Every Day Disciple

Introduction

It is uh exciting and wonderful to not have a PowerPoint work. That is always super fun. Am I doing something wrong? Okay. Thank you. Um y’all are about to get a new evangelist, and I’ve I know that moment and that time is one that is full of excitement. Uh, two years ago, I got to experience that going over from California and moving to Florida. The exciting part is that you get to start over, you get to be someone different. This person coming doesn’t know you. And so, if there are things that you’re wanting to do and things that you’re wanting to implement, you finally get the opportunity to do that. The other exciting thing is you put your hope and your trust in someone, thinking, well, this is the person that is going to make the shift that we’ve been wanting, that we’ve been desiring.

Now, for you, that’s very exciting. For the person that that is placed on, it’s very intimidating. I’ll tell you, my first year at uh university was a hard year. In part because I didn’t really know what to expect of myself. And I didn’t really know what others’ expectations of me were. And my goal this morning is to impress upon you the fact that the idea of being a disciple and the idea of being an evangelist is one that you should already be doing. It’s one that you are already a part of. And if you’re not a part of, I hope to inspire you this morning to get to be a part of that. To get to motivate and to bring people along. The idea of discipleship is one that I think in many ways we overcomplicate, and in many ways, even the idea of being an evangelist is one that we overcomplicate.

We shroud it in mystery. We obscure it. And so my goal again this morning is to kind of demystify that, to break it down, to motivate you with scripture to see that this is something that has been accomplished by God’s people from the beginning of time. We’re going to be in Acts chapter 8 this morning. And so I’m going to encourage you to go ahead and open up your Bibles to Acts the eighth chapter. The verses will be presented for us on the screen behind us, but Acts chapter 8, as was read for us this morning. Jesus spoke these words to 11 of his disciples. And I kind of want you to mentally put yourself in that situation. Your Lord and Savior has died, he’s been buried, and now he’s resurrected.

And he’s called you. Make it personal.

Now, when I think about myself in that situation, I would have a lot of questions. I would want to ask him about this or that. Maybe I would have all these questions just rolling through my mind. And Jesus understands that, and Jesus knows that. But this is what he chooses to say in verse 17. He knows that some people are struggling with this. He knows that some of the eleven have these doubts in their minds. And maybe you here this morning have doubts in your minds. So the first thing he reminds them is the very thing he ought to remind us. All authority has been given to him. Part of the idea of being a disciple is we’ve submitted to this authority of Jesus. And then he gives us the simple instruction to go.

To go. As our brother mentioned for us in the Lord’s Supper talk, getting started is hard. My wife and I yesterday were determined that we were going to leave the house by 12 o’clock. Then 12 o’clock turned to 1 o’clock. And then 1 o’clock turned to 3 o’clock. And then we said, eventually we’re going to make it down to where we need to be. Getting it started is hard. But once you get going, man, you don’t want to stop. Maybe in evangelism, this is something you’ve never done before. And it’s something that you’ve heard constantly from a guy behind this lectern on this podium on this pulpit saying, go, go, go. Where am I going? Who needs to hear this message? And even if I find someone, what in the world am I going to say to them?

It’s a very, very weird thing that we ask people to do to go and to evangelize, but we don’t tell them where. We don’t tell them who, and we don’t tell them what specifically. And so then you inevitably leave here this morning feeling guilty because you’re like, well, I’m not evangelizing, nor am I going to evangelize. And then once again, you’re in this rut because you don’t know how to go and accomplish the thing that Jesus is talking about here. So he mentions go, go make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them, and then gives us the assurance that he is with us. And I want to very quickly move you through Acts to get to chapter 8. In Acts chapter 4, verse 2, you have this great persecution arising.

Why is the persecution coming? Well, the text tells us it’s because they were proclaiming Jesus. They were teaching Jesus, and that was causing a disruption among the people. But then later on in chapter 4 and verse 20, it says, we can’t stop talking about the things that we’ve seen and heard. And so in verse 29, you have this prayer made by the disciples. And the prayer is really interesting. So they come and petition Jesus, and they say, Jesus, like make our lives easy. We’re just trying to do good anyway. Why are you making it so difficult to go and proclaim the message you have asked us to proclaim? Like we’re just trying to do good. Make this easier for us. Oh, that’s actually not what they prayed.

