NewCity Orlando Sermons

What Is A Disciple of Jesus? | Ephesians 2:8-10; John 17:4; 1 Corinthians 15:58

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Pastor of Congregational Care & Missions Jason Dunn concludes our sermon series on the definition of a disciple: one who is united to Jesus, in communion with God, in community with others, and commissioned for the world. Pastor Jason focuses on the final piece: the commission. Using the story of a tragic bridge collapse in 1907 and the subsequent creation of the "Order of the Ring" for engineers, he explores how our work, whether as engineers, artists, parents, or cashiers, is deeply meaningful and meant to glorify God. Just as engineers are reminded to pursue excellence for the public good, disciples of Jesus are called to see their work as sacred and impactful, contributing to human flourishing.

Drawing from Ephesians 2:10, John 17:4, and 1 Corinthians 15:58, Pastor Jason unpacks the plan, purpose, and power of our commission as disciples. Our work is not merely about financial gain but about reflecting God’s character, pushing back darkness, and participating in His mission for the world. Through both our work and witness, we are invited into a co-mission with God—whether through intentional evangelism or simply embodying the gospel in our daily lives. Ultimately, it is through God’s power, not our own, that our labor is never in vain. Join us as we reflect on how to live as disciples who integrate work and witness for God’s glory.

Speaker 1:

Hello everyone. This is Pastor Damian. You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, orlando. At New City, we believe all of us need all of Jesus for all of life. For more resources, visit our website at newcityorlandocom. Thanks for listening.

Speaker 2:

Church, join me in the prayer of illumination. Church, join me in the prayer of illumination. Holy Spirit, soften our hearts that the seed of your word might be planted and multiplied. May we hear your word and bear fruit through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen, please remain standing for the reading of scripture, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. This is God's word. Thanks be to God. Your labor is not in vain.

Speaker 1:

This is God's word. Well, I want to start by saying we are in a sermon series that we're unpacking this is the part I couldn't memorize, but I'm going to look at my notes here Unpacking our biblical, robust, simple, reproducible, compelling definition of what a disciple is. Disciples are united to Jesus, in communion with God, community with one another and commission for the world. And today we're ending that series and I'm doing the last part, focusing on the commission part for the world. Now I want to do a little bit of show and tell.

Speaker 1:

I want to start by talking to you about this little ring. It's kind of hard to see, but this ring I've been carrying around on my keychain for over 20 years, and the story behind that ring is it goes back to the St Lawrence River over 100 years ago, near Quebec City Now. Canada and US were major trading partners back then as we are now, I think and they needed to develop more ways across the border to get goods from one side to another. But there were significant challenges in this place, in this location, because of the river's width and the river's depth, and so they were thinking through, they were trying to engineer, like what could happen here? How could we build this bridge, and the bridge would have been the longest bridge and it was the longest bridge built at that time. It had a cannon lever span of over 1,800 feet, and I'm saying those numbers just for all the bridge builders that may be in the audience. And as I was reflecting upon that ring and upon that story, I was drawn to a line in a poem from an English poet, robert Browning, and he says this line man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for A man's reach should exceed his grasp. That sounds like a lot to me the Tower of Babel in the beginning in the book of Genesis, where all of humanity was coming together to build a great name for themselves, really beyond their ability, right, and God had to get involved in there in that. And even don't we do that still today we build great big buildings for our own namesake, we build really fast cars, we build rockets that shoot us out into outer space. In man's reach it really does go past go past his grasp.

Speaker 1:

Well, back to the bridge in Quebec, august 29th in 1907, the south arm and part of the central section of that bridge collapsed. It collapsed in 15 seconds, and of the 85 workers that were working to complete that bridge that day. 75 of them lost their lives in an instant. Now, investigations of that disaster, of that collapse, it kind of brought to the forefront that there were significant design errors with the engineering behind that bridge. The engineers and designers who built that bridge, they kind of went to their own beat and the realization in the investigation was wow, we need to create standards for what good work looks like. We need to create standards that would protect the public and those who built it, the workers there. And so I imagine that these engineers to go back to that line from the poem they were reaching beyond their grasp. They were reaching for prestige, for ambition and control, and their significant failures were driven in part, I think, by status, power and approval and achievement. They set themselves to their own standards.

Speaker 1:

So what does this have to do with the ring? I put it back in my pocket so I won't lose it. What does this have to do with the ring? Well, when you graduate as an engineer, you have an opportunity to join the order of the ring. I know that sounds really, really cool. And this has nothing to do with Tolkien, nothing with good and evil and the land of orcs and elves. But it has to do as a reminder. It ties to the bridge itself. It said the ring is made out of steel and they said early on, when they started the order of the engineer, that they took steel from that collapse and they created these rings as a reminder that, engineers, they have a vow to the public to do good work that would not collapse and cause harm to the public.

