Sermon Notes 5-31-2020

Sermon Series

The Rants of a Cowboy Preacher! 

What is Discipleship?

Matthew 28:18–20 (NLT)

¹⁸ Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus commanded his disciples to go and make new disciples! So what does it mean to make disciples and what are disciples anyway???

Let’s dig in and find out what it means and how we are to disciple each other???

What is a disciple??

·      Simply put it is a converted unbeliever. 

·      It is anyone that follows Christ

Acts 14:21 (ESV)

²¹ When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 

A misunderstanding in the church

·      That a disciple is someone who has hit the second stage of knowledge

o   Or someone who is mature in their faith

o   This is a misconception

·      A disciple is simply a follower of Jesus

·      At any stage in their walk after conversion

Acts 11:26 (ESV)

²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. 

·      Everybody who was converted to Jesus was a disciple. 

·      Everybody who was converted to Jesus was a Christian. 

·      Disciple was, in fact, not a favorite term for Christian as time went by, it seems. 

·      Paul never uses the noun or the verb “disciple.” In fact, neither the noun disciple or the verb make disciples occurs anywhere in the New Testament outside the Gospels and Acts. 

·      So I think what is important is not the terminology, but the reality. 

·      People need to become Christians and people need to be taught how to think and feel and act as a Christian. 

·      That is as a disciple, a follower of Jesus, one who embraces Him as Lord and Savior and Treasure.

·      We for some reason in the church have come up with catchphrases to build a social order

·      There is no social order, we are all brothers and sister in Christ

·      We all have a role to play and we all have a place

·      No one is better or worse than the other

·      And we must understand these basic theological terms and understand we all matter to Christ

·      No denomination is better

·      No one is seen as different in God's eyes

·      And that’s why Christians should be color blind

·      We should not see social status 

·      We should not see ethnicity

·      We should see God's children!!

Discipleship is a whole other thing!

John Piper

“Every Christian should be helping other believers grow to more and more maturity. That is making a disciple.

And every Christian should be seeking to get help for themselves from others to keep on growing. And that is also our discipleship. And every church should think through how they will grow every person in their church.”

·      Discipleship is the growing in knowledge of who Christ is and following His commands and teaching. 

·      Discipleship is our growing in Christ and teaching others about Christ

·      It’s being mentored and mentoring someone

Everyone is capable of mentoring someone

·      We have to lose the idea of classes of Christians

·      I don’t care how new to Christ you are, there is always someone newer than you

·      There is someone who can benefit from your help

·      Someone needs you to hold them accountable

·      So stop saying I can’t help anyone and start helping

·      It’s amazing how much you grow in Christ when you help someone else!

So what does the bible say about discipleship?

We encourage

Hebrews 3:12–13 (NIV)

¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 

¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 

·      We encourage one another

·      We do life together

·      We hold each other accountable

·      We watch out for one another

·      We live life together

·      So that we don’t fall to sin

Too often I get the phone call after the sin has occurred

·      I’m drinking again

·      I have a porn addiction

·      I have cheated

·      And the list goes on and on

·      But if you were walking with others

·      Living life with others 

·      You might have avoided the sin all together!!

We teach each other!

Acts 18:24–26 (NIV)

²⁴ Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 

²⁵ He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 

²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. 

·      I love this scripture!

·      They taught each other

·      They boldly shared the gospel

·      They worked together to further the kingdom

·      There is no reason why some of you can’t meet together

·      Learn together

·      And learn from each other

I will help and so will others in this church; if you have friends in this church and you don’t study and share scripture because you don’t think you can, we will help. It's powerful sitting around a table with friends, and a bible and share and learning from God's word!

We feed others!

2 Timothy 2:1–2 (NIV)

¹ You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 

² And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 

·      We find a mentor and we mentor others

·      We should always be looking to learn from someone and teach someone else

·      This is a grassroots mentality

·      It's organic

·      It’s the way God designed all of nature

·      Just look at the animal kingdom 

We hold each other accountable and never give up!

Hebrews 10:24–25 (NIV)

²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 

²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 

·      We walk together

·      We hold each other accountable

·      We love each other

·      We form tight relationships inside the church

·      We weave the church into our daily existence

·      We don’t get too busy and let life get too hectic to find time to regularly meet with our brothers and sisters!! 

o   After the last few weeks of being apart, we should understand the value of regularly meeting together!

