice about
Jesus' call and his disciples?

Response?

What stands out to you?

Immediate.

It's immediate?

Yeah.

Both.

They immediately left.

They immediately left.

What else?

They're leaving.

Something behind.

They leave.

They leave something behind something.

Some, yeah.

Someone and two of 'em walked
away from their dad, right?

Culturally not, not appropriate.

They were also leaving their businesses.

They weren't just out fishing for fun.

This is how they made their living.

Right.

And so all four were willing to
leave behind their means of income.

Anything else you notice?

Both in pairs?

They're both in pairs.

It's true.

Not a lot of information.

Yeah, they didn't have
a lot of information.

There's probably some context for
this teacher, that kind of stuff,

but there's not, not a detailed plan
that they were walking into, right?

There's no guarantee of
here's the job offer.

Here's the, here's the salary,
here's the, all this kind of stuff.

Again, there, there, the things they left
were forms of identity, forms of kind

of social norms, but they believed even
without having a lot of information, they

believed in the moment Jesus was better.

And so they repented, they stepped
away from lesser stories and lesser

identities, which would've been totally
socially acceptable into a better

story and into better good news.

And so in Jesus' call, in the, in the
verses I had you read with me, we see

the foundation of our definition, our
church's definition of discipleship.

And, and here's, here's
what I mean by that.

By Jesus saying, follow me.

If you're following something
outside of the internet, if you're

literally following someone, what's
the proximity that you have to them?

You're not following along,
you're not watching from afar.

You're what

you're, you're close, you're,
you're, you're literally with them.

So in saying, follow me, Jesus
says, and come be with me.

And again, they, they left.

They didn't, they didn't start to click.

Follow him from afar.

We'll see how this goes.

You know, they, they left,
they went to be with him.

Follow me, be with me and I will make
you, or some translation say, I will

make you into, okay, so, so, so the idea
of following Jesus is, is being with

him such that he's going to transform
you into something that you're not.

What is he gonna transform you into
Less and less of who you were and more

and more of who God's called you to be.

So follow me.

Be with me and I will make you into,
there's a becoming like me, and

what's he going to make us into?

Fishers of men.

What did Jesus do?

He heard the voice of his father.

He represented his father
to the world around him.

He did frankly, what Adam and Eve were
called to do in Genesis one, where,

where you're created the image of God and
now go fill the earth with that image.

My friend Jeff Vanderstelt says that
discipleship is a relational be with me.

It's transformational.

We're becoming like something
and we're doing what Jesus.

Dead.

It's coital.

We're joining him in his mission.

That's, that's our
definition of discipleship.

That's our true north.

And, and we see it based on Jesus's
first call to his first disciples.

And so, as we talk about a disciple
making life, if, if we are following

Jesus and we're inviting people to turn
from other stories and fading false

good news into a better story and true
good news, this is our invitation.

This is what it means to be a disciple.

And I wanna dig into each of those phrases
for just a minute, to flesh them out.

Um, but first of all, being with
Jesus, that's the starting point.

And the order here, the order matters.

Does discipleship according to Jesus
church, does it start with action?

It does not.

It starts with being, and so to pick
up other themes from scriptures, it's

abide, it's it's dwelling with Jesus.

It's being still.

Let me know the story of Mary
and Martha, where Martha's

serving, serving, serving Jesus.

And Mary's just sitting at
Jesus's feet and, and Martha says,

Jesus basically make her work.

And, and, and Jesus says, no, no, she's
chosen the better thing, she's with me.

She's just with me.

I'm the vine.

You're the branches.

Jesus says, apart from
me, you can do nothing.

First, the first part of the definition
of discipleship for your life, and then

what you get to invite others into is
a deepening relationship with Jesus.

We're not a patient people.

We don't like things that take time,
but being with Jesus just takes time.

I love that every year for as long as
Mike's been with us, his prayer has been

what I, what I look more like Jesus.

It's a good prayer.

Turns out after 74 years, you
don't feel like you're there yet.

I'd ask him which ways You're not there
yet, but that's a different, yeah.

Yeah, that's good.

But some, some definitions of
discipleship will start with things like,

well, what is, what is discipleship?

It's reading your Bible now.

Is that a good thing?

Yes, it is.

But what is discipleship?

It's reading your Bible.

What is discipleship?

It's praying.

Is that a good thing?

Yes, it is.

It's going and giving and
serving and this kind of stuff.

All good things.

But all of those are what?

They're actions, they're reliant
on what, on, on my power.

They're my work, things that I can do.

And, and the theme of the Christian
life is you can't, you can't

produce good and lasting fruit
outside of the vine or the branch.

