"Made and Molded" 4-27-25
Overview
Made and Molded: When Discipleship Begins
Discipleship is the art of following—and like the childhood game "Follow the Leader," it requires us to relinquish our grip on the lead and walk in step with another. Too often we want Jesus to follow our pace, our direction, and our pattern, when in fact a disciple is one who lets Christ set all three. The question, then, is this: when does someone actually become a disciple?
Scripture answers that question on the day of Pentecost. After Peter preached Christ crucified and risen, the crowd was "cut to the heart" and asked, "Brothers, what should we do?" Acts 2:37. Peter's reply is direct: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" Acts 2:38. Repentance is turning away from sin and turning to the Lord—getting out of the leader's spot and falling in line behind Jesus. Baptism is where God claims us. Jesus commands the same pattern in the Great Commission: "Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" Matthew 28:19. Notice the order—baptism is how disciples are made. In baptism, you do not make a promise to God; God makes a promise to you: your sins are forgiven, you are washed in the blood of Christ, and you are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth John 16:13. Discipleship is not a status we earn through process or performance; if it were, we would never arrive. We are made disciples by God's gracious work in the waters of baptism.
Once made, a disciple is also molded. The early church shows us how: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" Acts 2:42. Devoted means persistent and consistent. No newborn is left to fend for itself, and neither is a newborn disciple. We are gathered into a community—into the apostles' teaching preserved in Scripture, into fellowship with brothers and sisters, into the Lord's Supper where forgiveness is given tangibly in bread and wine, and into shared prayer where God hears and answers his people. None of us is called to a faith of loneliness; each of us is called into the family of faith.
So go forth this week with confidence. You did not make yourself a disciple, and you do not keep yourself one. God claimed you, the Spirit indwells you, and Christ—who holds the keys of Death and Hades Revelation 1:18—leads you. Stay close to his Word, his table, his people, and his promises. You are made and molded by the love of a good and gracious Leader.
Transcript
If you would please open your Bibles to the Book of Acts, the second chapter, if you're 3s
using a Pue edition of the Bible, that can be found in the New Testament on page 104. 9s
The Book of Acts chapter 2. 17s
I always love the game, follow the leader. 22s
Love the game, follow the leader. 25s
And it's a very, very easy game, but so much fun, because the leader gets to be in charge 26s
of a lot. 34s
The leader gets to be in charge of the way that people walk. 35s
So sometimes you might have a leader that says, oh, okay, everyone march and then they 40s
march as they follow along. 45s
The leader gets to set the pace, the speed, the leader gets to set the direction. 47s
In the preschool here, at Love One Another preschool, it's an exciting time when they get 55s
into their classroom and find out who gets the job of being line leader. 61s
There's the certain sense of responsibility, and if we're honest, a little bit of power, that 67s
comes with being the line leader. 72s
And so it's always exciting to see who gets to be the line leader each day. 74s
Follow the leader. 81s
It's a fun game. 82s
We always want to be the leader, but we know that when we aren't the leader, our turn is 83s
coming. 89s
We know that there will be a change of leadership at some point. 90s
We try to do discipleship a lot in the manner of follow the leader. 97s
We want to follow Jesus sometimes, let him set the pace, the direction, the pattern for our 105s
life, but there's a lot of times where we want to grasp that role of leader and we want 114s
God and others to just follow along. 122s
We want to set the pace for our own lives. 127s
We want to set the direction for our own lives. 131s
We want to set the pattern for our own lives in this series that we begin today. 135s
It's entitled discipleship, the art of following. 147s
And we're going to study throughout the coming weeks. 153s
What it means to be a disciple and how this plays out in our lives. 157s
You know, in God's Word, we have law and gospel. 163s
When we hear or read the law of God's Word, we know and are keenly aware of our sin. 166s
And when we hear the gospel, we are shown our Savior that Jesus Christ has forgiven our sin. 173s
This discipleship series is something that takes the law and the gospel. 181s
We learn it, we hear it, and then it's a call it a put in your pocket series. 189s
It's a put in your pocket. It's the, how does this affect my here and now? 194s
How does this affect how I do life as a disciple? 199s
So it's really exciting to jump into this new series with you. 205s
Throughout the series, we're going to find out that it is disciple imitates, 209s
that it is disciple witnesses, that it is disciple pays, that it is disciple stumbles. 213s
But in discipleship, in discipleship, there has to be a starting point. 223s
When does one become a disciple? 230s
That's what we're going to look at today. We are going to look at a disciple that is made and molded. 235s
A disciple is made and molded. We're going to answer the question of when does discipleship begin? 245s
Look with me, please, at Acts 2 verse 37 for our reading today. 254s
Now when they had heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, 258s
brothers, what should we do? 266s
Okay, it says that they heard something. Well, what did they hear? Let's go ahead and find out. 270s
We're going to back up in chapter 2 of Acts of the Book of Acts to verse 22. 275s