And lastly a little scolding!!!!!

We need to get involved and engaged in serving in the church!!

Titus 2:3–4 (NIV)

³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 

⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 

Ephesians 6:4 (NLT)

⁴ Fathers,* do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. 

1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)

¹⁰ God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 

We are the Church! These are unprecedented times, with an uncertain future, what we do, and how we gather has changed, but we will persevere! The church is not a building, it is not made of brick and mortar, wood, or stone! The church is the hearts and souls of every believer! WE ARE THE CHURCH! Our Job is to create Disciples, grow the body of Christ, and honor God no matter the circumstances life brings us! 

Next week we will reopen our doors, things will look different, but the church is the same because the church is you and me! 

Our time is now, we have never seen in our lifetime an opportunity like this to reach people! We must move, with urgency and purpose to seize this opportunity! So, when we gather again let’s gather with one purpose and one mission to win many for Jesus! 

Sermon Notes 5-24-2020

ALL LOST LIVES MATTER

The time is now!

“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that!”

Martin Luther King Jr.

With all that’s going on in America, the time is now! I have seen more Racism in the last 6 years than I think I have in my 51 years of existence. More violence, more hate, more corruption. And now more than ever the world, this country needs a savior. 

I was born in the times of Martin Luther King and grew up during the race riots of the ’70s, sure there were fights and people got hurt, but rarely did anyone get killed. But now we are all targets. It doesn’t matter if you're black, white, Hispanic, or if you're gay, or if you carry the wrong flag, you’re a target. There is now someone out there with enough hate in their heart who will kill you for something you believe in. if you're Christian or Muslim, or Jewish you’re a target, the violence is senseless, it's hurting our country, and it ultimately hurts God's heart. 

In my time we have had our differences, but at the end of the day the one thing we all took pride in, that bridged the gap, was the fact that we were all proud to be Americans! Americans from a country that was founded on Christian beliefs, and biblical principles. That put God in everything we did, God was in our schools, was in our courtrooms, and was in our white house!

And the game-changer that I see is that we have lost that pride, that one common denominator, our Christian values. 

So Christians the time is now! The time to take back our communities, to stand our ground just like our forefathers did, and say not here! The one thing that binds us, that glues us together as believers, is we have one God, one Savior, on mission, and one purpose. No matter the color of our skin, what language we speak, or the flag we fly, we are all children of God!

So Christians I challenge you all to stand for your community, stand for your beliefs, and turn this country back around one life at a time! 

Pastor Chris Bray

Sermon excerpt 7-10-2016

I had a sermon all laid out, but my heart hurts for our country and I had to put it to the side so that I could let God speak through me! So, I will be brief, and to the point, and I ask that this week you be in prayer for our country as we heal from the division and lack of tolerance in our country! And as we have been saying it’s time for some revival, it’s time for God's church to reach their communities!

So how do we as a church start to reach our community? 

First, we must understand our role in the gospel

God gave us the freedom to live and act the way we want

1 Corinthians 9:1–5 (ESV)

¹ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 

² If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 

³ This is my defense to those who would examine me. 

⁴ Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 

⁵ Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 

·      The beauty of the gospel and the God we serve is that we have the right to be free to do what we want

·      What sets us apart is that God gives us the free choice to love Him and obey Him

·      And what the world needs to see is us doing just that!

But if we love Him, we serve Him, and serve others to bring them to Christ!

1 Corinthians 9:19–27 (NLT)

¹⁹ Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 

·      We are to serve ALL people

·      I don’t care if they’re black or white

·      I don’t care if they’re gay or straight

·      I don’t care if they’re rednecks or yuppies

·      I DON’T CARE

·      It’s time to stop judging and start loving all people

²⁰ When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 

·      We need to become all things to all people

·      I don’t care who you vote for

·      I don’t care what your education is

·      It’s time to put all that aside and start connecting with others!

²¹ When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.