And so yeah, read your Bible.

Yes, absolutely, but do so in
order to know your God more deeply.

Pray, but, but do so in order to hear
from God, not just say things to.

Go and give and serve.

Yeah, sure.

But as an overflow and obedience of
dwelling deeply with your father,

like, like put, putting, putting
disciples of relationships in context

of any other relationship on earth.

Like what if those of you who are
married, what if your marriage was

based on knowing facts about your
spouse and then doing things for

them, but never actually spending any
time or getting to know their heart?

Brand, newly married couples,
is that gonna go well for you?

No, that's good.

Premarital counseling worked.

Yes.

No.

We want to be with and spend time
with and abide with and, and this,

it would be utterly foolish to think
about that in any other context.

And yet, just go do this for
me is so often talked about is

what discipleship looks like.

The first invitation to Jesus
from, from God to you, and then

at times through you to others.

Just follow me.

Come with me.

Spend time with me.

Be with me.

We say fairly often here that who you
are matters more than what you do.

'cause who you are is going
to overflow into what you do.

We say our being comes before our doing.

These are things that we talk
about periodically, and it is it.

It's saying the same thing here.

Discipleship starts with a relationship.

The first invitation of a disciple
making life is to be with Jesus.

And maybe for some of you that's
just freeing 'cause you made a bunch

of commitments and did a bible in
a year plan in January and you're

like, ah, I've already blown it.

Get back on track.

But you know what?

That's okay.

'cause the first call is to be with Jesus.

Is that freeing?

I hope that's free.

The second invitation of a disciple
making life is to then become like Jesus.

And, and this happens as you dwell with
God and as you dwell with his people.

This transformation starts to happen.

It doesn't happen all over at once.

Okay?

It's not a, not a one time.

It's not always even up and
to the right all the time.

It, it's, it's little bit by
little bit one degree of glory to

the next, as one of the ways that
the Apostle Paul talks about it.

You see a little bit less of
your old pursuits and you see a

little bit more of the way of God.

You look a little bit more like the
people of God and man, there's a lot

of aspects to, to becoming like Jesus.

Uh, we try to summarize them in the
goals we give to your DNA leaders.

If you're in a DNA group,
we give your leaders goals.

If you're a DNA leader, we give you goals.

I hope you know this, but if you look
at Jesus' life, we can kind of, kind of

generally see four different themes that
help us see that becoming like Jesus

is being formed through God's spirit.

Becoming like Jesus is being guided by
God's story, becoming like Jesus is being

known as God's family and becoming like
Jesus is being focused on God's mission.

Now, Jesus was 100% of those all the time.

We are not 100% of any of those
all the time and, and yet again,

little by little over time.

And maybe more on some days and less
on some days because discipleship

and any kind of growth is a lot more
circular of trying something and then

coming back to how we were and then
trying something a little bit more.

And if you like, the two steps forward,
one step back or one step forward, seven

steps back or whatever that, that's
a lot more of how discipleship feels.

I get so frustrated with the gospel
of John, who basically, or the, the,

the, the disciple John, who basically
says like, I met Jesus and then I never

sinned again, and neither will you.

And Paul, on the other hand will go, yeah,
what I want to do, I don't do, and what

I don't want to do, I find myself doing.

He is like, yeah, I, I think
I'm a good disciple like Paul.

Good for John.

You reclined on Jesus's
chest and never sinned again.

Apparently, I don't get it.

I think he did sin for the record.

Um, but being formed through God's spirit
that just simply looks like discovering

and using the gifts of the spirit that God
has given you, stepping into those more,

being formed by God's spirit, it looks
like displaying the fruit of the spirit.

And again, think of all the other
things that, that are causing division

and dissension and that kind of stuff.

What would it look like to
show love and joy and peace?

Say it again.

What would it look like to show peace
and patience and kindness and goodness

and gentleness, and I'm forgetting one.

And then self-control.

What would it look like to display
those things in the midst of a

world that is utterly opposed?

Mm-hmm.

Being formed by, by God's spirit
is regularly seeing God at work

in us and going, yeah, that,
that, that didn't come from me.

That came from, that came from only God.

And I believe that there's glimpses
of that in each, in each of our lives.

Man, woman, child.

If you're walking with Jesus, I
might even submit before you walk

with Jesus, his spirit is forming
us, calling us, shaping things in.

That being guided by God's story is,
is simply to say that your goals and

your identity and your value changes
as you find yourself moving out of

one story into God's story as the
primary shaping story of your life.

You're moving, moving out of other
stories and seeing God's story as the

primary shaping story of your life.

