Moraine Valley Church

How a Church Grows

How a Church Grows
Ephesians 4 December 30, 2018
Introduction:
A. I remember a number of years ago when I driving into church to pick up my
paycheck when one of my daughters said “This is pretty cool – you just work one
day a week and you get paid for that”
B. There are so many misconceptions about a church, for example who are the
ministers at MVC? How does a church growing? Is every person important?
Where is the church? When is the church working?
C. This morning I want to look at a passage that help us think more clearly about
some of these issues.
• Turn in your Bibles to
I. Ephesians 4
A. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Ephesus to remind them of the riches they
have in Christ, that in Christ they are now one community of both Jews and
Gentiles and then to instruct them how to walk in light of this!
1. Here is chapter four he focuses upon our unity in Christ, especially our walk
together as a church community carrying out the mission that Jesus gave to
us.
B. Let’s start by looking at the roles as seen in v11-12
1. Read
2. Note in v11 he talks about the fact that Jesus gave different ministers of His
Word to the church –
a) the apostles and prophets build the church with God’s Word,
b) the evangelists minster God’s Word to the lost
c) the pastors and teachers minister God’s Word to the believers
3. In v12 tells us the purpose of these ministers of God’s Word – It is to equip –
prepare and train the saints. Read v12
4. For what are they preparing the saints, believers, and lay people?
a) Read 12b
b) The work of service or literally the work of ministry.
5. My job or role in God’s program for his church is that I would prepare and
train you to do the ministry! When you do look what happens –
a) Read 12c
b) Equipped saints doing the ministry build up and strengthen the church.
C. Then in v13-15 he tells us what the church is being built up to, what we are
growing up into.
1. Listen as I read v13 “Until we all….” our job will not be done until we all
achieve what follows:
a) Unity of the faith – we all understand this book
b) Knowledge of the Son of God – We all have a living and real experience
of Jesus in our daily lives
c) Mature man – we all are established, developed and mature
d) The measure of the stature … fullness of Christ – we all become more
and more like Christ.
2. When we move in this direction listen to what it results in –
a) Read
b) That simply means we are able to stand strong and not be knocked
around by false teaching, men’s gimmicks and Satan’s schemes!
3. He summarizes it all in v15 – We are all becoming more and more like Jesus
in more and more areas of our life
D. Sounds like there is still a ways to go at MVC – our job is not done until we all
reach this place. How is that going to happen?
1. Listen to v16 “… every …. Each individual….”
2. Simply this verse teaches us that what causes the growth of the church is
when every person is fully engaged doing the part that Jesus has designed for
him or her to do.
II. Application
A. This passage answers many of our opening questions
1. Who are the ministers at MVC? According to this verse, every believer in
Christ is a minister not just the pastors or staff people!
2. How does a church grow? - The church grows when the believers take the
things they have learned in God’s Word, live it out and take it to others!
3. Is every person important? The church will not grow the way God intends
unless every person is fully engaged; doing the part that Jesus has designed
for them to do.
4. Where is the church? - Since the church is people and not a building - right
now the church is gathered at 6300 w 127th Street but this afternoon it will be
scattered through the southwest portion of Chicago. During the week we will
be scattered throughout Chicago and the country as we go to work, school,
play, travel with vacation and work, etc.
5. When is the Church working? No, it is not just one day a week on Sunday
