Good morning! My name is Matt Martinez, and I am the pastor here at Renovation Church Shoreview.

Quick announcement:

At Renovation Church, we pray the impossible. We pray that God will soften the hearts of the people in the north metro so they will come to know him. We pray for the opportunity to present the gospel to every person in our city. We believe that God can save, heal, and transform- and so we pray for it. This is an important value to us, and so we set aside time where a group of people gather before each service to pray.

I want to invite you to gather with the prayer team on Sundays. They meet in the hallway behind the cafe 15 minutes before every service.

Alright, let’s get to the message:

The poet John Donne once wrote, “No man (or woman) is an island.”

And he is right,

Every single one of us is following someone or something.

None of us are formed in a vacuum: your family… your friends… your experiences… they have a shaping effect on who you are. And so my question is

Who or what are you following? Or you could ask, “who is discipling you?”

A disciple is a dedicated follower or learner who aligns themselves to the teaching of a leader or mentor.

And many of us would say we are a disciple of Jesus.

But if we slowed down and looked closely at our lives, we would realize:

We want to follow Jesus…but our habits often point somewhere else.

Imagine you are sitting on your couch one evening watching the Minnesota Wild in the NHL playoffs when you hear a knock at your door.

It turns out the Minnesota Wild has experienced some crucial injuries, and the coaches and staff need another player to help them win the championship.

They have tracked the physical and mental data of every person in Minnesota, and they have determined that you are the perfect person to join the team and help them win!

This is an exciting moment for you. But after they leave, you realize that you haven’t played professional hockey before. You only skate a couple times of year around Christmas, and you get winded every time you go up stairs.

It occurs to you that you could not make it through one game even if you try really hard. You must first enter into a life of training and rhythms that will allow you to do what you cannot do on willpower alone.

So, what we as Christians need to do is stop trying to just be a better follower of Jesus and start training to be one.

Our passage today in 2 Timothy offers a practical model of discipleship for us to begin training to become a follower of Jesus.

So please turn now in your Bible to 2 Timothy 2:1-10. You can use the Renovation Church Bible found under your chair. If you are using that Bible, you can turn to page 813 .

It is important to remember that 2 Timothy is a letter written by Paul from prison to a young pastor named Timothy. Paul knew firsthand that being a follower of Jesus was difficult- he was in prison waiting to be executed for following Jesus. And now, Timothy was starting to know about that hardship as well.

Paul wants Timothy to stay faithful to God, and so he encourages him to have the endurance to keep going.

Today, we are going to read about a number of examples of how to be a disciple of Jesus. My hope is that we can take these practical examples and put them into practice starting tomorrow. So let’s first begin with our passage in 2 Timothy 2 page 813. We will start reading where you see the big number 2.

2 Timothy 2:1-2

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 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.

Often, when we hear about ways to improve and grow, we want the step by step process- we want it right away so we can begin improving.

But disciples of Jesus must first live by a principle if they are ever going to accomplish the steps. And the thing to know first is that

Disciples of Jesus are strengthened by His grace.

Discipleship under your own power will always lead to disappointment. If I were to ask any follower of

Jesus how it was going, we could all be honest and say we wish we could do better, or know we should do more. There can be guilt associated with being a disciple of Jesus.

It is important for me to say here: Have grace for

yourself on the journey, because God has grace for you as you learn to follow Him.

We find the principle of discipleship right away in verse one, but then Paul goes on to say in verse 2:

“The things you have heard me say… entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

Do you see the pattern in this verse?

Paul learns from God → Paul instructs Timothy → Timothy entrusts leadership to others → who then teach others.

Discipleship is not just about you.

It’s about who comes after you.

With the rise of influencers in the media at large. The idea of creating a following of people who listen to your teaching is quite popular and enticing. There is a lot of honor and prestige given to people with a big following. I looked this up and there are different categories of influencers depending on the size of their audience.

Mega-Influencers- this would be the most followers- celebrity level influencers

Macro-Influencers- lot of followers-would be brand awareness influencers

Mid-tier Influencers

Micro-Influencers- this would be influencers with a specific niche- home decor, diet and work outs, etc.

And there are even some people under the micro influencers called Nano-Influencers.

If you are a nano influencer, nobody cares….

The world is quick to give honor to people who influence large numbers of people, sometimes, in spite of their character. The world places a high value on their leadership and influence.