The story of God laced throughout
the scriptures is, is, is, is

summarizes creation and fall
and redemption and restoration.

There's something good that God
created and it became broken and we

yearn for it to be restored one day.

We yearn for all things to be made right.

We yearn for things to be better than
they are, but every other philosophy

on Earth says, go make it better.

It's on you to do it, but
creation, fall, redemption.

Restoration is what sets the story of
God apart from every other story that

says, while we couldn't do it, God
sent one who could and did and does.

That's what does it move look like to move
from every other story to see that story

as the primary shaping thing of your life.

Part of what it means is you're
moving from seeing yourself as

the main character of your story.

To seeing God is the main character of
your story, and maybe that's pretty hard.

So being formed through God's spirit,
guided by God's story, being known

as God's family, means that there's
a place and a context for you to

be deeply cared for, deeply valued.

Have your needs met, be prayed for.

My friend, Dhati Lewis leads a church
in Atlanta and one of the identity

statements they, they give their people
is, is saying, you're responsible

spiritual siblings for each other.

You're responsible spiritual siblings.

Who we are before we're anything
else is, we're sisters and

brothers together in Christ.

If you're follower of Jesus, you
have responsibility for me and I

have some responsibility for you.

If you're not a follower of Jesus,
we still take seriously that you're

here and considering what this whole
Christian life looks like, so we have

a responsibility for you as well.

And we take that seriously.

It's part of why we prioritize DNA groups
so highly is it's hard to know with even,

you know, 80 people or so, exactly what
all the needs are in that kind of stuff.

Yeah, I think I can, can bear, can,
can bear some burdens and celebrate

some joys for 8, 10, 12 other folks.

Being known as God's family and then
being focused on, in, in, on God's mission

means that increasingly we find ourselves
displaying and declaring the good news of

Jesus in the different aspects of life.

Now, here's the reality.

Even in separating those four things,
being, being formed through God's

spirit, spirit guided by God's story,
known as God's family, focused on

God's mission, saying those things.

If we went around the room,
there's probably one or two of

those that you're like, yeah, that
one comes more naturally to me.

The other's not so much.

Um, I wanna submit that's
actually a supernatural thing.

'cause again, we're all
gifted differently by God.

That's part of why we need the church.

It's part of why differently gifted
people come together is to go,

I'm not good at all these things.

There's a couple that I resonate a lot
more with, and I need your strengths to

help shape me and form me and my weakness.

Is,

but the point is this, if you
spend endless hours diving

down a political rabbit hole,

if you spend an entire summer
chasing a band across the country,

if you, if you dive deep into some
other community or team or that kind of

stuff, what naturally starts to happen
is you start to dress like that rest of

the folks who are following the band.

You start to believe both pro us
and against them, things that this

party or that party says, you start
to act like other people who are

pursuing the same things, right?

That's transformation.

And so too, if you spend time with God
and his people, if you start with being

with Jesus, transformation happens.

Over time, intentionally,
unintentionally, little bit by little

bit, you start to become like the
people and thing that you value most,

whether that's Jesus or not.

You start to become like the
people or thing you value most.

And so part of discipleship is
being with Jesus relationally so

that over time you start to become
like him as he transforms you.

And then finally discipleship.

An aspect of discipleship
is doing what Jesus did.

Uh, open question.

Talk to me.

What are some things that Jesus did?

He healed people.

He healed people.

What else?

Fed people.

Fed people.

What else?

He sat with?

People.

Sat with people.

Just the, just the people
that society said, yeah.

They're, they're okay to sit with, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

No, he sat with.

Tax collectors and prostitutes.

And I love the blanket term sinners,
which is to say he sat with humans.

Um, but he would sit with the, the folks
who society said, no, no, no, no, no.

Especially religious people
said, no, no, no, no.

Don't, you can't be with them.

What else would he do?

He bu self precious people.

He what?

He rebuked self, right?

He rebuked self-righteous people.

Yes, he did.

Welcome children.

Welcome children.

Yeah.

What else?

Great.

He prayed.

Yeah, spent time with father

and on and on and on.

We could go.

There's a lot of things that Jesus
did right now, a few disclaimers.

One, we'll never do the things Jesus
did to the same degree Jesus did.

So don't hear this as like pressure
to be perfect all of a sudden.

We'll, we'll never do all the things Jesus
did to the degree that he did and yet.

We see in his early followers and
we see in different aspects around

the world, all the things that Jesus
did, the same power that raised him

from the dead, the same spirit that
worked in Jesus is, is is the God in

you, the hope of glory that you have.

