Don't Let the Cross be Your Finish Line

God has more purpose for your life than just Heaven

 For through the law I am dead to the law, that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God,^[b] who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God. For if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died in vain. Galatians 2:19-21

The cross of Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of the Christian faith. It is the constant reminder that because of who Christ is and what He has done, everything has changed. There are those who are uncomfortable with the place of the cross in our faith. Guess what? This is nothing new. The apostle Paul said that the cross was a stumbling-block to the Jews of his day, and it was foolishness to the Greeks of his day (1 Corinthians 1:23). People have always had a hard time with the cross.

I recently read a story about a jeweler who said a lady came into his shop and was admiring the assortment of cross necklaces that he had. After looking for a bit, she said, “These are beautiful, but do you have any without the little man on them?” This is a pretty good description of modern faith. People are ok with a beautiful cross—so long as Jesus isn’t on it. People struggle to wrap their minds around a crucified savior. Still, this is the Savior we were given. The cross changes everything and defines who we are. Jesus suffered. Therefore, we must also be willing to suffer.

Over the years, the message of the cross seems to have changed a bit. People speak as though Christ’s death on the cross is their ticket to heaven and that’s it. It is an end in itself. Certainly, the cross is the pathway into the presence of God. However, the cross is not just about what happens after death; it is about life.

Our lives have been radically redefined by the cross. It was there that Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). What was finished? The old covenant. The old way of approaching God and the work of redemption that all humanity had longed for was finished, accomplished…done. What does this mean? It means there is a new Genesis. Life and its very origins have been radically redefined by the person and work of Jesus.

When Pastor David was first elected as the pastor in 2012, someone asked, “Are you sure you’re old enough to be the pastor?” He jokes that eleven years later, he’s still not sure. Nonetheless, God’s grace has taken us a good distance from where we were as a church at that time. Our church as grown from an attendance in the forties to a regular attendance in the 300’s and a “swell rate” of 450-500. As we grow, we also have to change. We have to continually be ready for what God is doing. It’s not just enough for us to plan to go to heaven. God is calling us to be fruitful in the here and now.

In the coming days, we are rolling out a new discipleship process that we call Link Church in 4-D. 4-D stands for Discover, Decide, Disciple, Deploy. This isn’t just a program. It is a way of life. We see it in the ministry of Jesus. When people wanted to know who He was, He said, “Come and see” (John 1:39). Next, He said, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19). At that point, they had a decision to make. Would they follow? They became His disciples, and then He sent them out to make disciples. All this led up to the moment when He said, “Go” (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15). They discovered, they decided, they became disciples, and they were deployed into ministry. If the process worked for Jesus, it will work at Link Church.

Discover

Jesus wants us to discover Him in the cross and beyond the cross! If you read the gospel stories, Jesus didn’t wait until the disciples had been following Him for a long time to use them. He put them to work as soon as they decided to follow Him. Their discipleship started as soon as they said yes, and it included being involved in ministry from very early on. Discipleship is a process that takes place as we grow and as we serve. We still practice this. There are areas where you can go to work from day one when you show up. In fact, we discover Jesus more while we serve Him. The best way to discover Jesus and to discover Link Church is to get involved. Do you want to understand and experience more? Sign up to serve.

Pastor David recalls that when he grew up, his family had fifteen turkey houses. His dad took him when he was just a kid and said, “I want you to watch me.” He remembers that he could only put feed in one tray for each fifteen that his dad did. Still, that was one that his dad didn’t have to do. As time passed, he became more and more capable. He remembers, “My dad didn’t teach me how to grow turkeys by explaining to me how. He taught me by letting me do it with him.” That is how we learn to follow Christ also. We do it together!

When Pastor David reached out to tell me what he was preaching, he explained “Discover” like this:

Discover.

Discover Jesus.

Discover Link Church.

Discover your calling in the Body of Christ.

What’s next?

Decide

We are called to decide. The prophet Elijah said it like this,

How long will you stay between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him. -1 Kings 18:21

Like the people in Elijah’s day, we must decide. Decide to follow Christ. You don’t have to know how because, as we just said, we are going to do it together. Once we decide to follow Jesus, we are baptized into a community of people who love Christ, love each other, and labor together. Salvation is free to us. Christ paid the price for it entirely. Nonetheless, we would do well not to forget that Christ paid for our salvation with His own blood because He has a purpose for our lives. He saves us to make us fruitful in life. He saves us to reveal His glory through us. When we decide to follow Him, we are also deciding to embrace His plan and purpose for our lives and to be a functioning part of His family.

Decide.

Decide to follow Jesus.

Decide to be part of Link Church and the Family of God.

Decide to begin working towards your calling in God.