Speaker 1:

So our work for me, as I carry that ring around as an engineer for over 10 years, I was reminded that the work I do matters, the work I do should glorify God. I was reminded that the work I do matters, the work I do should glorify God and all the work that you all do should glorify God too. It should bring about the flourishing in our cities. The point is this good work matters, but how do we feel about that? Sometimes our work and also our witness. In our work, they feel fruitless. Are we just reaching beyond our grass to when the bridge is going to collapse next? Both our work and witness. They feel pointless because in our work sometimes it feels meaningless. In our witness because it feels lacking power. At times, our work and witness, they feel selfish. Our work because it's for our own ambitions, our own gains, to build our own kingdoms and our witness. They feel sometimes manipulating, like we're trying to gain influence with others. In addition to those ways that we feel about our work and witness, I think we live in a cultural tendency and I mean a Christian cultural tendency to misunderstand or resist God's invitation to join him in his work for the world by placing a real divide between our Witness and our work, a divide between our sacred callings as a royal priesthood and our secular callings as workers.

Speaker 1:

Your work matters as a disciple of Jesus and we just saw a wonderful way how an artist's work matters. The work you do as an engineer, as a builder, as an artist, as a mechanic, as a cashier, as a parent. That work matters to God and it matters as a disciple of Jesus. So this morning we will explore how being a disciple in our co-mission for the world is through our work and our witness. As disciples, we are united to Jesus. That's the beginning part of our definition and we are invited in a co-mission. We are doing this work with God. We'll explore that through these points the plan in our commission, the purpose in our commission and the power in our commission. Please open up your Bibles, your devices, to Ephesians, chapter 2, starting in verse 10.

Speaker 1:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I think the point here is pretty clear that we are made to work. We are not made to gain enough money so we can get to early retirement and try to golf every day and some of you in here I really demean this. Some of you in here know that wouldn't work out well for me because I am not a good golfer, and just don't think I'm saying that because I am a bad golfer. But God has made us for more than that. We are made to do work all our days in pursuit of the good works that God has prepared beforehand. And I believe many of these good works will happen day in and day out, in our jobs, in our vocations, as we are called in different ways to serve. Work is not about an economic exchange, a financial gain or a pathway to the American dream, but work is about God honoring human creativity and contribution to the common good. We are God's workmanship and we must live productive, full lives of meaningful work, with a paycheck or not all the days.

Speaker 1:

Tim Keller in his book Every Good Endeavor, which I highly recommend reading if you haven't. It has such such good things to talk about in our work, but he says this, and I quote it has such good things to talk about in our work, but he says this, and I quote work is not primarily a thing one does to live, but the thing one lives to do. So work is the thing that one lives to do. It is the medium in which we offer ourselves to God. So God is not against retirement, god is not against golf, but God is against us slowing down in the pursuit of good works that he has prepared for us. There are good works that he has given us to do and that is his plan for our commission. It says in Psalm 139, verse 16, that God knows us even in the womb, as we are being knitted together, and he has guess what a plan for our lives which involves good works. And not only has he prepared these good works, but we see in verse 10 that he expects that we should walk in them. This is God's plan. This is God's plan.

Speaker 1:

Now the theology of work here in New City is honored, I think, especially well because of Damien's leadership in helping us to integrate our faith and our work together in a life of coherence. And I know you all will join me as I continue to pray for the next steps for the Sheeter family as they focus on the next journey, about their fruitful work. We are going to greatly benefit from your efforts there and your good work, damian. Now, this theology around work is a consistent theme for the beginning of the Bible. We see it in Genesis 1, the cultural mandate. Genesis 1, verse 28, as it calls us to fill the earth and subdue it. So, before the fall, before Genesis 3, we are called to do good works for the common good of human flourishing. And if you take a look at chapter 1 in Genesis, we are called to continue what God started.

Speaker 1:

God created out of nothing which we can't do but God, just like God, we are created to form. God actually works through our vocation. God works through our labors. We are his instruments. Whether we are at office or at a home or in the community. We actually become the mask of God. As Martin Luther puts it. Quote God wants to give his gifts in the fields, at home and everywhere else, through the mask of God in his people. So think of it this way God provides food through farmers. He provides education through teachers, healing through doctors. Even the simplest acts of work caring for a child, serving a customer, building a project are all part of God's providence. This means that the good works we are called to are not just abstract spiritual activities. They are concrete daily tasks that God uses to care for his world and advance his kingdom. When we embrace our work with this mindset, we see that our work the day in and day out, that we experience it's meaningful. The day in and day out experience is sacred. It's deeply connected to God's plan in the world.

