Are You a Disciple?

What does it mean to be a disciple of something?
Adherent, follower, pupil…adherent means a follower of a leader, party, or profession.
Act 11:26...Christian/Disciple same thing.
Luke 14:25-27 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Jesus didn’t command the disciples to go and make Christians. He commanded to go and make disciples…Matt 28:18-20…
What does it mean to deny ourselves and carry our cross?
What does it mean if we cannot be or we are not His disciples? Not saved. Not going to heaven.
John 14:15-24 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
We are called to be disciples of Jesus. If we are not than we don’t know God and therefore we aren’t alive (not saved, not going to heaven).
We need to not just know what is right and wrong, we have to do it. The standard is dying to ourselves and being like Christ.
Matt 10:37-39 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Responses of the Heart

- We make common reactions to similar events.
- What are some common reactions we make to: tripping?, getting dumped, scoring a winning goal?, acing a test, Wedding Day(some cry, some get cold feet), death.
- We make similar reactions to varying events.

Mark 4:1-9 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
9Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

- Let’s describe the different soils…path-hard, rocky-shallow, weeds-cluddered, good soil-soft and receptive.
- Vs. 9 – “those who have ears…” – why say it? People don’t have to listen. Those that have humility.

Mark 4:10-20 10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that,
" 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'[a]"
13Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

- Vs. 10-12 – God wants only the right kind of hearts in heaven.
- Vs. 13-14 – lets look at the common reactions of the heart to the word of God.

TYPES OF HEARTS:
1. Hard heart :
- Vs. 15

Hebrews 3:12-14 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

o there is a way to change a hard heart, got to recognize it and then surround yourself with the right kind of people.

2. Shallow heart:
- What makes a shallow heart shallow?
o No conviction.
- What are things that make a heart shallow?
o Not wanting to get real, or have to deal with our lives.
o Not wanting to do the work to build conviction.

3. Distracted heart:
- Vs. 18-19 – weeds choke out the word.
- What are some of the most enjoyable aspects of life? What are the things that you enjoy more than any other thing? These are not bad things. However, if used improperly these things could be the things that prevent us from loving Jesus.
o What are some of the most important things in your life?(school, family, etc…)
o Lk 14:25-27 – HATE

4. Good /soft heart:
- Vs. 20 – The good heart hears, accepts, and produces fruit.
- Why do you think Jesus tells the 4 different types of reactions possible with the word?
o So we can choose to be the right soil.
o Being the good soil is a choice, make the right choice, and study the bible.

Hating Sin---Feel the Pain

1 Pet 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

God made us in His image. We feel pain because He feels pain. When it comes to the cross…Feel the pain! Our sin hurts God. This truth we must feel before we can be saved and we must continue to feel even more convicted to remain saved.
• Have you ever had someone take advantage of you and use you? Remember the pain? Now feel God’s pain!
• Did you ever have a friend who turned on you? Remember the pain? Now feel God’s pain!
• Have you ever been neglected? Forgotten? Rejected? Remember the pain? Now feel God’s pain!
Amazing grace cost amazing pain. Feel God’s pain—the pain endured because our sin.
What would it feel like if the man or woman of your dreams committed his or her life to you in marriage and then committed adultery? How would you feel? Betrayed? Hurt? Angry? Jealous? Distressed? Yes! In fact the world would seem to stop as your heart aches and breaks. This is how God feels when we are untrue to Him—when we “make love” to the world. Our sins hurt God before, but they certainly hurt God even more once we pledge to live our lives for Him.

James 4:4-5 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

• How does God about a lack of care, a lack of trust, about sexual sin, being pushed aside for the sake of work/school, or a lack of desire for Him? He loves much more than us and He feels pain much more than us. More love = More potential to be hurt. When it comes to the cross we need to emphatically state all the days of our lives—feel the pain!
“Assume for a moment that you fall in love, get married and have the cutest baby in the world. One day your spouse is bringing groceries into the house, leaving the door open while your child plays on the floor. Suddenly, a large ferocious dog enters the house and grabs the child by the throat ripping the life out of the baby. You enter the room; see the pool of blood and your lifeless, disfigured child on the floor. The dog is crouched in the corner with blood drooling from its mouth. Now, what is your attitude towards the dog? Do you say, “Her doggy—you poor frightened thing?” Do you take your hand and comfort the dog by petting him? Of course not! You hate that dog. You want to destroy that dog because it just brutally killed the object of your love. IN the same way, your sin put Jesus on the cross. Sin brutally murdered Jesus. So, how do you feel about your sin? Do you pet the sin? Do you go and play with the sin? Do you allow the sin to stay with you? No, you hate the sin. You want to destroy the sin because it murdered the object of your love. It killed you Jesus—your Savior.”
• Honestly, how much do you hate sin? You will find that your hatred for sin is in proportion to your love for the one who died for you. The cross speaks of that love. Are you in touch with God, your sin, and the cross?
I love my family…good, bad, fun, sad, and everything in between. And because I love them, I don’t want to hurt them. How much are you in love with God? How precious is that relationship to you? Sin hurts God. What’s the depth of your desire not to hurt God with your sin? How real is the cross for you?
Challenge: Today, make a lasting decision about your sin and your relationship with God.
• How? Feel the pain!

James 4:7-10 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.