Move: Growing Toward a Fully Formed Life “Learning to Lead"

Move: Growing Toward a Fully Formed Life
“Learning to Lead" 
John 1:43-51 (CSB)

 

- Key Truth: “Movement is the catalyst for growth. Therefore, there can be no spiritual growth without spiritual movement.”

- Spiritual Movement: “The journey to fill the gap between where we are and where God wants us to be.”

- Discipleship Pipeline: A pipeline focuses on the church as a whole.

- Discipleship Pathway: A pathway focuses on an individual or a ministry within the church.

Lead Overview:

- Discipleship Principle: Discipleship doesn’t end with trans-formation - it multiplies. Transformed people step into the joy of leading others to Jesus.

- Discipleship Focus: Missional Multiplication

- Discipleship Goal: Our goal is for disciples to grow from being spiritually fed to feeding others - continuing their own transformation as they help others trust Jesus, follow Him, be transformed, and become disciple-makers themselves.

Main Question: How do we multiply disciples by leading them to trust, follow, and be transformed by Jesus?

1.        Jesus invites us. (John 1:43)

2.    Jesus calls us to invite others. (John 1:44-46)

3.    Jesus changes people’s lives. (John 1:47-51)

After the Message: 
Read John 1:43-51. How has Jesus changed your life? Who have you told about it? How are you helping them to trust, follow, and be transformed by Jesus? Where do you need to start? 

Sanctuary

Friday, August 29, 2025
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. Psalms 46:4-5

      

Sanctuary

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Do you ever just want to bury your head under the covers and ignore everything that is going on in your life? Problems come, sometimes like bullets fast and hard. Often, we don’t have time to even process one thing before something else comes piling down on top. Trying to solve our problems when we don’t have any resources or hope will only add to our feelings of anxiety and sadness. It makes us feel more out of control, and more hopeless, which sends us spiraling further down into irrational thoughts, feelings, and fear. It is more than we can deal with, so we just don’t, which causes more problems. Whether it is just too painful to deal with, or you are fearful, our Heavenly Father offers us a beautiful, peaceful sanctuary in His very presence that gives us so much more peace than hiding under the covers.

The devil wants to take our focus off God and create unrest in our souls. If he can create unrest in our souls, then he knows that we likely will start looking around for something to make us feel better quickly. The things that we turn to can become idols and/or addictions in our lives. Living in fear or circumstances that are too difficult for us to deal with can also cause us to turn to other things besides God to numb that pain or fear. What happens then? They can turn into bigger problems which then heap more fear and sorrow onto what we are already not dealing with.

I have found that sitting in the quiet with God early in the morning has done wonders for my heart. I may not even pray, because many times I don’t even know what to say, but God know my heart, and He knows yours too. When our hearts are heavy and we have no words, silent, still time helps to get our focus back on God, and HIS TRUTH where it belongs. God’s truth is the only place where we can find freedom from everything – pain, worry, anxiety, fear. If we try to find freedom on our own, we will never find it. The world doesn’t have it, regardless of how hard Satan tries to persuade us it does. 

The Peaceful, Flowing Presence of God  
God’s presence in our lives is the only thing that can provide us with the peace we so desperately need. His presence flows continuously and never runs out. He will not abandon us or leave us, even when we feel He is not there. That is where we trust what we know and not what we feel. We know God’s word is true and He says He will never leave us and that His presence will always be with us. 

No one understands our heart like our Heavenly Father. No one understands the pain, anxiousness, sorrow, worry, or fear that we experience like He does. There is no better place for us to go for comfort than to Him. In His presence there is a sanctuary where we can sit quietly, talk to Him and tell Him everything that makes our heart hurt, and leave it with Him. He is so capable, and He has everything we need. 

The dwelling place of the Most High is within us. He is with us always and in him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Take a seat by the river. Take refuge in the shadow of His wings. Feast on His abundance, and rest in His truth – that He will trade your sadness, problems, anger, fear, etc… and give you the peace you need.

