Discipleship’s 2015 Victory Address

By Jonathan | January 12, 2015

This is what Jonathan read to the church for victory Sunday 2015

Grace and Peace to you all,

Long ago before men built tall towers or stout ships, a man and his wife worked in a garden. They made a terrible mistake the likes of which drove mankind mad with all desires of evil. The world and its inhabitants have been cast into the fray of falleness. The creator devised a plan to make all that went wrong, right. And this grand story of resurrection and rebirth, along with somewhat recent historical events brought from the Pen of Charles Dickens one of the most successful novels ever told.

Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities, is about Sydney Carton, Lucie Manette and the rest is probably the most successful novel in history as it has sold over 200 million copies. Its themes and symbols have been used countless times, and almost everyone can quote the opening Solomonic line,

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, . . .”

This is a story about love, loss, human abolition – decadence, disgrace, but also the hope of righteousness, renewal, and armistice. Paris and London set the scenes as it moves back and forth between the channel. The common people overthrow their aristocracy and monarch tyrants. In their fight for liberty and justice the people of France become the very thing they passionately hate. Meanwhile, the main characters, Charles the Aristocrat in hiding, Lucie – the dazzle in distress, and Sydney – the relatable yet rough around the edge bad boy that you can’t take home to your parents – all enter into a love triangle. The true identity of Charles and his family in Paris, find him as a defendant in a mockery of justice while Sydney and Lucie are in terror in London. Sydney has an uncanny resemblance to Charles and in a last chapter twist, the petulant Sydney takes the place of his noble competition Charles sitting on death row. And on his way to the guillotine, Sydney Carton envisions a people to reclaim a once great city, and this one act of goodness in his life represents the hope of rebirth in all his fellow countrymen.

It truly is a masterpiece.

Well, I have been asked by Mark to present to you the status of my ministry here at the church. I can tell you that my books are on their shelves, my computer booted up and ready to go, and all my nit knacks in their new place in my office. Beyond that, there is not much to share to be honest. I know many of you are probably wondering what I will be doing here at New Lisbon so allow me to share with you a bit of my job description as far as I understand it.

First, I will be responsible for the Sunday school education and working with those teachers to help us go deeper in the word. I am directly going to be taking over the Koinonia class for a while and we are going to start a study in the Life of Christ to which I am thoroughly excited. The present Sunday school teachers will help me get into the groove of how things operate here and I will help them select material and coordinate teachers. I see this as a primarily administration role where I help keep the ship going and provide options on teaching material.

Second, I will begin work to launch a small group ministry by September. The elders made it very clear that they feel this is something that will benefit the life and growth of the church. I obviously agreed with them since I accepted the position. I am not ready to share much about what Mark and I have envisioned but here is what our hope is, that you will join us as we attempt to live life together at a new level, that you accept the challenge to grow deeper together with people who live around you in your neighborhood who might attend this church and certainly with those who do not. We do see this small group ministry as being an instrument of evangelism and the first step in a fully functioning discipleship ministry.

Third, to help me accomplish all of this, my first and primary goal is to recruit and establish a discipleship team. One thing I have learned in my brief time in ministry is that two people can do twice the work one-person can. This was a tactic that Jesus taught his disciples as he sent them out two by two to preach the good news to the neighboring town. Paul always took people with him everywhere he traveled, and James led the Jerusalem church but with the wisdom and council of others as we see in Acts 15. Over the next few weeks I will be seeking out those who I believe will be my Barnabas, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and Phoebe. This team will help with administration responsibilities, develop Sunday school and small group curriculum, recruit and train leaders, and play an instrumental role in the development on a strategy to engage and disciple believers of all different levels in one on one relationships.

Our ultimate goal as a church is to make disciples of all nations. To baptize them and then to train them everything Jesus has taught. Generally, churches are good at baptizing people, but seriously fail in the teaching and developing them to then go and make new disciples.

Let me be clear, our short term win will be a successful group ministry, our long term win will be to create an environment where one-on-one mentoring and discipling is taking place.

I believe with all the passion I can muster, I will focus my energy and time on accomplishing these two wins. Be assured, you will be hearing more and more about this as the year unfolds.

I hope that you understood from my sermon here back in November that discipleship is the most important responsibility we have as followers of the way. You see we are members of two worlds or two cities. One is the one you see around you. It is fallen, it is full of evil, and it is full pain and suffering – Not all that unlike Dicken’s portrayal of France caught up in a revolt against the higher power of the Land. The other is of course that which is unseen, this one so unlike our day or turn of the 19^th century France. There dwells the presence of God and a heavenly host which demands humbleness and reverence. Only perfection and righteousness can stand before the I Am, and we are found wanting. Then two thousand years ago God invaded our dwelling place, our decadence, in the form of innocence. This boy of promise became a man and when he was thirty announced what his predecessors only dreamed of. His message, “Repent and believe for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” This was Christ’s mission – to establish God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Now we are in a battle to realize eternity here and now. Jesus’ message in his greatest sermon was to outline how someone in the Kingdom of God will live in eternity, and the command to begin living that way now. In Dickens, the theme of resurrection resounds throughout. In our story, the same message rings. London and Paris were both in a state of disarray with the hopes of resurrection and a glorious future. In the Bible, the vision of John reveals God’s world of grace and peace and our world of sin and disarray colliding in way like never before imagined.

And this is where discipleship is born. We are citizens of both cities. We live among the chaos but with the message of resurrection. Our message is because of the Kingdom we represent and will quite literally change the way people live here and now. The hope of living like Christ can begin with you and with me. Let us live the way God’s kingdom demands, and share the truth with those around us. It is my vision as a leader of this ministry, and as the mission of this church to not only tell the city, or the world we see, how to live but to show them they way. This is what we call discipleship. This is what we call living the Kingdom of God. Its not just about you – its about who you will bring along with you in the journey to Love God and Love others.

To quote Sydney on his way to death,

“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out. I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more. . . I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. . . It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

Through discipleship, we can change our world and the world around us. We can aide God in his mission to make what went wrong, right. We are to be the instruments of his reconciliation and the aim for his grace. For this is a far far better thing that we do, than we have ever done. And through discipleship in life, and no fear in greeting death we have hope and promise to hear those blessed words, well done good and faithful servant. Then we can say; “it is a far, far better rest that we go to than we have ever known.”

Join us in this mission, join us in this goal to change our city, to change our world.

Thank You,