morning and during not only official programs of the church but also
whenever a member of MVC church does anything in the name of Jesus at
any time of the day or day of the week any place they go. Then in essence,
MVC is always working wherever its people go!
B. Simply you are MVC, you are the ministers of MVC, and you are very important
to MVC, you are the key to MVC growing. Whenever and wherever you are
living for Jesus, MVC is at work!
C. Because of you MVC is working: (Start Slide show of Ministries)
1. On Monday night, 45 junior high students come to our House ministry and an
average of 65 high school students come to our Revolution ministry within a
week. They ministered to by 32 people who serve in these ministries with
approximately 35% of those kids who do not know Jesus.
2. On Tuesday morning, at Coffee Break, an average of 80 women of all ages,
from various churches, meet to hear God’s Word taught and to connect with
one another for support. There are 35 women involved in ministering there
3. On Wednesday night we have about 40 kids coming to Kidz club where 16
people minister to these children and about 60% of them do not know Jesus
and are from the local community
4. Thursday morning at Precepts about 55 women from various churches, of
varying ethnic and economic groups and various stages of spiritual growth
gather together to learn how to study God’s Word in depth.
5. Thursday afternoon there are teams of people who go to Roseland to the
Agape Center to prepare a meal for the students and staff. Here the exciting
part – this ministry is an outreach ministry of our Widows’ Connection group
at MVC. They have cooked for as few as 30 and as many as 90. Fourteen
people from here make that ministry possible
6. On Thursday night
a) Around 30 college age kids meet together and are ministered to by four
people as they seek to navigate this stage of life
b) We average about 25 addicts and codependents who are ministered to by
four people regarding their habits, hurts and hang-ups. About 20% of
them do not know the Lord
c) We also average about 23 men from surrounding communities, primarily
the hood, who come to play basketball and hear God’s Word presented
to them in a way that connects with them. One man runs this ministry
by himself and about 98% of them are lost
7. Friday night is
a) Grief Share where three people minster to an average of 4-7 people who
are grieving the loss of loved ones in their lives. Close to 80% of those
who come through do not know the Lord
b) Five people from MVC go to IIT to minister to about 55 Chinese
scholars studying at universities here in Chicago. The purpose of this
time is to examine the claims of Christ. 100% of those who have come
are lost with about 20% of them getting saved. We have been so blessed
to witness some of their baptisms here and having some of them
attending here every week!
8. Every other Saturday morning and throughout the week there are studies for
men with about 50 men ministered to by five men helping them connect with
God, His Word and other men.
9. On Sunday morning during the second hour Pastor Clem and about 12
volunteers minister to about 30 seniors as they drink deeply from the Word of
God.
10. And that only scratches the surface of what so many of you are doing every
day as you walk with Jesus ministering to those around you both saved and
lost, young and old, rich, poor and in between, family, friends, classmates,
coworkers, neighbors, etc.
D. Bottom line, MVC is alive and at work constantly because wherever you go and
whenever you are doing something in Jesus’ name MVC is at work!
• I want to close by acknowledging two of the people who have helped MVC make a
big impact.
III. Appreciation
A. I would like to ask Keith Buell and Diana Fernandez to come up here for just a
few minutes.
B. Gratitude from me
C. Gift from Mike Kubo
D. Diana or Keith like to say anything.
E. Reception afterwards.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, MVC!

