Sermons on Discipleship
In Ephesians 4:13, it says that we should strive to grow up in Christ “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” In today’s study, I want to take a few minutes to look a little deeper into this subject of discipleship, what it means to be a follower of Christ and what it means to disciple someone.
When writing to the church at Corinth, Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Was Paul a perfect example of Christ? Was Paul able to surpass the example of Jesus in the marathon that his life became? No! But we can say without hesitation that Paul was one of—if not the greatest champion of the faith. Again, he is simply saying, “Do whatever I do, as I attempt to emulate Jesus!” In this passage in 2 Timothy 3, Paul is asking Timothy to remember the way he had lived his life before him and emulate his example.
In the previous chapter, Timothy is encouraged to follow the pattern of Paul’s life in Christ Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now in chapter 2, Paul challenges him to pour himself into others so that he can multiply the ministry by entrusting it to others. He closes this section by sharing three analogies of what faithfulness looks like in a believer. A faithful believer is single-minded in his commitment, disciplined in his actions, and diligent in his work in the ministry.
Bryan Risner and his family are the newly elected missionaries to the country of Romania. Listen to him share God’s mission and vision for their lives.
In this message, we will take some time diving deeper into the fourth chapter of Ephesians. We spent a great deal of time focused on the single phrase “speaking the truth in love” in this morning’s message entitled, “If Christianity is all about love, why are Christians so intolerant?” So tonight, I hope to take a wider view of Ephesians 4 to discover some of the values that define the Body of Christ.