Sermon Notes: Disciple 2026
KDSC: Disciple - 1/11/2025 - Jim Lanier
”Christians are the worst representatives for what we believe more than anybody else on the planet.” If you google “Jeff Foxworthy ministry” you may find a 2022 article from something called “Baptist News Global” which states, “Every Tuesday morning, you’ll find Jeff Foxworthy at the Atlanta Rescue Mission. The internationally known comedian has served as a small group leader there for 12 years. This happened because he felt called by God to be on mission there. “I think the only thing we can do for God is to say ‘yes’. When he whispers an invitation to us, that’s all we can do,” Foxworthy said. “Whatever he wants to get done, he’s going to get done anyway. Wow! He’s inviting you along because he knows it’s going to be good for you.” His face lights up as he explains his role with the men with whom he shares Chick-fil-A biscuits once a week.
Now we all know Foxworthy as the “You might be a redneck if…” comedian. You know like, you might be a redneck if you always preach in a camo ball cap. I’m Jim Lanier, an Elder here at TRC, the elder Elder and this morning, I want to attempt to answer the question, “you might be a Disciple if…?”
We do a lot of refocusing here at TRC. Diane and I were thrilled when we first came to Three Rivers and discovered that the Lord’s Supper was celebrated every Sunday. What many churches have almost pushed aside to once a month or once a quarter or on Sunday evening when the there’s only a short sermon or really just an entertaining devotion and the folks won’t be perturbed because they have already been to the Picadilly buffet or finished the round of golf; what they have pushed aside, we celebrate first thing every Sunday morning to refocus on the ancient execution and that glorious gettin’ up morning that defines us as a peculiar, particular people. We remember and we focus.
So here we are doing it again, refocusing on the DNA that helps define us as that peculiar, particular people. A friend I may mention later calls it “being messed with.”
To get us started, I want to pray as Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus: For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Amen
Kingdom, Disciple, Society, Church. What we call our DNA has a particular order. Beginning with Kingdom. “Kingdom” is a concept of a societal or cultural framework requiring two entities, a King, or Sovereign, and subjects, those who recognize the King’s sovereignty and authority. Sounds simple. Reading through the early parts of the Old Testament you will find that every little town had it’s King and usually its own patron deity.
As example, Joshua 10:16, “Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.”
Kings can be good, benevolent and caring or they can be selfish, demanding and destructive, but there is only be one perfect King. Samuel was the last Judge over Israel. He also served as prophet and priest, and 1 Samuel 8 relates that, “When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel… 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” Samuel relates the consequences of choosing foolishly and tells them, “And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
We live in a democratic republic, having rejected the rule of England’s king 250 years ago. Yet just like in Genesis 3 our cultural goal seems to be self-determination. As the poet said, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” We understand the physical, we see it, touch it, test it, but the reality of the spiritual realm, the Kingdom of God requires faith, the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:!
He didn’t look like a King. Indeed, the prophet was right, “despised, rejected, esteemed not,” but after his baptism, and after forty days rejecting the schemes of the prince of the power of the air, he came into Galilee, and proclaiming the good news of God, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the Good news.” Mark 1:!5.
But as I said there are two requirements for a functioning kingdom, so, “16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
There you have it, the Kingdom of God manifested. An all-powerful, all- knowing, perfectly righteous King Jesus, with an almost incomprehensible plan to correct and heal all the corruption of Genesis 3. And the first thing he does, although he could do it all himself, the first thing he does is recruit a group of smelly, uneducated, highly unqualified Galilean fishermen to be his loyal subjects and implement the plan. We call them disciples.
Having heard the invitation of the Jesus, they remarkably drop everything they are doing and follow him. I have spent a good bit of time on the Kingdom, and you may be thinking, “I thought that was last week, why are we still there?”