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Psalm 36:7-9

In Search of the Truth

 Thursday, August 28, 2025

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  Colossians 1:9-10

In Search of the Truth

Where can we find truth? Today especially, we don’t know who to believe. As Christians, we can know that God is truth and in Him, we can always find truth. Knowing God and who He is, is the place to start when we are in search of His truth.

Until we truly understand and know God, can we trust what He says about Himself, or the future - eternity, or about us? Learning who God is and reading in His word about how He has fulfilled every word He says about Himself and who He is and His promises, will be the foundation on which every other truth is built. 

When we study the truths of God, over and over, they will become engrained in our thinking, and in the choices we make, as well as reactions to the things that happen in our lives. When we are filled with the knowledge of his will and spiritual wisdom and understanding, then we will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord - a way fully pleasing to Him. When we walk in a way that is fully pleasing to Him, we will be filled with the knowledge of His will and understanding. It just keeps building on itself. 

As we gain this understanding of God and who He is, we will be deeply rooted in these truths When life gets crazy, or tragedy strikes, or we go through a tough season, we can recall these truths. Its so important to have these truths to cling to. We tend to turn to something or someone more tangible to make us feel better or fix things quickly. The quick fixes will never fix anything and often create bigger problems. And those “somethings” or “someones” that are supposed to make us feel better will not live up to our expectations. There is only one thing and one someone that is the true answer for every single thing in our lives. 

In the verses above, Paul was speaking to the Colossians. He knew that he needed to remind them that in order to stand firm and walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, they would need to trust what made them worthy in the first place! 

We see transformation and fruit in our lives when we are living in God’s truth. …bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Not only will we bear fruit because of this truth, but we will continue to grow in His truth. This is not just knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but knowledge to live by. 

 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Ephesians 4:14 

Becoming More Like Jesus

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.  Romans 12:1-2

Becoming More Like Jesus

The word "transformed" means to change your outward expression to be representative of, conformed to, and consistent with your inward nature. Paul warns against matching our lives to the fashions of this world. Chameleon-like living creates a loss of personal identity.  Conformity invites compromise of all our lives. Don't let the world decide what you are going to be like. This is normally done for acceptance by others.

Surrender of mind = transformation.

A man has the choice of living "according to the flesh" or "according to the Spirit". This takes place by the "renewing of your mind".  This renovation of our mental processes is created by the existence of the mind of Christ taking control of our lives.

Surrender, which is ongoing, leads to growth.

While conversion is instantaneous, we find that transformation is life involving. Someone said it this way, "It took God just one day to get the children of Israel out of Egypt, but it took God forty years to get Egypt out of the children of Israel."  God can change a person's heart in a moment, but it takes a lifetime to get the sin out of that individual.  The person who ceases to agree with God concerning their need of change ceases to see the individual God desires to create.

Transformation results in obedience.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

• Only a renewed mind can accept Gods will.   Someone who finds it impossible to obey God may need to be born again by the Spirit of God and given a new mind to respond to God. The old, carnal mind cannot respond to the things of God and will not obey. 

• Only a renewed mind can discipline to Gods will.  When God controls the mind, He can affect the desires as well.  This is how God can take full responsibility for our transformation.  He affects the desire, the commitment, and the power for our life change.  All He needs is a changed heart. 

The one who can honestly say that God can and will do as He promises is the one who has done as Paul has commanded.  To say that Christianity does not work when you refuse to work Christianity is unfairness. The highest goal of the Christian is to be like Jesus Christ in all areas of life. This is also Gods design for our lives. 

 Are you willing to say that God has the right to use any and all of your life for His purpose? 

"Whatever It Takes" is the price for true Christian transformation.  

Are you in the process of becoming more like Jesus Christ?

Application Leads to Transformation

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.  James 1:23-25

 Application Leads to Transformation

Knowing what the Bible says is a great resource for Christians, but if we want our lives to be changed by Jesus Christ, we have to apply God’s Word to our lives. We must live out what we know, and it takes work, sacrifice, and diligence. Not to apply what we know is to waste the valuable instruction that God has provided us with His Word, and to not be transformed in a relationship with him.  