And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that your bondservants may what? Speak the word with all confidence. While you extend your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of your holy servants. And when they had prayed, the place there was where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And what did they do? They began to speak the word of God with boldness. They prayed, God, make me able to say the things that I want to say. And what does God do? He empowers them to say the things that they want to say. Isn’t that amazing? They were of one heart, one soul. Great grace or abundant grace in verse 33 was upon them all.

Later on in chapter 5. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept what? Right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one, the King. That’s what that means. They just kept teaching that Jesus was the King and that He has brought and established His kingdom. Acts chapter 6, the word of God kept on spreading. And the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great number of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. When you read those things, you’re like, well, well, yeah, obviously. If I could do miracles, if I had seen Jesus, if I had heard the words that Jesus spoke, then I could do that. But it wasn’t just the apostles.

1. Evangelism Is Just Speaking God’s Truths

It wasn’t only the people that had been empowered with these miraculous abilities and with this knowledge. Acts chapter 8 and verse 4. Therefore, those who had been scattered, the apostles are still in Jerusalem. They weren’t scattered. They stayed back in Jerusalem. So this is talking about a different group of people. Other disciples. They were scattered. They moved. And what did they do? They went about preaching the word. Acts chapter 11. But there were some of them, men, and we we don’t know who these guys are. Men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who had come to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus, the King Jesus. What is evangelism? What is evangelism? And some of you are like, well, evangelism is when you when you go door knocking.

Like that’s evangelism. Yeah, that is evangelism. Evangelism is when you get someone to go stand on the street corner and just start proclaiming God’s truth. Evangelism is when you start handing out Bibles. Evangelism is leaving little cards at different restaurants. Certainly, all those things are evangelism. Let me tell you what evangelism is. Evangelism is just speaking God’s truths. The first time that I ever presented that idea, that’s it was on a Sunday night on Wednesday night. I had a little boy run up to me. Uh, and he said, JP, guess what? I evangelized today. I was like, that’s so awesome, bud. What’d you do? He goes, I was getting my hair cut, and I told my barber, hey, God made the world. And I said, that’s right.

You evangelized. Did you know that’s all evangelism is? Uh, young lady in the pink, you you stand out, so I can, you know. Do you do you know a truth about God? You know something that God has done? You don’t need to answer me, but do you know something that God has done? Yeah? Do you know who created the world? Yeah, do you know about Noah and the flood? Yeah? Do you know about this guy named David who like slayed a giant? Yeah? Do you know about maybe in the New Testament, some things about the disciples and maybe them like feeding 5,000 or 4,000? Kind of, you know, a little bit, yeah. So you know some things about God? You know you can evangelize. You can be an evangelist.

All you have to do is say God’s truths. That is evangelism. Say God’s truths. Today, when you go and you’re at a restaurant and someone talks to you and they say, How are you? Because your waiter wants to talk to you. You know what? I’m very blessed. I’m very edified. I got to meet with my spiritual family this morning, and we got to sing and we got to, and you don’t have to get into all that, but even the simple idea of saying, I’m a blessed individual because I know who I am and where I’m going. That is evangelism. Evangelism is saying God’s truths. And I want to show you this in the account of Acts. Because in Acts chapter 8, when I read this, I’m like, okay, I know what evangelism is, and I know evangelism is just saying God’s truths, but now who do I say God’s truths to?

2. The Gospel Puts You in Uncomfortable Situations

And maybe another question that comes to mind, if you’re like me, is who don’t I share God’s truths with? Who do I not speak truth to? And I guarantee you’re gonna see some of those individuals that you don’t share the gospel with, that you don’t evangelize to in this account. So this guy named Philip, he’s a disciple of Jesus. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. He’s just saying truths about who Jesus is. I think Jesus is king, I think Jesus is Lord, I think Jesus is the Messiah, I think Jesus is the Son of God, I think Jesus died and was resurrected. I think you should follow Jesus. He’s proclaiming Christ to them. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip.

As they heard and they saw signs which he was performing. For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them, shouting with a loud voice, and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was much rejoicing in that city. Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. And they all, from the smallest to the greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, This man is what is called the great power of God. Let me put into uh context what’s happening here. Philip comes to the city named Samaria. While he’s there, he’s proclaiming truths about who he thinks Jesus is. And people are listening to it and they’re hearing it.

And there’s a lot of rejoicing, but then comes along this man, who when you go and buy the t shirts at the gift shop that he’s working at, it says the great power of God. Like, can you just imagine that, right? Y’all are in Orlando. You know about these gift shops, right? Some of y’all looking like I’m crazy. Like I you don’t buy t shirts that say weird stuff on them. That’s what this guy is doing. He is known as the great power of God. Man, that’s intimidating. Isn’t that? And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. But when they believed Philip, preaching the good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.

Even Simon himself, the great power of God, believed. And after being baptized, he continued on with Philip as he observed signs and miracles taking place. He was constantly amazed. As we engage in evangelism, as we engage in trying to teach people, I know evangelism is intimidating. Like I know it is. And I know evangelism is daunting. And I know we still haven’t even addressed how do I even really evangelize. Evangelism is uncomfortable. These people, who are they?

Truths about who Jesus is. And I think that’s important because sometimes we think evangelism is about making church members. That’s not what evangelism is about. Although, if you follow Jesus, you will join yourself to a local body. Sometimes we think evangelism is about studying and having knowledge, and that’s not true. Although if you become a disciple of Jesus, you’re going to know some things about him. Sometimes we think evangelism is just baptizing people, and it’s not. Now, certainly, if I follow Jesus, I will humbly submit to him and be baptized. So I can be a part of the body of Christ. But evangelism is just helping people follow Jesus, trusting in Jesus, obeying Jesus, imitating Jesus. And that is only going to happen when I go out and I make disciples.

Going and making disciples, proclaiming who Jesus is, speaking truths about God in an open way. Isn’t that a little uncomfortable though? Philip comes to a place where there are lots of people that he as a Jew would not have many good thoughts about, most likely. As many of you know, with uh John 4, we get a little taste of that between the relationship or the hostility between Jews and Samaritans. There’s not a lot of association that goes on there. But what does Philip do? He comes to a place that he’s uncomfortable. And he shares the gospel with people that he’s not comfortable, perhaps being around, that have a different culture, that speak maybe a different language, that have different diets than he does. But who else does he share the gospel with?

This guy who’s super intimidating. This guy who obviously has a lot of success. This guy who has a name and a reputation in the town. Isn’t it hard to evangelize to people that are different? And isn’t it hard to evangelize to people that are intimidating? Like it’s so easy to teach a children’s Bible class. It’s a lot harder to teach the auditorium class, isn’t it? Being evangelistic means going to uncomfortable places, being in uncomfortable situations, being around people who think differently, who have different beliefs, different lifestyles. They have different sins that they’re involved in. Or maybe sin identifies and defines their life. And all this could make us uncomfortable. One time I was trying to evangelize, and I was just at the gym, kind of talking to people about their life, and this gentleman overheard the conversation, and you know, we start talking, we meet up later that week and you know get some lunch together to continue talking.

In our first conversation, he says, Look, I gotta tell you, I’m an openly homosexual man. And he said, and I feel weird telling you that because, you know, I know what you’re trying to do, but I also have to tell you, like, I I enjoy at least spending time with you. And that put me in a really weird situation. Because I was like, okay, so maybe what this guy is trying to convey to me is that there is some sort of attraction. And I thought long and hard about what do I do with this guy? So you know what I did? I said, hey man, I just want to study the Bible with you. Now, I wasn’t married, uh, didn’t have any kids. I said, you know, I just want to study the Bible with you.