Pastor Pat closes our Christmas series, The Christmas Story. 

The Christmas Story

Pastor Pat continues in our series, "The Christmas Story".

The Christmas Story - Magnificat

Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55 Dec 16, 2018 (1713)
I. Introduction:
A. Dan Bellamy will be here this Wednesday night, for our MV Kids Christmas
Party, from 6:30PM- 8:30PM! There will be hotdogs, chips, cupcakes and then
storyteller Dan Bellamy sharing the gospel in a unique way that will absolutely
impact your littles ones and how they see life with Christ. This night is for
everyone, young and old, kids or not, we want you to come out and enjoy the
night!
B. As we continue today to look at the Christmas story through the eyes of Mary, the
Mother of Jesus, we will see her response to the announcement from the Angel
Gabriel that she will be the mother of the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ,
Jesus!
1. This section has been called the Magnificat, which comes from the first word
of the first line in the Latin version of the Bible, the vulgate of Mary’s
declaration of praise. (“Magnificat anima mea Dominum,” or “My soul
magnifies the Lord.”)
C. The setting of this praise was that after Gabriel told Mary the news of Jesus’ birth
through her that she went to visit her relative Elizabeth, the old barren woman
now six months pregnant with the forerunner of the King, John the Baptist.
1. When Mary arrived and the two greeted each other, Elizabeth was filled with
the Holy Spirit, listen to what she said.
a) And note as I read that two times she will call Mary blessed.
b) Read v42-45 Emphasize blessed in both places
D. And now we come to this morning’s passage, the response of Mary to what
Elizabeth said and what the Angel told her, the Magnificat!
E. Before I read it, let me tell you a bit about this section of Scripture.
1. In this section Mary tells us that she is exalting or magnifying, lifting up the
greatness of God and rejoicing in God who is her Savior!
2. It is loaded with OT allusions, which tells us that Mary, even at a young age ,
most likely in her teens between 15-17, knew her Bible well, the Old
Testament and the promises it had made especially about the coming King
and Savior, the Messiah!
3. Also this Psalm of praise is broken up into three sections:
a) What God has done for Mary
b) What He does for all who fear him and are humble
c) What He has and will do for Israel
4. Finally the driving theme of this passage is God’s mercy
a) Mercy is simply an inward concern for someone in serious need and
bringing the outward help that they need.
b) We see this idea as the word mercy is used two times and a third
reference to mercy in the word regard which means to take special notice
of someone with the implication of concerning oneself with the one you
are noticing.
c) I believe that the thrust of this praise is the fact that God is merciful to
the humble by doing great things for them and merciful to Israe. by
remembering His promises to them. Simply God is merciful to the
humble and to Israel!
5. Watch for all of this as I Read v46-55
• Let’s start by looking at the first section about
II. God is merciful to the humble by doing great things for them
A. Read 48a. God has taken notice of Mary who was not someone of high position
or importance in the community. She was just another one of the young girls, one
of humble state.
1. She recognized that from then on every generation would consider her as
blessed, just like Elizabeth just did for being the mother of the Lord and
believing His word!
2. Then she states that the Mighty One, the Holy One, has done great things for
her, the one who is of a humble state!
3. Listen as I read v48b-49 “for….”
B. Then Mary continues her praise of God’s mercy by extending beyond just herself
as a person of a humble state and expands it to God’s mercy to everyone who is
humble, those who fear Him. To them also the Mighty One has done mighty
deeds!
1. Basically she is saying it’s not just me that God is merciful to and does great
things for everyone who is humble, everyone who fears Him, He does great
things.
2. And here is the good news – that means what we read in the Magnificat
includes you and me who are humble before the Lord and fear Him!
3. Watch as I read v50-53 for how God shows His mercy to the humble by
exalting them and doing great things for them while he brings down the
proud.
C. The proud, the powerful and the wealthy she is referring to here are those who do
