Elements City Church
Jesus called his followers to follow after him. To be His disciple or apprentice if you will. In the process of living life with him they were changed. Their hearts, minds, actions, motives began to reflect more and more the one they followed. We want to examine some of the key interactions, teachings and modeling Jesus used to grow and transform his disciples found within the Gospel of Matthew. There are incredible insights and important foundational truths that are meant to challenge and change us as we seek to follow Jesus today.
As we look at this series – we’ll be looking through the lens of ‘disciple’ – how did Jesus disciple the disciples? How did He go about training them to have his heart, attitudes, actions replicated within them? How is He still wanting to be doing that within us? A disciple is NOT an intern. Interns are assigned to someone to manage – and really it’s about managing their energies to accomplish tasks. The life of following after a Rabbi was one of apprenticeship & thus active 'followership'. “May the dust of your rabbi always be upon you” was a famous saying to a disciple…meaning may your proximity to the one you follow be so close that their dust rests upon you. That you would see how they see, act as they act, do as they do.
*If you've missed any of the past weekends, catch up with the sermons via our app.
We live in a culture that pursues achievement and recognition a lot.
“Who’s the best, who is the greatest” are questions we debate. Who’s on the Mt Rushmore of a particular genre (music, acting) – or within sports. We often desire to achieve and 'arrive' ourselves. And it's that desire that can get our spiritual journey sideways if we're not careful. Jesus redefines greatness in the passage we see tonight...
Matthew 18:1-5 NIV
The disciples’ question revealed a serious misconception about the kingdom of heaven. They assumed God’s kingdom would be like any other kingdom on earth—one in which rank, status, power, and authority were the marks of greatness.
Unless you ‘turn’ = (strepho) 'turn, change your ways, change internally, overturn, overthrow, demolish'
The ways of this world call us to be ones who are served, ones who pursue prestige, accomplishment, trusting in our own-selves, being the greatest and recognized as such… that’s the ways of the systems in our world. But Jesus redefines greatness - he modeled the heart of a servant.
We’re called to live life with humility and an “it’s not all about me” type of attitude and approach to living as a disciple. We’re to be people motivated TO SERVE OTHERS - not living with a pretentious attitude to be served by others.
The disciples had become so preoccupied with the organization of Jesus’ earthly kingdom that they had lost sight of its divine purpose.
Instead of seeking a place of service, they were seeking positions of advantage. When Jesus took a little child into his arms, he made the explanation of greatness even more distinct—to be great, one must serve.
Matthew 20:26-28 NIV
We’re to be: Humble Hearted – Other’s focused.
Philippians 2:3-11 NIV
*humility must be the new foundation of a Jesus centered community – we’re to adopt the mindset of Jesus.
The secret of being great in the eyes of God, the quickest way for you to bring a smile to the face of your heavenly Father: is to mimic the mindset and follow the example of Jesus Christ.
How willing are you to relax your grip on your prerogatives and privileges? How loosely do you hold your positions and possessions?
Most of us would put up a real fight before we would part with something precious to us. Why? Because we're "clutchers"! We clutch power when we're able to obtain it. We clutch positions and titles. We clutch possessions, resources, and our time. Even the most mature Christians among us wrestle constantly with letting go and relaxing our grip on that which we hold dear…
Matthew 23:11-12 NIV
TRUTH: In order to SERVE you have got to SEE (notice).
*to serve someone, you must see them.
Quote:
“Our greatest fulfillment lies in giving ourselves to others.”
-Henri Nouwen
“Faithful servants never retire. You can retire from your career but you will never retire from serving God.” – Rick Warren
*(we can serve God best, by serving those He loves.)
Jesus modeled true humility and servanthood – we’re called to follow his example and ask him to grow our motivation to serve. Stay humble in a culture that pushes us to do anything but that…
Activity:
THIS WEEK: look to SERVE 1 person intentionally.
Text this to a friend now to hold you accountable:
“Hey, I’m working on growing my heart. Got a challenge in church today: so I’m praying and looking for God to use me to serve someone this week. Will you ask me in a few days how it went or what’s my plan? Thanks.”
NEED PRAYER? ....we've got some of our prayer team and pastors available following service to pray with you. You can also submit your prayer request via our app. We look forward to partnering with you in prayer.
Keep it on the RADAR: AFTER-PARTY coming October 21st!
Join us for a shortened service and then stick around for baptism celebration, food trucks, games, music and some fun. INVITE some friends! If you want to get baptized, let us know!