Disciples by Design: We Already Belong in Christ

to create a church that through discipleship could spread the good news of Jesus Christ. That's why we're here. It's what we do. But you don't have to decide to be one, you are one. Christ was cut off so we could belong. He broke his body and shed his blood so that we could gain access into the body of Christ. So you have a position, you have a place today, you belong. God has seen to that. Now, we must go and live like we belong. [00:41:23] (73 seconds)  #BelongInChrist

We don't really have to pray, Lord, be with us. He already is. Now, I think a better prayer is thanks for being with us. Thanks for being here. Thanks for allowing me to join you in what you're doing. We spend too much time asking God to bless our efforts when the reality is we are joined with him. We just walk with him and do as he brings to us to do. That's what a disciple does. We simply walk in the spirit with the Lord. We're joined with him. [00:32:22] (63 seconds)  #WalkWithGod

It's not earned. We don't work our way into the body of Christ. There aren't disciplines to be learned, there aren't principles to be memorized, there's not even a change of behavior required. When Christ fills a heart, he begins to change us and we are disciples just through the relationship. So we are actually disciples by design. God intends for us to be followers of him. You see what matters is that the the disciplines in our life help us practice being a good disciple or a not so good disciple. [00:22:49] (64 seconds)  #DisciplesByDesign

So wrapping this up, we are disciples by design. God has a plan. He has a design. He has expectations for his disciples. And through this next series, we're gonna be looking at those expectations. You see Jesus didn't invite us into community. He was torn apart to create one. His crucifixion, his death on the cross, his victory over sin, his resurrection, everything God came to Earth to do for us was all there to create this body of believers, this body of Christ [00:40:19] (64 seconds)  #CreatedForCommunity

But it's not about today I decide to be a disciple. It's not about accepting a call to discipleship. It's not about getting spiritual enough to be a disciple. No. We already are. In fact, we've been each been given gifts for kingdom use. We have been given gifts. Now, you may start snickering to yourself and you always say, oh, Steve o, you got me confused with somebody. Help. I don't have any gifts. Are you sure? Because the bible says, you do. [00:23:53] (58 seconds)  #GiftsForTheKingdom

We're not all gifted to be on the platform. We're not all gifted to even be seen by everybody as serving the Lord. Some of us serve the Lord in the back rooms, in the shadows, unrecognized except by those we serve. God's gifted us and we're in his body for kingdom use. But before we were ever useful, we were already united to Christ. See, we don't earn our place in the body by doing. We have earned our place by God's giving. [00:27:16] (58 seconds)  #ServeWhereYouAre

You see many people choose to be absent due to busyness, comfort, and or pride. We just refuse to serve. We refuse to take our place as a disciple for the Lord because we're just too busy, life gets in the way or it doesn't make us comfortable. We're worried it may take too much time or cost too much or our pride. We can't submit to God's leadership. You see the truth is absence is rarely accidental, it's usually spiritual. It's usually a breakdown in my being a branch in the vine, in my abiding in Christ. [00:38:22] (75 seconds)  #PresenceOverAbsence

But when we are absent, we're stepping away from how Christ has chosen to work. You see, he works through his body. He works through his church. He works through his presence in our life. Our discipleship is dependent upon him doing what he wants to do in our life. And for that to happen, we need to show up. [00:39:40] (39 seconds)  #GodWorksThroughUs

The getting to where God wants us to be is not always a straight road. It's often windy, curvy, because he has to keep turning us around to get us back on the path. But we are disciples because we are joined to him. Our greatest obstacle to living like a disciple is being absent. I wrote myself a note, to stand up we have to show up. You see the fact is, as a disciple, if I wanna stand for Christ, I can't be absent. [00:36:29] (56 seconds)  #ShowUpToStand

I don't get to call in sick, I don't get to take the day off. See many people are absent from their life as a disciple, but we can't receive what we refuse to be present for. And you can't grow into a body, you stay detached from. We automatically have discipleship. We have Christ, but we have to show up. We have to stand for the Lord. Receive what he has for us. Walk in his spirit. [00:37:25] (57 seconds)  #BePresentToReceive