not know God, or in our day we could say they are lost people who do not know
Jesus.
1. While God is always down on pride, there is a big difference between a lost
person who is so proud they have no need for Jesus and can do it all
themselves versus a believer who may struggle with pride.
2. Also the Bible shows us many examples of wealthy and powerful people who
love God are Humble and have had His blessing.
D. And we also know many lost people who are proud, have high positions and
many possessions who are not empty handed, and at the same time many
Christians whose lives do not seem so exalted and filled.
1. Even the Psalmist was very troubled when he considered the prosperity and
ease of the wicked while he was being stricken all day long. But all that
changed when he went into the presence of God and perceived their end!
2. I think that Ps 107:8-9 gives us some perspective here.
a) The wonders, the mighty deeds God does for the humble are things in
the spirit and soul and in the future. Things that are a part of the unseen
internal world and future world rather than the things we see right now!
(1) We need to get our eyes off the two second life here and put them
upon the big one!
b) God scatters the lost proud and brings them down and sends them away
empty handed regarding the things that really matter, the things that
money cannot buy, the things that are eternal, the things of the soul and
spirit!
c) Makes me think of the picture I saw around Thanksgiving of a homeless
man on his knees in the middle of the street thanking God.
(1) Listen to what He said when he was asked why a homeless man
with nothing would be thanking God?
(2) He replied: “God will never forsake me and though I might not
have much in material things, I have the greatest gift of all –
salvation… thanks to Jesus Christ”! He said, “My riches don’t
come from man and money, but from our heavenly Father”!
• So we learn in the first two-thirds of this psalm of praise that God is merciful to the
humble by doing great things for them! In the last third of this psalm of praise we see
III. God is Merciful to Israel by remembering His promises to them
A. Watch for this as I read v54-55
B. God in His covenant with Abraham promised him many things which they had
been looking forward to the fulfilment of these for centuries! God promised He
would:
1. Bless Abraham and his descendants,
2. That God would be their God,
3. Save them from their enemies,
4. Give them a land forever,
5. Through Abraham’s seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
C. This is all part of the larger story of redemption we will look at on Christmas Eve,
but by the way we are in on these blessings and promises as well because those
promises were spoken to Abraham and His seed Jesus, and because of our
relationship with Jesus we are in on all these promises and blessings!
IV. So what can we take away from all of this?
V. Final Application
A. First “God is attracted to and blesses the humble!”
1. Listen to what 1 Pet 5:5 says
a) There is a greater experience of God’s grace when a believer is humble
because we see throughout Scripture that God blesses the humble!
2. The Pharisees were a great picture of pride.
a) They did deeds to be noticed and admired by men,
b) They loved to be seated at the place of honor at banquets and religious
gatherings,
c) They loved the respectful greetings they got in the market place
d) And loved being called teacher,
e) Basically they wanted to be seen by others as impressive, important and
successful.
3. Listen to what Jesus said to them after confronting them about these things.
Read Mt 23:12
4. Even believers struggle with wanting to be around people who are
impressive, important and successful so we can feel significant and look
significant to others.
5. If this is the case for your own benefit and the blessing of others and the
glory of God, you need to confess your sin of pride, seek God to build into
you a spirit of humility like Mary’s.
B. Secondly, do you need mercy today? Prayer is one of the greatest forms of
humility as we put everything else aside and turn to God to do for us what we
cannot do for ourselves – Heb 4:16
C. Finally when we consider worship, John Piper says, “The only people whose soul
can truly magnify the Lord are people like Elizabeth and Mary—people who
acknowledge their lowly estate and are overwhelmed by the condescension of the
merciful God.

