What makes a passionate Disciple?

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Sunday - 10:30 am worship - in person and on facebook live

by: Rev. Jennifer Guidoni

07/11/2024

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           My mother and father were what I considered good parents. They worked hard. They took care of us, three kids. They brought us to many fun and exciting adventure. We went camping. We went to Disneyworld. We were afforded to go to many of the school trips. We had good childhoods because of their efforts. All of this was wonderful but what made them good parents is they invested time in us with intentional together times. If my mom had to do laundry she would have me sit next to her and fold the towels and we would talk about stuff. I don’t remember the real conversations, I remember she was there talking to me even as a young child I was her focus. The same was for my dad. He was an expert at this. He would have us do chores or we would hold the flashlight and he would tell us stories of when he was little. We would tease and talk back and forth. Intentionally seeking me out to have conversations and impart good values. This is the same for our churches. If we intentionally seek to help disciple and vigorously impart love and time into people we will find greater fulfillment throughout our own lives as well. Our Discipleship programs in our churches must have intentionality.
          When I say intentionality, I am speaking of a plan. A real reason for leaning into people and helping alongside them to become the fully developed Christians we know they can be. We all have ingrained talents this is where we will start. How many of you go to church and come home and go to church again and in between you feel like you are not fulfilled? I bet it is a lot more than the pastor knows of. We call that doing church. It is not fulfilling at all. No wonder why people get pre-occupied with other more fulfilling things to avoid going to church. It is not that they don’t like church it is just that it is no longer as relatively necessary for fulfillment. This is what Paul, Jesus’ great disciple, says about this situation. He says, “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” (2Timothy 2:20-21) Paul wrote this to Timothy to help him realize he would have to set himself apart from the other stuff to be useful to God for the best stuff.
             We start thinking differently if we are looking at this in an intentional way. The way Jesus showed us. I feel bad that over time we lost the name, "The Way". We are now “church” but before it was called “Followers of The Way”. If we were to still have it described like this would you be considered a real follower of,” The Way”? I have to say I was not always passionate about my Christian walk. Yes, I call it a walk because it is a journey. I may have started as just “making a decision” to follow Jesus. Now it is a long time since that pivotal moment and the hurray has faded to daily life. "The Way" sometimes is filled with distractions and despair. I feel alone and non-comforted. When I look at this journey of my quest for following “The Way". I get a different thought. It becomes interactive and like Paul’s letter to Timothy, I start to long to remove those distractions and intentionally follow. I am looking for ways to connect with God.
         I love that the Lord does not force Himself on us. Jesus interacts with us like my parents did. He comes alongside us and starts kind instruction through our obedience. See what I did not tell you was if I did not help my mother or father with those little chores I knew there would be consequences. The stuff I did not like would happen. Either, I could not go somewhere, or I would have to go to my room with isolation. God must do this also as a parent. He knows what is good for us. If we refuse to cooperate in the process, we may not go to the next thing we really want in life. He might have us isolated to think about what we did. He does not do things that are bad he allows us to experience those things in the order of the world He set up. If I drop a bowling ball on my toe, I know it will hurt because of gravity and the laws of physics that God set in motion as the world began. Adam and Eve had to deal with these laws also. Otherwise, they would have floated away off the earth. God has us where He needs us to be, but we have to obey as Christians with intentional obedience.