But we have been made by design disciples just by our relationship with Jesus Christ. You see, don't want you to feel as we go through this series that disciple is something you become or something that you decide about. No. It's your place. It's your position. You are a disciple if you're in Christ. Look at this very first point. As believers, Christ has placed us in his body through baptism. [00:21:56] (54 seconds)  #PositionNotPerformance

You see this is a great truth that through Christ we belong in God's kingdom. We belong in his family. It comes with our relationship with Jesus Christ. It's automatic. It's an interesting thing. Pastor Ray and I were comparing notes yesterday about today's message and he made a statement to you that I had never thought about. Absolutely true statement, but I had never even thought about it. Jesus never called us to be Christians. Have you ever thought about that? He called us to be disciples. [00:20:02] (60 seconds)  #CalledToBeDisciples

And think about it, replay the gospels in your mind. Think about when Jesus called the disciples and when he called other folks and followers and when he would preach his sermons. He would all the time talk about, come follow, be my disciple. He would even say, you can't be my disciple if you don't do these things. And if you're gonna do those things, you can't be my disciple. He never talked about being a Christian. At Antioch, in the early church, those believers would call Christians but it was a derogatory term from non believers. [00:21:02] (46 seconds)  #FollowLikeJesus

So we serve, we are disciples just by our position. It's not something to be achieved, it's something to be practiced. It's something to be shared, to be given to others. You see, Corinthians again tells us, now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. We belong. We're his. So number two, we are instruments for God's kingdom. We have a purpose. God's kingdom is advanced through his church of which we are a part. [00:28:14] (64 seconds)  #InstrumentsForTheKingdom

And see what this series is going to take us on a journey of is recognizing I'm a disciple by design. God has a plan for every disciple and every believer is a disciple. And so we're gonna look at how we should think, how we should see things, how we should do things. We're gonna see what a disciple looks like but we're not learning how to be a disciple. We're learning how to live as a disciple. See, I don't have to come to any special knowledge to claim discipleship in Christ. [00:33:24] (59 seconds)  #LiveAsADisciple

You see, we don't all have the same responsibilities. We haven't been gifted the same. We aren't all called or chosen to do the same service for the Lord, but we all serve the same Lord. We're in the same work. We just work according to our gifts. I have a confession to make as I stand here before you preaching today. I am not a preacher because I'm the most spiritual guy in the room. In fact, there's sometimes in my life I have wondered why I am a preacher. [00:25:20] (61 seconds)  #GiftedToServe

I'm gonna be 74 this summer and I can tell you in those years, have done things that I am not proud of. And yet, God uses me. God gifts me to serve him. He does the same for you. You may think you haven't been gifted, but you have. Is it your patience with someone to be a good listener? Is it your words of encouragement that helps somebody keep going? Is it your generosity, your hospitality? [00:26:21] (56 seconds)  #GodUsesTheWilling

Now you may be thinking, oh, I don't wanna bug people. Believe me, you're not. People wanna feel at home. They wanna feel like they belong. And so many people struggle with feeling like they belong because they're either fear of rejection or they're worried about their identity not fitting or living up to expectations. Sometimes, it's just the consumer mentality we have, which is I don't really need to belong, I only want what I want. And I'll only be here as long as I get what I want. That's a kind of a typical attitude we run into these days. [00:17:22] (51 seconds)  #BelongingNotConsumerism

But I have some great news. If you have a personality that makes you fear you won't belong. I have some great news. You belong with God. You belong. We already belong. If your heart has been opened to him and you receive what he has for you, you belong. You're his. [00:18:13] (38 seconds)  #YouBelongWithGod

As instruments, we can be used by God for kingdom work but we first receive what God has for us. We receive the changes he makes in our lives. We receive the power of the Holy Spirit that indwells our lives. We receive the gifts that he has given us to do the job. Corinthians again says, but he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Now, here's a little grin on my face, tongue in cheek for you. [00:31:28] (53 seconds)  #JoinedToTheLord