In the verses above, James speaks of two different men, one who looks quickly at himself in the mirror and goes away and forgets what he is like. The other man looks intently, and he is changed. One looked at himself and was “gone away” without lasting results. Just a glance and off he goes.  One looks “intently” and is transformed. One man looks at “himself” and the other at the “perfect law of liberty”.

The Word of God is like a mirror as it reflects what is taking place in our hearts. It shows us areas in our inner lives that need to be cleansed.  A quick brush with truth will not produce lasting results. A fleeting vision of what God wants us to be will not produce character. Our tendency is to quickly forget what we do not like in ourselves when we come under the steady, pure light of God's truth. We want to turn our heads from reality and go back to our selfish ways.  

Some of us has heard it all our lives. We have grown up in church, going to Bible Study every Sunday, VBS, and youth. But the practical side is, are we "doing" the tasks? The truth of our lives is revealed in our acts of doing. Jesus speaks of hearing and doing as a "wise" man in Matthew 7:24 – The one hears and acts on the word of God and then builds on the rock-solid foundation.  Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.    

As long as we obey our own passions and emotions and desires, we are nothing less than a slave. It is when we surrender to the will of God that we become really free- free to be good, free to be what we ought to be, free to be transformed. His service is perfect freedom, and in doing His will is our peace.

The Word of God is not meant to be a forced code of external rules and regulations. It is our living power that enables us to find true freedom. But crucial to everything is our attitude toward God, His Word, and our spiritual appetite. If I have the right attitude toward God's Word it becomes a living power in my life. Do I love His Word? Am I eager to obey it? Am I anxious to forget what I don't like as soon as possible? Do I make His Word my daily delight? Do I want to be changed by His word?

The Word of God roots itself like the seed in our hearts. If we water it, it grows to be a part of our nature. It becomes a part of our thinking, emotions, and decisions.  When we are living out God’s Word in our lives, not just telling everyone what it says, we can reflect Christ to the rest of the world.  We can show others Christ in our lives, His power in our lives, and the transformation that we have experienced because of Jesus and His Word.  

How We Are Transformed To Look More Like Jesus

Monday, August 25, 2025

His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. 2 Peter 1:3-4

How We Are Transformed to Look More Like Jesus

We are all going somewhere. We are all on a spiritual journey. When you look back on your journey how does who you were then compare to who you are now? Have you changed at all and if so, for better or for worse? Our journey is not a straight path with no obstacles or cliffs along the way. Our journey is a messy, winding, twisted path that crisscrosses and drops off along the way. But every bump and bend along the way of our path are important parts of our journey. 

We are in a series on what spiritual movement looks like as a disciple of Jesus and what the strategy is for making disciples here at NSBC. At the center of the core values here at North Side Baptist Church is holistic discipleship. As individual followers of Jesus and as a church, our call is to make disciples - one who has trusted Jesus by faith, is following and being transformed by Jesus, and is on mission for Jesus by leading others to do the same. The discipleship pipeline is a path where we as a church help lead every generation toward a fully-formed life with Jesus. A discipleship pathway is our personal path that moves us toward spiritual maturity. In order to grow towards spiritual maturity, we must move. 

As we become believers, we have a choice. We get to decide whether we will move and grow in our relationship with Jesus or if we will just sit in the pew and wait for the day we get to see him face to face. Yesterday we learned the next step in the discipleship pipeline is transformation. Transformation does not happen unless we move. We must surrender and follow Jesus to be transformed. Following Jesus leads to learning to live and love like him, stepping where the Spirit steps, leading to transformation, glorifying him, and pointing others to him. That is a lot happening at the same time! As Pastor Jim told us yesterday, it is a partnership between us and God and us and other believers. 

What does transformation look like? As we grow Jesus transforms our mind and reshapes our desires. to reflect his. This Spirit-led formation is ongoing sanctification that reflects Jesus in everything we think, say, and do. He will be reflected in our character, desires, and everyday lives. This is how Jesus transforms us to look more like him over time. When we walk the Jesus way, it will be evident to those around us as they will see this transformation in our lives. 