           Reading His word makes a difference. If I wanted to go from one part of town to another yet I did not know the roads I would consult my Google maps app on my phone. In life, if I want to intentionally fulfill my works to the Glory of God in His purpose for me, I will have to discover what the manual for life says. The great disciple John wrote about why the disciples needed the followers of Christ to listen and read their writings. He said, “We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this, we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.” (1John 4:6) He knew the things they were writing down in what we now know as the Bible, where not from them (the original disciples) but God. If anyone followed and obeyed the instructions they gave out they would be easy to spot. Their lives would shine in that they would reflect the Glory of God. Just to let you know. The people of God who are in the word can see when you are not.
           We as disciples are also to be disciple-makers. This is a big job, and this is where we get fulfillment. As we come alongside our friends and family pairing up to do life together we are sharing intentionally our loving ways to show and grow the disciple we are with. Speaking what we have learned from the Bible which is the manual for “The Way”. Now, are you understanding? We have blessings in what Paul said to Timothy, “Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” (1Timothy 2:21)
Here is how I see it.
1.      Read the Bible more.
2.      Find fellow believers to come alongside and do life.
3.      Find friends and others you relate to that don’t know Jesus yet.
4.      Come alongside them and love on them and show them your God Light. Give them bits of yourself like my parents did for me...Stories that help them understand “The Way”.
5.      Point them to the Bible to help them find “The Way”
6.      Repeat
By completely immersing yourself in this plan of intentional discipleship we find a passion for the life we have is found in the church and with the body of believers. There will be other things we must do but those it all should be driven by our walk on “The Way”. I am praying you will find that gold nugget Paul spoke about and hold tight to it. Your fulfillment in Christ depends on it. C. S Lewis wrote, “Certainly there is a pleasure to be found in pursuing lesser things, but sooner or later the pleasure fades and then is lost.” “Whatever God's dream about man may be, it seems certain it cannot come true unless man cooperates.” -Stella Terrill Mann. Greater people than me saw this first. It is not a new concept it may just be new to you. “But if we try... we are always better people for trying.”-Ben Franklin.
Finally, find yourself setting goals. The prize ahead is to be in front of God Himself and Jesus saying, “Dad. I know this one well. They were one with us on, "The Way!” You can do this. Even if you change small things, like setting aside time as a family to read a scripture each night and talk about it for just a few seconds each. It will start a fire. The word of God is a light in the darkness and it will also be a light unto your feet. My dad would say to us kids, “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.” I think his wisdom which he learned from others is worth passing along. If we are to do this life, it is worth doing it right. Praying again you will find “The Way” not “Your Way” to a more passionate and fulfilled life. This is how I feel a truly passionate disciple is made; obedience, following, and commitment.
 May God bless you for, “The Way.”
Blog comments will be sent to the moderator