But in Christianity, we believe in Jesus who called everyone to be a follower and no one to be a leader- because he is the leader.

I have said this to many of you over the last number of weeks. As followers or disciples of Jesus, our job is not to save people or change people. Our job is to point people toward the God that can.

The thousands of people (or just the one) you influence toward Jesus are not your numbers or followers- they are God’s numbers. Our job as followers of Jesus is to be a disciple of Jesus and teach others to be and do the same.

This idea Paul introduces here is so important, that he revisits it again at the end of our passage, and we will come to that. But, let’s continue on for now.

So, Jesus is looking for followers. What kind of disciples is he looking for? What do they look like? What do they sound like? What do they do? Paul gives us some great examples in the following verses. Let’s begin reading again in verse 3.

3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.

Paul’s first example for the model of a disciple is a soldier because they have been trained to have the right priorities.

And disciples of Jesus need to

Example #1: Keep their priorities in order

And they do this when they:

Put Jesus first.

We can be tempted to make Jesus fit into our lives, rather than fitting our life into Jesus.

We say things like, my God time is at this time, I serve when it’s convenient for me. I trust the Lord in these areas, but I am not willing to give over this one.

Our priorities get out of balance.

A soldier knows they must follow the orders of their commanding officer, and are willing to sacrifice their life to follow the order.

Why?

Because their priority is clear.

Disciples of Jesus should not be pulled in every direction;not consumed by every opinion that they read and hear.

Don’t you find it curious, that as we take steps of faith, we also feel resistance and challenge in life? If the enemy of our souls can just keep us distracted, we will not be ready to listen and obey when God speaks.

In order to grow in your discipleship to Jesus, we must ask a simple question to begin checking our priorities:

Reframing Question “Jesus, what do you want me to do right now?”

In all seasons of life, good and bad, a disciple of Jesus puts Him first.

But a disciple of Jesus, needs more than just the right priorities. Let’s come back to verse 5 in our passage.

5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.

A disciple of Jesus must

Example #2: Close the door on compromise

In order for an athlete to be successful in their chosen sport, they need to train for the game they are competing in. They need to know the rules and how to work within them to win.

I have a number of nieces and nephews, along with my own two kids. A while ago, we were all together, and they wanted to race me. All of them are still young, so it is not hard for me to win the race. But what I like to do is at the start of the race: “Ready, set… and I will start running. Then, I have taken five steps, I shout ‘go’!

All of them get so mad, because those are not the rules of the race. They argue that if I am going to win, I should win by the rules of the game.

Disciples of Jesus need to learn to

Follow Jesus on His terms.

Because even small compromises matter.

One of our Shoreview elders, said this to me in small group at House Church once:

You can give your whole house to Jesus…

but if you leave one nail on the wall, the enemy will use it by hanging a skunk on it. And it will stink up everything.

We say we want to follow Jesus, but we don’t follow any of his rhythms.

Reframing question(we need to ask as disciples of Jesus is): “Jesus, is there anything in my life that is outside of your will?”

This is a great question to work through with another person. Your House Church elder, small group leader, your team director, or the staff here would love to be your coach and help you align the rhythms of your life with Jesus.

A disciple of Jesus has the right priorities by putting God first in their lives. They model discipline by aligning it with God’s example, and then they have to work hard at staying the course. Take a look at verses 6 and 7 in our passage.

6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Example #3 (disciples of Jesus): Keep a pattern of Perseverance

A farmer works hard. They plant seeds…prepare and water the fields,

But they also wait and trust the process of growth because they know…

Growth doesn’t happen overnight, it happens over time.

With the summer just around the corner, I can see all the parents with young kids pulling out the bikes. And one of the key principles in riding a bike is to keep pedaling. A new rider is always a little off balance, and at even the slightest tip, they stop pedaling, the bike slows down and they fall. You have to keep pedaling because that gives you the momentum you need to keep riding.

Being a disciple of Jesus is hard, and when our priorities get all mixed up, or we make a mistake and mess up all of our rhythms, it is tempting to give up. But this is when, with God’s grace, we should keep going!

This is actually a great place to come back to the beginning of our message today. Disciples of Jesus are strengthened by God’s grace.

So the question becomes:

Reframing Question: What is our responsibility? (and what is God’s?)