The Christmas Story

Pastor Pat continues in our Christmas series, The Christmas Story.

The Christmas Story

Dedication of Jesus
Luke 2:21-38 December 2 2018
I. Introduction:
A. This Christmas season we want to look at the story of Jesus’ birth in light of one of
the key people in this story, in fact outside of Jesus this person played the biggest
role in the Christmas Story that is His mother Mary.
1. We are going to see how Mary was a woman of faith, praise and depth even
at a very young age.
2. Then we will come back on Christmas Eve and take a quick look at how this
story of Mary fits into the larger story of what God was doing as His
fingerprints and His purposes are all over these stories.
B. We are going to do this by looking at the account of the story of Jesus’ birth in the
book of Luke. He wrote this book so an official named Theophilus and we, as well,
could know the exact truth of what happened with Jesus as he wrote an orderly
account of the events of Jesus life.
C. This morning, since it is child dedication Sunday, we are going to be looking at the
dedication of Jesus about 40 days after His birth.
1. While it is chronologically out of order in Jesus’ story, it does fit thematically
with our dedications this morning. We are actually beginning with the end
of the birth account rather than the beginning.
a) There is an advantage to that because the conclusion of the story really
helps us understand a bit more of why Jesus was born, which had been
becomes a bit clearer with every story.
2. So as we come to this story this morning remember that already a few things
have happened – the angel appeared to Mary to announce to her that she
would be the mother of Jesus, Mary responded with a strong statement of
praise that revealed her heart and God’s purposes for all that fear Him and
finally the actual birth of Jesus and what Mary had heard from the shepherds
who had a visit from an angel announcing the birth of Jesus to them.
• So here is the story on
II. Dedication Day for Jesus
A. Setting –
1. It was forty days after the birth of Jesus. Mary and Joseph went from
Bethlehem to Jerusalem, about six miles, to the temple to do two things that
the Mosaic Law had required – dedicate Jesus to God and also to offer the
sacrifices for the purification of Mary that was required of mothers who gave
birth.
2. The same day that Joseph and Mary were heading to the temple so was a man
from Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. As the story continues, we will see
that it was no coincidence that they both showed up on the same day, at the
same time. But rather a divine appointment from God.
a) Turn to Luke 2 and read v25-27
b) There are four things we learn about Simeon here
(1) Righteous and devout man
(2) Looking for the consolation of Israel – consolation means comfort,
that time when Israel would be comforted, especially by the
Messiah, the Christ. Listen to these OT passages (Is 49:13; 51:3;
52:9; 66:13)
(3) He was anointed by the Holy Spirit
(4) God had revealed to him that he would not die until he saw the
Messiah
B. Listen to what happened next as Simeon takes Jesus in his arms and blesses God!
1. Read v28-32
2. He basically says – God I can die now because I have seen the Messiah, the
one who will be Savior of all peoples – Jew and Gentiles
C. Listen to the response of Joseph and Mary. Read v33
1. Were amazed – they marveled and wondered at what they just heard
2. Not only about what Simeon said but I also believe everything they have
heard over the last ten months from the angels, shepherds and now from
Simeon. Read the second half of v33
D. Then Simeon directly addressed Mary, listen – read v34-35
1. He told her that Jesus had a special assignment from God that would result in
the rising and falling of many in Israel – the rising to salvation of those who
accept Him as Messiah and the downfall of those who reject Him
2. Also, that she herself will bear deep pain in her soul because of Jesus.
3. Maybe a little more information than the typical mom wants to hear at their
child’s dedication but of course, Jesus was not the typical child with a typical
calling on His life.
E. It appears that at the very moment that God sent another affirmation for Mary and
Joseph regarding everything they had been hearing.
1. Listen read v36-38
2. Anna gave thanks to God and began to speak about this baby Jesus to all of
those who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem!
• So what does this story mean for you and me? I think there are
III. Two Main Takeaways
A. The first has to do with the whole meaning of Christmas, or even more so the
ultimate purpose for Jesus coming to earth!
1. We see in this story that Jesus is the Messiah and as the Messiah He has
come to bring comfort to Israel and salvation to the entire world, both the
Jews and the Gentiles!
2. Jesus’ presence, the Messiah they have been waiting for, was not going to be
an easy ride either for Israel or for Mary as His mother. Many in Israel were
going to fall because of Him and Mary was going to experience deep pain
herself.
3. Bottom line we learn from this that the story of Jesus coming to earth was
about redemption, redemption for all mankind, both Jew and Gentile and the
redemption of the city Jerusalem – its waste places, wilderness and desert.
B. The second takeaway has to do with you and me! Simply we should all have the
same attitude of Simeon.
1. First, he spent his life looking forward to the comfort of Israel and God
blessed him by allowing to see the one who was going to do that – the
Messiah, the Christ – Jesus Christ
a) But what he did not see was the actual fulfilment of that time of comfort
as that is yet to come both in the kingdom here on earth for 1000 years
and in eternity!
b) But the attitude of looking forward to the return of the Messiah Jesus to
fulfill this consolation is something that God is seeking to work in each
one of us by His grace. Read Titus 2:11-13
2. Secondly, the response that naturally flowed out of Simeon was blessing God
and from Anna it was to thank God. That is what we are going to do now as
we start this Christmas Season.