We have everything we need for transformation through his divine power. The work of transformation is the work of Christ in us. Peter tells us how we can follow Jesus into this transformation:  For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. 2 Peter 1:5-10 

The work of transformation in us is from Jesus but we move into rhythms of growth by using the tools he has given us – his Word, other believers, and his promises. Peter also says in verse 10 that if we do these things, we will never stumble. When we walk with him, immersed in his word and standing on his promises, we will step where he steps, without stumbling.

Remember the pathway on the journey. Most people are focused on the finish line but the journey is the most important part.The journey is where transformation takes place. Pay attention to where you are and what God may be trying to teach you in this moment. You are on a journey and you are being transformed if you have surrendered and stepped out onto the winding path.  

How is Jesus transforming you to look more like Him every day? 

Which of the virtues that Peter lists need to be more evident in you? 

Will you ask God, through His Holy Spirit, to do a work in you to reflect Jesus more fully in your character, desires, and everyday life?

Move: Growing Toward a Fully Formed Life “Being Transformed"

Move: Growing Toward a Fully Formed Life
“Being Transformed" 
2 Peter 1:3-10 (CSB)

 

- Key Truth: “Movement is the catalyst for growth. Therefore, there can be no spiritual growth without spiritual movement.”

- Spiritual Movement: “The journey to fill the gap between where we are and where God wants us to be.”

- Discipleship Pipeline- A pipeline focuses on the church as a whole.

- Discipleship Pathway- A pathway focuses on an individual or a ministry within the church.

Transform Overview:

- Discipleship Principle: As we follow Him, He transforms our minds and reshapes our desires to reflect His.

- Discipleship Focus: Spirit-Led Formation

- Discipleship Goal: Our goal is for disciples to experience the ongoing work of sanctification— growing to reflect Jesus more fully in their character, desires, and everyday lives.

Main Question: How does Jesus transform us to look more like Him over time?

1.        Peter before the resurrection. (Matthew 26:69-75)

2.    Peter following the resurrection. (Acts 2:1-41)

3.    Peter in process. (Galatians 2:11-14)

4.    Peter as a maturing disciple. (2 Peter 1:3-15)

After the Message: 
Read 2 Peter 1:3-10. How is Jesus transforming you to look more like Him every day? Which of the virtues that Peter lists need to be more evident in you? Will you ask God, through His Holy Spirit, to do a work in you to reflect Jesus more fully in your character, desires, and everyday life?

 

Planted and Thriving

Friday, August 22, 2025

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  John 15:5

Planted and Thriving

Imagine a vine growing and the branches that are producing the beautiful sweet fruit.  If you come along and cut off the branch, it, along with the attached fruit, will wither and die.  That is how are lives will be apart from Christ.  If we remain in Him, read our Bibles and grow in our relationship with Him and serve Him, we will produce fruit in our lives.  It we cut ourselves off from Him, we will become like a dried-up branch with shriveled up fruit.  Not a very pretty picture, is it?  Without its connection to the life-giving source of the vine, the branch will not live.  It will shrivel and dry up and will not produce any fruit.  As a branch cannot grow, thrive, and produce fruit, we cannot grow, thrive, and produce fruit apart from Jesus.  

The Purpose of Abiding

Without Jesus, we can do nothing.  Without Jesus, we do not grow or thrive.  Without Jesus, we do not produce the fruit in our lives.  All of that comes from abiding or remaining in Him.  I love the word abiding and the thought of abiding in Christ. To me that means that every part of me is wrapped up in Him, enveloped my Him.  Every breath I take, I take in Him.  Abiding is being together every second. One inside the other, literally a part of each other.  This is the connection that produces the fruit in our lives.  Sustenance and nourishment from the One True Source allows us to bear fruit and thrive.  Apart from that sustenance, nothing.  Barren, dry, parched and shriveled lives.  

