Discipleship to Jesus: A New Way of Living
When the world shut down in 2020, many of us realized the way we had been living wasn’t working for us. We knew that our schedule and our lifestyle had caused our souls to feel this way. All the goals and the dreams that we pursued, all of our activity, and even all the Bible studies and the church activities and the events – none of it had given us more peace or more joy in our soul.
And what did we say? “I’ll never go back to that again.”
But the problem was, we didn’t know what to go to, so when things opened back up, many of us went back to the same frenetic, overburdened life that we had before. Maybe we trimmed a few things off here or there, but when the whirring hum of our busyness momentarily slowed again, we were left with the same nagging sense that our souls were hurting, that there was something wrong inside, that we had little peace and little joy.
What we needed was a compelling new vision of life, a completely new way of living.
As followers of Jesus, there is a practical way of life that can fill our souls, a pathway to experience goodness and abundance.
In our six-week discipleship series, “A New Way of Living,” we will explore what it means to truly follow Jesus in the context of our modern world. Pastor Jake kicked the series off by providing an overview of what discipleship will look like here at Freshwater moving forward.
Jake opened by exploring the promise of Jesus in John 10:10: “I came that you may have life and have it abundantly.”
How do we experience this abundant life?
The words “Follow me” from Jesus are a call to completely reorient our lives around Jesus. It’s an invitation:
“Walk with me. Learn from me. Live like I do.”
It’s a directive to live counterculturally. But how do we reorient our lives around Jesus?
It’s not merely about adding Jesus to our busy schedules or treating Him as another checkbox on our to-do lists. It’s about a radical reordering of priorities, motivations and rhythms, centered on a deep, intimate connection.
It’s learning to live every moment of our lives in Jesus’ presence and then following His ways.
At Freshwater, we believe reorientation to Jesus as a disciple of Christ is anchored in four values:
1. Be with Jesus
As followers of Jesus, we we must first learn to be with Him. In American culture, we’re defined by what we accomplish, the things that we get done. We celebrate work values like grinding and grit and capacity. Even in the church world, we think we must be serving here or working there because our value comes through what we do for God. But in the way of Jesus, the disciple’s first activity is to be still before the Lord, to simply be with Him, to be saturated by His presence.
2. Be Transformed
Out of our time with Jesus, we are transformed to become more like Him. We often operate as if we can transform ourselves, but in John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” In other words, spiritual transformation comes from time with Him. In those moments, we are changed and we begin to bear real spiritual fruit.
3. Be with People
As Jesus changes us, we have to pass on His words, His teaching, His life, His very presence from our lives. We have to transmit that to someone else. Being with Jesus makes us want to invest in others – to give away what He’s given us – while also having others invest in us.
4. Be on Mission
Many of us make “disciple” a verb. We think, “I have to do. I have to produce for God.” But that leads to burnout and exhaustion because we are not operating in God’s unique will and grace for our life. He gives us the grace to accomplish the things He’s called us to do. When we are with the Father, He will send us on mission. He will send us into the labor.
But just like Jesus says in Scripture, this way is hard. He says the path is narrow. He may ask you to give up certain hindrances in your life that you value, that you hold dear, in order to draw closer to Him. He will call you to eliminate hurry from your life so you can slow down.
Don’t be discouraged. There is an abundance of life when we accept the invitation to truly follow Jesus.
Throughout this series, we will continue exploring these discipleship values and learning more about what it means to reorient our lives around Jesus’ way of life.
Reflection Questions
- Think about the idea of simply “being with Jesus,” of putting yourself into quiet spaces so you can hear from Him. Does that seem like something that should be primary in the life of a disciple, or does it seem too abstract or even too self-focused?
- Reflect on a time when you felt overwhelmed by busyness and hurry in your life. How did it impact your spiritual well-being and your ability to connect with God?
- Imagine living every moment of your life in Jesus’s presence. How might this perspective shift your approach to daily activities, relationships, and decision-making?
- What areas of your life do you find most challenging to surrender to Jesus? Why?
- Imagine reorienting your life completely around Jesus and His way of living. What practical steps can you take today to align your life more closely with His teachings and example?
Watch the Message
Worship Songs from April 14
- “Holy Forever”
- “Christ Be Magnified”
- “Firm Foundation (He Won’t)”
- “Make Room” (after the message)