Well, are ya? Okay, read my mind. I know that's a scary thought, but I'm thinking of a storey which was first a book and then it was made into movies and stage musicals. There's a little tiny fairy in it, but the plot really revolves around the main character who never grows up. Peter Pan.
Thank you.
Peter Pan. As a kid, I thought that Neverland sounded amazing because there were no rules, there were no responsibilities, didn't have to do any chores. It was just adventures all the time. You got to fly, you got to fight pirates, you got to do whatever you wanted. As a kid, that kind of world seemed pretty close to perfect. Doesn't it? Danielle, you're looking at me like, "Yeah, I could go for that." But I think even as a kid, I kind of realised there was something a little off about that. And now that I'm all grown up, I can articulate what that off was. It's because nothing in Neverland ever changes, right? No one matures, no one grows, no one becomes anything more than they already are. And that, at first, is what seems really cool. But then nothing changes. Every day is like a day off of school where there's just play and no responsibility. But then it's like eating cake for every meal. Mm, fun at first, but eventually the novelty wears off and you realise that you need your fruit and veggies, your proteins, and your healthy fats to make you feel that you've really been fed.
Eating cake all the time might fill you up, sort of, but it only leads to the kind of growth that doesn't end up being the kind that you want, right? It's not the kind of growth that takes you somewhere good. And that's why Neverland falls short. Because we weren't made to stay the same. We were made to grow and to grow up. And that's exactly what we want to do as followers of Jesus. We want the kind of growth that actually leads somewhere, like a plant. If not given the necessary nutrients it needs to grow, the leaves will dry up and die off, and eventually it stops growing altogether, and it stops being any kind of asset to its surroundings, right? Those of you who are getting plants popping up these days, When you have that, like, brown little stick that's left in the ground, it doesn't add any beauty to its environment. It doesn't bring joy to those who see it. It doesn't aid any of the plants that are around it. It's just there, existing but not thriving, and definitely not helping anything else thrive either. So last week we talked about Good to know you remember.
What did we talk about last week? Bigger than a seed. Jordan? Sprouts. Sprouts. Somebody was listening. Last week we talked about sprouts, and sprouts are exciting because when it first pops up through the ground, right? It's alive, it's something visible, it's hopeful. It's the first sign that, like, maybe winter is finally going away. But a sprout is not the end goal. If that plant never develops a stem, if it never grows leaves, if it never deepens its roots, we would say that there was something wrong. Because growth is the natural next step of something that is alive. And the same is true for spirituality. So as we talked about what it means to sprout, what was our theme as sprouts?
[Speaker:STUDENT] We blossom.
Belong. We have to— we belong. Oh, be careful, Lynette, it's a pencil coming at you. Nice one! Well done. Yeah, everybody should start bringing like a baseball mitt for when I start throwing things out. So we belong together. To be planted in Christ We do that together to be part of his body, and that's where life begins, but it's not where we're meant to stay, which is why this week we move from sprouting to growing. And there's a word that we commonly use to describe this growing experience. The video mentioned it. Louder, Julie, louder. Are you worried that I'm gonna throw something at you? You're worried, yes, you're in the direct line of fire. You can have a little soft pad of paper. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Yeah, it wouldn't have flown very far. So discipleship can be defined as the ongoing process of learning to follow Jesus, becoming like him, and helping others to do the same. But I really appreciate how John Mark Comer describes discipleship. Has anybody read his book, Following the Way— Practising the Way, sorry? No? Well, this book of his is one that I would like us to do as a whole church-wide study at some point, but for now I'm just going to give you the Coles Notes version.
So his core idea is that discipleship would be better described as apprenticeship to Jesus. In Jesus's day, he was often called rabbi, which means teacher or master. But not in the classroom sense that we might think of. Rabbis were the spiritual leaders of Israel. Yes, they knew the Torah, the scriptures of their day, but they didn't just teach information. They modelled what it looked like to walk closely with God. So every rabbi carried what was called a yoke, their way of understanding scripture and their vision for leading a faith— or living a faithful life. And these rabbis came from all different kinds of backgrounds. Some were farmers, tradespeople, carpenters, and most of them spent years apprenticing other— under another rabbi, learning both what to teach and how to live. There were no formal degrees. Authority didn't come from a credential but from a life that others wanted to follow. Rabbis were often on the move, travelling from place to place, teaching wherever that they were welcomed. And they didn't do it alone. They gathered disciples who followed them closely. So this wasn't a classroom kind of learning. It happened on the road in everyday moments through a shared life.