·      People in the bars need Jesus

·      People in the strip clubs need Jesus

·      People at work need Jesus

·      Your next-door neighbor needs Jesus

·      Protestors need Jesus

·      White people need Jesus

·      Black people need Jesus

·      Democrats need Jesus

·      Republicans need Jesus

·      So stop looking down your noses and start sharing the Good news

²² When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 

·      We need to find common ground with everyone

·      And it starts right here

·      We have people from every background

·      Every Education level

·      Some wealthy, some not

·      And if we can put our differences behind us

·      And show the world, God loves everyone

·      We can change our community, one life at a time

·       

²³ I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

·      We need to be doing everything we can short of sinning ourselves to share the gospel 

·      We can heal a community, a nation, a world

·      But it takes us to sacrifice first

It takes obedience to God and His word

²⁴ Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 

²⁵ All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 

·      It’s time to run to win

·      It’s time to Step out on faith

·      It’s time Stop worrying about cost

·      It’s time to Start thinking in terms of what will it take

·      It’s time to Start thinking in terms of what do I need to do

·      There was a time when God's Church, this church went all out

·      There was a time when God's Church, this church stepped out on faith

·      There was a time when we all pitched in!

·      Because we knew all lost lives mattered!

²⁶ So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 

·      It’s time to get our focus back, the wakeup call is NOW!

·      It’s time to start walking in faith, like never before!

·      It’s time to get back on mission

·      It’s time to stop taking the easy way, the path of least resistance! 

·      It’s time to get the heart of Jesus, your Savior, for the lost and wayward of this world! 

·      It's time!

²⁷ I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. 

·      It’s time to be disciplined

·      It’s time to do whatever it takes

·      It’s time to be on mission

·      It’s time to show the world Jesus is the only way!!

Close!

It’s time to realize all LOST lives matter!!

Sermon Notes 5-17-2020

The Church Needs the Gospel, Not a Pacifier!

When the church becomes all about you!

The first hard truth we need to realize is the church is not here to meet my individual needs!!

·      Yes, the church is to help each other

·      Yes, the church is to look out for its own

·      But that is not the church’s mission

·      It’s a byproduct of the love we feel, but not its mission

·      And it should never interfere with the mission

We all have roles in the church!

I am a big believer in the 1^st church in the book of Acts!

Acts 2:40–47 (NLT)

⁴⁰ Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” 

⁴¹ Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. 

⁴² All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 

⁴³ A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 

⁴⁴ And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.

⁴⁵ They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 

⁴⁶ They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— 

⁴⁷ all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. 

So what roles do we see??

·      All believers devoted themselves

o   To fall under the teaching

o   No one chased them

o   No one had to follow up with them

o   They DEVOTED THEMSELVES

o   I have heard people complain about the pastor not talking to them

o   Not calling them

o   Not checking on them

o   It’s your responsibility to Devote yourself

·      They fellowshipped, and shared meals!

o   When is the last time you opened your home to folks in the church?

§  Now more than ever we need this, as social distancing has become the norm

§  And gathering in large groups becomes harder to do

§  We need to gather together, lean on each other, and do life together! 

o   When is the last time you spent time just getting to know folks in the body?

o   They devoted themselves to doing this, and so should you!

·      They met together and shared what they had, sold things to help each other

o   When is the last time you helped someone out in need in this church?

o   When is the last time you sold some stuff to get someone out of a jam?

o   When is the last time you even sold something to help yourself?

·      They enjoyed the goodwill of ALL PEOPLE!

o   We have become a group with our hands out

o   We don’t give to help 

o   We don’t serve to help

o   Heck, we don’t even serve, I have heard a lot of complaints lately but not ONE person has offered to help! 

o   We just expect the church to produce miracles and grow money trees to help everyone

If a church, any church, truly followed this BIBLICAL model of church we see in the book of acts, we couldn’t build churches fast enough!! But we don’t and that’s why God doesn’t add to our numbers daily!!!!!

Prime example:

250 dedicated families could get everything we need to grow our church and it would only cost them $2,200.00 extra over a year! ($183.00 a month) ($45.00 a week)

**** and if the church was truly taking care of their own we could all do it!

Pastors don’t have time to preach and teach anymore!!!

Acts 6:1–4 (NLT)

¹ But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. 

² So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. 

³ And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 

⁴ Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.” 

