A Church That Makes Disciples
| THE BIG IDEA A disciple follows Jesus, becomes like Jesus, and makes disciples of Jesus — and the becoming is what reaches a city. God has called Sinai to be a church that makes them. |
OPENING — A CITY CALLED ANTIOCH
| ACTS 11:26 (ESV) “…and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” |
Christianos — “little Christ” — began as an ______________ , and became a badge of honor.
They were named after Jesus because they had started to ______________ like Jesus.
If the city of Killeen watched Sinai Church for one whole year — how we talk, how we treat people, how we spend our money, how we handle offense — what name would they give us?
THE WORD LUKE USES
Disciple — mathetes. Used over ______ times in the New Testament. Learner. Apprentice. One who patterns his life after his teacher.
The right question this morning is not “How many Christians are in this room?” It is: What is a disciple — and am I one?
| A DISCIPLE = Someone who ____________ Jesus, ____________ like Jesus, and ____________ disciples of Jesus. |
Three moves — not three separate things, but three parts of one person. If our acceptance of Jesus begins in the mind and reaches the heart, it will show up in what we do with our hands.
| HEAD Obedience Follow Jesus | HEART Repentance Reach Lives | HANDS Surrender Make Disciples |
| “If any one of the three is missing, you don’t have a disciple — you have an admirer.” |
1 FOLLOW JESUS
WHAT A DISCIPLE DOES · HEAD — OBEDIENCE
| LUKE 5:1–11 (NIV) — CONDENSED “…‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ … Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” |
THREE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TEXT
- Where was Jesus? Not in the temple — in a ______________ . A working man’s job site, on a working man’s worst morning. Jesus does not wait for you to get religious before He gets in your boat.
- What was Simon’s attitude? Honest. Exhausted. A professional fisherman being told how to fish by a carpenter. But everything turns on four words: “Because ________ ________ so.”
- What did they do on shore? The biggest catch of their lives — two boats sinking — and they ______________ it and walked away.
| “Jesus didn’t take away their failure. He gave them their greatest success — and they left it on the beach.” |
FOLLOWING IS NOT ADMIRING
Obedience happens ________ understanding.
Following Jesus will cost you your failures. It will also cost you your ______________ .
| MATTHEW 4:19 (ESV) “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” |
| JOHN 14:23–24 (ESV) “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words…” |
Jesus makes love and obedience the same conversation. Not “if you love me you’ll ________ something” — “if you love me, you’ll ________ something.”
| “Partial obedience is disobedience with better manners.” |
THE DAILY PART
| LUKE 9:23 (ESV) “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” |
Discipleship does not promise a life without problems. It means the total surrender of everything you are — and an invitation to a life that finally means something.
Following Jesus begins with a decision — but discipleship is the decision you ______________ every day.
A decision is not a disciple. A baptism is a birth certificate, not a diploma.
2 BECOME LIKE JESUS
WHAT A DISCIPLE BECOMES · HEART — REPENTANCE
| LUKE 5:8–10 (NIV) “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ … Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’” |
Peter says, “I am a sinful man.” That is a man being ______________ . Before he can get off his knees, Jesus says, “From now on you will fish for people.” That is a man being ______________ .
| “Repentance and commission. Same boat. Same breath. No gap in between.” |
A disciple becomes like Jesus — and a changed life reaches lives.
WHY YOU SEE YOUR SIN MORE CLEARLY, NOT LESS
When you get close enough to Jesus to see who ______ really is, you finally see who ______ really are.
| 1 JOHN 1:9 (ESV) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” |
Repentance is not a bad mood about your sin. Repentance is a change of ______________ — the daily posture of a heart being remade.
WHO DOES THE CHANGING
The transformation in a person’s life is the work of the ____________________ — not the preacher, the program, the mentor, or you.
| EPHESIANS 1:13 (ESV) “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” |
You are not responsible for transforming your family; you are responsible for faithfully ______________ Jesus to them. The Holy Spirit does the transforming — so stop hiding what He is doing.
| ROMANS 12:3 (ESV) “…not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” |
Sober judgment. Not “I’m worthless.” Not “I’ve arrived.” Honest about where you actually are — the most attractive thing a Christian can be in a city full of people performing.
THIS IS HOW ANTIOCH HAPPENED
No campaign. No flyers. No building, no budget, no band. For one whole year ordinary people were taught — and they ______________ . And the city watched.
| “Reach Lives is not a program or a season. It is a congregation so visibly changed that the city has to reach for the name of Jesus to explain us.” |
Your changed life is the most persuasive argument for Jesus your coworkers will ever encounter.
3 MAKE DISCIPLES
WHAT A DISCIPLE DOES FOR OTHERS · HANDS — SURRENDER
Reaching a life feels like the finish line. It isn’t. It’s the ______________ line.