And when you read the Gospels, you see it again and again, people calling Jesus rabbi. And like the rabbis of his day, Jesus had disciples. So a disciple isn't just a student. It's someone who shapes their entire life around a teacher. They didn't just listen, they followed, they observed, and they imitated. Discipleship wasn't about collecting knowledge, it was about learning a way of life. Which is why discipleship doesn't begin with activity, it begins with relationship. So before anything is done, it starts with who you're with. Discipleship starts with being with Jesus, making space to know him, to listen, to remain. Practises like prayer and silence and scripture, they're not about just checking off boxes that you're doing your spiritual practises. They help us to stay connected to him. Because you don't become like Jesus without spending time with Jesus. I think there's somebody trying to get in. And over time, that relationship leads to transformation. Not just behaviour change, but a reshaping of who we are as the Spirit forms Christ's character in us. Then out of that, our lives begin to change. We start to love, serve, and live differently, not as forced imitation, but as the natural overflow of what God is doing within us.
And that's why discipleship is more than believing the right things or showing up for church. It's a whole life reordering around Jesus. It's why describing it as an apprenticeship is so helpful. It captures the reality of a daily, intentional way of living. But that kind of growth doesn't happen by accident. As John Mark Comer points out, we are always being formed by something. The question is, by what? And that's why intentional rhythms like Sabbath and prayer and scripture community and service all matter. They're not about earning anything, they're not about trying to just do good in the world, they're about creating space for God to work. They act like a trellis. You know those wooden things that gardeners use that plants grow up? Okay, you're all nodding your head. I didn't know what the heck it was, I had to look it up, being the great gardener that I am. So, it allows the plant to grow without getting all tangled on the ground, right? So, it gives the plant support and direction so it can grow upward and it can stay healthy and it can produce more fruit. So, intentional rhythms, such as I mentioned, act the same way, supporting and shaping our lives so real growth can take place.
Practises like prayer, reading scripture, Being in community don't force growth, but they support and shape our lives so that growth can happen the way that it's meant to. Because true discipleship is choosing to arrange our lives to be with Jesus, putting him first, arranging other things around him, not fitting him in where we can squeeze him into our day. Arrange our lives to be with him, become like him, and begin to live as he would. And that's where real growth happens. Roots going deeper, lives being strengthened, and fruit becoming visible. Which is why discipleship isn't optional. It's at the very centre of what it means to follow Jesus. So when we come to the end of the Gospel of Matthew, we don't just read a conclusion. We're hearing Jesus's final words before his ascension. And final words matter. Because they carry weight, they reveal what matters most, and they clarify what cannot be forgotten. So Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus says, Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. So this isn't one teaching among many. This is the culmination of everything that he has been forming in them, in his disciples. For 3 years they've walked with him. They watched him pray, serve, teach, heal, sacrifice. They weren't just learning information, they were being shaped into a new way of life. And now Jesus says, "This is what it's all been for. Go and make disciples." And this same calling echoes across the Gospels and into the early church. In the Gospel of Mark, the call is to go into all the world and proclaim the good news. In the Gospel of Luke, repentance and forgiveness are preached to all the nations. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." and in Acts, "You will be my witnesses to the end of the earth." It's as if Jesus is saying, "If you forget anything else, don't forget this." Discipleship is not an optional add-on to faith. It's at the very centre of what it means to follow Jesus. And notice how he begins: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." That changes how we hear everything that follows.