So how about this? How about we just go on walks, and as we go on walk, we can we can you know walk next to each other, we’ll talk, we’ll read God’s word together. And that’s what I did. I gotta tell you, that was really uncomfortable for me. It was really uncomfortable for me to put myself in that situation. But I did. Because this person needed the gospel, and I thought about it. What would I have done if this was a heterosexual female who was like, hey, I find you attractive? Man, I would have spent all the kinds of time in the world with her to try and share the gospel with her. I’ll tell you another time. Uh, this gentleman who I was studying with, um, he made me some some biscuits, and the biscuits were raw in the middle.

They were raw in the middle. And we’re having breakfast together, and uh I vacillated between do I tell him that these biscuits are raw or not? Because I was really uncomfortable. Like I was like, man, I don’t want to eat a raw dough in the middle. You know what I did? I didn’t say a word. I just put more honey on the biscuits and I downed them and I just ate them. But you know what? The gospel puts you in uncomfortable situations. The gospel puts you in situations where you might not want to eat the food that is given to you. The gospel puts you in situations where you’re not gonna you’re not gonna you’re gonna be around people that you don’t want to talk to, that make you feel weird, all because they are not in Christ.

But the gospel means going and proclaiming Jesus to those people. The gospel means going and proclaiming Jesus without being skeptical of other people, without being intimidated by other people. And my question for us this morning is who in your life makes you uncomfortable? Who is the person that you don’t want to talk to the gospel with because it’s gonna get weird? Who do you give yourself a pass with? Because ultimately being a disciple means that things are going to get weird.

Is there anyone in your life that you say, man, this person is just so far away? And they’re so different. Or they’re so well off. Or they’re so messed up. Because you see, both people in these accounts, those who are demon possessed being healed, those who are welled off accepting Jesus. What is more different than a Samaritan and a sorcerer? But they don’t get a bye. They don’t get a pass. Philip says, I have to take the gospel to these people. If I preach the gospel to them, there’s a chance they might obey. He is not skeptical or intimidated. But the other thing I find out from here is that evangelism is not just a one-man show. It is a group effort. I thought I put these verses on the PowerPoint.

3. Evangelism Is a Group Effort

Sorry about that. Let’s go ahead and look at Acts chapter 8. What does Philip do next in Acts chapter 8? After he begins proclaiming and teaching, and after Simon the Sorcerer accepts this doctrine, who comes down? Peter and John show up. Peter and John hear about the great work that is happening down there in Samaria. The apostles in verse 14 in Jerusalem heard that the Samaria had received the word of God and they sent Peter and John. Philip preached, Peter and John come down and do their part because it’s not a one man effort.

But it’s good to be reminded of anyway. The person that you hire to be an evangelist, the person that you hire to be a preacher, the person that you hire to kind of stand back here and to fire everybody up, they don’t know it all and they can’t do it all. They don’t know it all and they can’t do it all. Did you know that I’m an incomplete person? Not because I haven’t been made complete and whole in Christ, but I’m an incomplete person. And I am so grateful that the gospel does not rest on just me and my efforts. But that God in his wisdom said, you know what, JP, we we do need you. We need someone like you, but it’s not gonna be about you.

It’s gonna be about you coming together with the whole body of Christ. Here’s the thing. You do need people like myself that are okay with just talking, that are okay with just saying and sharing truths. But here’s the thing. When I baptize someone, you know what that person needs? They need to ride to church. Because we get a lot of people around university, the church building that don’t have transportation. In fact, this morning, one of the guys that I’m studying with, he needed, he and his girlfriend needed a ride to services. Maybe you’re not the one out proclaiming God’s truths to strangers because that’s a little too much for you. Can you drive someone to services? Now here’s the thing. That’s awesome. And we need people that can go and pick and bring people to services.

What about like once they get here? Can you greet someone? Can you show them where the bathrooms are? Can you give them a heads up about, hey, there’s an adult class here in the auditorium, or do you have kids? How old are your kids? What about once they come into the worship assembly? And you had nothing to do with greeting them, you had nothing to do with teaching them, you had nothing to do with bringing them here. Are you still useful? Hey, I know you don’t know anyone. Why don’t you come sit with me? I got a whole pew right here. You can sit next to me. And I want you to take a few seconds and think about your own conversion. Think about how you came to Christ.

