Kingdom Culture - Fight Clubs

Kingdom Culture has the potential to provide a firm foundation and shape our church for the next 10 years. Discipleship is so unbelievably important. The changing of lives in the context of not only Sunday Gatherings but in our day-to-day is what we are after and believe we can establish in our community! This is the concluding sermon for the series.

Today, we have a bit of a practical message. Now I believe that every message is practical if you intentionally apply it to your life, but this one is ultra-practical. And really it’s all going to culminate in us launching a new discipleship endeavor here at Legacy City that I believe will help create a firm foundation for us to stand on. Ok, so obviously Christ is the firm foundation, so then we’re laying the subflooring today, we’re adding some tile work, some hardwoods, ok?

So one thing I have discovered over the years is that we as a people, and specifically as Christians, are honestly terrible at opening ourselves up for honest and real accountability and discipleship. Here it is church, we tend to be isolated and insulated. We don’t open ourselves up for three reasons: We don’t want to be a burden on anyone, We don’t think it will help, and We don’t really know if we can trust people. There it is. Even our best friends have a husband or a wife or a roommate that they might share my secrets with. Maybe I trust my spouse, but I know what kinda baggage they’re bringing to the table and I just don’t want to be a burden. Maybe I trust our church leadership, but is my confiding in them really going to help anything? These are some legitimate questions and hurdles that we have to get over if we’re going to have lasting and meaningful relationships that move us closer into the fold of Christ.

But can I tell you this morning church, there's something more for you. I know there is more for the men and women of our house. So we’re raising the bar a little bit, and it's going to be a beautiful thing over the life of Legacy City Church. And so effective today, we are launching a new discipleship-oriented “program” for lack of better words, called Fight Clubs.

So what is a Fight Club? Practically speaking, it is a group of 3-4 men or women who meet regularly to help one another fight for faith in the gospel. It’s like an accountability group but it’s so much more—it’s not a Bible Study (although you will most likely talk about the Scripture often), but it is a group of people who share relatively the same season of life and meet consistently to help each other win the fight. The goal of Fight Clubs is simply to repent from sin, rejoice in Christ, and reproduce disciples.

There are four key principles/arenas that drive our desire to see these groups form and mature in our church community:

1. We want to Fight for our Walk with God - Biblical Community includes being with and around those who desire to see you mature in your faith (Acts 2:42-47)

2. We want to Fight for our Hearts and our Character - To have a Biblical heart and a Biblical character is not something that comes naturally to us, especially in our culture; we need to have checks and balances in our lives (2 Sam. 11)

3. We want to Fight for our Families - A family unit is a special thing whether already established or desiring to establish, taking into account the other points mentioned here contribute towards the health and well-being of your family unit.

4. We want to Fight for our Relationships - We want to stand beside our brothers and sisters and say I'm gonna help you fight in these arenas. I'm gonna help you become the man or woman you are called to be.

Now here’s the thing, ultimately our success in this comes down to two things it comes down to loving commitment from all parties involved, transparency in our lives, and the power of the Holy Spirit. I am not being a sensationalist when I say that I truly believe that these groups can and will change the fabric of our church. The difference that a deep Godly community will make will be tangibly felt across this church and community.

Check out how you can get involved HERE!

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SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

• Kingdom Culture - Fight Clubs: We believe that Fight Clubs will be a tremendous way for us to gather together as small, intimate groups for the sake of long-term discipleship in one another’s lives.

• The Current Climate: Honestly, it has been really difficult to foster community lately - this initiative will hopefully provide space for intimate connection surrounding one’s spiritual health and maturity.

• The Purpose: Fight Clubs are intended to be long-term, small groups who desire to see one another grow and mature in their faith; we desire intimate community with others because this is how we are intended to live.

• Get Involved: We are excited to reinforce the need for groups like these in our lives - many of you may already have a group of people like this in your life, however, not everyone does; if you’re seeking community like you’ve seen described follow the link above and dive-in!

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If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out our archived Live-streams here!

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we continue to meet at the Premiere Cinema 10 at 10 am! You can also join us on our Live-stream here or on our Facebook page - at the same time!

We hope that you and your family are well—know that You Are Loved!

Kingdom Culture - Disciple > Believer

Kingdom Culture has the potential to provide a firm foundation and shape our church for the next 10 years. Discipleship is so unbelievably important. We believe there is something to be said about the unique difference between being a ‘Believer’ and being a ‘Disciple’. Think about it, what immediately comes to mind when you think of a ‘Christian’?

If you stop people at Walmart or Publix and ask them, “Are you a Christian?” Some people would say, “Yes.” Others would say, “What do you mean?” Some would tell you, “Yes, but …” or “No, but …” or “Yes, but I’m not like …” And some would flat out say, “No, I’m definitely not a Christian.”

Today, we more often describe ourselves and others as Christians rather than disciples. By changing the word that we use to describe ourselves, we have lost the clarity the word “disciple” conveyed about what a follower of Jesus actually is. Our use of “Christian” today obscures the fact that a lot of people who call themselves Christians are not actually disciples.

Here are four examples to consider when wrestling with this distinction:

1. A believer believes Jesus is their Savior but lives to please themselves while a disciple believes in Jesus as their Lord and says I am here to please God.

