Three Substitutes To Discipleship

This past Sunday, I spoke on two of the most significant Scripture passages that occurred post-resurrection—Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:18-20. 

Matthew 28:18-20

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been give to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you even to the end of the age.”

So, what do we do instead of getting involved with people’s lives? 

1. We substitute “busyness in the building” in place of OBEDIENCE. We go to meetings on discipleship. We go to classes on discipleship. We study the word about discipleship. We discuss our need for discipleship. And all that keeps us busy enough up at the building to keep us from having to engage with lost people. When we have all these classes, studies, meetings, and trainings DETACHED FROM MISSION & RELATIONSHIPS—we do it as a way to justify how we spend our time and how we're not making disciples. It is much, much easier to sit and listen to teaching than listen to people’s deep, complex problems and horrible decision making. 
2. We substitute events/programs in the place of the PROCESS of discipleship. We expect the church to set up events that might lure in the lost—and they might accidentally rub up against salvation and get it on them. Many people believe the paid staff guys job is to create and organize events or provide the newest programs so people can bring their acquaintances to a building/event where somebody else might share the gospel with them—and they don’t have to!
3. We substitute decisions in the place of discipleship. We focus on people “making a decision” or “making converts” instead of making disciples. When people do walk an aisle—pray a prayer—join a church—What happens next? That person should be bombarded with people trying to walk them to deeper growth. Somehow it gets communicated or conveyed that now the new believer must spend all of their time at church events, church attendance, church classes, church committees, and church busyness—NEVER LEARNING TO REACH LOST PEOPLE AROUND THEM AND THEN DISCIPLE THEM—and within two years that person is completely removed from the context of lost people they had when they first followed Christ.

In Matthew 28 (the Great Commission) most of the emphasis is usually put, obviously, on the main command to “make disciples” in verse 19. However, it is easy to look past the two “bookends” that surround verse 19. 

Matt. 28:18 Jesus says, “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to Me.” 

Matt. 28:20 says, “And behold, I am with you even to the end of the age.” 

As we attempt to become disciple-makers, we often look past those two essential elements. Jesus does command His followers to “make disciples, baptizing…and teaching” people to obey all of His commands. But Jesus bases the hope of actually making disciples off of the reality that He is the One who has authority over all things. 

Jesus has authority over all His disciples (past & present) because He is the One who created each person, He is the One who bought salvation for His followers, He is the One who continues to mature and sanctify His bride, and He is the One who will ultimately glorify us for all eternity. Therefore, Jesus rightly has complete authority over all of His followers. 

But Jesus also says He has authority on all of heaven and earth. This authority has been given to Him by the Father. That is significant because as we are clarifying the gospel to lost people around us and as we are discipling people in our lives—we need to remember and trust in that truth. Jesus has the power and authority to soften hearts and bring them to repentance. We do not have that power or authority. 

That is the front bookend to remember as you are intentional with relationships in making disciples. 

On the back end, “Behold, I am with you even to the end of the age.” 

Again, we need to remember that Jesus ascended to heaven after the resurrection because that was the best and wisest plan in the Godhead. The Holy Spirit was promised to be sent to indwell, empower, and enable individual and corporate believers like never before in history. 

When we don’t remember that Jesus has all authority—we become discouraged in the difficulties and circumstances. And when we don’t remember that He is present with us through the Holy Spirit—we are not trusting and relying on His power but our own. 

Let us look carefully at how we spend our resources of time, relationships, and money so that we can live for the glory of God in obedience to making disciples. 

Let us look carefully into whether we are substituting imposters to true disciple making. 

Sankie P. Lynch

www.nbchurch.info

www.nbfamilies.info

sankie@nbchurch.info

What Is Your Life Plan for 2015?

Well, we’re on day 13 of the new year. That means about 75% of people making New Year’s Resolutions have already failed miserably! 

If you’ve already fallen off your wagon you might want to consider writing a life-plan. 

New Year’s Resolutions! For many, like me, that’s just another thing I can feel guilty about failing at—and the guilt may start as early as now.

Last year I pointed people to Brian Howard’s blog to learn “How To Write a Life-Plan.”

{ Brian Howard Blog }

• I do like to use the new year to evaluate where we’re at in life. I like to ask how I (and we as a family) am doing and assess any changes that need to be made. I probably like that approach better than having 1 or 2 huge resolutions. It may be that I need the goals to be very applicable and broken down into very concrete, practical steps that can be seen on a daily and weekly schedule. 

