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FAMILY NEWSCLASS TONIGHT: Last Sunday we held our first class in the Does God Exist? series. Between COVID and family conflicts we had a small response with more people being a part of the class on Zoom than in the auditorium. We will continue that class tonight. If there is not any interest in this class we will drop it. You can express your interest by attending either on Zoom or in person. Right now our subject is “The New Atheism, New Science and Christian Faith.” Read 1 Peter 3:15 and think of how many people you know who do not attend church anywhere, or who are apathetic about religion. The need is there, but the question is whether as a congregation we want to grow in faith and reach out to unbelievers or not. COVID: Most of you know that we had a congregational scare this past week when Richard Hoyt was found to be ill with the virus after he taught our Wednesday night class. The result of that was that Melba's memorial was canceled at the last minute. We urge everyone not to let COVID stop your worship of God. You can do so by getting vaccinated with a booster, and by wearing a mask when you are not fully vaccinated or in the room with someone who is not fully vaccinated. For more on this, see THE BACK PAGE below. LAST YEAR one of our members suggested using the enclosed sheet about a Reverse Advent Calendar. “Advent calendars are one of the most common ways to count down the days before Christmas.”1 An Advent calendar will have a hidden message or picture of a gift behind the doors/windows for those days. The point of this calendar is to collect the listed grocery items during the first 24 days of December for use in our pantry in January. In this use of the Advent calendar we can combine the fun of counting down with serving others. TODAY'S LESSON
INTRODUCTION
A. Definition from Webster — “A trained one”
I. JESUS CALLS US TO BE HIS DISCIPLE.
B. We are all disciples of something. 1. A political party
2. A sport 3. A personality — paparazzi 4. Of our job — workaholic A. Luke 9:57-62 — the excuses:
II. WE CANNOT BE CASUAL DISCIPLES.
1. Luke 9:57-58 — We may be uncomfortable.
B.You have to grow into discipleship.
2. Luke 9:59-60 — Wait until my father is gone. 3. Luke 9:61-62 — Let me break my relationships. 1. Peter — How many times did he fail?
2. Thomas — Matthew 20 3. Paul — Galatians 3:15-18 A. Acts 2:46 — Daily activity to build discipleship
III. WE CANNOT BE CALCULATING, CALLOUS DISCIPLES.
B. Hebrews 10:25 — Can we survive on 60 min./week? C. 1 Corinthians 11:28-30 — Communion is not just a ritual. A. Judas — Luke 22:5
IV. WE CANNOT BE CAUTIOUS DISCIPLES.
B. Religious scams are everywhere — Acts 8:9-24. C. Acts 19:13-16 — Sons of Sceva D. Acts 5:1-4 — Ananias and Sapphira E. Matthew 6:1 A. Peter in Matthew 26:57-58
V. WE MUST BE COMMITTED DISCIPLES.
B. We cannot be ashamed — Romans 1:16 We have to stand for the issues of our day.
A. Luke 9:57-62 — where we started. Examples
John 19:25-27 — John and Mary
B. Committed disciples GROW!
What are you a disciple of?
THE BACK PAGEWILL COVID STOP DISCIPLESHIP?Read Luke 9:57-62 and give that passage some thought with your own personal situation. What do you think Jesus would have said to a person coming to him and saying “I will be your disciple as soon as there is no chance that I could contract leprosy by doing so?” Leprosy was the COVID of the first century. People got leprosy by being in contact with someone who had the disease. Jesus had lepers coming to him constantly, so his followers would have been exposed to the virus. In Mark 14:3 Jesus ate at the home of Simon the Leper. In Mark 1:41 Jesus touches a leper to heal him. In Luke 17:12 there were ten lepers who observed protocol. We cannot compare the activities of Christ to our situation today, so we need to do what we can to avoid the plague; but by the same token we cannot use COVID as an excuse for not serving God; not reaching out to the lost; and not continuing to worship. Look back at the sermon outline. Jesus still calls us to be disciples in spite of COVID. If we wait until there is no contagious disease in our culture we will die without ever being a disciple of Jesus because Satan is going to keep diseases coming. If we allow COVID to keep us away from worship and away from classes where we learn — either in person or on Zoom, we will become as Paul said, “weak and sickly … and many will sleep” spiritually (see 1 Corinthians 11:30). Do not be casual about your spirituality and use COVID as an excuse for not learning and growing. Someday we will all explain to Jesus in judgment how we handled our discipleship. Luke 9:57-62 shows us that Jesus will not accept our feeble excuses as to why we were not fruitful disciples. This is not to say that you should be careless and expose yourself to risk of infection, but make Jesus a high priority and continue to worship and participate. Use Zoom, a mask, a vaccine, a booster and continue to be a growing disciple. Our sign by the street! Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. Unhighlighted scriptures can be looked up at their website. www.dowagiaccoc.org |