Speaker 1:

Here's one quick example Pivot tables in Excel. Anybody kind of get an amen about pivot tables. Who said that? But what does the pivot table do? It takes massive amounts of data and then it collects the data and it organizes data and it puts it in a helpful way and it creates meaning out of that. So when we understand the plan in our oh? So here's some questions. Excuse me If you want to question, if you want to come talk to me about pivot tables afterwards, I'd love to talk to you. I'm still trying to convince our staff that they're a really good thing.

Speaker 1:

In ministry there's less pivot tables, but so you were made for work, no matter where you are, and your work does matter. So here are some questions I think you should ask yourself that I also ask myself whether I'm in a for-profit place setting or in this current job that I have. These are the questions that we ask ourselves around work. How does our work reflect God's character? Does our work bring order? Does our work represent care? How does your work push back the darkness that's in the world? Does it bring justice? Does it bring wisdom? And where are the temptations to compromise in our work? So we understand that the plan, our commission is to work, but what is the purpose of our commission? How does that purpose actually drive us? How does that purpose align us?

Speaker 1:

Turn with me in your Bibles to the second reading in the Gospel of John, chapter 17, verse 4. John 17, verse 4. Jesus says I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you, god the Father, gave me to do. What does it mean that Jesus accomplished the work that he was given by God the Father? If you're a good, reformed theologian, which I'm sure there's lots of you guys in here. You might think that that means the finished work of Jesus Christ redemption, accomplished through his life, death and resurrection. But he hasn't. When he said this, he hasn't even gone to the cross yet. So how can Jesus say I accomplished the work that you gave me to do? Well, what has Jesus done? Who was he sitting around in that table during the high priestly prayer? He was sitting around his disciples. He made disciples.

Speaker 1:

The work that had already been accomplished past tense in this verse verse 4, was the work of raising up disciples to carry on, the work of seeing the Lord's prayer answered here on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus had raised up and given his life to make disciples. The purpose in his work was to witness and make disciples. And what are Jesus's last instructions? Kenny said this earlier in the beginning of the sermon In the Great Commission. He calls us into that same work and witness to make disciples.

Speaker 1:

Now, to bolster this idea that we are also called to witness, we are also called to make disciples. Not only you get in a great commission, but if you've been reading along in the McShane reading plan, which is our corporate family reading plan that we read together here in New City. You can find more information about that plan in the app If you've been following along because, by the way, it's a great time to start that plan because we're in January and it's just a good season always actually to start reading the Bible. But we've been reading along right in the book of Acts, and if you look at the Acts of the Apostles as the church is established, there is witness language throughout that book. It's just replete, throughout that book, actually, and it starts not only just in chapter one, but it goes throughout the whole book. In chapter one, though, jesus says the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And it carries on throughout the book.

Speaker 1:

As I've said, the plan of our commission as a disciple and a disciple maker for the world is through our work, but the purpose in our work, I think, is to witness. Now, does that mean you have to evangelize and do the four spiritual laws with your co-workers every day, at every meeting, every chance you get? Well, maybe for some of you. However, I think there's a more nuanced approach we can take. There's a helpful distinction from Leslie Newbegin, and it's the difference between missional intention and missional dimension. Missional intention is proclaiming the gospel and inviting others to know Christ. This involves intentional evangelism, discipleship and the sharing of the hope of salvation through Jesus. Missional dimension reminds us that all of life is a witness to the gospel Our work, our relationships, our daily behaviors. They testify, they give witness to God's reign in both word and deed. Missional intention is deliberately proclaiming the gospel and making disciples. Missional dimension highlights how all of life can reflect the gospel and I think we, as disciples of Jesus, are called to both in our commission with God. This is what gives our work purpose and meaning. We show who God is through our words and our actions as a disciple. The plan of our commission with God for the world is through our work, but also through our witness in our work. The witness provides purpose and meaning to our work.

Speaker 1:

For me, I know I could tell you stories of where I've succeeded and also probably more stories where I have failed, and I wanted to use a metaphor about the long game and the short game. Now, I don't like the fact that the metaphor or that analogy that we use about the long game and the short game Now I don't like the fact that the metaphor or that analogy that we use uses the word game, because I don't think life is all about a game, but there is something helpful in that. Sometimes some of us in our witness, we play the long game right. We wait to tell somebody that we are a disciple of Jesus and we're just going to do our actions in that long game. We're gonna be honest, we're gonna be truthful, we're gonna show up, we're gonna listen. Well, and that may be the case that you need to be a witness in that way. Also, you may need to be a witness in the short game, like I've done before.

Speaker 1:

I've started a Bible study at my office called Don't Waste your Life. Don't Waste your Life by John Piper, which was kind of a confusing Bible study thing for some of us that I led in that. But there are ways that we can lean in to give our intention in our witness with proclaiming the gospel. But there are also ways, like I've often taken co-workers out to lunch and just spent a year to listen, to ask the deep questions that no one else is asking of them, to say the you know the proverbial. Well, tell me more about that, tell me how you're struggling with this, which brings me to a point that Kenny said earlier.

