De-isolating your discipleship (Week 4)

Preacher: Stephen Scott

Worship:
During worship this week, listen to the song Trust in God (Elevation Worship). We can trust God, our Saviour. He will never fail us.

Check-in:
A central theme in the sermon was about the importance of connecting with other Christians. What else stood out to you in this sermon?

Synopsis of message:
On Sunday, we learnt that our discipleship journey is meant to be walked with other people of faith. It was not designed to be done in isolation. We saw in Mark 2:1-5 how a paralyzed man would not have encountered Jesus and experienced His power if it was not for the four men who dug a hole through a roof and lowered him through the hole to get to Jesus. Because of their faith the man was healed. The believers who were part of the early church devoted themselves to fellowship (community), to the breaking of bread (sharing meals) and to prayer (Act 2:42). As people came to know Jesus, they were added to the community of believers. In the creation story (Genesis 1 and 2) we saw how God marvelled at His own creation and said that “It was good”. The one thing that God did not consider to be good was for man to be alone. (Genesis 2:18).

Doing life alone was never God’s plan for us. We are meant to do it together through relationships with one another. Many people however find themselves alone or lonely. Although it can be challenging, we must work on building relationships with other people and de-isolate our discipleship.

Pastor Stephen shared 3 practical steps that we need to take to de-isolate our discipleship:

1. Initiate Godly relationships. (Proverbs 27:17; Proverbs 13:20; Ecclesiastes 4:9). It takes courage to be vulnerable with people. We are called to share our weaknesses and burdens. (Galatians 6:2) “If you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together”. (African proverb).
   Pastor Stephen encouraged us to join a life group or to sign up to join a serve team.
2. Restore broken relationships. (John 13:34-35). The mark of a true disciple is found in how they love other people. When we take offence, it becomes our responsibility. Few things separate and isolate like an offence. (Proverbs 18:19). We are encouraged to forgive others and to live at peace with everyone. Paul gives us good advice on how to forgive and live unified. (Ephesians 4:1-3; Romans 12:18).
3. Remove harmful relationships. Consider if the people you spend a lot of time with are leading you to Christ or taking you away from Christ. Where relationships are harmful to our discipleship journey, it may be necessary to put boundaries in place and remove the harmful relationships.

Discussion Questions:

1. While we may not have to break open a roof to take a friend to Jesus (imagine doing that as a LG social activity!), the core of this story is the importance of working together. Can you recall a time where LG support made the biggest difference in hard times?
2. It was certainly difficult to hear that if we’ve taken an offence, it becomes our responsibility. This is a very personal point about which to share. Share only about yourself and avoid sharing inappropriately about another person. Can you remember a time where you have forgiven an offence and the difference it made to your life and the relationship?
3. We were encouraged to distance ourselves from unhealthy relationships. What kind of boundaries can be set to avoid being too engaged and entangled in a relationship with someone who is not good for your spiritual life?

Check-out:
The challenge from this sermon would need us to prayerfully consider the points raised. Be encouraged to revisit what has been covered this week in your quiet time.

Additional Resources:

• Seek First (YouVersion)