Designing your Life
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The document discusses what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. It references several Bible passages that indicate disciples must deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Jesus above all else, even their own lives and family. Disciples are called to redirect their affections, priorities, and lives toward God and making disciples of all nations through baptism and teaching. The document emphasizes counting the cost of discipleship and being willing to sacrifice money, time, talents for God and others above oneself in order to complete the mission.
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Designing your Life
- 1. i Answers to Questions I know you’re asking
- 2. 50,000 bulbs Began in 1958
- 4. Recap - Be Disciples The Condition “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me”. Luke 9:23 In His Steps
- 5. Be Disciples The Challenge Who is our greatest enemy?
- 6. Summary Make Disciples The Great Commission: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matt 28:18-20 In His Steps
- 7. 25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and sons, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ Luke 14:25-30
- 8. Set Your Focus Redirect your affections Realign your priorities Release your life State Your Mission
- 10. "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness ...........“ Isaiah 20
- 11. 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and sons, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26
- 14. 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate …. even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
- 15. Money/Time/ talents for God Money, Time/ talents for others Money, Time/ talents for self
- 16. 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate …. even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
- 17. Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. 1 Sam 1:18
- 19. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Luke 14:28
- 20. What do you want your epitaph to be? Reflect on what you have done over the past year?
- 21. Write down your personal mission statement
- 22. 25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and sons, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ Luke 14:25-30
- 23. We have become too soft to scale spiritual heights ..... our hymns and sermons create for us a religion of consolation and pleasantness. We overlook the place of the thorns, the blood and the cross. - Tozer
- 24. Write and share your mission statement Based on your mission statements and the discussion in part 1, prepare a mission for your group Make an action plan for the mission statement Share with larger group
Editor's Notes
- A lady was taken by her daughter to see the “Daffodil Garden.” Here’s what she says “We got out of the car and each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers. “But who has done this?” I asked Carolyn. “It’s just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “She lives on the property. That’s her home.” Carolyn pointed to a well kept A farm house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking” was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs,” it read. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain.” The third answer was, “Began in 1958.” There it was, The Daffodil Principle.”
- A lady was taken by her daughter to see the “Daffodil Garden.” Here’s what she says “We got out of the car and each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers. “But who has done this?” I asked Carolyn. “It’s just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “She lives on the property. That’s her home.” Carolyn pointed to a well kept A farm house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking” was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs,” it read. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain.” The third answer was, “Began in 1958.” There it was, The Daffodil Principle.”
- Following Christ is a choice..has to start with desire..let him deny himself denial.. implies that the desire has to be all consuming..take up his cross daily..it is a 24*7 commitment..this does not mean we leave our responsibilities and professions. Jesus himself lived a regular life as carpenter for a large part of his life…it simply means that once we take this decision, once we make this choice…everything we think, everything we say, everything we do has to be aligned with his commandments. This decision involves a complete change in the way we view our professions, our position, our posessions…they are no longer ours but whatever we have belongs to Christ..he is the owner and we have it on loan.
- Command to make disciples. Discipleship gives us a new job, a new appointment – to make disciples. Everyone needs a Paul and a Timothy. “The one indispensable requirement for producing godly, mature Christians is godly, mature Christians.” ― Kevin DeYoung Not only do we need to provide the information, we need to provide the inspiration…
- Salvation is free but discipleship costs. Suppose cost of building tower is free…still effort needs to be done to build it.
- Alas we are living in a world with upside down values! Black is no longer black! The Hebrew prophet Isaiah warns us .Is.5:20 of what will happen to any society that has upside down values: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness ..........." God wants us to wake up before it is too late! A number of years ago scientists performed an interesting experiment. They strapped a strange set of eye glasses, which looked like binoculars, on several people. These individuals wore those glasses every hour they were awake. Inside the bases were mirrors that enabled the people to see everything upside down!....... At first, they tripped over furniture and were unable to even walk. They could hardly sit upright without falling over. However, after a few weeks of wearing the glasses, their eyes and brain adjusted and were able to see everything right side up. However, little did they know that the experiment had only just started. One by one the people removed the glasses and immediately proceeded to fall over. Their brains had adjusted to seeing through the inverted lenses, that when the glasses were removed Jesus says: "I am the Way the Truth and the Life no man comes to the Father but by Me" Jesus also said "Thy Word is Truth!". His value system forms the basic principles of His Kingdom people. We would be fools to look to the world for counsel in establishing our value system
- What does Jesus mean when he says “hate” mother, father, etc. and yourself?