• As stated earlier, I think people who stick to resolutions are very disciplined, but for me, it helps to have a main area or category of life that I want to see growth in (spiritual life, marriage, parenting, serving others, relationships, health, finances, etc) and then have specific, concrete steps in order to implement change. (Brian also has a good tool for assessing and evaluating the past and upcoming year here.)

As Brian stated in his Life Plan guide, instead of “Lose Weight,” which is general and broad, I need to have specific targets that fit into my weekly schedule like “Exercise for 45 minutes on 4-5 days each week.” 

Instead of “Great Marriage,” which is merely pie-in-the-sky thinking without the diligence and hard work to better our marriage, I need specifics like, “I will have a date night each week or at least every other week,” and “I will pray with Jamie 4-5 nights each week.” I need to first take the time to evaluate areas that need growth and then implement specific steps to move towards that growth. 

At New Beginnings, we are working hard at developing a process for discipleship and implementing steps for everyone at every level of spiritual maturity and faith. Let this tool help you personally in your faithfulness as a steward in Christ’s Kingdom. 

{Disclaimer: Some people may feel that being this intentional and purposeful (whether in life plans, spiritual parenting or setting goals for the mission of the church) is a form of legalism. For some people, that may be the case, but you have to know for yourself whether you’re a person who leans more towards legalism or more towards freedom. These are not rules, but tools to help. And for me, all of this flows out of being a faithful steward of captivating grace.}

Sankie P. Lynch

www.nbchurch.info

www.nbfamilies.info

sankie@nbchurch.info

A Protestant Passover

The sun had just set on the 15th day of Nisan and the reading of the Haggadah at the Seder table had begun... If you are like me, you either already stopped reading this or mumbled through that entire first sentence.  My hope is that this is not your first post to read on the topic of the Passover Seder given that Matt and Sankie both shared their Holiday Faith Talks earlier this week.  Our family also sat down to share in this over 2,500 year old tradition and would love to share some of our thoughts from our experience.

Each Monday night is Berg Family Fun Night in our home and when thinking about this particular night several weeks back we were so excited to learn that Monday, April 14th at Sunset was the first day of the traditional passover celebration.  Though for most of my life I have been a conservative protestant, I have always enjoyed learning about other denominations like Catholicism (Read my post on Ash Wednesday) and was very excited to grow in my knowledge of another world religion (Judaism) this week.  The meal begins with washing of hands but the preparation began far earlier this time.  A couple days before, I had gone to Walmart to pick-up some essentials to our evening only to learn that you not only cannot purchase lamb at Walmart but might not want to either.  So off to Sprouts to find a "traditional" looking rack of lamb I had seen in all the cool pictures.  Upon arrival, we found that there was already a "Passover" table set-up for all the folks looking to get in and get out this season.  Having been around church for many years and personally never hearing of ANYONE celebrating the Passover Seder, I was shocked that there was enough demand for these items that the store created a special display at the front.  It was also at this time I realized how close I was cutting it, "You know you have to have this all prepared before sunset today" I was informed by an elder lady passing by in her cart.  As I continued to google product names and looking for more specific lists to find all my items I was slammed with the volume of detail for each "necessity" yet the amount of substitutes that were acceptable.  I have to admit, when I left I was feeling pretty excited about our purchases but semi-scared the kosher police were going to jump out of the bushes and mock us... I assume that is what they do!?

I'd like to say the meal preparation was the easy part but finding the materials was just the start.  Who knew lamb was so meticulous... Probably a lot of you!  I also found out that horseradish not only looks terrible, much like a cow heart, but when it is raw, tastes even worse than it looks.  Please enjoy the series of pictures in regards to horseradish below:

Time came, and as we prepared a place in our living room to sit and recline, the sun began to set.  We invited the kids to the room and began with the ceremonial hand washing.  I'd like to say the next hour was full of reverence, focus and growth and though some of that happened it was the kids excitement that was the most surprising.  Each time we celebrated with another glass of wine (FOUR GLASSES of sparkling grape juice) the kids could not have been more pumped, which was a beautiful picture of exactly the attitudes we are to have in hearing the gospel message of God (which is the ultimate purpose of the Passover celebration today).  