And I guarantee that there are very few people in here who would say, I became a Christian because of one person in my life. It was one individual teaching me. It was one individual picking me up. It was one individual sitting next to me. It was one and like certainly, I’m sure there are some very great influential people in your life. But I guarantee that you are a Christian this morning. Because someone opened their mouth and they said, Hey, I gotta share something with you. Or your parents were like, hey, we have to share something as a family. And so you know what? I’m gonna take you to a place where other men and women are going to teach you. I’m gonna take you to a place where you can see different people of different ethnicities and different sexes singing and worshiping and praising God together.

I guarantee that you’re a Christian, not because of one individual, but because of the multifaceted body of Christ working together. And evangelism is that. It is a group effort. This might be strange, and this might be a new information to you. But did you know that all my coworkers are Christians? I work with one other guy named Josh Creole, who many of you know. There’s not a lot of evangelism going on between between us two. Like we’re we’re both pretty solid in our relationship with Christ. You know who has coworkers that need Christ, though? I’m guessing those of us that work in secular jobs, right? I’m guessing that you know more people than I do that are outside of the body of Christ. And I don’t need you to feel the burden of saying I have to teach them.

What I do need you to feel is the conviction to say, hey, I’m a Christian, and I have something that I would like to offer you. You want to come and just read the Bible together? Do you mind if you can just like come over to my house? We’ll have dessert or something. A couple of my friends from uh where I worship are gonna come over. And actually, they’re more like family than friends. We spend a lot of time together. Uh, why don’t you just come through on Friday? Why don’t you come through on Saturday? You know, tonight we’re gonna get together at my house, we’re just gonna have uh some coffee, we’re gonna put on old reruns of Mythbusters. You know, you want you want to come and hang out with us?

4. Start Where the Person Is and Preach Jesus

Evangelism is a group effort. Now look what happens next. An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. Where was Philip? He was in Samaria having all kinds of success. Like he was crushing it in Samaria. And the angel of the Lord says, get up and go south to a desert road. Leave the city where you’re having success and go where no one is. Do you know how hard that would be? We’ve all made moves in our lives. And I think most of us make moves because there are better opportunities. I’m going to make this move because there’s a better congregation with more children. I’m going to make this move because there’s better homes. I’m going to make this move because there’s better pay. We don’t move to go to worse situations, typically.

Philip is asked, I want you to leave, and I want you to go to where no one is. It’s a deserted road. And he gets up, and what does he meet? An intimidating person who he would be uncomfortable with because this guy is from Ethiopia. This guy doesn’t look like me. This guy doesn’t talk like me. Not only that, but why is he intimidating? He’s an official. This guy obviously doesn’t need me. He’s doing very well by himself. And oh, look at this. Look at this. Who was in charge of her entire treasury? Like, that’s how successful he is. He is the one treasurer for this queen. And why is he on this road? Why is he on this road? He had come to worship in Jerusalem.

Okay, picture this guy. You meet this guy at work. You start talking to him about God. And he says to you, Oh, hey, buddy, like, I know God. And you’re like, what? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m actually, actually, I’m about to go to Jerusalem to go worship God. You’re like, wow, that’s amazing. And you would think at that moment, man, I got nothing to offer this guy. He’s doing well in his job. He’s obviously very successful. And he’s already worshiping God. Do you know people like that? Any of your neighbors have good jobs? Any of your neighbors seem to be decent people? Do any of your neighbors have their own places where they’re worshiping God right now? And it’s easy in those times to just kind of like dismiss those people.

Those people don’t need the gospel. The Spirit told Philip, go and join that chariot. When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, Do you understand what you’re reading? And I find this interesting because Philip asked the guy, hey, what do you know? And he says, Well, I’ve been reading Isaiah. And what does Philip not say? Hey, buddy, roll up that scroll. Like, let me tell you about baptism. Let me tell you about Jesus. Let me tell you about these miracles that I can do because I know Jesus. What does Philip do? He starts where the guy is. And brethren, this is something that I’ve done incorrectly in my approach to evangelism. I always want to rush people to talk about baptism because there’s like an urgency, right?