Baptism Sunday

How to Walk in Christ
Colossians 2:6-7 Nov 25, 2018
Baptism/Membership/Thanksgiving Weekend
I. Introduction:
A. This weekend brings a few things together at MVC and the passage we will look
at brings all of these together. Our new life in Jesus is pictured by baptism, our
walk with God seen in membership and thanksgiving in today’s message
1. Turn to Colossians 2:6-7
B. Colossians was written to warn them about some false teaching that was seeking
to influence them away from Jesus being enough for their salvation and walk!
Instead, they said you need Jesus plus some special spiritual knowledge or Jesus
plus a legalistic walk.
1. We too today are threatened by false teaching that has well-constructed
arguments that sound very plausible and convincing that seek to pull us away
from Jesus being enough.
2. Watch for all of this as I read v1-10a
• This morning I want to focus upon verses 6-7 that teach us how to walk with Jesus in
spiritually dangerous times
II. Colossians 2:6-7
A. Let me start by laying out the structure of these two verses.
1. It is much like the great commission we recently learned – the command to
make disciples followed by three participles that tell us we do that by going,
baptizing and teaching.
2. This passage starts with a command in v6 – Walk with Jesus and is followed
by four participles in v7 that teach us how to walk with Jesus!
B. The command is in v6. Read
1. The command is based upon this salvation experience. Since you received
Jesus now walk in Him.
2. Simply - you started with Jesus do not let these well-formed, convincing and
plausible arguments turn you away from walking with Jesus. Keep locked in
on Jesus and do not turn to the right or to the left.
C. Well how do you do that? The four participles tell us how to do that.
1. A little Greek here will help
a) Let me tell you that the first three participles are in the passive voice
which means that we are acted upon, the recipients of some action.
“Bill is hitting me – I am the one being hit”
b) The last one is in the active voice, which means that I am the one doing
the action. “I am hitting Bill (bang)– I am doing the hitting”
2. Let’s look at the three passive ones. The first is having been (past tense)
rooted in Him – Read 7a
a) God has already placed believers in Jesus
b) Roots are that part of a plat or tree that absorbs the nutrition it needs to
grow and be healthy from the ground around it.
c) We have been firmly rooted in Jesus and we get our spiritual nutrition
from Him.
3. The second is in the (present tense) now you are being built up in Him –
Read v7b.
a) Remember Philippians 1:6 – He who began a good work in you will
complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.
b) God and His grace are at work in me building me up in Christ
4. The third means by which we walk in Jesus is being established in the faith.
Read v7c-d.
a) Simply he is saying here we grow firmer and stronger in our faith as the
Word of God instructs us.
b) God is using His word in your life to strengthen you and make you even
firmer in Christ
5. Since we are the recipients of these three means of walking in Jesus, does that
mean passivity on my part? – I think not.
a) I cannot create my own suntan.
b) But what I can do is go out where the sun is shining and expose myself
to it and the sun does the work of creating the tan on me. The sun
produces the rays and I am the recipient of them that impacts my skin.
c) So I believe my part is:
(1) Since I am already rooted in Jesus I need to depend upon Jesus for
everything I already have and need from Him.
(2) And I am built up in Jesus as I depend upon God and His grace to
be at work in my heart
(3) And I am established and made stronger as I avail myself to the
Word of God, which works in me to transform me. Thus the value
of church, devotions and small groups
• Now this fourth way we learn to walk with Jesus …
III. Gratitude
A. Listen as I read this. Read v7e gratitude! Not just gratitude but overflowing with
gratitude. Gratitude should exist in abundance, there is so much gratitude in you
that there is plenty of leftovers just like the meal from Thursday.
B. It refers to the an ongoing and habitual inner attitude of being thankful to God! It
is a heart that is constantly grateful to God
1. Thanksgiving is not just a day or a weekend but rather should be our daily
practice for the rest of our lives.
C. Why is practice of gratitude added to this list of major things God has done for
us? Simple – gratitude and thanksgiving are somethings you do to someone who
does something for you, you do not thank yourself for what you do! An attitude
of gratitude means that I am constantly depending upon and receiving everything
I need for life from God. I am locked in on Him
D. Remember I said that the final means by which we walk with Jesus is the one that
is in the active voice – that means we take action. Thus cultivating a grateful
heart is a spiritual practice and discipline that we should intentionally build into
our lives!
• Let me help jump start this practice for you
IV. Application
A. First, do an honest evaluation of your heart. If you are not constantly grateful
then you fall short of what God wants in your life and what you need to not be
drawn away from Jesus. You need to be honest with God and tell Him that is
where you are. Clean out the old dead ungrateful heart with confession.
B. Since you are rooted in Him and being build up in Him then depend upon Jesus to
send into your now clean and empty heart a spirit of gratitude (through that root
system)
C. Let Him establish you and transform you by His word by doing a study of God’s
Word regarding giving thanks and thankfulness!
D. Begin to practice thanksgiving in everything 1 Thessalonians 5:18
1. Not just the good things but the hard and bad things that touch your life with
the knowledge that God is using them in my life ultimately to produce good
things
2. Begin to list in a notebook the things God has done for you in your life.
Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings and see
what God has done!
3. List on a daily basis the things He has done for you that day – all the way
from someone gave you a word of encouragement or wisdom to you woke up
this morning.
E. Meditate this week on this statement “Everything outside of hell is God’s grace”
When you realize how true this is you cannot help but be grateful to God for
everything!

