So far in 2019 we have been talking a lot about our calling to make more and better disciples here at State Road church. I say “more” because part of being obedient to the Great Commission calling will involve winning new converts out of the world, and I say “better” because once a person has been converted to Christianity our obligation to that person has only just begun. They will need a church family to help them grow into a fully committed follower of Jesus. We all continuously need that! Most of us have heard the expression “by hook and crook,” which means, of course, getting a thing done by any means necessary. Well it just so happens that the necessary means by which we make more and better disciples are also the hook (fishers of men) and the crook (shepherding fellow believers.) We have been talking a lot about loving God, loving others and love in action, and it’s by hook and crook that we love others.
For example in Acts 14:21 it says, “They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples.” In that verse disciple making means winning souls, and of course you can’t grow as a disciple without first becoming one. However, discipleship does not merely consist of winning souls in the Bible. In a great number of other passages discipleship is described as helping other Christians grow in Christ. (1 Peter 4:10, and 2 Timothy 2:2).
In this message we will be taking up a portion of scripture, 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, which I hope will help us think deeply about how following Jesus’ example helps us to love others whether they be the lost outside the church or our brothers and sisters within the church.