·      Now that the church has become a place where we expect much from a few we have stretched them too thin

·      It’s time that the active members in this church start to work together to help each other

·      We can’t depend on one man to do it all

·      If we do, the word will get watered down

·      The teaching will lack clarity and the pastor will flame out

·      A pastor needs time to pray

·      A pastor needs time to study

·      A pastor needs time alone

·      A pastor needs time with his family

·      A pastor needs help

·      And it’s all our roles to fill in the gaps

A pastor should 

·      Preach

·      Teach

·      Counsel

A pastor shouldn’t

·      Fix the lights

·      Figure out what chairs to buy

·      Be at your beck and call

·      Run errands for the church

·      Be expected to be at every function, birthday, BBQ, or at the hospital at 2 am when you stub your toe

I actually hear complaints like this, seriously, I do! 

So what are some traits of a dying church and the people in it!!

1. No sense of urgency

·      Growing churches have an exceptional sense of urgency. 

·      Stagnant and declining churches don’t.

·      Do you have a burning sense that lives and eternity hang in the balance?

·      If not, then you’ve lost the edge that all great churches, preachers, and movements share.

2. Urgency about the wrong things

·      It’s not that dying churches don’t have any sense of urgency. In fact, they will often feel an urgency about two things: the budget and survival.

·      If we look to lost people to help carry the weight financially, we’ve lost

·      We should have the urgency to do what it takes to grow GOD'S church

3. Worried about Decline/image

·      Growing churches take risks. Stagnant or declining churches don’t.

·      When is the last time you boldly shared the gospel?

·      When is the last time you took a risk and stepped out on faith??

·      Ask yourself, when was the last time we took a real risk? If you can’t answer that, you’re far too cautious.

·      And the risk we take has to be centered around reaching the lost!

4. Has Success has made the church too cautious

·      The greatest enemy of your/our future success is your current success.

·      We never pat ourselves on the back, we continually move forward!

·      Pressing inward and forever anchoring ourselves to the rock of Jesus and the cross

5. We have too much affection for the past

·      When your affection for the past is greater than your excitement for the future, you’re in trouble.

·      I hear this WAY too often! We mark the past events, the GOOD OLD TIMES! 

·      The best times are ahead for church, not behind up! 

·      Keep your head out of the rearview and on the windshield!

6. You don’t understand the changing culture

·      Jesus loved the world enough to die for it. The church should love the world enough to reach it.

·      We should always be aware of our culture and how to reach it!

·      We should always be fluid to the world we live in and reach it where it is

·      STOP EXPECTING THE WORLD TO COME TO YOU!

·      Reaching a lost world is a messy Job!

7. Are we listening to the voices of current members

·      Church, when we make decisions, who are we listening to?

·      Hopefully, (naturally) to the voice of God and to scripture.

·      But when it comes to human voices…Who wins the day?

·      Too often, the voice of current church members drowns out the voice of the unchurched people you’re trying to reach.

·      In fact, SMART church leaders and members will intentionally hang out with unchurched people and bring their voice to the table. How you do that is up to you. That we do it is critical.

8. Is our conflict about all the wrong things

·      There will always be some level of conflict whenever human beings gather, so what’s our conflict about?

·      Dying churches spend their energy fighting each other and fighting change.

·      Growing churches spend their energy fighting for new opportunities to reach unchurched people and speaking up for the change that will impact their lives.

·      If you are more worried about your comfort, your needs, your “feeding”, your wants more than how we can reach lost people, you need a heart change!

WE need to stay focused on what’s important

WE need to remember we are a sent people

2 Corinthians 5:20 (NLT)

²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 

We need to keep our focus on Jesus

Hebrews 12:1–2 (NLT)

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 

² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 

·      We need to always keep our eye on the prize

·      Never looking back 

·      Always looking forward

·      And stay focused on Jesus and His mission for the church and its children

We need to always remember this is not our home

Hebrews 13:14 (NLT)

¹⁴ For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. 

·      We should never be comfortable here

·      We should always be Leary of the things of this world that draw us to it

·      And never compromise the Gospel to be more pleasing to it

And last of all continue to preach the word!!

2 Timothy 4:1–5 (NLT)

¹ I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when He comes to set up His Kingdom: 

² Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 

³ For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 

⁴ They will reject the truth and chase after myths. 

⁵ But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. 

·      Paul’s charge to Timothy is so important 

·      We should always preach God's word

·      We should always preach

o   We are all sinners

o   We all need to repent

o   That Hell is hot

o   Heaven is for real

o   And Jesus is the only way!!