I want you to clearly understand that there is no discipleship separated from the King. I love the Bible, and even If I didn’t believe it as the infallible word of God, I would read it for the great literary story. A great conflict which must be resolved. A great protagonist and a heinous antagonist; heroes and villains; war and well, sex; plots and subplots; twists and turns; everything a reader wants. And here, right in the beginning of this part of the epic, I say to myself, “How in the world is this going to work out.”
Well, I have read the whole story and I know that we find ourselves here today as part of a very long, 2,000 year long, line of those that have heard and obeyed and agreed to be sent on the King’s mission. We believe his command from Matthew 28:16-20: 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
For 2000 years, disciples have heard and obeyed this call. That is precisely why you are here this morning. It’s because as Paul waited execution in Rome’s Mamertine dungeon, he wrote this instruction to Timothy, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
KDSC. If we begin with the Kingdom we arrive at the church; but if we begin with the church, we may get little mini kingdoms all over town. And constituents that are very poor representatives of what we claim to believe. We often say, it all begins with the reality of Kingdom and the Kingdom makes Disciples and the Disciples engage in domains of Society, and the Church emerges. But what are we talking about when we say the Kingdom makes Disciples? What does that process look like?
The church has developed lots of strategies, tracts, revivals, youth programs and retreats of every kind. I don’t want to diminish any of these but if they are effective, I feel like they will have similar features, and I find those described quite well in Acts chapter 8 with Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
A little background… Acts 6 tells us the 12 Disciples were prevented from devotion to prayer and ministry of the word due to the demands for member care; serving tables rather than preaching the word. That’s why your elders don’t micromanage a bunch of programs. (In the Book, but I digress.) So they called a church meeting and decided to select “seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom” for this duty.
Philip is one of these early deacons. But he becomes known as Philip the evangelist. One of the seven, Stephen is martyred as Saul looked on approvingly and the church is scattered because of the persecution. One of the scattered was Philip who went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ and the crowds paid attention. Samaria? That’s gentile territory.
Why there?” Because Jesus, in his very last words to the gathered apostles, moments before he ascended to the Father said, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you , and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
Philip preached the good news about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ and they were baptized. The Ethiopian Eunuch, an unlikely candidate, forbidden by religious law from participating in Jewish worship… Surely there must be a more likely target. Do you ever feel that way?
We pick up the story in Acts 8:25 in the English Standard Version. I will read much of this but will ask you to rise and read with me when we reach verse 34.
25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”
Please rise as we read together 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea." The word of God, written for us the people of God, thanks be to God
Observations: “An angel of the Lord…” identified in verse 29 as the Spirit. A disciple’s ears are tuned to the whisper of the Holy Spirit however it comes. “Rise and go… to a desert place. And he rose and went.” Have you ever just felt like you needed to do something that didn’t really make much sense and when you got there you were right in the midst of the Kingdom and a Kingdom opportunity? If so, you might be a Disciple.
A disciple is always open to an opportunity no matter how illogical it may seem. And lo and behold what should Philip see riding in what must have been a royal chariot, but a eunuch who happened to be the treasurer for the Queen and the country of Ethiopia. He was heading home from worshipping in Jerusalem. Perhaps an interest in the Hebrew faith brought back by the queen of Sheba had still lingered through the centuries. Maybe the Holy Spirit told him to rise and go too. It’s called prevenient grace.
Before we are his, he is calling. At probably great expense he had acquired a book of the ancient scriptures and was trying to make sense of a passage from Isaiah when the Holy Spirit again nudged Philip and said go check it out. “Do you understand what you are reading?” “How can I unless someone guides me?”
A 14-word conversation at the very heart of discipling the nations, being and producing radical followers of Jesus Christ. Disciples. Philip knew the Isaiah 53 passage, one of Isaiah’s four suffering servant songs, and he knew that the passage wasn’t about the prophet or the nation of Israel, but the one who would come 700 years later and be pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.
Perhaps Philip, like Timothy, from childhood had been acquainted with these sacred writings which were able to make him wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Philip, the Evangelist, had equipped himself for this moment by studying scripture. And for reason and by mechanism we know not, the eunuch has been exposed to and has invested in the word of God and although it is baffling to him, he recognizes that herein is truth and life.