Abiding in Christ is a patient expectancy; it is neither wasteful idleness nor anxious striving. The Psalmist cried out, "Rest in God alone, my soul,  for my hope comes from him." Psalm 62:5 When we turn our hearts toward the world’s resources, we leave our place on the vine and the strength that comes from Him.

Where we abide is where we exist.  Waiting upon the Lord is not a pursuit of our soul but the resting of our soul in Him.

Unless You Abide In Me…

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  John 15:4-5

 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law…  Galatians 5:22-23

 

Unless You Abide In Me…

 

When we are living in the Spirit, the fruit that comes out of our lives will reflect the Holy Spirit, but when we are living in our sinful nature, the fruit in our lives will reflect our sinful nature.  When we become Christians, God has a desire for us to bear good fruit and bear a lot of it, to be highly productive: Jesus said, This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:8   Another time, Jesus says that we did not choose Him, but He chose us and appointed us to go and bear fruit that will last – eternal fruit! We can only produce this fruit by abiding in him - living in him and stepping where he steps every step of the way. When we abide in him, we will produce his fruit in our lives. 

 

Jesus gave us everything we need to produce good fruit and to produce a lot of it, and that is to abide in Him.  We cannot produce spiritual fruit on our own.  It only comes through a relationship with Jesus.  A branch cannot bear fruit without the vine and we cannot bear fruit without Jesus.  

 

We also have to be careful that we don’t produce bad fruit.  The Bible says Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” Matthew 7:17–18. In other words, bad fruit is not the problem, but only a symptom of the problem. We need to dig until we find the root of the problem, and then ask Jesus to heal us. We can have a bad attitude, or let bitterness or anger take root and then we produce rotten fruit instead of good fruit. We have to treat the root to save the whole tree.  

 

We are known by our fruit

A tree cannot always be distinguished by its bark or leaves, but you can always tell a tree by its fruit. You cannot pick an orange from an apple tree, or grapes from a tomato vine.  It is the same with us.  Our actions prove what kind of person we are.  We can say we are a Christian, but if there is no fruit in our life to prove it, people will see that and know we are not truly living in the Spirit. Likewise if we say we are a Christian but then produce bad fruit, people will notice.  We cannot disguise our Christianity by pretending to be one thing and yet produce something totally different in our daily lives. Unless we are abiding in him, we won't be able to produce something that looks like him to the rest of the world.  

 

When we are living in the Holy Spirit and allowing the Holy Spirit to control our whole beings, these fruits will be evident to others around us. Without God’s spirit, we are all flesh and raw human nature.  But the Holy Spirit in us produces wonderful virtues of godly character that is all the result of Him acting from within us.  Obedience to the Holy Spirit is what produces fruit in our lives.  Spiritual maturity and growth does not happen automatically.  It takes purposeful effort on our part to yield to the Holy Spirit.  His desire for our lives is to produce good fruit by abiding in Him. 

 

 

 

  

What Brings True Riches?

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:23-26

“Riches” 

Jesus had just spoke with a man known to us as the rich young ruler. He was a good man who had kept all the laws, but when it came down to the cost of following Jesus he wasn’t willing to pay the price. Jesus told him:

“If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard that, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions. Matthew 19:21-22

Understand that Jesus is talking about money here but in the context of our lives,"riches"can be anything that we make an idol or put above God in our hearts. 

This man went away grieving because Jesus told him he had to make a choice – to pay a price – to follow him. Jesus knew his heart. He knew that he loved his riches and would not give them up and follow Jesus. He was miserable and was not willing to give up the very thing that was making him miserable. How true is that for so many of us? The thing we hold onto and don’t want to let go of may be the very thing that drags us down into the quicksand. Jesus saves. He gives life – eternal life – that begins the minute we accept his gift of salvation. New life now and for all eternity. Yet we want to believe that we can drag our “riches” with us and still live the Jesus way. But Jesus does not share his throne with anyone or anything. Following Jesus is a sold-out, all or nothing commitment. He wants our whole heart. That does not mean we can’t love anything or anyone else. It means we cannot love anyone or anything else more than we love him. It means giving him the highest place in our lives.