So we'll never do the same is the
same thing to the same degree, but,

but God invites us and empowers us
to do the same things that Jesus did.

Second disclaimer, Jesus did all of those
things in the midst of a Roman empire.

Filled with other gods and filled
with other stories that, that

were vying for people's attention.

And so it's not just like, not just
like doing the things that Jesus

did as hard in 21st century America.

Turns out for all of the history of
God's people, old Testament and New

Testament, and when Jesus walked
the earth, there are always other

things vying for your attention.

And then finally, Jesus suffered
for doing the things he did.

Yes.

And you might too.

But Jesus summarized the Old Testament
law to some of the self-righteous

people who were trying to challenge him.

He summarized the Old Testament law by
saying, love the Lord your God with all

your heart, soul, mind, and strength,
and love your neighbor as yourself.

If you want a summary of what
Jesus did, that's what Jesus did.

He loved the Lord with all his
heart, soul, mind, and strength, and

he loved his neighbor as himself.

Jesus told others in a, in a
different passage, he says, I only

do what I see my father doing.

I only say what I hear my father
saying, man, what would it look

like if followers of Jesus did that?

Lived like that, loved God and neighbor
with our whole heart only only spoke

things that we feel like God would say,
only did things we feel like God would do.

Wouldn't that change how we
see most everything around us?

In first Peter, chapter two, uh, one of
those disciples from Matthew four, um,

wrote a letter that exhorted Christians
to live out their faith in God, but to do

so in the midst of an unbelieving world.

This is what Peter writes.

He says, you're a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for

God's own possession that you may proclaim
the excellencies of him who called you

out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Here's the deal.

We all proclaim excellencies of something.

Yes, we all proclaim someone or something
as the best savior, the good news, the

most satisfying thing, the right action
to take, the right thing to believe.

That's proclaiming
excellencies of something.

Yet Peter's saying who
we are are a people.

Who once were in darkness and
now are in marvelous light.

I love how he continues.

Once you are not a people, but now you
are God's people and you want belonging.

That's what that looks like.

Once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

There's identity statements in there.

There's relational statements in there,
and then he says, if that's true.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners
and exiles, we don't belong in

the world around us to abstain
from the passions of the flesh.

So, so try not to give into the
war that wages against your soul.

Keep your conduct or your
action among the Gentiles.

Honorable.

Who are the Gentiles?

He's writing into Jewish Christian.

So this is anyone who doesn't
follow God at the time.

So keep, keep your actions among
those who don't follow God honorable.

So when they speak against you as evil
doers, they may see your good deeds and

glorify God on the day of visitation.

Alright, so who we are is a
people claimed by God brought

out of darkness into marvelous
light, declaring the excellencies.

Of him and then trying to live holy
lives, being with Jesus, becoming

like Jesus, doing what Jesus did.

Where are we called to do those things?

Among the Gentiles, among the not
believing world that all of us exist

in And, and here's the deal, it's a lot
easier for some of us in the room to

kind of not live among the world around
us, but instead to pull back and abstain

and hide from the world around us.

There's a tendency in some of us do that.

There's a tendency in some veins
of Christianity that, so that's how

you're supposed to do it, so, so pull
yourself into the Christian castle.

Okay.

With only other Christians.

Pull up the draw bridge.

Make sure there's a cross on
the draw bridge so everybody

knows it's a Christian castle.

It's only Jesus people allowed inside

and keep away from the world.

The germs can't get in then
'cause Christians never sin.

You don't know anyone.

That's a tendency for some of
us to pull away from the world.

Yes, keep our faith hidden from the world.

At least.

The tendency for others of us is to
look no different from the world.

Still obsess over politics.

Still find your primary belonging
and satisfaction outside of Jesus.

Jesus isn't your true north.

You, you, you trust him in here quietly.

But the way you live, he's not, your true
north faith doesn't make a difference.

And to both of those kind of natural
tendencies, Jesus would say, no,

no, son, daughter, sister, brother.

No.

When people see your good works and
glorify God, if you're pulling out of

the world, why can't people glorify God?

When they see your good works,

they can't see your good works.

You've hidden him away.

If you're living just like the
world around us and finding your

values and priorities and that kind
of stuff shaped exactly like, why

can't people see your good works?

They don't look any different.

So rather doing what Jesus did.

Is living a better story joyfully,
obeying God even at personal risk,

even if it's socially unacceptable.

Displaying and declaring good news,
loving your Lord with your whole

heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Loving your neighbor, loving your enemy

among the non-believing world
that God has put you in, living

differently than the rest of the world.

Is that hard?