What next?

Disciple

The decision to follow Christ is the decision to be a disciple. The idea that we are just deciding to go to heaven is completely outside the framework of the New Testament’s message. Heaven is a glorious gift that comes with salvation, but we are saved to become disciples. You don’t have to wait until you’ve been following Jesus for a long time to start serving and being active as a disciple. You can start right now.

While certain roles require deeper levels of commitment and a high level of spiritual maturity, there are things everyone can do that matter and make a difference. A lot of what we do as a church centers around making others feel welcome and wanted. Never underestimate the power of pouring a cup of coffee for someone, of handing someone a muffin, of greeting someone in the parking lot or in the lobby, or the power of helping keep our facilities looking excellent so that people have a nice environment to be in. In fact, these are roles that we also ask those who have been following Christ for decades to fill. What could be more important than letting people know they are welcome in God’s house?

We are praying to double our 99 Serve Team within the next few months. If we are going to keep reaching your sons, daughters, parents, cousins, and friends, then we need help. You can start serving early in life. This morning, there were probably close to a dozen teenagers that served alongside us. We don’t want them to wait until they are grown. They have value to God and to the church right now.

As we roll out Link Church in 4-D, there will be various aspects to the process. One part of it is we will begin teaching a class that we would like everyone to attend once. It will take place after second service. The class will run for two hours. We’ll serve you a meal, give you a book and a t-shirt, and you’ll learn more about who we are and how you can be involved. We would like every person in our Link family to attend one of these. The class, however, is not just a class. It is an invitation into the process. We want you to discover Jesus and also discover who we are as a church. We want you to decide to follow Jesus, and we’d love for you to make a commitment as part of Link Church. Why? The answer is simple. We want you to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

Disciple.

Allow yourself to be Discipled by God.

Allow yourself to be Discipled by those around you. (By spiritually mature people who love Jesus, that is.)

Allow God and others to Disciple you for your calling.

What happens next?

Deploy

Jesus told His disciples to wait in the city of Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from Heaven (Luke 24:49). After training His disciples, Jesus equipped them with His own power and sent them out, He deployed them. Jesus is still deploying people into His service. Remember, the cross was not just an end; it was a beginning.

Sometimes we may be tempted to think that we can’t make a difference, but we can. If you have been around Link Church for long, you have heard Pastor David say that he wants to reach at least ten percent of our county for the glory of God. Do you think that’s impossible? Allow me to put it in perspective for you. Our attendance has been ranging between 300 and 500 at our Clarksville campus alone. There are another 50-70 at each of our other campuses. What if we could equip only 50 of these people to make one disciple for Jesus Christ this year?

You may be thinking, “Fifty people is a long way from reaching ten percent of the county.” No. Actually, it isn’t. We are not just here to get people to make a decision for Christ. We are here to make disciples. At Link Church, we value self-replicating discipleship. This means that as disciples of Christ, we are equipped to make more disciples. If we equip 50 people to make one disciple each this year, then by the end of the year, that 50 would become 100. If we help that 100 do the same thing next year, then by the end of 2024, there will be 200. Keep doing the math with me. That will be 400 new disciples by the end of 2025, 800 by the end of 2026, 1,600 by the end of 2027, and 3,200 by the end of 2028. Guess what? That is ten percent of Johnson County within the next six years. What if we could do more? What if the 300+ of us that gather on a weekly basis could each make one disciple a year starting this year? That would be at least 600 Christ-followers by the end of this year, 1,200 next year, 2,400 by the end of 2025, and 4,800 by the end of 2026. Jesus said,

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Luke 10:2

Do you know who He said that to? It was the seventy disciples that He commissioned to reach the lost. He chose seventy to deploy into His fields, but then He also told them to pray for more laborers. That is what we are praying for. We are desiring that God will raise up more and more “laborers” who will work in “His harvest.” We don’t have to reach everyone at once. We just need a group of committed people who will focus on reaching one person at a time and equipping that one to reach one themselves. Is your faith big enough to ask God to help you win one person to Christ each year? The prophet Zechariah expressed how such things are possible. He said,

Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts. -Zechariah 4:6

Deploy.

Deploy to your calling in the local body of God.

Deploy in your calling to make Disciples.

Deploy in your calling to impact the lives of those around you.

God will make us able. How can we start? Simple. You are already discovering who Jesus is; now decide to follow Him whole-heartedly. As you follow Him, determine that you will not just make Heaven your home some day; you will live as His disciple now. With this commitment, prepare for deployment into His service. You won’t go alone. We will do this together, and we will do it by the power of the Spirit. Oh also, our first Link Church in 4-D class meets in May. We want you on board. Would you sign up today?