How can we be disciples of Christ?

sermon by Manfred Schreyer

For the last two weeks we have been talking about eternity and what it means.

We have learned that our soul will go to our Father in heaven after we die and that we will receive a new body on judgment day.

Last time we talked about what Jesus asks us after we become believers in Him and what He demands from us on earth.

This Sunday I would like to talk to you a little bit more about what Jesus asks us to do.

Jesus talks about how anyone who does not hate his mother and father, etc. cannot be his disciple.

Are we to hate our relatives and ourselves? Of course not! As humans we often place our trust in those who are closest around us and sometimes even the closest to us seem to disappoint us in their actions and in their words.

Why? Because we are humans and we remain humans.

As believers we have to work on that. We have to evaluate ourselves and our relationship with others constantly and our premise has to be to be more and more honest with ourselves and with others.

If we make that leap, then we are able to see the humanness even in those who are close to us. And if we are honey to ourselves . . .and more important to God we allow ourselves not to be closer to those we love the most on earth, but our God. What does that mean? It means that we will NOT validate sinful actions by those who love us and we love.

Once we have received God in our heart, we are to become people of integrity! We do not seek the glory on earth but the glory from heaven.

Only when we are willing to take up the cross as Jesus describes it in this verse are we really able to be a disciple, no matter what the consequences are for us on earth.

When we become disciples, that grey area between truth and lie has to become narrower and narrower and finally it has to disappear.

Now, the commitment to our God, to understand that this world is sinful and the finding of eternal life through Jesus Christ is not enough!

First we must change on a personal level. Our behavior, etc. must change. We must walk the way Jesus walked and we must try to understand God’s will for us.

Secondly, after we understand hat concept we must put behind the security of this earth. Nothing but nothing which is here on earth will give us security and we should NOT be bound by it. In other words it should not be able to influence our life to the extent that it takes away our service to our God and more important that it may hinder us to follow the will of God.

Thirdly we slowly must become disciples of Christ. It took the disciples of Christ three years to understand what Jesus wanted from them. They had to walk the walk, they had to understand the will of God and slowly but slowly they learned to understand and then Jesus told them:

Jesus is telling us the very same thing. We must become disciples. We must be willing to become equipped to teach people and teaching them to obey the word of God fo us.

What does that mean for us as a church? Sometimes we think that the church is a place where we gather together and find peace in our soul, where we can listen to the minister, where we can talk to those whom we like. . .our friends, etc. And even though the service should have some of these components, the most important item is that this is the place where we worship our God as disciples. Where we become equipped to teach, where we learn about the will of God, where we are able to reflect about changes we have to make in our life.

The reality is that the church is the place of the presence of God. In a sense we may compare it to the Ark of the Covenant. This is the place which God chose for him. It is the place where there is no other agenda, but the agenda of God.

So really the church is not about us it is about the people who do not believe in Christ. It is the place where we become filled with the Holy Spirit to minister to those who need us.

You see this is not the place to be happy we are saved. This is the house of worship where all vessels of God should flow into the world.

Finally Jesus talks about saltiness. He says that those who lose their saltiness cannot be disciples. Those who are not eager to follow our God, who want to be a disciple, those who are not willing to be transformed, those who are not willing to hate the ways of those who we love the most cannot be a disciple. Because they are still bound by earth.

We know that the earth is ruled by the devil. The devil will make every attempt to hinder us from entering into heaven. He will alter any truth of God to his benefit, he will use any measure to prevent us to find our path to heaven and even when we become saved will he constantly nag and try to find a way so that we are not willing to disciple others.

The greatest scam the devil ever ran is that some of us Christians believe that there is no hell and no devil.

Well, Jesus talks about hell and the devil and the devil even tempted Jesus.

Remember when I talked the stages of eternal life. Remember that I said that we are already on the path of eternal life on earth. I already know my destination. I already know. I already am living in a state of eternal life.