2. A believer exalts their opinions, their feelings, and their thoughts above the Word of God but a disciple exalts the word of God above their opinions, their feelings, and their thoughts.

3. A believer thinks the church is a place where they go to hear God's Word and hear a good message, a disciple thinks of the church as a place where they learn to do what God's Word says.

4. A believer often serves God based on convenience, but a disciple serves God based on deep conviction.

Do you see this difference we’re trying to draw out here? We want to see this church progressing individually and collectively in the faith, becoming more spiritually mature as a true disciple of Jesus. As I said, this message isn’t meant to shame anyone, it’s meant to challenge us.

Pastor Robbie spoke out of several different passages, specifically in the Gospels, where we see so much of Jesus’ ministry and the call to true obedience that we see. There are three main points that we drew out of these passages to really make this distinction clear.

1. A true disciple lives with radical abandonment for His glory. (Matt. 4:22; Luke 14:33)

2. A true disciple lives with joyful dependence on His Grace. (John 15:16a; Eph. 1:3-6)

3. A true disciple lives with faithful Adherence to Jesus and an urgent Obedience to His Mission. (Matt. 4:19, 28:19-20)

We believe that it's impossible to believe this gospel and to know this Christ and be silent. A privatized faith and a resurrected Christ is practically impossible. And yes, the cost of discipleship is great. To live with radical abandonment for His glory, faithful adherence to His person, urgent obedience… is costly. This requires sacrifice and uncomfortable change. But I submit to you this morning that the cost of non-discipleship is far, far, far greater.

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SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

• Kingdom Culture - Disciple > Believer: The differences between a Disciple of Jesus and a Believer in Jesus are vastly different - we believe we are called to more than mere belief but to dive into devotion and obedience!

• The Source: The Disciple sees Jesus as the source not only for their salvation but for their way of life.

• The Path: The Disciple engages with their faith as a journey to become more and more like Jesus.

• The Result: By seeking to view Jesus as more than just the source of our salvation and the example by which we are to live, we come into what biblical salvation looks like - increasing in sanctification.

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If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out our archived Live-streams here!

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we continue to meet at the Premiere Cinema 10 at 10 am! You can also join us on our Live-stream here or on our Facebook page - at the same time!

We hope that you and your family are well—know that You Are Loved!

Kingdom Culture - The Great Commission

Kingdom Culture has the potential to provide a firm foundation and shape our church for the next 10 years. Discipleship is so unbelievably important. The changing of lives in the context of not only Sunday Gatherings but in our day-to-day is what we are after and believe we can establish in our community!

We are about to undergo a bit of a culture shift. We know that if you are not intentional about creating a culture, one will develop anyways. And that’s what has happened over the last few years. A culture has developed. It’s a great culture in some ways, but if I’m really honest, as your pastor, there are some glaring holes.

So for three years, we’ve been pushing forward the mission of Legacy City as a church; that is, to be here for the least, the last, and the lost. A church that seeks to meet felt needs in our community, not just perceived ones. A church that provides a place of hope and refuge for those who have felt maybe burned by church or Christians. We have always sought, from before our very first gathering even, to be a church that takes the gospel into the community and seeks to make the name of Jesus famous above all else. And listen, we are not changing that mission, but we are making a vital addition to it. We are being intentional about creating more space for biblical discipleship.

First and foremost, we need to really define what we mean by conscious and active discipleship. We see in the Great Commission passage, “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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19-20)

There are four main things we can get from this verse surrounding Discipleship:

1. Helping People - We have to initiate and be intentional because we are to ‘go’ and ‘make’ disciples (v19).

2. An Assumption of Trust - By way of v19, the public declaration of baptism assumes trust in what Jesus has done and continues to do in our lives; We want people to trust in Jesus to such an extent that they not only give their lives to him, but are moving to actively mature spiritually.

3. What it Means to ‘Follow’ - Disciple-making is about obedience and sanctification i.e. by doing what Jesus has called us to, we are guided towards being more like Him. We share love, grace, and mercy - we trust the Holy Spirit to guide people into this posture! (v20)

4. Who Jesus Is - He is the focus of Discipleship; we are called to point others to becoming devoted followers of him as well. His work has brought us into a right relationship with God, He is the main concern in our minds and in our practice.
   

We are to be and make disciples through the power of and in the name of Jesus. This is our legacy, church. This is the foundation that we must build. Ask yourself if you have been or are being discipled, and if not, we need to take steps to fix that. Are you pouring into anyone else, sharing the love and hope of Christ as revealed to you in your life with them? If not, hopefully over the course of this series, we can begin to fix that!

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SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

• Kingdom Culture - The Great Commission: An important mandate given to Disciples of Jesus is to go out and make more Disciples!

• The Nature of Discipleship: A disciple is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus, and committed to the mission of Jesus.

• The Source of Discipleship: Being a disciple of Christ does not begin with something we do. It begins with something Christ did.

• The Mission of Discipleship: Being a Christian involves denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following him. This process necessarily includes bringing others into this fold.

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If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out our archived Live-streams here!

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we continue to meet at the Premiere Cinema 10 at 10 am! You can also join us on our Live-stream here or on our Facebook page - at the same time!

We hope that you and your family are well—know that You Are Loved!