- All relationships come secondary to God All relationships get routed through God. As Christ’s disciple, I have learned to hold all things lightly - my reputation, my possessions, my rights, my loved ones, my life - willing to let go for God to do what He pleases or for God to allow anyone else to do anything they please. That is hard but necessary if Christ is truly to be my sovereign Lord! Our churches have turned out to be little more than social clubs and community centres where the focus is on the individual self and its felt needs - not the church’s function as the Body of Christ. So often Christ is no longer even the focus of our message.
- Corrie Ten Boom when met by the soldier who killed her sister Betsie after a message on forgiveness, hugs him with the love of God
- Jesus and only Jesus should be our priority. We read about Mary and Martha last time and Jesus says “only one thing is needed…Mary has chosen the better part….”
- When a man wanting to follow Jesus says “let me bury my father first”, Jesus says, “let the dead bury the dead. Our money, time and talents should be focussed on God.
- "The man who has died to self has no ambitions - and so he has nothing to be jealous about He has no reputation - and so he has nothing to fight about He has no possessions - therefore nothing to worry about He has no rights - so therefore he cannot suffer any wrongs He is already dead - so no one can kill him."
- Man with much wealth Jesus says “sell everything you have and follow me”… Let go of your failures Let go of your successes Let go of your relationships Let go of your assets
- In order to do this we need to plan from finish to start.
- Sky City - Above the world in 90 days: China building world’s tallest skyscraper — 220 storeys — in just three months
- We all know that one day we will die – we do not know when or how, but the certainty is that we will die. When we die people will say things about us. There may be an epitaph on our grave. What do we want our epitaph to be? If someone were to describe us in 1 sentance what do we want that to state
- In order to do this we need to plan from finish to start. If someone were to describe us in 1 sentance what do we want that to state. Let us stop and think of our mission and what do we want our mission statement to be. My mission statement is “to know him and to make him known through God’s word. My focus will be in the dark areas in the world” what is yours?.Write it down. Share it.
- Tozer the 20th Century prophet In the OT the army of God was the army of israelites fighting their enemies. Today we, the disciples of Christ are the new army of God winning souls and making disciples for Christ. This is no ordinary mission, it is a war Matt 13:44-52. Are we ready to give up everything for that one pearl of great price? Just as the Israelites were victorious whenever they trusted God. We can be too! What are the benefits of following Christ in this life? Abundant life, rest for our souls, joy, peace, an easy yoke etc. Jesus sends out 72. My experiences – in teaching word of God We can certainly join this army to win the world for Christ “one disciple at a time”
- Salvation is free but discipleship is not.
- There is one difference between an ordinary mission and an extraordinary mission. And we are in an extraordinary mission. When we get into it, it is just not a goal we are achieving it is a battle. We are in a war. A battle for life – eternal life. The life of others. We will face opposition, some have faced death. Are we prepared for that? There are only two Kingdoms ---- the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan. Either we are in the one or in the other. If we are following after the world’s criteria of identity as is found in our family background, our possessions, our successes ---- one day we’ll find we have been trying to build on shifting changing sand and some day our house will collapse. Is our value system based on Prestige, Power, Possessions. World’s value system is rooted in "self". God’s value system is founded on God Himself. The world’s value system is rooted in self - prestige, power, passion, pride and pleasure. In fact in 2 Tim 3:1,2,4 Paul warns : "Realise this, in the last days difficult times will come for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money V4---- lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." In God’s value system : God is central and the Cross is central. Today, very subtly we see a dangerous shift from God to self. That is why I believe the nineties have been a decade of decline - not numerically perhaps but spiritually.
- Paul tells us to put on the armour of Christ. Are we equipped? The helmet of salvation…. We are protected from enemy attacks. Breastplate of righteousness –Are we holy as God is holy? Belt of Truth - are we people of truth and integrity in an upside down world. Sheild of Faith. When everything is crumbling, can we still stand firm? Do we believe God will act? Eg Joshua Shoes to spread the gospel of peace – do we go out to share about others Sword of the spirit – the word of God – how much is the word a part of our lives Hear, read, study,memorise meditate