We have all heard the saying, “Preach the good news, use words if you have to.” An obviously transformed life is a powerful testimony, but at some or many points a disciple must open his mouth and preach Jesus. Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him.
A disciple must arm himself with the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Paul also told Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” As they were going along the road, right out here in the desert, they came upon some water, and the eunuch said, “See here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”
And so, they both went down into the water and Philip baptized the eunuch. Philip heard and he obeyed. He went, made a disciple, baptized him and taught him. A new believer, a new follower, a new disciple wants to be baptized, proclaiming he is a new creation taking on the agenda of the King, the ministry of Jesus Christ to make more disciples and redeem the earth. Stay tuned for engagement with “Society” next week.
There was no local church context available for this baptism, but we believe that baptism should be the responsibility of and in the context of the local church. The new believer publicly proclaims her faith, and the church publicly accepts the responsibility to support, equip and hold the new believer accountable.
The process has continued and will continue until Jesus come back. What he began he will complete when he comes back. But until he does, we disciples have work to do. The eunuch returns to Ethiopia, and is traditionally considered the foundational figure in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Philip is transported by the Spirit to Azotus on the coast and he preaches the gospel north to Caesarea where Paul lodges with him and his four prophesying daughters as related in Acts 21.
So, what are some applications for us, the disciples here at Three Rivers Church.
If you have not already, believe the good news of the Kingdom, repent and be baptized. Our vision is: For the Glory of God, we will disciple the nations by being and producing radical followers for Jesus Christ. We encourage the “being” part, the formation part, by stressing a few deliberate things.
Our focus is UP, IN, and OUT. We stress this platform of three pillars in our corporate prayer each week and in all our activities. UP, our relationship with God, IN, our relationship with each other in covenant community, and OUT, engagement in the world, Society. If any one of the three pillars is neglected, the platform becomes unsteady and in risk of collapse. Practicing these three is crucial for the Radical Life of a Disciple. We urge covenant members to be part of one of our Radical Life Groups. Based on Acts 2:42-47, growth in discipleship occurs in these fellowships in ways impossible in the worship setting.
Care and support are experienced there. Spiritual gifts vital for the healthy functioning of the body are expressed, observed and encouraged in the RLG.
Our Radical Kids program is designed to produce disciples from an early age. A graduate of the program will have been exposed to the whole Bible three times. When parents and others serve in Radical Kids, you are carrying out Paul’s instruction to Timothy and you are being trained to engage the world.
Our Student Ministry solidifies what our young folks have learned so that when they launch, they will not be deceived by the schemes of the evil one. They will have a foundation of the Truth and be prepared to destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. That’s what a disciple does.
We are here in this building because we want to have the resources to go to the nations, even the desert places. And our disciples have done that from the very first day. The Holy Spirit goes before us and we follow in power. We open our mouths and preach Jesus.
That’s what a Disciple does. And we lean on each other. As iron sharpens iron we sharpen each other. We do not hide but are found studying, praying, growing and transforming in the public square.
A disciple is deliberate. The first time I read through the Bible, it was to check off a box. I continue to read through it every year because I cannot get enough. And it’s the same for a growing number of you.
A disciple attends church deliberately and a disciple gives deliberately. And it brings us great joy to serve the King in that way. And make no mistake, a life of discipleship can be costly.
In his book “The Cost of Discipleship,” Bonhoeffer states, “The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
That Ethiopian eunuch was a man of great worldly significance. But there was a hunger for something greater, some sort of validation, significance the world cannot give. The eunuch was blemished and though he had traveled to Jerusalem to worship, he was forbidden from parts of the Temple. He did not qualify.
But as he opened Isaiah’s scroll, perhaps he stumbled on this passage from chapter 56: “For thus says the Lord; To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
There is nothing more significant than humbly serving the perfect King, nothing more significant than being a disciple of Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Kingdom Disciple Society Church.
One more thing, a disciple worships…