healthy disciples - Cedar Hills

Make Disciples

Discipleship is the main thing. Jesus talked about it this way: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

We are the kind of people who follow Jesus and aspire to obey him in all things. And so we make disciples.

Though we aspire to this it can be difficult to measure fruit. What does discipleship look like? How do we know if we are doing this successfully? Is discipleship really the main thing? How can we do better? These are the kinds of questions that guide us (and motivate us) as leaders.

At a recent meeting we shared dozens of stories with the same basic theme. That theme was individuals who followed Jesus and their lives were transformed. Individuals growing in kindness, growing as people who pray, growing a bolder witness, growing to be better leaders, growing in love, growing to be better followers of Jesus. These are all stories of discipleship. Following Jesus.

Because discipleship is the main thing, we are the kind of people who grow. So, how are you growing?

In John 15:5 Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Discipleship starts (and ends) with abiding. When we abide with Jesus, we become like Jesus. It’s the main thing.

Kent Landhuis
Pastor of Teaching & Leadership

Did you enjoy this article? Did you laugh, cry or learn something new? Let Kent know.

The War Against Weeds

Healthy things grow. That’s a basic truth and, usually, good news. But sometimes the healthiest thing in the garden appears to be the weeds. That’s not good. It means war.

The enemy of our souls, the great deceiver, wants to grow weeds in us and he wants us to settle for weeds so that we become satisfied with weedy souls in a weedy world.

We are in a war. At stake are the hearts and minds of a generation. Generations. In this battle our greatest weapon is truth. Remember this truth: we are the kind of people who will not settle for weeds. We want fruit. Much fruit.

Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:1-2).

The healthy disciple is the one who bears much fruit. Healthy disciples are rooted in Jesus. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. Our identity is rooted in Jesus. Healthy disciples are also relational. Disciples grow with other branches on a vine. We build bridges to others – we do not erect barriers. We speak the truth in love.

Rooted and relational disciples become servant-hearted, humble, sacrificial, patient, kind, generous followers of Jesus who bear fruit. Hatred, prejudice, divisiveness, pride, envy, greed – these are weeds. Healthy disciples bear fruit not weeds.

We are called to make disciples. This is a high calling. Healthy disciples will win the war against the evil one. This is our calling. It requires some pruning. And some weeding. We will not settle for less.

May God help us,

Kent Landhuis
Pastor of Teaching & Leadership

Did you enjoy this article? Did you laugh, cry or learn something new? Let Kent know.

Love. Belong. Serve.