Redefined: MVC

Redefined: MVC
Matt 28:18-20 November 18, 2018
I. Introduction:
A. When it comes to preaching you could say that today’s message is the end of the
series on discipleship and it’s time to move onto something else.
1. But I do not see today’s message as the conclusion to the series but rather as
the launching pad to a discipleship movement at MVC.
2. My prayer, my hope, my dream is that discipleship will become part of the
DNA at MVC, it will become part of the environment of MVC, it will
become part of the culture of MVC over the next five years.
B. I want to launch us today by reviewing what we have learned so far and then talk
about next steps from here in order to start building discipleship into the DNA of
MVC.
• Let’s start with our …
II. Review
A. My hope of this review on one hand is so that we can better crystalize in our
minds the things we have learned together about discipleship, but even more so to
stir up our hearts in being disciples.
B. We called this series Redefined! The reason for that is that we wanted to strip
away all the current day thinking in North America about what a disciple is and
go back to the Bible to allow the Word of God to once again define what a
disciple is. – Thus redefined!
C. So we learned in our introductory message two foundational things!
1. First the mission that Jesus gave to the church was to make disciples and we
do that by going, baptizing and teaching
a) Turn and read Mt 28:18-20
b) Going to the lost with the gospel message, baptizing those who respond
to the message of Jesus’ salvation by faith, then finally spending the rest
of our lives teaching and learning what it means to live by the word of
God
2. We also learned in that message that disciples are not a subclass of
Christians, superstar or all-star Christians, but rather that the word disciple is
synonymous with being a believer in Jesus Christ.
a) So the real question as a believer is not am I a disciple or not but rather
am I living like a disciple or not because that is who I really am.
D. So in light of the first week our next job was to redefine a disciple. That week we
also learned two major lessons.
1. First, the word disciple means learner or pupil.
a) In addition, we learned that when a pupil or disciple is fully trained he
will be like his teacher. Read Lk 6:40
b) Since we are disciples of Jesus the end goal of our growth is becoming
more like Jesus. – Thus the mission of MVC includes becoming like
Jesus!
2. The second thing we learned that morning was from the call of Jesus to the
disciples in Matt 4:19-20 Read
a) We ended up that day by saying the definition of a disciple summarized
in four words is, Following Jesus, impacting others!
E. Then we spent a week looking at the third way of making a disciple – this is
teaching
1. Read v20a
2. We learned that week that being a disciple is not just studying the Bible more
and learning more truth but actually, while it does require studying the Bible,
the end goal is not knowledge but obedience. Living our lives under the
direction of God’s word
3. Thus we have adapted in many different places here the importance of the
language “next step of obedience” and we have even created a ”next steps
table” where you could discuss this personally with someone.
F. Then we redefined growing as a disciple
1. We learned the valuable lesson that each one of us is at different places in our
journey with Jesus thus each one of us needs something different for us to
continue to grow as a disciple.
2. We learned one size does not fit all when it comes to Christian growth and
that some people need to get to keep growing and some people need to give
to keep growing
3. This Power Point summarized that morning.
G. Then we learned there is a cost to impacting others for Jesus.
1. We learned in 2 Timothy 2 about the self-imposed suffering or hardship in
order to impact others.
2. We learned that we are called to be like a
a) Soldier that sets aside his own agenda to carry out the agenda and
mission of our commanding officer Jesus.
b) Athlete who must follow the rules in order to win the prize – we must set
aside our ideas and ways and follow the way God says to do it
c) And like the farmer we must work hard
H. Then we redefine the method of discipleship.
1. We learned in this message that we must not only buy into the mission of
discipleship and the message of discipleship – which is the Bible, but also
into the method of discipleship which is not just adding disciples but
multiplying disciples – making disciples who make disciples.
2. We saw that Paul bought into Jesus’ method of making disciples, which was
to go deeply with a few and give priority time to those who would learn to
give it away to others!
I. Then we looked at obstacles that keep us back from following Jesus and
impacting others. We saw two primary ones
1. First, living for today rather than eternity. We are so caught up in the
problems and opportunities of this world, the two-second life, that we give no
thought to the part of our lives that will last forever – the big one!
2. The second obstacle is that people are in the driver’s seat of their own car
rather than letting Jesus take control and ownership of their lives.
J. Then we looked at the problem of inadequacy, that feeling that everyone of us has
that we are just not enough to be the disciple Jesus wants us to be and we do not
have enough to impact others.
1. Read Matt 28:20b
2. We learned that Jesus being with us is not just a matter of Him being in the
same room but also Him working along with us in what we are doing. He
puts his fingerprints all over our lives and work for him.
K. Then we learned from Pastor Mike Locke the importance of God’s word in this
journey of discipleship
1. We learned that God’s word it reliable and can be trusted
2. We learned the value of God’s word in that it leads our lives!
3. Jesus said in John 8:31