You’re dead in sin and trespasses, so let me rush you to baptism. And let me quote to you all the passages that I know about baptism. Start where the person is. What do you know about God? You worship God, that’s awesome. Like, where do you worship God? How do you worship God? What drew you to go to where you are going right now. Start where the people are. That’s what Philip does. He starts where this guy is. And what does the text say? He preached to him the essential doctrine of the church. No, that’s not what he did. He preached to him baptism. No. He preached to him about why this church was the no. He preached Jesus. Preaching Jesus is the point. Preaching has to point to Jesus.

Good preaching is rooted in Scripture. It doesn’t just use Scripture because we know lots of people use Scripture. Good preaching is rooted in Scripture. He takes the context of where he is in Isaiah and he points him to the king. That’s the good news. The good news is the king has come and established his kingdom. The gospel, the good news is not just about my salvation, although it involves it. It’s not just about forgiveness of my sins, although it involves it. The good news is the king is here.

Can you do that? Do you know who the king is? Do you know what his kingdom is? And maybe you can’t start in Isaiah. But can you get to that point? Maybe you don’t know scripture as well as you ought to. Don’t be embarrassed. Don’t be frustrated. Don’t give up. Just get in the scriptures. Ask for help. And next time you’re reading like we did this morning in Matthew, ask, what does this teach me about Jesus? What does this teach me about his kingdom? What does this teach me about the way that I’m supposed to live? And how can I share with others around me? What is evangelism? It’s saying God’s truth. It’s getting uncomfortable. It’s recognizing it’s not all on me. It’s pointing others to Christ.

It’s starting where the person is, and I need to put a lot of emphasis on this one. It’s learning to say, I don’t know. The best Bible teacher I have ever met in my life, and I am friends with, and he’s alive right now. I’ll give you his number if you want it. Do you know what his nickname is in Brazil? I don’t know. That’s his nickname. Like I’m not saying I don’t know. That’s his nickname. I don’t know. You don’t have to know everything. Don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself. And I know some of you are thinking, I would love to teach so and so, but they’re gonna ask this question that I don’t know the answer to. Guess what? You’re right. They will ask you that question.

5. Who Do I Need to Evangelize To? Everyone

They’re going to ask you the thing you don’t know. And what you should do is say, look, I don’t know. I have no idea. I’m gonna get back to scripture. I’m gonna go study, I’m gonna go read, and if I find the answer, I’m gonna let you know. And when they come and ask you again, you have the humility to say, Look, I still don’t know. I’m trying to figure it out. But being an evangelist is not knowing all the answers, but it is about knowing what the answer is. Being an evangelist is not about knowing all the answers, but it’s about knowing what the answer is. Who is the Christ? Who is the king? Who is the Messiah? Who is Lord? Is Jesus? If you know enough to obey, you know enough to teach.

If you know enough to obey, you know enough to teach. Who do I need to evangelize to? Everyone. People need the gospel. I’m sure there were good people, I’m using quotations. Good people in Samaria. The eunuch looks like a good person, but they still needed the true gospel. Philip could have said, Oh, you’re a good man. You’re traveling miles and miles to worship. You’re obviously reading your scripture. You are very successful. You must be very trustworthy because you’re handling all this money. Do you know who else was a devout religious man? Saul of Tarsus. Do you know who else was devout and religious? Cornelius. Do you know who was generous and concerned about God’s people? Cornelius. In Acts chapter 9, does Saul of Tarsus need the gospel?

Let me see. Heads, yes or no? Does Saul need the gospel? Yeah? Yeah? I don’t know. Some of you guys look uncertain. In Acts chapter 9, did Saul of Tarsus, a devoutly religious man, did he need the gospel? Yes. Absolutely he did. Acts chapter 10, Cornelius, a generous, devout worshiper of God, concerned about God’s people, did that guy need the gospel? Yes. Absolutely.