Where Peter is delivering a sermon, he's preaching to the crowd around and he says, 283s
you that are Israelites listen to what I have to say. 290s
Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, 295s
wonders and signs that God did through him among you as you yourselves know. 302s
This man handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, 307s
you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. 315s
But God raised him up, having freed him from death because it was impossible for him to be held 320s
in its power, moving down to verse 32. 327s
This Jesus, God raised up and of that all of us are witnesses, being therefore 332s
exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy 339s
Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear. 346s
For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord said to my Lord, 352s
sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. 359s
Therefore, let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him, 364s
both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified. 373s
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. 380s
That being cut to the heart, it was a pain. It hurt. They felt the weight of their sin. 389s
If you have ever experienced being convicted by God's word, you know exactly what that feels like. 403s
It's not something to be sluffed off. When you are faced with the truth of your sin, 412s
it hurts. It's painful. 420s
The men that were gathered around the women that were gathered around hearing 425s
that they had crucified the Messiah. They knew that it was true. 433s
Not only did they mourn what they had done, but they mourned 443s
that the one that they had looked for for centuries was Jesus, and they were implicit, 451s
and they were involved in His murder, in His crucifixion, they were cut to the heart. 459s
And they asked the apostles and Peter around them, they say, what do we do? 472s
What do we do to make this right in their sin that they're so aware of? They want to do something 478s
when we are aware of our sin. We mourn, but so often we want to kick into action and do 485s
something to balance it out, to make right for what we have done that is wrong. And we try to 494s
seek any way of making our sin not so bad or making up for what we have done or left undone 503s
said or left unsaid. These men and women come to Peter and the apostles, the other apostles, 514s
and they say, what should we do? And Peter has a very specific, simple answer. Look with me, 522s
please at verse 38, Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name 533s
of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, 543s
repent and be baptized. To repent is to turn away from your sin and turn to the Lord, 552s
turn to God, it's relinquishing that demand to be the leader and getting in line 562s
and saying, I follow you as my leader, Jesus. We follow Jesus, we turn to the Lord, repent and be 572s
baptized, be baptized. There's a lot of controversy in the Christian church over baptism. 586s
Over baptism and whether or not it is a symbol or if it is something that we have to do a work. 596s
The scripture is very clear. We have a very clear from Peter here where he says, 608s
Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven in the great commission before Christ ascended to the 619s
Father in the gospel of Matthew the 28th chapter. He's telling his disciples to go and make 627s
disciples and he tells them exactly how to do that. He says, go therefore and make disciples of all 634s
nations, so as he says this, it's as you are going, make disciples or as you're making disciples 643s
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 651s
He begins with baptism, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son 660s
and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. 670s
It is never a coincidence, God's working, of course. I give God praise that today of all days 679s
is a day that we celebrate a baptism. We saw a disciple being born just moments ago. 688s
Cohen was baptized into the kingdom of God. He was baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, 700s
and the Holy Spirit, all of us who have been baptized have been washed in the promise of God, 709s
washed in the waters. In baptism, it is the water, combined with God's word and poured out 716s
upon the one being baptized. As Scripture says, it's not a washing of the dirt without 726s
it's a washing of the sin within. There is nothing that Cohen or any of us can do to get rid of our sin. 735s
In his baptism, Cohen was not making a promise to God, but God made a promise to him. 751s
In your baptism, God made a promise to you that your sins are forgiven, that you are washed clean 761s
in the blood of Jesus Christ. That is the beginning point of discipleship. That is when a 769s
disciple is made. If discipleship happens as a process, then when will we ever arrive? 781s
A disciple is made when God claims him or her through the waters of baptism. 795s
And it is a disciple's life that is led from then on. It's a life of discipleship. 803s
We cannot work our way to a status of being a disciple. When we are baptized, we already have 812s
the status of disciple because we have the status of the children of God. We have the status of 821s
being part of the royal priesthood. It is God who makes the disciple. It is not the person who makes 829s
themselves a disciple. It is God's promise in the waters of baptism that makes each and every one of us 841s
a disciple. And he continues on saying that this baptism is for the forgiveness of sins and you will 850s
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Note, Peter does not say you will receive gifts of the Holy 858s
Spirit, but the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God. He sends us his own spirit 865s
to work in us, to transform us, to mold us more and more into the image that we are as his 874s
