Discipleship. We know we should do it, but what is it? How do you do it? Dig in with Pastor Brock as we go a little deeper in the practical ideas in discipleship.

Heb. 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul  and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

Num 13:31b“We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”

Num 13:32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. ...

Discouragement - the act of making something less likely to happen or of making people less likely to do something. a feeling of having lost hope or confidence.

Num. 14:1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and WEPT aloud.

Num. 14:2 All the Israelites GRUMBLED against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!

Num. 14: 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

When a spirit of discouragement takes over there is no hope.

When a spirit of encouragement takes over there is no room for despair!

How Do We Encourage One Another? We Encourage Ourselves!

1 Sam 30:6b but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

2 Cor. 1:3-4   Praise be to the God … God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

We impart desire to one another

1. Words - (speaking into one another’s lives)

Col. 3:16a Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another…

Eph. 5:19a Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. …

Words of encouragement

Words of affirmation

2. Actions (of Love)

Gal. 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

3. Prayer (for one another)

a. Daily We Pray (TAWG)

b. Weekly We Meet - we do the body life

John 13:35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Eccl. 4:9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.

Homework: 

Heb. 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

1Cor. 13:13   And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Heb 3:13b…encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Heb.12:7 Endure hardship as discipline;…

Heb. 10:32   Remember …when you stood your ground…in the face of suffering.

Heb. 13:3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Discouragement - the act of making something less likely to happen or of making people less likely to do something. a feeling of having lost hope or confidence.

Encouragement - to inspire with courage, spirit, and hope

John 14:16 - And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever

Prov. 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

Heb. 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing

Romans 1:11 -12 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong — that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

We must not underestimate how much people need you and how much you need people.

Rom. 15:5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,

1 Thes 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

We are not only to encourage one another but to increase it (Heb 10:25 “all the more as the day approaches.” )

Rev. 12:12b …But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”

Let’s consider how we can spur one another on toward Love and good deeds.

Connect together in fellowship and worship

Speak faith into one another

Eph. 5:19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Let’s develop a posture of ever increased encouragement

Be encouraged as you encourage.

2 Kings 3:2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. 3 Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

2 Kings 3:7 He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” “I will go with you,” he replied. “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

V9b … After a roundabout march of seven days

2 Kings 3:11 - Jehoshaphat asks, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD through him?”

Psa. 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

2 Kings 3:16 “Make this valley full of ditches"

2 Kings 3:18 "This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you.”

God supplied a prophet THEY had to look for him

God sent water THEY had to dig trenches to catch the water

God birthed the plan to confuse the enemy THEY had to to rise up and fight the

Gal. 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Prov. 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Jesus Made Prayer the Center of His Life and Ministry.

Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Mark 1:35  Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Luke 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened

Luke 23:46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

1Th. 5:16 -18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

John 4:31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

John 4:34   “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

Phil. 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

What area of your life have you been leaning on your own understanding and not on God?

How Shall We Start the New Year?

Jeremiah 29:5-7 “ Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:5-7

What do you hope for this year?

Some guidelines:

Hope in something God promised, that you can wait on him for.

Hope in things that you can accomplish with him.

How was 2021?

What was the DREAM? What was a THEME? What HURT?

Be ready for change, but not reliant on it.

How do you worship God?

Who has God given you?

What does God want you to do?

Michael Hyatt's SMARTER Goals:

SMARTER Goals: Specific

SMARTER Goals: Measurable

SMARTER Goals: Actionable

SMARTER Goals: Risky

SMARTER Goals: Time Bound

SMARTER Goals: Exciting

SMARTER Goals: Relevant

What is God calling you to this year?

Spiritually? Relationally? Vocationally

Two Last Practices to Have a good 2022

1. Find 2-3 people to invite into your hopes for 2022

2. Review your goals daily. Ask what step can you take.

Luke 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Questions for Mary - Max Lucado

2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Luke 1:34   “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

Luke 1:38   “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 2:7 she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:28-32 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

Luke 2:33-35   The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Luke 2:51-52   Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

John 2:25 He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

John 19:25a   Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

“Weary Christmas” Matt. 11:28

Ex. 3:7  And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

Psa. 63:1 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalms 23 "The Lord is my shepherd … He restores my soul.”

Is. 40:28-31 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Matt. 11:28   “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

We Can’t Understand Christmas without understanding that Christmas was a rescue mission

Five Facts (Revelations) that Precede our understanding of God’s Rescue Plan.

1. We Cannot Find God Unless He Shows Himself to Us

John 6:44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.

Matt 11:25 “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

2. Jesus is and has the full authority of God.

Matt 11:27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, And no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Heb. 1:3b The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

3. Only the Father fully understands Jesus.

Matt 11:27b … No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

4. Only Jesus fully understands the Father.

Matt 11:27b … No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

5. Jesus alone Reveals the Father to Us

Matt. 1:23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” — which means, “God with us.”

Phil 2:6a Who, being in very nature God … 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Matt. 11:28-30   “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today.

God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” -Heb. 4:6-7

Heb. 4:8-11 Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.

Luke 4:16-21  He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: (He reads from Is 61:1)

Luke 4:18-21 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

We Can’t Really Understand Christmas without understanding that Christmas was a rescue mission

Luke 2:1-3 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to his own town to register.

Matt. 23:25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

John 3:16   “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Isaiah’s Prophesy Matt 4:16 "the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

John 11:33-34   When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

“Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

Jesus wept.

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Five Meanings of Brokenness in the Bible

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Is. 61:3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.

Rom. 8:28  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Heb. 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin.

Luke 9:58  Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Is 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Advent: coming or waiting for someone coming.

Shepherds: The right place, right time, unprepared, but willing

Wisemen: Wrong blood. Wrong place. But fully committed

Gold - a kingly gift

Frankincense - incense for worship

Myrrh - used in embalming the dead

In his presence, we come alive. Where do you meet with God?

Hebrew: QAV - rope

QAVAH - lit. tension. Fig. Wait or Hope.

Acts 2:42 they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to breaking bread, & prayer.

Let’s grow in our hope this Christmas - is your bag packed?