A common false belief at that time was that wealthy people were favored by God. Jesus tells them this is not true. Trusting and following are not usually traits of someone who is very wealthy, but they are required to live the Jesus way and have a relationship with him. At least there is the perception that money = power and security. Jesus tells his disciples that it is hard for rich men to enter heaven because riches can also create a false sense of contentment in the moment. Riches can cause us to feel like we don’t need Jesus or to worry about eternal life.

Then Peter responded to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you. So what will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first. Matthew 19:27-30 

Peter responds to Jesus saying that the disciples have done what he asked by leaving everything behind and following him. He asks, “What will there be for us?” Jesus tells him that everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. Jesus promises us that our blessings from leaving our “riches” behind and following him will be a hundred times more, on top of inheriting eternal life. A life surrendered and following Jesus will be so much more fulfilling than anything any “riches” could ever give us. If you have ever chased ”riches” of any kind then you know that you are never fulfilled and always reaching for more. Jesus is everything we ever need and want. The abundance of the world is never enough but the abundance of a life lived in Jesus provides peace, contentment, complete joy and so much more than we could ever ask, seek, or imagine. 

How about you? Aren’t you tired of trying to drag dead things with you on a path only meant for life?

What are your “riches?”

Are you willing to go all or nothing for Jesus?  

Follow Jesus to Find Joy and Abundant Life

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. John 15:9-11

Follow Jesus to Find Joy and Abundant Life

We are all searching for something, and until we find what we are looking for we will grasp one wrong thing after the other. What is it? Some may say happiness, purpose, or fulfillment. But what we are really seeking is joy – not to be mistaken for happiness. True joy from the Lord is deep rooted in our heart. That joy, like the Lord, is unchanging because He is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever so when we find true joy in Him, that joy is the same yesterday, today, and forever, no matter what. It cannot be shaken or taken by anyone or anything. 

What makes us happy in this moment will be gone the next. Our circumstances can be like shifting sand where we constantly have to adjust what to hold onto and what makes us happy. When we hold onto anything but Him, we will continually have to shift because that one thing will not make us happy or secure always. So we grab the next wrong thing. We are searching for deep seated joy but instead settle for momentary pleasure or happiness in something or someone that will ultimately end up disappointing us, leaving us emptier than before, and even more desperate for that hole to be filled. 

How do we experience the fruit of joy in our lives as the Holy Spirit forms it in us? We are all for having the fruit of joy in our lives, but often we do not want to do any work on our end. But to find true joy, there a couple of steps we must take. 

Remaining in Him – To remain in something is to abide, dwell, or make your home in. As Christians following Jesus, we live our lives in Him, stepping where the Spirit steps, learning to live and love like Him. If we are not abiding in Him, we will abide somewhere. When we abide in Him, He gives us life and we bear the fruit of the Spirit as we are transformed. If we are not abiding in Him, our fruit will look very different. 

Obedience – John 14:23 says If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. Jesus said if we truly love Him, we will want to obey. Obedience to Jesus is a direct result of a transformative relationship with Him and the Agape love He pours into us. His love for us and our love for Him is part of our Spiritual Formation – the process of being formed into the likeness of Christ for the sake of others. - Robert Mulholland, Invitation to a Journey, 16. Part of walking in obedience in Him is pouring out that obedience into the lives of others. When we pour His agape love out to others, we will find true joy. The secret to an abundant and joyful life is to give it away to others 

God wants us to find complete joy. He desires to give us abundant life in Him, where true joy is found. We settle less and fill the void with something – anything. This deep seated, unshakable joy is far more desirable and fulfilling than anything we try to substitute for it. It is a gift given and the result of abiding in Christ in a loving and transformative, relationship with Him and obedience to Him. 

Who Are You Following?