Speaker 1:

We are launching communities this semester, in this next week and the week beyond, and there are ways that you can not only produce work and be intentional in your vocational, your daily callings, but also with one another, to bolster up our family, our value in family. Here are some questions that I would ask of you all whether or not we need to play more of the long game with people or the short game. What is your witness to Jesus already, like with those you work with? So you have a witness, but what is it? Do some meditation, reflection on that? Ask God, what is the witness that I bring in my work? Is there a way that you stand out as a disciple in the workplace? Who is God calling you to be more intentional with? So maybe you live a perfect, missional, dimensional life and you don't need to add that, but maybe there are those that you need to be more intentional with in proclaiming the good news.

Speaker 1:

Well, how are we feeling with our work in witness? Do we feel completely satisfied? Are we feeling fruitful and fulfilled or barren and poured out in our work? And fulfilled or barren and poured out in our work. What happens when our grasp is beyond our reach and the failures come? What actually tips us out of our slumber to witness to those around us? Our only hope and source to empower us from the fruitlessness in our work and in our witness is the faith, one who is steadfast and movable before us. Turn with me to that last verse in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.

Speaker 1:

We see here what is the power in our commission and this verse. It starts with therefore and I never had to take an English class in college because it's not required as an engineer, but I heard it said that whenever there's a, therefore, you have to ask what is it there for? So if you move back up in your Bibles to verse 54, it has this beautiful hymn, it has this beautiful poem, this beautiful song. It says death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.

Speaker 1:

So, after the Passover meal, yes, jesus was betrayed, and on the cross he was crucified and he accomplished that redemptive work. That is secured, but it is secured by his resurrection. That's what the whole chapter of 15 in 1 Corinthians talks about. We are to be pitied. Our faith is futile, paul says, if Christ was not raised from the dead. And so my question to you is are you united to Jesus' accomplished work? Are you united to his victory in resurrection? That is the only thing that will free us from fruitlessness and pointless and the selfishness in our work and in our witness. He has accomplished the work that we need to tie into and it is being applied through the world in the work of all of us.

Speaker 1:

Jesus is the second Adam who subdued all his enemies and ours and fulfilled the law of God From Genesis 1, the cultural mandate. He did subdue the earth. His victory makes our work in the thorns and thistles not in vain, because there are plenty of thorns and thistles in our work. Is there not Our labor, our witness are not in vain as we walk the good works that he has prepared for us? And what do we do in our work in witness? We give them over to God for empowerment.

Speaker 1:

Now back to the building analogy of the bridge in the Quebec City. Back in Ephesians and I know I'm having you guys jump all over through your Bibles, maybe this is a sword drill but later in Ephesians 2, verses 19 through 22, we see another analogy about how Jesus is the chief cornerstone. Just as the building structure relies on the cornerstone and the foundation for stability, we depend on Christ for the empowerment and the meaning in our work. It is in the Lord, it is in Jesus, that he accomplishes the victory, and he's the one who provides our foundation. He is the one who is our power and strength in the work. So, as a disciple of Jesus, we see that it is the finished work of Jesus, in our union to him, that gives our work focus, meaning and purpose. Being united to Jesus is where the story of our work and our witness is regained.

Speaker 1:

From the fall in Genesis, chapter three, from the fall in the Tower of Babel, from the collapse of a bridge in Quebec, it is the resurrection power of Jesus that makes our work and witness in the mission of God not in vain. Let us pray to that Savior. Father, we are grateful for your love in this that you sent your Son to ransom a people so that people from all nations can come to worship the King through their work. In the witness Jesus in you. There is life. Through their work and witness Jesus, in you, there is life. And we behold not only the groom who marries us, but the one who calls us friend. Spirit, fill us up and help us to love and behold you in praise. Help us to move toward others. In our work and in our witness, we give you the glory and praise, amen. So now, at this point in our witness, we give you the glory and praise, amen. So now, at this point in our service, we want to take a moment and respond to God. We have received his word and now we want to respond.

Speaker 1:

And maybe there's a way that I ask a lot of questions in this sermon that you've already are thinking how you want to respond to what you've heard, preached and what you see in scriptures. But here are some questions you can think about. Maybe the Spirit of God is asking you to move closer to somebody, and so ask God to raise up that name in your mind. Who can I disciple? Who within our community can I disciple? Who can I move more closer to with intentional witness? Who can I move more closer to with intentional witness? Or another question is where do I need to rest in the victory, in the empowerment, in Jesus, in my work? Where do I need to give up my control? We're gonna take a few minutes and respond to God.