If you came to our home, you’d notice large hydrangea bushes on either side of the house. But when I first planted them, they were small—almost nothing.

I gave them what I could: fertilizer, water, time, and even some protection from the deer. For a while, it didn’t look like anything was happening. Growth was slow… almost invisible. But in time, they grew.

Here’s what I’ve learned: I could be faithful with what was in my control—adding fertilizer, watering consistently, protecting them. But I was never in control of the sun, the rain, or what was happening beneath the surface in the soil and roots. That part belonged to God.

Not getting something out of your bible reading, or forgetting to pray happens. But coming back to it and persevering, matters- that’s your responsibility.

Pastor and theologian Dallas Willard calls this the “Sacred Ordinary”.

In the high moments and low moments of life, we experience what we did in the ordinary moments. If you let Him, God will shape your character every day whether you feel it or not.

There is one final part of our verses on the farmer that Paul writes about that can be hard to understand unless we put it into context of the other verses in our passage. He writes:

“The farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.”

Meaning: Disciples cannot teach discipleship unless they first are disciples themselves. Let’s take a look at the final verses in our passage for some context here.

8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

A disciple of Jesus must

Example #4: Make disciples who make disciples who make disciples

Remember the pattern Paul wrote about in verse two?

Paul learns from God → Paul instructs Timothy → Timothy entrusts leadership to others → who then teach others.

Paul writes in verse 10 that he will endure anything so that others (like Timothy and us) can know it.

There are some really important phrases in verse 2 and then verses 8-10 that give us clues on how to do all of this.

Verse 2: “the things you heard me say”... and “to teach…”

Verse 10: “so they may obtain”

These are important: You must first listen, so that you can know, so that you will be qualified to teach. You must be a disciple of Jesus in order to make disciples of Jesus.

Remember at the beginning how I talked about how we are all disciples of something or someone. We are following someone, and someone is following us.

The truth, is that:

You are already making disciples.

The scary question is: Of what?

When I was at North Central University, there was this basket tucked away in the cafeteria that held grapefruit halves wrapped in plastic.

As you can imagine… not a popular spot.

But I was a frequent visitor.

I’d sit down and eat my grapefruit, and my friends—

Including my girlfriend Ally, who is now my wife—

would look at me like I had made a terrible decision.

So one day, feeling the pressure, I said:

“You know… eating grapefruit increases your metabolism by 10%.”

I made that up.

I may have heard something like it… but I never checked if it was true.

But once I said it—I was in.

I became a grapefruit evangelist.

For weeks, I was promoting the ten percent.

People started grabbing grapefruit.

They moved the basket to a more visible spot.

Sales were booming.

And then one day, Ally told me that she was sitting in the cafeteria…and someone sat down next to her with a grapefruit and said:

“You know… grapefruit increases your metabolism by 10%.”

And I thought—

That’s my disciple.

Here’s the point:

We reproduce what we believe and what we do. —even when we are not aware of it.

And so the question we need to answer on how do we make disciples who make disciples who make disciples of Jesus is…

Reframing Question: Are my words and actions pointing people toward or away from Jesus?

Why be a follower of Jesus—is it worth the challenge?

Paul says in verse 8: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead…”

This is the center of following Jesus. Paul is suffering. He is chained. He is near the end.

And yet he says: “God’s word is not chained.”

This is what we need to be reminded of:

Your circumstances do not limit God’s mission—in your life, or in the life of others.

You may feel trapped in your life and not growing.

Your spiritual life may feel like a desert.

You may feel chained by habits that take you away from Jesus.

But you cannot chain the Word of God.

And that’s why this matters.

All of these examples Paul gives us— the soldier, the athlete, the farmer—they are not just about trying harder.

They are about training to follow Jesus, trusting His grace, and aligning your life with Him over time.

Because this life is not the end.

As verse 10 says—there is “eternal glory.”

Followers of Jesus have a hope that goes beyond this moment.

What feels slow… what feels unseen… what feels difficult…is not wasted.

God is shaping something in you.

And He is working through you.

So here is the question we leave with today:

Who are you following?

And what kind of disciples are you making?

Because you are already making disciples.

The invitation is simple:

Stop trying to follow Jesus on willpower alone.

Start training to follow Him—by His grace.

And trust that over time,

He will do what you cannot do on your own.

Let’s pray.