"It isn't advice. This isn't a helpful spiritual suggestion. This is a command from the one who holds all authority. The risen Christ, the one who has defeated sin and death, is now commissioning his people. So when Jesus says, 'Go and make disciples,' he's not offering one ministry among many. He is defining the mission. The church doesn't create discipleship as one of its programmes. The church exists because of discipleship. To be a Christian is to be a disciple, someone who is learning to follow Jesus and to help others to do the same. So we have to be honest. We can attend church, we can believe all the right things, we can even be involved in good activities, but if we're not growing as disciples and helping others to grow as disciples, we are missing the very thing that Jesus told us not to forget. I want you to remember this one: the Great Commission is not the great suggestion. It is the defining call of every follower of Jesus, and it's how sprouts grow into something mature and strong and alive. So one of the things we wrestle with most as followers of Jesus is trying to figure out God's will in our lives.
Where should I go? What should I do? What's the right path? And then often, just when we finally figured all that out, our lives or our circumstances change and we're back on the journey to figure it all out again. And those are real questions. But at the highest level, God's will is not actually mysterious. It's remarkably clear. Jesus gives a direction that applies to every believer in every place, in every season. Be a disciple, make disciples. Which means we often ask, God, what do you want me to do with my life? And Jesus gently brings it back and says, I've already told you. Follow me and help others to follow me. That's the foundation. So the details, those vary. Different jobs, different callings, different seasons of life, different locations and opportunities. But underneath all of that, the direction remains the same. Because discipleship is not just something we do, it's who we are. Scripture holds those two together. In Luke 9:23, Jesus says, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." That's identity. A disciple is someone who follows Jesus with their whole life. But then in 2 Timothy 2:24, Verse 2, we see the outward movement: "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others." That's action.
Disciples make disciples. So discipleship is always both inward and outward, being formed by Jesus and helping others to be formed by him too. You can't separate the two. Because if we only focus on being, our faith can become very private and inward. And if we only focus on doing, it becomes performance and activity without any depth. But when those two come together, we begin to live a life that is rooted and growing. And that connects directly to where we've been in this series. Growth isn't accidental. A plant doesn't just decide one day to grow leaves. It grows because it's rooted and it's nourished and alive. And in the same way, discipleship is how a planted life actually grows up. It's how roots go deeper, it's how the stem becomes strong, it's how something visible begins to take shape. So wherever you find yourself— at work, at home, in school, in transition— the question isn't just, "What am I supposed to do here?" The deeper question is, What does it look like to follow Jesus here and to help someone else follow him too? Because that's not just part of the Christian life, it is the Christian life.
Alright, so everybody's sitting there trying to absorb all this information. So, remember how we did the— I'm pivoting here, we'll go back, but I'm gonna wake y'all up. So, Remember we did the books of the Bible? Who could forget, right, David? He's like, "No, you're not going to make us sing that again." No, we're not. But who saw my message and brought a Bible today? Excellent. I have a spare if anybody wants to. Dee, did you bring yours? Oh, you can use mine. We wouldn't want you to miss out on the game. Okay, so I'm going to make a point, and then everybody's Bibles have to be closed on their laps. I always used to put the kids' hands on their head, but I won't make you do that. You just keep your hands off your book if you can. Then, y'all know sword drills, right? Can I tell you, when I thought I invented those, 'Cause I didn't grow up going to church, so I never did them, and I thought of this game one time when I was doing KidsMin, and I did this, and I was so proud of myself for coming up with this great game, and then I found out that no, that's been going on for a long time.
So that was humbling. So no looking at your, what's the word? The what? Table of contents, the beginning thingy. They probably know their Bible because they can sing the song. So the point is to decide, is it Neverland or is it reality? Okay, and then I'll give you the scripture to find. So the question is, you can do whatever you want and you never have to grow up— reality or Neverland? Neverland. Louder, people. I Alright, are you ready? 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 11. Go! Holler out when you get it. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 11.
Okay?
Did you want to read it out?
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I put childish ways So growth means we don't stay where we started. Okay, second question. Reality or Neverland? You learn, grow, and sometimes things are hard, but you become stronger. Reality. Okay, Bible's closed. Ready? James 1:2-4, go.
Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. Let it grow so when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
So growth often comes through what stretches us. Well done. Okay, reality. A) Neverland. You stay exactly the same forever. Okay, well, I can't give a prize when everybody just calls it out. It's already done. Okay, Bibles are closed. Ephesians 4:14-15. Go! D. Ah, perfect.