Yeah, that's hard.

But that's the third part of
this definition of discipleship.

As you're with Jesus relationally, as
God transforms you, as you become like

Jesus, then we get to join Jesus' mission
to make disciples and do what Jesus did.

And so when Jesus tells his
followers, go make disciples.

Baptize them.

Teach them all.

I commanded you.

What we're talking about today is
one way to summarize what that means.

This is, this is our true north church.

This is our, our
definition of discipleship.

From Jesus to you, from you to others.

This is the invitation.

Be with Jesus.

Become like Jesus.

Do what Jesus did.

And despite all the other things in
Peter's life and Andrew's life, and

James's life and John's life, when they
heard that, follow me and I'll make you

into fishers of men, they immediately.

Followed.

They repented.

In other words, they turned from
their competing stories, they

turned from all the social norms.

They turned from everything
that society said.

Find your identity here.

Put your value here.

Trust this empire.

Trust this job.

Trust this lesser identity.

Trust these other
directions of discipleship.

They immediately repented and turned
to a better story in follow Jesus.

Whether you call yourself a
Christian or not, do we do that?

Because one of the hopes for these few
weeks that we're talking about this at

the start of a new year, one of our hopes
and prayers is that God would use these

few conversations to kind of light a fire.

Maybe for some of us for the first
time or for some of us, reignite

a fire for joining God's mission.

To step into his, his, his call
and his charge and his empowerment

to make disciples in everyday life
in our everyday relationships.

And going back to these conversations
that we had in in Turkey.

In some ways, I will fully admit
it is easier to look at leaders in

Japan or Romania or Russia and feel
an urgency to invite people to Jesus.

There.

Like they have an over, like
Tokyo is less than 1% Christian.

There's an overt urgent, an
undeniable urgency there.

The process isn't easy,
but the urgency is more.

We live by contrast in a pretty darn
religious culture where a lot of

folks would claim to follow Jesus.

It's gonna feel like everyone
around us is a Christian.

Or at least everyone around
us knows Jesus, or at least

everyone around us goes to church.

But my pleading for each of us is don't
let familiarity inoculate you to the

reality that Fort Worth needs Jesus.

Your neighbors need Jesus.

Your coworkers need Jesus.

Your family members need Jesus.

Your friends need Jesus.

If you're like, oh, they already know him.

Like if there's an area of your
life that you feel like you

need more, Jesus, guess what?

There's an area in their life
they need more Jesus too.

So maybe it's unifying a conversation,
just going, we all need more.

Jesus.

Don't let a religious culture replace
people's need for a relationship

with the Lord that you follow.

And man, please don't let the enemy
deceive you into comfort and silence.

Because the first words that Nicole
read are just as true for every city,

every neighborhood, every nation, as it
was in Isaiah's time when he said them.

In Jesus's time, there's people around
us in darkness who need light, and anyone

who follows Jesus gets to be spiritually.

Kind of like these two tribes,
we've seen the greatest light.

You claim to know the greatest light.

People in darkness and God has
brought you into his marvelous light.

The shadow of death is gone.

The light of Christ has dawned
in you, will you help the light

of Christ dawn in someone else?

And so I'll send these out in this
week's email, but, but to make this

tangible, what it'll look like for
you to display and declare the good

news of Jesus in the midst of a
non-believing world, even this specific

Fort Worth area religious culture.

What would it look like for you to pursue
Jesus's better story, better identity,

better definition of discipleship for you?

'cause maybe that's where you're at today
is you need to take this personally, but

also what would it mean to play your part
in inviting others out of their lesser

stories and identities in pursuits?

And there should be a question mark there.

What would it look like for
you to pray back to last week?

What would it look like for you to
pray for opportunities and pray for

people in your everyday life who God
might send you to as a fisher of men

and women, as a fisher of people?

And then what would it look like to
live your life as a disciple, making

life as you fulfill your role in Jesus's
great commission to go make disciples

in Christ?

Your life is a disciple making life.

And to Peter and Andrew and
James and John, Jesus was

worth giving everything for.

And we know if we follow the rest of
the gospel of Matthew a few years later,

Jesus would then give even more for them.

And he gave up everything for others,
and he gave up everything for the world,

and he gave up everything for you.

And so we're gonna close by
taking communion, which is a

celebration and a declaration or
remembrance of Jesus's sacrifice.

Of saying, while most things and people
demand your life first, become like me,

I'm gonna hold this mandate over you.

I'm gonna put pressure on
you and put guilt on you.

Most things demand your life.

Jesus though laid down his life for you
and then God raised him to prove that

he really, truly is worth everything.