creation, into the image that we are as his children. And so we have been given the gift of the Holy 884s
Spirit. Jesus says that He is going to send the Holy Spirit, the advocate, the one who will guide you 894s
into all truth. Being guided to all truth is a gift from God. Knowing God is a gift from God. 904s
In the explanation of the third article of the Apostles Creed, in the small cataclysm, 919s
we confess that we cannot by our own strength or understanding come to know God. But it is the 925s
Holy Spirit who calls gathers and enlightens us and the whole Christian church. 934s
The Holy Spirit is a gift from God Himself so that we may know Him, that we may follow Him, 942s
and that we may be molded and transformed more and more into His image. 953s
The promise is for every disciple, the Lord makes. We hear that as Peter continues in verse 39, 962s
the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord 972s
are God calls to Him. And He testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, 979s
save yourselves from this corrupt generation. So those who welcomed His message were baptized, 988s
and that day about 3,000 persons were added. 3,000 disciples born of the Spirit, 995s
repenting, being baptized sealed in the Holy Spirit. Disciples were made. 1007s
They heard their of their sin. They were cut to the heart, they repented, turning to the Lord. 1018s
They were baptized. They were made disciples of the Lord, Jesus Christ. 1025s
Then what? Then what? And this is the put in your pocket portion. 1033s
We find out what these disciples did in their discipleship. Looking pleased at verse 42, 1042s
they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the 1051s
prayers. They devoted themselves. That means that they were persistent, 1059s
and they were consistent. They were continually gathering together. They were gathering together 1068s
to hear the apostles teaching. The apostles are those that walked with the Lord. 1076s
Peter, John, James, the apostles were those that had witnessed the teachings, the miracles, 1084s
the power of Jesus Christ, the apostles were those that witnessed His crucifixion 1091s
and experienced the glory of the resurrected Christ. The apostles taught 1098s
they were called as the witnesses and they testified and they preached. And by God's grace, 1107s
it was all brought under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit into one place where you and I 1118s
are able to devote ourselves to the apostles teaching. Where we hear the word preached 1125s
week after week, where we engage with the word in our daily reading, where we study, 1134s
and we hear, and we know. They were devoted or they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching 1142s
and fellowship. They would gather. They would gather together. Just as when a newborn baby is born, 1152s
no one takes a baby and says, good luck, kiddo, and makes them fend for themselves. The same 1162s
is true in our spiritual birth. When we are made a disciple born of the waters of baptism, 1168s
we are not set off to fend for ourselves, but we are gathered into a community for fellowship, 1175s
for encouragement, for growth. Pastor Ibo, a couple of years ago, had a sermon that no one 1183s
is in Ireland. Not one of us has been called to a life of faith in loneliness or a loneliness. 1191s
Each of us is called to the community of believers, the family of faith, 1201s
to be devoted to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread. 1208s
They did life together. The early church, the first church, they did life together. They shared 1216s
in a meal. At that time, when they would share in a meal, they would also share in the Lord's 1226s
supper. Each week as we gather together, we gather together. For the apostles teaching, we gather 1234s
together, for the fellowship, we gather together to break bread, to receive the Lord's supper 1243s
that tangible forgiveness through the body and blood, the bread and wine of Jesus Christ. 1253s
They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the 1265s
prayers. What a gift. What a gift it is to be called to pray with and for one another. 1272s
We are promised in scripture that God hears our prayers. We are promised in scripture that God 1284s
answers our prayers. And as we gather and we pray with one another, we pray that we as disciples 1290s
would be transformed to God's will. That we as disciples would be transformed that we would follow 1297s
our leader. Martin Luther, Martin Luther took discipleship, brought a new meaning to it. 1305s
It was no longer just someone who believes and goes through motions of tradition 1319s
hoping to make things right for him or herself. But discipleship is a life of trust in God. 1325s
Discipleship is that complete trust knowing that we have 1337s
Jesus, that we have God the Father's Son Holy Spirit as our leader, 1343s
that He sets the direction, the pace, the pattern for our lives. 1350s
Discipleship is being molded by God's word molded by the apostles teaching molded by the 1362s
Imblood, the forgiveness of sins molded as we gather together to pray, knowing that the Lord hears 1379s
us, knowing that the Lord answers us. Discipleship is a journey. It's a journey that we walk, 1388s
but it's a journey that we walk together. It's a journey that we walk together as brothers and sisters 1400s
following the same leader, the leader that has laid down his own life for your sin. 1412s
That was resurrected, conquering death and the grave as Jesus said in the Revelation 1422s
reader reading, He holds the keys to death and hateys. 1429s
You, my brothers and sisters, are called, you are made disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1437s
You are molded by His word molded and transformed by His love. 1444s
Go forth this week, go forth proudly, confidently as disciples because you follow 1450s
our good and gracious leader Jesus Christ, our Lord. 1462s