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. Instead, speaking the perfect love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Very good. Following Jesus always leads somewhere. It leads to growth. Okay, Neverland or reality? You follow someone, learn from them, and your life begins to change. Okay, everybody's Bibles are closed? Luke chapter 9, verse 23.
Then he said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Discipleship is a life that is shaped by following Jesus. Well done. So here's the thing: Neverland does sound like fun at first, right? But nothing grows. And Scripture is clear: we weren't made to stay the same, we're made to grow. And when Jesus calls people to follow him, he's not inviting them into a life where nothing changes. He's inviting them into a life where everything begins to change. Which is why discipleship is not a moment, it's a process. Jesus even says in Luke 2:52, that he grew in wisdom and stature. So if growth mattered for him, I think it kinda matters for us. So one of the easiest ways to misunderstand discipleship is to reduce it to a single moment, a decision, a prayer, a point in time. But when Jesus gives the Great Commission, he makes it clear that discipleship is not an event, it's a process. At the centre is one main command: make disciples. And everything else in the passage explains how that happens. We go, we baptise, we teach. In other words, discipleship is not just about someone coming up, coming to faith. That's just the beginning. It's about walking with them until their life begins to look like Jesus.
It's a journey, it's a progression, it's It's a life being formed over time. And you can see that movement unfold in 4 simple ways.
Go.
Like, stay here for a minute, but yes. So we don't stay still, we move toward people. We don't wait for people to come to us. We step into their lives. This reflects the very heart of God, who in Christ came toward us. Discipleship begins with presence, and then we are to tell. We share the gospel. There comes a point where we don't just live differently, we speak. Faith comes through hearing, says that in Romans 10:17, and people need to know who Jesus is and what he has done. Before we tell, though, So we've gone and we will tell. In between those, what do we need to do? Today. It wasn't always this way, but today, in order to get to tell somebody about our faith, in order to share the gospel with someone— Jordan? Can I give you an example and then maybe you'll— So, If you were at school and there was a new kid in school and you knew nothing about them, but you just walked up to them and started telling them, sharing the gospel, do you think that might go over well, or do you think that you should get to know him first, or her?
Right. So we need a relationship with someone before we share the gospel. So we go and we tell, not necessarily on a mountain, but we do need to build relationship in there. And then we baptise. It's so exciting! We have baptisms happening this summer. This is going to be awesome. We bring people into community. Baptism is not a private moment. It's an entry into the body of Christ. It's a visible declaration that someone now belongs. And as we see in Acts 2:41-42, belief immediately led to belonging and a shared life. So, do we just go, tell, build relationship in between, and then baptise, and then leave them there? No, but unfortunately that's often what happens. Because after that we need to teach. We help people to live it out. And this is where the process really becomes clear. Jesus doesn't say, "Teach them what I taught." He says, "Teach them to obey everything I have commanded." This is about lived transformation. It's about formation, not just information. Because discipleship is not just knowing what Jesus said, it's learning to live like he said. And that's why it takes time. Even in Jesus's own ministry, he didn't gather a crowd for a moment.
He walked with a small group over years. He taught, he corrected, he encouraged, he challenged. And he was patient with their misunderstandings and failures. Why? Because real growth is a process, and it tends to be slow because we're human. It's relational and it's intentional, and it doesn't happen overnight. The Apostle Paul reflects the same mindset in Galatians 4:19 when he says, "I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you." That's the goal. Not just decisions made for Christ, but formation. Not just starting, but growing. And this matters for us because it reshapes how we think about success in the Christian life. Success is not just, "Did someone respond?" It's, "Are we helping people to grow? Are we walking with others? Are we being shaped ourselves? Are we becoming more like Jesus over time?" because discipleship is the process by which a new life in Christ actually matures. It's how a sprout becomes something strong and rooted. It's how faith moves from being something that we believe to something that reshapes how we live. And that means we don't rush it, we don't reduce it, and we don't walk away from it.
We commit to it patiently, relationally, and intentionally, because that's how Jesus does it. With us. We often think that discipleship is something that we can do on our own. Just me, my Bible, my personal faith. Have you ever heard a Christian say, "I don't need to go to church. I'm good. God and I are good." Right?
Yeah.
Well, That's not the picture that we see in Scripture. From the very beginning, discipleship is deeply, intentionally communal. Even in the Great Commission, Jesus connects discipleship to baptism, and baptism is never just a private, individual moment. It's not someone sitting at home in their bathtub and just decides like, "Hey, I'm going to baptise myself," and dunks themselves. Right? It's a public declaration that brings someone into a people. You aren't just baptised into faith, you're baptised into a body. And that's why scripture consistently uses this language of the church as a body in passages like 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, like we looked at last week, right? Many parts, one body, deeply connected and dependent on one another. Which means you cannot separate discipleship from the local church. You can't grow a disciple on your own because Jesus never designed it that way. Think about how Jesus himself discipled people. He didn't hand out a set of teachings and send people off individually. Can you imagine? Here's your scroll, go home and lit— and read and become a disciple that way? He gathered a group, they walked together, they learned together, they struggled, they failed, they asked questions and grew together.
And after Jesus' resurrection, that pattern continued. In Acts 2:42-47, we don't just see people believing, we see a community forming. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, they shared meals, they prayed together, they supported one another, they grew together. Discipleship was not a private pursuit, it was a shared life. And this connects directly to what we said before. We are the church. Not just something that we attend, but something that we belong to. Which means discipleship is not just about my growth, it's about our growth. We speak truth into each other's lives, we encourage one another when faith feels hard, we carry burdens together, we celebrate what God is doing in each other. This is how growth actually happens. Because left on our own, it's really easy to drift. It's easy to stall. It's easy to just get comfortable and stay there, your own little Neverland. But in community, we are sharpened and supported and stretched. Hebrews 10:24-25 reminds us that we are called to consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, encouraging one another. That's discipleship language. So if discipleship is growing up in Christ, the church is the place where that growth actually happens.
Not perfectly, not easily, but intentionally, relationally, and faithfully. Because we don't just follow Jesus alone, we follow him together. Discipleship is empowered by his presence. And this is where we, we need to end, because without this, everything else can start to feel kind of heavy. When Jesus gives the command in Matthew 28, he doesn't stop at "Go and make disciples." He finishes with a promise: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." The same Jesus who sends us is the one who stays with us. Which means discipleship is never something that we do on our own. We're not left to figure it out. We're not left to carry the weight. We are not left to produce growth in our own strength. Jesus is present. He is the one who forms us. He's the one who works through us, and he is the one who brings growth. Like he says in John 15, verse 5, "Apart from me you can do nothing." But the flip side of that is just as important. With him, we are never alone in it. So this isn't pressure, it's an invitation. An invitation to walk with him and to grow with him and to trust him as we follow him.
He will do the work in us and through us that we could never do on our own. So we don't grow by trying harder. We grow by walking with him. And we grow by helping others to do the same. If sprouting is about belonging, being planted, coming to life in Christ, then growing up is about becoming. So if you plant a seed and it never grows, is that a good thing? No! Call it out there, be confident. Right, something's wrong. But if a seed grows into a sprout, does it stay a sprout? No. Have you ever seen a plant stay tiny forever? So, yeah. So as I'm doing this, I'm realising that I'm actually growing sprouts, like, to stay sprouts in my kitchen at the moment. But not good things happen because they stay a sprout and then they get eaten. So, like, they're gone. So we don't want to stay a sprout, okay? So we don't want plants to stay tiny forever. We want them to grow. And in the same way, a follower of Jesus doesn't stay where they started. We grow in trust and in obedience and becoming more like him. So what does a healthy plant do after it grows?
Think of a spider plant or the life cycle of a dandelion. So before it dies, it goes from a yellow dandelion. What happens after it's a yellow dandelion? White dandelion. It's the white dandelion. And what are all those white things? Seeds. Seeds. And have you ever blown on a dandelion when it's at the seed stage? So it spreads. And so what does it make? More dandelions, which is why some people might get mad at you, but— So, it produces more life, and that's how it works for us too. We follow Jesus, we're changed by him, and then we help others to follow him, and that's what it means to grow up. And that's the movement of discipleship, a life rooted in Jesus that keeps on growing and keeps helping others to grow too.