Look at your friends and look at your neighbors. And don’t think they are good enough because they’re not.

6. Every Disciple Is a Preacher

We all needed the gospel. But don’t put so much pressure on yourself to say, I’ve got to know it all. Have the responsibility to say I’m going to start the message. But don’t think I’ve got this thing because you don’t. If you’ve been a part of bringing someone to the Lord, understand you are one piece of that puzzle. And God has allowed you and I to be a part of what God is doing in his kingdom. And the last thing I want to say is every disciple is a preacher. Every disciple is a preacher. Every disciple is an evangelist. One more verse. Acts chapter 9 and verse 10. Acts chapter 9 and verse 10. Now there was, what is your translation say? Now there was, does it say preacher?

Does it say evangelist? Does it say elder? Does it say there was a disciple named? Insert your name. There was a disciple named Angela. There was a disciple named Wally.

Ananias, and he said, Here I am, Lord. What is Ananias called to do? To go and share the gospel with Saul of Tarsus. Do you have a favorite Bible verse? Do you have a favorite Bible verse? If it comes from one of the epistles written by a guy named Paul, if it comes from one, and there’s a good chance that there is, because he wrote half of the New Testament. If you have a favorite Bible verse that comes from a guy named Paul, I want you to understand and remember. That guy came to Christ because a random disciple named Ananias taught him the gospel. A random disciple named Ananias taught the guy who wrote your favorite Bible verse. Brethren, evangelism is hard and it’s intimidating. Who was Philip before he got to Samaria and started preaching?

He was a disciple. And you know what’s interesting? In the book of Acts, when Philip is called to be a minister, when he’s called to be a deacon, that job is not a glamorous job. Someone looked at Philip and said, Hey Philip, you’re a disciple. I’ve got a good job for you. You know what you would be really good at, Philip? Serving tables. But because Philip accepted his responsibility as a disciple, he said, you know what? I’ve got to share the word. I’ve got to share the good news. I’ve got to share truths about who Jesus is. When we preach the gospel and we try to make other disciples, you know what happens? You and I become truer disciples of Jesus. When you preach the gospel, you hear the gospel too.

When you preach the gospel and convict others’ hearts, your heart is convicted. When you preach the gospel and help others see their sins, you see your sins more clearly. When you preach the gospel and help others understand things about the Lord that you yourself have forgotten, but now you get to see him more clearly, you realize that you need to make changes. And that is one of my favorite parts about putting together Bible classes and sermons. As I become so convicted by the Word of God, but this is something that you can experience too. A disciple is not above his teacher or a slave his master. It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. That is a seemingly out of place quote in Matthew 10.

When Jesus is sending out his disciples on their first commission, he includes this in here. A disciple is not above his teacher, but it is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher. When you go out and evangelize, when you talk to your neighbors, when you post things on social media, when you invite the person to just come and see, there’s a lot of rejection that’s going to happen. There’s a lot of rejection that’s going to happen. There’s a lot of people that will accept it and then reject it. There’s a lot of people that won’t initially do what’s needed. And I know what you’re gonna think, or at least what some of you think, because it’s the thing that I think. I’m not doing this right.

Conclusion

I’m messed up. They’re not coming. They’re not staying. Don’t think like that. That’s between them and the Lord. Your job is to preach Christ. And if you preach Christ, you will become more like him, and that is enough. That is enough. It is enough for God that you will become more like Jesus than you were before. It is enough for God that you will become more like Jesus than you were before. You are enough. You are enough. So if we can assist you in any way this morning to become more like Jesus, if you want to confess something to the family here, if you want the prayers of the congregation here, if you want to put on Christ in baptism, understand that you will be enough because you will be made complete and whole in Christ.

And this body needs you. This city needs you. This state needs you. And if you don’t know how to do this, or you want to learn more about how to do this, just talk to me. I’m figuring it out too, but we can figure it out together. I would love to help you be more like Jesus. If there’s any way that we can do that this morning, we ask you to come forward as we stand and as we sing.

Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole thing? Nothing like the blood of Jesus.