Discipleship 1: Witnesses by Pastor Abidan Shah

DISCIPLESHIP 1 – WITNESSES by Pastor Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson

Discipleship 1

Introduction: If your family is like ours, after surfing the channels or Netflix for 30 minutes, we usually settle for some classic show. For me, it is the Andy Griffith show. One of my favorite episodes is the one where Opie starts talking about his new friend “Mr. McBeevee” who he describes as wearing a shining hat, walking about in the treetops, jingling as if he was wearing bells, and blowing smoke out of his ears. At first, Andy laughs it off to just a kid having an imaginary friend until Opie comes up with a quarter saying that Mr. McBeevee gave it to him. Now Andy gets concerned and tells Opie to tell the truth that Mr. McBeevee was just make believe. Opie refuses and asks Andy, “Don’t you believe me Pa? Don’t you Pa?” At first Andy is upset and disappointed but then his expression changes and he says, “I believe you.” Of course, Barney is upset at Andy for going along with Opie and he asks him, “Do you believe in Mr. McBeevee?” Andy responds, “No, but I believe in Opie.” Later on, it comes out that Mr. McBeevee was a telephone repair man, climbing up and down trees with a belt of equipment jingling as he walked. So also, Christians are people who have seen Christ through the eyes of faith. They are witnesses to Christ. They cannot help but talk about what they have seen. The world has trouble believing us but it’s only through our testimony that they can meet Christ. That’s our message today in our series on discipleship.

Acts 1 4And being assembled together withthem,He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,”He said,“you have heard from Me; 5for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Question:If you’re a disciple, you’re a witness to Christ. You should be able to describe 3 things – 1. What was life like before you met Christ. 2. What happened that changed your life, how Christ saved you. 3. What is your life like since Christ saved you? Can you describe these 3 things? Are you a witness to Christ? Are you a disciple? Are you saved?

I. IT’S NOT A FORMULA BUT A TESTIMONY.

Context: Last weekend I introduced the goal of discipleship in the acronym – W A T E R = WITNESSES + ACCOUNTABILITY + TOGETHERNESS + ESTABLISHED IN THE WORD + REPRODUCING. In the next few weeks we will look at each of these attributes. Today we begin with WITNESSES. 4 things we need to understand about being a WITNESS:

Background: When Christians or church people hear the word “witness” or “witnessing,” they equate that with an evangelism program for sharing the gospel like CWT, EE, FAITH, Sharing Jesus Without Fear, Romans Road, NET, 4 Spiritual Laws. This was not the case with the first disciples. When Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1:8“…and you shall be witnesses to Me…” he meant witnesses as in “eye-witnesses.” Listen to what he said in Luke 24 46“…Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48And you are witnessesof these things.” So, a witness was someone who had seen the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and had received the commission from Christ to preach repentance and remission (forgiveness or cancellation) of sins in his name to all nations. In fact, throughout the Book of Acts, the disciples are called witnesses:

Acts 2:32“This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are allwitnesses.”
Acts 4:33“And with great power the apostles gavewitnessto the resurrection of the Lord Jesus…”
Acts 5:32“And we are Hiswitnessesto these things, andsoalsoisthe Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Acts 13:31“He (Jesus) was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are Hiswitnessesto the people.”
Acts 23:11But the following night the Lord stood by him (Paul) and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witnessat Rome.”

I can go on and on but the point is this – if we call ourselves disciples, we are witnesses like the first disciples of what Jesus has done for us. There is a difference – the disciples were EYE witnesses and we are FAITH witnesses

Application: What have you witnessed? How was life before Jesus? What has Jesus done for you? How is life since Jesus?

II. IT’S NOT A DESTINATION BUT A MINDSET.

Background: When Christians or church people hear the word “witnessing,” they think “going door-to-door” or “leaving their home country and going far away to some foreign mission field. Going on missions to a foreign country is important but when Jesus said in Acts 1:8“…and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth,” he was not telling them to travel somewhere on a mission trip but to start living like people who had witnessed something extraordinary. He was telling them to live with a changed mindset starting right where they were.

Illustration: Joe Dittmar (spoke at Crime Stoppers and Chamber banquet) is a 9/11 survivor who was on the 105^thfloor of the 2^ndWorld Trade Tower. It is mind blowing to hear his account of how seemingly small decisions saved his life and how from a meeting of 54 insurance executives, he was one of only 7 who made it. Now, he lives every day in light of that day. It has changed his mindset about life, family, work, God, everything.

Application: How has the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus impacted your life? Has it changed your mindset? How do you see yourself in your workplaces, neighborhoods, family gatherings, ball fields, etc.? You are on mission right where you are.

III. IT’S NOT A SKILL BUT THE SPIRIT.

Background: When Christians or church folks hear the word “witness” or “witnessing,” they get terrified. I’ll be honest with you, it is pretty terrifying to me as well. The reason we have this fear is because we fail to take seriously what Jesus told his disciples and to all of us in verse 8“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me…”Think about the word “power.” This is not some destructive power tearing down things and wreaking havoc. This is power that raised Jesus from the dead. This is power that brings wholeness and perfection. This is power that transforms hearts and changes lives. Let me give you 2 examples in Acts:

When Peter was asked in Acts 4 7“…By what power or by what name have you done this?’ 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them…3000-5000 saved!
After Paul was stopped by Jesus from persecuting the church, he was blind and God sent Ananias to him. Listen to what he says to Paul in Acts 917“…Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” After Paul received sight, he was baptized, ate, spent time with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately starting preachingChrist in the synagogues.

You cannot be a witness to Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit. It’s not about skills, courage, personality. It’s about the power of the Holy Spirit.

Application: Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Is there anything that would hinder the flow of the Holy Spirit in your life.

IV. IT’S NOT A GOAL BUT A SOUL.

Background: When Christians or church folks hear the word “witnessing,” they think of it as some goal to be met. Listen carefully – People are not projects to be completed or boxes to be checked. They are precious souls to be won to Christ. We have to remind ourselves to genuinely love people. Pray for them. Take the time to get to know them. Talk less and listen more. Be ready with the words of a witness. Daily submit to the Holy Spirit. Pray for divine appointments. Make room for divine appointments. Robby Gallaty gives the following suggestions: