Mission To serve the people of the Comox Valley, introducing them to Jesus Christ, welcoming them into His family, equipping them to follow Christ's example, and loving Him with all that we are.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever.
Amen.
So far we have looked at Service, Evangelism and Fellowship. Today we look at what is means to be a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ. At COOL we want to be an authentic community which encourages each other to grow in maturity as followers of Jesus Christ, to discover the gifts he has given us and to use those gifts for him.
Jewish rabbis of the day used to teach their students or disciples in small groups. A person who wanted to learn from a rabbi would ask to become his disciple. If accepted, he would become part of a small group of followers who would spend all of their time with the rabbi, eating, travelling, studying, discussing the Jewish law etc. They would even share accommodation and spend all their waking moments together. They attempted even to walk and talk like their teacher. Jesus’ small band of closest followers was similar, except that he chose them.
A disciple is a follower or student, one who patterns his life on his teacher. The term comes from the same root as “discipline”. Just as an athlete or musician develops skills by practice and exercises, so to develop as a disciple of Christ involves practicing spiritual disciplines, such as regular prayer, scripture reading, participating in worship and times of solitude, silence, meditation on scripture etc. Peter tells us that Christ left us an example to follow in his steps. God’s intention is for us to become like Christ. And that we are to be partakers of the divine nature.
Jesus’ disciples noted that he was a person of prayer and so they asked him to teach them to pray as John the Baptizer had taught his disciples. He gave them what we know as “the Lord’s prayer “ as a template for our prayers.
The topic of Christian discipleship is an enormous one. While preparing for today I thought that we could use the Lord’s Prayer as a framework, especially as we were looking at this prayer during our adult and youth Bible studies this week.
Our Father in Heaven: Jesus introduced them to a relationship with God as Father. This expression is only used of God a few times in the Old Testament. Jesus’ relationship with God as “Abba” or “Daddy”, as we would say, was entirely novel. What Jesus enjoyed by his very nature as the eternal Son of God, we can enjoy by adoption and grace. He said to say ”Our Father”, indicating that, in Christ, we collectively are God’s children.
John 1: 12 tells us But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
Romans 8: 15 puts it this way: So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.[h] Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”[i] 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.
A disciple of Jesus is one who knows God as heavenly Father.
May your name be honoured: In Hebrew thought a person’s name represented who they were. To honour God’s name is to show him reverence and respect. It means not taking his name in vain or speaking disrespectfully of him. It means not bringing his name into disrepute, not being ashamed of him. Similarly we honour the name of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit.
A disciple of Jesus honours him.
Your Kingdom come:
Jesus constantly taught about the Kingdom of God. He indicated that in his own person the kingdom of God had arrived. He also said that the Kingdom was within or among them and that they could enter that kingdom by believing in him and being baptized. He further indicated that they were not to worry about material things. Matt 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
How many of you are familiar with the legend of Robin Hood and his merry men? Of maid Marion, Little John, Will Scarlet etc? Richard, the rightful king of England, was away on the Crusades and had been abducted on his way back through Europe. His brother, Prince John had usurped control of the Kingdom. Robin and his band of men in green were loyal to Richard the Lionheart. They were outlawed and hunted down but on Richard’s return they helped him regain the throne. The Christian community is like that merry band, longing for the return of King Jesus, facing danger for him and remaining loyal regardless of the apparent futility of it.
A disciple of Jesus is a citizen of God’s kingdom, an ambassador for the King, a member of the church which is an outpost or colony of the kingdom.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven:
A disciple of Jesus surrenders his will to God, says “not my will but yours be done.”
Give us this day our daily bread
This is the only part of the Lord’s prayer which asks for something material. Bread is the staple food. Daily bread means essential nourishment enough for the day. While the Hebrews were in the wilderness during the Exodus God gave them manna from heaven enough for the day. Except on the day before the Sabbath they were only to collect enough for the day. Jesus taught his disciples total reliance on God. He also called himself the bread of heaven. He invites us to receive this bread at his table.
A disciple of Jesus relies on God for his needs and receives Jesus in the bread and wine of communion regularly.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us:
As creatures, we owe our creator a debt of obedience. Our rebellion incurs a debt, as it were, of what we owe him. Christ paid that debt by his perfect obedience as perfect man on our behalf. Through Jesus we have been offered forgiveness for our sin and a restored relationship with the Father.
A disciple of Jesus is one who knows he has been forgiven and who has learned the difficult lesson of forgiving others.
Lead us not into temptation (or save us from the time of trial)
God neither can be tempted himself nor tempts us. However, temptation is part of life. The same word is used for trial or testing and for temptation as temptation to do what is wrong is a test of our submission to God. He has promised us that we shall not be tempted beyond what we can bear.
We also have an advocate in heaven, Jesus, who was tempted in every way that we are so he is able to sympathise with our weaknesses and intercede for us before the throne of God. Christ gave us his example of resisting temptation.
A disciple of Jesus is one who faces trials in His strength, who avoids unnecessary temptation and who turns to God for forgiveness when he falls.
Deliver us from evil (or the evil one)
Christ has conquered death and evil by his crucifixion and resurrection. We have his promise that the gates of hell will not prevail against us.
A disciple of Jesus resists evil and has God’s promise that we shall overcome evil eventually.
We end the prayer as we begin, by worshipping God: For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
This brings us to the topic of worship which we shall be discussing next time when we look at “loving Him with all that we are.”
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