L. Mike also taught us as a disciple why we should follow Jesus! – Simply because
our call as disciples is higher than we can achieve but Jesus has reached down in
love to be what we need to live for Him!
• That is the heart of what we learned in this series. Now what are
III. The next steps in making discipleship part of the DNA of MVC
A. Let look at a simple chart.
1. PP
2. All four of these can in one way or another be considered discipleship but the
bottom two were the most intense and most effective ways Jesus discipled
people.
3. So those are the two we are going to try to strengthen over the next five years
at MVC.
B. First, let’s talk about the twelve –
1. The small group of men that Jesus selected.
a) This was an important decision for Jesus because they are the ones to
whom He was entrusting His life work!
b) It was so important that He spent an entire night away on the mountain
praying about it. And when morning came, He called those who were
following Him, probably the seventy, and out of them he choose twelve
that he called apostles.
c) These twelve are the people Jesus primarily invested in and took with
him everywhere teaching and modeling for them God’s way of life and
ministry. Simply how to follow Jesus and impact others!
2. To us at MVC the twelve is our small group ministry
a) This ministry has become very important to us as we seek to make small
groups part of the DNA of MVC that we have refocused part of Tami
Reyna’s responsibilities to include being our director of small groups so
we can give more intentionality and time to this important discipleship
structure.
b) Small groups are the perfect place to grow with others as disciples of
Jesus Christ as we deeply connect with God and with one another
through our small group ministry.
(1) Remember the means of discipleship is really all about people
rubbing off on people.
(2) And continuing in God’s Word
(3) And seeking our next step of obedience and helping each other
reach our next step of obedience as we grow as disciples
(4) So we need to be committed to some people to do this.
c) In addition, a proper view of small groups is not adding another thing to
our already busy schedules but rather putting something in busy
schedules where I can regain my bearings in Christ with other disciples
in the midst of our busy schedules!
d) Here are some details about small groups at MVC
(1) We are hoping for group sizes of around 10-12 people
(2) We are going to have two small group sessions a year, one in fall
and one in winter and spring where you will meet every other
week. We will be taking the summers off.
(3) So by signing up you are not signing up for a lifetime but rather at
least one semester but hopefully two to find out if that group is a
good fit for you or not.
(4) A new element to our groups as well will be that the staff will be
providing materials for the groups to go through that will be based
on the current series – thus allowing a greater oneness within the
church as we are all wrestling through, talking about, and praying
about the same things at the same time.
e) For many here today I would guess that this is probably your next step of
obedience to put yourself in a place where you can continue to grow as a
disciple!
(1) We are very excited to be kicking off some new small groups at
the beginning of the year!
(2) You can sign up for a small group starting today after the service
for the next 3 weeks, or sign up on line or by calling the office.
B. Next, let’s talk about the three.
1. The three were the ones that Jesus spent most of His time with.
a) Peter, James, and John were at everything else the seventy and twelve
were at, but these three had experiences and had discussions with Jesus
that no one else did.
b) In addition, these three became key leaders in the early church as we saw
in the book of Acts.
2. Here at MVC our desire is to begin a Spirit led movement which is more
about mystery than management when it comes to investing deeply in a few
at a time.
a) The key strategy of this movement is buying into the method that Jesus
used of it multiplication – giving priority to investing deeply in a few
who have the desire to give away to others!
b) I think you will remember from our sermon this is not just an exclusive
group of a few but also ultimately our attempt to touch many in a deep
way to be followers of Jesus who are impacting others.
3. We are going to be jump starting this in January as well as we have a core
team of six men and women who said they want to see this movement happen
at MVC.
a) This fall these six will be contacting individuals they sense God is
leading them to, to be part of a small group for six months where they
will be receiving a greater vision for discipleship the way Jesus did.
b) If you say, “Hey I really have a heart the beats for that and want to be a
part of this movement” please go to the next steps table and let them
know your desire for this and give them your contact info and someone
will reach out and talk to you about this.
C. Finally, discipleship being part of MVC’s DNA means that discipleship has
become a mindset of the people of MVC that naturally fills their hearts is part of
their natural conversations and their normal way of life. I actually saw glimpses
of this as I was in normal conversations with two different women during this
series.
1. One told me that she wants to walk better with Jesus and there was a woman
whom she admires for her passion for the Lord and said that she is going to
ask her to mentor her.
2. Another woman who is walking well with the Lord and she told me she is
praying regarding who she can invest her life in!
D. May God that multiply 500 fold here at MVC and if He does in five years we will
need three services to hold all the people who are following Jesus and impacting
others!

REDEFINED

REDEFINED

Pastor Mike Locke continues in our series, "Redefined"