I'm not sure what my favorite piece of the evening was but I know it's wednesday and our kids still remember the reason for the sweet and bitter taste of the parsley and fruit-nut mix and the literal blood on the tray that came from the lamb.  Here are all of the typical pieces to a Passover Seder:

• Charoset: a mixture of apples, nuts, wine and cinnamon that represents the mortar used by the Hebrew slaves to make bricks.
• Zeroah (Lamb): often a shank-bone and commemorates the paschal sacrifice made the night the Hebrews fled Egypt, also symbolizing the outstretched arm of God. 
• Karpas: usually parsley, and represents the freshness of spring and growth for the Hebrews.
• Chazeret: is another bitter herb, most often the root of romaine lettuce.  
• Maror: is often a horseradish root that has been grated or blended and can literally bring tears to your eyes which is the bitterness of slavery the Hebrews endured for hundreds of years.
• Baytsah (Roasted Egg): signifying springtime and renewal but also stands in the place of one of the sacrificial offerings since the Jewish temple has been torn down to this day. 
• Matzah: stack of three pieces of unleavened bread.  The bread is a real example of the lack of time the Hebrews had when God told them to "go" out of Egypt (Sometimes you hide a smaller fourth piece to represent the struggles the Jews continue to face).
• Salt Water: to symbolize the tears and sweat of the Hebrew slaves (Often also paradoxically is a symbol of purity and the sea that brought salvation from the Egyptian army.
• Wine: Four glasses representing the four biblical promises of redemption from God.  And today the spilled blood of Christ which we observe with the Lord's Supper.
• Hand Washing: to clean yourself before embarking on a holy meal.  Christ later takes it a step further in washing His disciples feet at their Passover Seder.

As Protestants we often move past tradition and ceremonies, willing to simply settle for symbolism once a quarter.  But we can learn so much from these times.  Only 30% of us are auditory learners, meaning most folks are visual and tactile-kinesthetic learners.  What can you do this week for not only your kids to learn something new but even you!?  I know how difficult it is to find time to spend with your family and to find more to prepare something like this is pretty much impossible.  However, I personally will never forget this Berg Family Fun Night and I have a feeling it will be something we do again next year.  We would love to hear your stories of this Holiday season. 

May we take the time to remember... May we remember God's provision for each step of our lives... May we remember the cross this weekend... May we remember why we first fell in love with Jesus... May we remember to teach our kids the values we have and where they came from... May we remember to include the Spirit in our homes, lives and future... May we remember the importance of the Church... May we remember!!

**Follow Jeff (Family Pastor of High School), also known as "surgeberg" on: Facebook, Twitter & Instagram   

Easy on the juice, but heavy on the Seder-ade…

As promised by Pastor Phil and our previous Saturday blog, each of our NBC Family Pastors will be sharing in a uniquely different way this week. Today I will lead things off by describing our family’s Seder experience from last night…

We wanted to have our Holy Week faith talk in a way that might encourage busy families with a nearly empty cupboard. You know, like in case there was a family that wanted to be intentional with their children but had just gotten home from a hectic week at the baseball and soccer fields. Okay, and so maybe those shoes fit us quite well, too. Anyway, here’s how it went down for us…

My wife and I decided to use the faith talk outline that’s available on the church website. Rather than doing a full meal, we utilized a more devotional type of approach to the topic, allowing some everyday items from around the house to symbolize some of the same meanings offered in a more formal Passover dinner. For us, that meant using some hand sanitizer (instead of an official hand washing), green pepper slices (our vegetable to dip in the salt water), EOTE coffee beans (in place of bitter herbs) dipped in honey (for the sweet component), a flour tortilla (our Matzah substitute), and Juicy Juice grape juice (packed with the 100% fruit promise).

We let the kids know we were going to be doing something special and told them to go to the game room and wait. We then loaded all the ingredients onto a tray and headed upstairs. By the time we made it to the game room, the salt water had already splashed onto our tortilla, but it was no problem, just a little extra flavor for later. As you can tell in the above photo to the right, our kiddos were pretty curious…

We briefly explained the purpose of the Seder and how it has traditionally been celebrated. We then began telling the story... The kids were fairly familiar with much of the Exodus story but we talked some in between each point, in hopes of offering clarity. After discussing a couple of paragraphs, Brooks asked if he could also read. “Of course!!” So as you might’ve imagined, Chan later joined in as well. Mati didn’t ever read but besides me, she probably enjoyed the coffee bean as much as any.

One of our younger readers misread “whipping a Jewish slave to death” as “wiping a Jewish slave to death.” We paused and laughed at the vast difference between the two and then continued with the narrative. The short descriptive paragraphs and the symbolic food and drink elements really held the kids’ attention and they remained engaged all the way through. (P.S. – I would suggest smaller juice portions, especially if you are doing this right before bedtime. #justsayin’)

Overall, it was a really neat experience! We laughed together, dialogued about scripture, and everyone participated and seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps the coolest part came as we made our way to the closing segment where Christ speaks with His disciples in the upper room. Though we had been somewhat reverent the whole time, it was a rather light-hearted conversation. That is, until we discussed the Last Supper. The atmosphere shifted to a more somber tone and we all became a tad more reflective. We talked about how we wanted to think on the cross and the resurrection this week. However, as we prayed together, we asked that we would be reminded of the cross daily, throughout the year. We asked that we might find our hope and our motivation for obedience in what Christ has already accomplished on our behalf.