           My mother and father were what I considered good parents. They worked hard. They took care of us, three kids. They brought us to many fun and exciting adventure. We went camping. We went to Disneyworld. We were afforded to go to many of the school trips. We had good childhoods because of their efforts. All of this was wonderful but what made them good parents is they invested time in us with intentional together times. If my mom had to do laundry she would have me sit next to her and fold the towels and we would talk about stuff. I don’t remember the real conversations, I remember she was there talking to me even as a young child I was her focus. The same was for my dad. He was an expert at this. He would have us do chores or we would hold the flashlight and he would tell us stories of when he was little. We would tease and talk back and forth. Intentionally seeking me out to have conversations and impart good values. This is the same for our churches. If we intentionally seek to help disciple and vigorously impart love and time into people we will find greater fulfillment throughout our own lives as well. Our Discipleship programs in our churches must have intentionality.
          When I say intentionality, I am speaking of a plan. A real reason for leaning into people and helping alongside them to become the fully developed Christians we know they can be. We all have ingrained talents this is where we will start. How many of you go to church and come home and go to church again and in between you feel like you are not fulfilled? I bet it is a lot more than the pastor knows of. We call that doing church. It is not fulfilling at all. No wonder why people get pre-occupied with other more fulfilling things to avoid going to church. It is not that they don’t like church it is just that it is no longer as relatively necessary for fulfillment. This is what Paul, Jesus’ great disciple, says about this situation. He says, “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” (2Timothy 2:20-21) Paul wrote this to Timothy to help him realize he would have to set himself apart from the other stuff to be useful to God for the best stuff.
             We start thinking differently if we are looking at this in an intentional way. The way Jesus showed us. I feel bad that over time we lost the name, "The Way". We are now “church” but before it was called “Followers of The Way”. If we were to still have it described like this would you be considered a real follower of,” The Way”? I have to say I was not always passionate about my Christian walk. Yes, I call it a walk because it is a journey. I may have started as just “making a decision” to follow Jesus. Now it is a long time since that pivotal moment and the hurray has faded to daily life. "The Way" sometimes is filled with distractions and despair. I feel alone and non-comforted. When I look at this journey of my quest for following “The Way". I get a different thought. It becomes interactive and like Paul’s letter to Timothy, I start to long to remove those distractions and intentionally follow. I am looking for ways to connect with God.
         I love that the Lord does not force Himself on us. Jesus interacts with us like my parents did. He comes alongside us and starts kind instruction through our obedience. See what I did not tell you was if I did not help my mother or father with those little chores I knew there would be consequences. The stuff I did not like would happen. Either, I could not go somewhere, or I would have to go to my room with isolation. God must do this also as a parent. He knows what is good for us. If we refuse to cooperate in the process, we may not go to the next thing we really want in life. He might have us isolated to think about what we did. He does not do things that are bad he allows us to experience those things in the order of the world He set up. If I drop a bowling ball on my toe, I know it will hurt because of gravity and the laws of physics that God set in motion as the world began. Adam and Eve had to deal with these laws also. Otherwise, they would have floated away off the earth. God has us where He needs us to be, but we have to obey as Christians with intentional obedience.
           Reading His word makes a difference. If I wanted to go from one part of town to another yet I did not know the roads I would consult my Google maps app on my phone. In life, if I want to intentionally fulfill my works to the Glory of God in His purpose for me, I will have to discover what the manual for life says. The great disciple John wrote about why the disciples needed the followers of Christ to listen and read their writings. He said, “We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this, we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.” (1John 4:6) He knew the things they were writing down in what we now know as the Bible, where not from them (the original disciples) but God. If anyone followed and obeyed the instructions they gave out they would be easy to spot. Their lives would shine in that they would reflect the Glory of God. Just to let you know. The people of God who are in the word can see when you are not.
           We as disciples are also to be disciple-makers. This is a big job, and this is where we get fulfillment. As we come alongside our friends and family pairing up to do life together we are sharing intentionally our loving ways to show and grow the disciple we are with. Speaking what we have learned from the Bible which is the manual for “The Way”. Now, are you understanding? We have blessings in what Paul said to Timothy, “Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” (1Timothy 2:21)
Here is how I see it.
1.      Read the Bible more.
2.      Find fellow believers to come alongside and do life.
3.      Find friends and others you relate to that don’t know Jesus yet.
4.      Come alongside them and love on them and show them your God Light. Give them bits of yourself like my parents did for me...Stories that help them understand “The Way”.
5.      Point them to the Bible to help them find “The Way”
6.      Repeat
By completely immersing yourself in this plan of intentional discipleship we find a passion for the life we have is found in the church and with the body of believers. There will be other things we must do but those it all should be driven by our walk on “The Way”. I am praying you will find that gold nugget Paul spoke about and hold tight to it. Your fulfillment in Christ depends on it. C. S Lewis wrote, “Certainly there is a pleasure to be found in pursuing lesser things, but sooner or later the pleasure fades and then is lost.” “Whatever God's dream about man may be, it seems certain it cannot come true unless man cooperates.” -Stella Terrill Mann. Greater people than me saw this first. It is not a new concept it may just be new to you. “But if we try... we are always better people for trying.”-Ben Franklin.
Finally, find yourself setting goals. The prize ahead is to be in front of God Himself and Jesus saying, “Dad. I know this one well. They were one with us on, "The Way!” You can do this. Even if you change small things, like setting aside time as a family to read a scripture each night and talk about it for just a few seconds each. It will start a fire. The word of God is a light in the darkness and it will also be a light unto your feet. My dad would say to us kids, “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.” I think his wisdom which he learned from others is worth passing along. If we are to do this life, it is worth doing it right. Praying again you will find “The Way” not “Your Way” to a more passionate and fulfilled life. This is how I feel a truly passionate disciple is made; obedience, following, and commitment.
 May God bless you for, “The Way.”
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