THREE THINGS WE MISTAKE FOR THE JOB — NONE OF THEM IS THE JOB:
- We invite someone to a service — and believe we’ve done our job.
- They accept Jesus, we celebrate — and believe we’ve done our job.
- They don’t make a decision, we forget about them — and believe we’ve done our job.
If you knew somebody was walking toward death, you would not settle for shouting a warning across the street. You would not walk away until you knew they could ______________ on their own.
WHY IT HAS TO BE PERSONAL
| JOHN 17:3 (ESV) “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” |
Ginōskō — knowing someone ______________ and relationally, not merely knowing facts about them.
| “You cannot mass-produce intimacy. That happens one life speaking into one life.” |
THE ONE COMMAND
| MATTHEW 28:18–20 (ESV) “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.” |
The central command is make disciples. Going, baptizing, and teaching describe ______ we do it. Jesus did not say “go get decisions” or “go build crowds.”
| MAKING DISCIPLES = Helping people develop a life so surrendered, so devoted, and so firm in Jesus that they move from spiritual childhood to spiritual maturity, until they look more and more like their Savior. |
| A MENTOR = Someone whose primary function is to lead their disciples into consecration — to follow Jesus, and to love Him more than anything else in life. |
Three dimensions of a mentor:
- The LIFE of a mentor — living an example the disciple can imitate. Who you are teaches louder than what you say.
- The DIRECTION of a mentor — consistent meetings, coming prepared with the studies, so the disciple is led by the Word, not by opinions.
- The LOVE of a mentor — one-on-one time and genuine care so the disciple grows up firm in Christ.
A mentor does not make disciples of himself. A mentor makes disciples of ______ — and always points them to Him.
YOU ARE NOT TOO UNFINISHED FOR THIS
“Pastor, I can barely hold my own life together.” Good.
A Sinai Mentor understands he is not perfect and his own process of maturity is not complete. His job: while I grow and mature in the faith, I am helping someone else grow right alongside me.
| “You are not being asked to be finished. You are being asked to be one step ahead and willing to turn around.” |
- Jesus sent His disciples out two by two.
- Paul never took a missionary journey alone — Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Luke.
- Jesus Himself chose twelve to carry the mission.
If Jesus chose to walk closely with twelve, what makes us think we were designed to grow alone? You do not need twelve. You need somebody.
HOW WE MEASURE A DISCIPLE
Not simply by ______________ — though a disciple gathers faithfully with the church.
Not simply by ______________ — though a disciple depends on God and gives faithfully.
We measure it by ______________ — am I becoming more like Jesus? — and ______________ — am I helping somebody else become more like Jesus?
| “The greatest success a Christian can have is measured by how many people they can lead to know Jesus and to live imitating Him.” |
OUR VISION (UPDATED)
| SINAI CHURCH May His house be filled by bringing lives to Christ, so they may live and serve together in the culture of the Kingdom. |
FOLLOW JESUS · REACH LIVES · MAKE DISCIPLES
FOLLOW JESUS — your HEAD. Obedience. “Because You say so.” You cannot lead somebody to a place you have not gone.
REACH LIVES — your HEART. Repentance. A life visibly under new management. You reach your city by becoming somebody your city cannot explain.
MAKE DISCIPLES — your HANDS. Surrender. Taking the person you just reached and refusing to leave them behind.
Reaching a life is where most churches stop — making a disciple is where Jesus said to stop.
MY RESPONSE
Not applaud. Not agree. Respond.
| CHECK WHERE YOU ARE TODAY |
| ☐ 1 · I am ready to follow Jesus for the first time. You’ve attended. You’ve enjoyed. You’ve been moved. But you have never gotten out of the boat. Jesus is not asking you to clean up first. “Don’t be afraid.” Today — come. ☐ 2 · I commit to be discipled. Not to teach. Not to lead. To be walked with — assigned a mentor, sitting down with somebody one step ahead of you, opening the Word, praying, answering the hard questions. Our goal is for every member to be a disciple under a mentor. ☐ 3 · I believe God may be calling me to mentor. The first Mentor School class begins September 9th. We are not looking for perfect or experienced people — only faithful people who are one step ahead. |
THREE QUESTIONS TO TAKE HOME
- Am I following Jesus with obedience — or only admiring Him?
- Am I allowing Jesus to transform my heart daily?
- Am I willing to let go of everything to be fully surrendered to the mission of Jesus?
WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT TELLING ME THROUGH THIS MESSAGE?
ONE STEP I WILL TAKE THIS WEEK
| REMEMBER Sinai Church will be a church that makes disciples that make other disciples. May Killeen watch us for one year and have to reach for the name of Jesus to describe what they see. |
DOWNLOAD: Vision_Sunday_2026_Sermon_Notes