We didn’t have time to prepare a lamb this year, and as you can tell from our pictures, we didn’t even make time to change out of our baseball fan gear or wash the tournament re-entry stamp off our hands... But by taking a few minutes to talk about the finished work of the cross, we were blessed to experience a sweet moment of worship together as a family. I pray you are able to reflect on His goodness during this Holy Week. And as we prayed for our family, may you also be captivated by the hope of the cross. Might we all be carried far beyond Easter Sunday and find rest in those most precious of words, “It is finished!!”

In case you didn’t notice any of the above embedded links, below are a couple of different ways you can access the faith talk resource we’ve provided. Thanks for reading! May we the body mutually encourage one another and in so doing, make much of Christ…

matt@nbchurch.info     Twitter: @FattMowler     Facebook: TheFattMowler

http://nbchurch.info/events/easter/

http://nbfamilies.blogspot.com/2014/04/holy-week-faith-talk.html

Holy Week Faith Talk

The Family Ministries Staff would like to invite your family to join with our families in creating an Easter memory. We are offering you an opportunity to lead your family in a meal time Faith Talk. This year, for Jewish families, the Passover Seders fall on Sunday and Monday nights, the 14th and 15th of April, 2014. We encourage you to have this meal sometime during Holy Week April 14 -19, 2013. Each day during Holy week you can read about what happen during this Faith Talk in the homes of our Family Pastors here.

This meal time Faith Talk is a simple meal patterned after a highbred of the Jewish Passover Meal, or Seder, and the Last Supper Jesus had with His disciples.

The Passover/Seder/Last Supper is a meal that tells a story about freedom. It should be fun for the whole family and also tell the story of freedom because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

An actual Jewish Passover Seder has 15 symbolic steps. If you would like to include all 15 steps in your Passover/Seder/Last Supper you can discover all 15 steps here.

Below are a few ideas you can incorporate into your families Faith Talk. You can incorporate them all or just a few (remember to include the story, the bread, and the juice).

• Wash Your Hands together as a family. This is symbolic of preparing for a special night or worship and learning. The Jewish Passover involved 2 washing of the hands. The second washing includes a blessing.
• Recline on the floor as a family while you eat the Passover/Seder/Last Supper. When the Jews were slaves in Egypt only people who were free could recline to eat. Slaves could never recline, but tonight we are like royalty, so lay back and lean to the left in the manner of kings and queens!
• The Appetizer. Take a small piece of vegetable (parsley, onion or potato) and dip it in salt water to remember the many tears the Jews shed when they were slaves in Egypt. Talk about salty tears and the slaves may have cried.
• Bitter Herbs. Take the bitter herbs and Romaine lettuce which reminds us of the bitter times in Egypt, dip them into a sweet sauce and start chewing. The sweet taste quickly becomes bitter to remind us of the bitterness of slavery.
• Break the Unleavened Bread (Matzah). Take the Matzah and break it in two. Tell why the Matzah bread is thin and dry. The Unleavened was to remind the Jews that when Moses commanded the Jewish slaves to leave Egypt there would not be time for the bread to rise.
• Pour the Juice (Wine) Pour a small amount into each cup. During the story stop and ask every to finish their entire cup of juice. In the Jewish Passover there are 4 symbolic cups. Each time the cup in completely finished.

Tell the Story

PASSOVER MEAL

• Over two and a half thousand years ago, God saved the Jewish people and took them out of slavery in Egypt, leading them through the Split Sea and into the land of Israel.
• Each year we celebrate our redemption from Egypt by reading the story of Passover out loud during the Passover Seder. Here’s how it all began...

EVIL DECREES


• For a long time, Pharaoh’s advisors had been warning him as to the growing threat of the Jewish nation. His sorcerers had seen in the stars that a Jewish boy would be born who would grow up, overturn the entire Egyptian empire and lead his people to freedom.

• “All Jews must work from sunrise to sunset...without pay!” Pharaoh declared. 
• “Children must work as hard as adults. No parents are allowed to spend time with their kids. Egyptians may use a Jewish slave to do whatever they need.” 
• And worst of all: “All Jewish baby boys are to be thrown into the Nile!”