Monday, August 18, 2025

 Just then someone came up and asked him, “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” he said to him. “There is only one who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he asked him. Jesus answered: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and love your neighbor as yourself.  “I have kept all these,” the young man told him. “What do I still lack?” “If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard that, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions. Matthew 19:16-20

Pastor Jim is taking us through a series on what spiritual movement looks like as a disciple of Jesus and what the strategy is for making disciples at NSBC. At the center of the core values at North Side Baptist Church is holistic discipleship. As individual followers of Jesus and as a church, our call is to make disciples - one who has trusted Jesus by faith, is following and being transformed by Jesus, and is on mission for Jesus by leading others to do the same. The discipleship pipeline is a path where we as a church help lead every generation toward a fully-formed life with Jesus. A discipleship pathway is our personal path that moves us toward spiritual maturity. In order to grow towards spiritual maturity, we must move. Last week we learned that Trust is the first step on the discipleship pathway. As Christians, our belief in Jesus as the Son of God and our Savior is the foundation our life in Jesus is built on. As Pastor Jim said, “Trust is the oxygen of every relationship,” and without trust a relationship will die. 

The next step on the pipeline is Follow. Our foundation of trust in Jesus must be secure or we will not follow him. We are all following someone or something. Who or what we trust will determine who we follow and who we follow will determine how we are transformed. Trust is the beginning and the foundation, but it is an invitation to more. It is an invitation to be transformed. 

We often try to mold Jesus to look like us, to match our desires and join us where we want to be. As disciples of Jesus, we are supposed to be transformed to be like him, to learn to live and love like him, to step where the Spirit steps. Follow means that we surrender everything and join Jesus where he is working. We can do this because we trust him. 

For many, they will never find what they are looking for because they are looking in the wrong place. We will never find the right thing in the wrong place, but we will always find the wrong thing in the wrong place. The void we want filled, the hole in our heart we want patched, the loneliness we want to vanish, the loss we want erased – nothing on this earth will help any of this. The King of Kings is the only one who can give us what we want and need. The Rich Young Ruler had a life full of idols and still he knew something was missing. He felt the void. He was still seeking fulfillment. He did not like Jesus’ answer that he had to give up everything and follow him. But the cost of following Jesus is high. It costs us everything, but we gain everything in return. We must love him more than anything else in or lives so we must lay it all down and follow him. 

Does that mean you need to sell everything tomorrow? No but Jesus knew this man’s heart and he knew that this man loved his possessions more than he loved Jesus or wanted to follow him. We must get rid of anything or anyone that we love more than Jesus.  There is no room on the throne of our hearts for anything or anyone else.                                        

Are you following Jesus? Have you surrendered every part of your life to him?                     

Move: Growing Toward a Fully Formed Life “Learning to Follow” Matthew 19:16-22 (CSB)

 

Move: Growing Toward a Fully Formed Life
“Learning to Follow”
Matthew 19:16-22 (CSB)

 

- Key Truth: “Movement is the catalyst for growth. Therefore, there can be no spiritual growth without spiritual movement.”

- Spiritual Movement: “The journey to fill the gap between where we are and where God wants us to be.”

- Discipleship Pipeline- A pipeline focuses on the church as a whole.

- Discipleship Pathway- A pathway focuses on an individual or a ministry within the church.

Follow Overview:

- Discipleship Principle: Following Jesus means learning to walk with Him daily through obedience and relationship.

- Discipleship Focus: Rhythms of Obedience

- Discipleship Goal: Our goal is for disciples to begin intentionally following Jesus—not just attending, but abiding; not just learning, but living.

Main Question: What does it mean to follow Jesus and what will it cost us?

1.        We all want eternal life. (Matthew 19:16-20)

2.    Jesus provides eternal life on His terms.  (Matthew 19:21)

3.    We all must respond to Jesus’ offer of eternal life. (Matthew 19:22)

After the Message: 
Read 1 Peter 2:2-3. Are you walking with Jesus daily in obedience and relationship? How is that evidenced in your thoughts, words, desires, and actions? What spiritual rhythms and habits do you need to put into your life so that you may follow Him more faithfully?