MOSES IS SAVED


• A Jewish woman called Jochebed had a baby boy. Desperately trying to save his life, she hid him until he was three months old, then placed him in a basket and sent him floating down the Nile river. His sister Miriam watched him float, hiding amongst the reeds on the banks of the river. The floating basket was picked up by the Princess of Egypt – Pharaoh’s own daughter! Discovering the beautiful infant inside, she named him Moses and took him to the palace where he grew up in the lap of luxury. MOSES IS SAVED (Finish the 1st Cup and pour the 2nd Cup)

FLEEING FOR HIS LIFE

• Despite the fact that he grew up in the palace, Moses could not bear to see the suffering of the Jewish people. One day, Moses saw an Egyptian slave owner, savagely whipping a Jewish slave to death. Furious, Moses defended the slave with violence and the slaveowner died. Certain that Pharaoh’s officers would be after him, Moses fled to a place called Midian.

THE BURNING BUSH


• Moses lived in Midian for a number of years, and was a shepherd for his father-in-law, Jethro. One day, a lamb ran away from the rest of the flock. Moses chased after it and saw a strange sight: a bush covered in fire, yet the bush was not being burnt by the flames! Amazed Moses drew even nearer, and all of a sudden heard the voice of God speaking to him. “Go down to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let My people go!” God is go into to free His people from slavery! (Finish the 2nd Cup and pour the 3rd Cup)

THE TEN PLAGUES


• Moses and his brother Aaron came before Pharaoh. “Let my people go!” they declared. But Pharaoh just laughed. They threatened Pharaoh with 10 terrible plagues if he did not listen to God, but he did not believe them.
 Plague after plague soon struck the Egyptians, each one more shocking than the next. Blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, sick animals, boils, hail, locusts, darkness – and the worst plague of all – death of the firstborn.
• Finally, Pharaoh had enough. He ran frantically through the streets of Egypt searching for Moses. “Go!” He yelled, “And take all the Jews with you!
• Moses sent word to all the Jews. “The time has come” he told them, “grab your bags and get ready to leave at once. Don’t wait for your bread to rise, just go!” The Jews left Egypt with sacks on their backs, and faith in their hearts.

FREEDOM AT LAST


• The Jews walked until they reached the sea. And there they stopped. They were trapped! They could see the Egyptian army chasing after them, they were ready to fight to the death. Pharaoh had changed his mind. He was chasing after his slaves, trying to recapture them. God told Moses to stretch his arm out over the waters, and all at once, the sea split! Miraculously, the Jews were able to walk through on dry land, but as soon as the Egyptians stepped foot in the sea, the walls of water came crashing down on them. The Jews were free! (Finish the 3rd Cup and pour the 4th Cup)

JESUS’ PASSOVER

• Jesus arranged for His disciples to have a secret, private Passover meal. Every part of the meal was highly symbolic - yet it had no meaning without the lamb. The Passover lamb was a symbold that pointed to Jesus.
• Just like Jesus, the Passover lamb is for each household
• Just like Jesus, the Passover lamb is to be a first born male, without blemish - Jesus is a first born male, without blemish.
• Just like Jesus, the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed at twilight.
• The Passover lamb's offering stops work - Jesus' complete work on the cross allows us to rest from our own works and rest in the finished work of Christ.
• The Passover lamb's blood must be applied to the door - Jesus is the only door for God.
• The Passover lamb is a memorial - We remember God; He remembers us.
• The sacrifice is to be explained to future generations. Jesus' Supper is a memorial too.
• During the meal He warned them that things were about to become very difficult. One of the disciples was going to betray Him. Jesus knew that following Him during the cross would be very scary.
• Then Jesus explained how the bread was like His body (break the Unleavened Matzah bread again) and the wine was like His blood. Jesus was saying that he was going to give His life, lay down His body, and spill His blood on the cross 3␣ so that He could give us freedom. (Finish the 4th Cup)

PRAYER 

• Pray as a family and be thankful.

Scriptures:

Exodus 2:2-4 "The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. 4 Then his sister stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him. 5 Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. Seeing the basket among the reeds, she sent her slave girl to get it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child—a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.”

Exodus 3:3-7 "So Moses thought: I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up? 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered. 5 “Do not come closer,” He said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then He continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. 7 I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey."

Exodus 12:1-27 “When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’ 27 you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” So the people bowed down and worshiped."

John 1:29 "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

Luke 4:14-20 [Jesus said,] “He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives”

Mark 14:12-25 "As they were eating, He took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them, and so they all drank from it. 24 He said to them, “This is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many.”

Philippians 2:5-11 "Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. 7 Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, 8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death-even to death on a cross. 9 For this reason God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."