Focus Week 3 | Theological Discipleship

Beau Bradberry | Sunday, August 20th

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." — Psalm 1:1–2

–
Podcast: https://pod.link/willowridgechurch
Website: https://willowridgechurch.org
Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowridgechurch
Facebook: https://facebook.com/willowridgechurch
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@willowridgechurch

Creators and Guests

Host

Beau Bradberry

Senior Pastor

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

Sermon audio from Sunday services at Willow Ridge Church.

Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons podcast.

This is where you can find audio from Sunday morning messages and more.

Make sure you're subscribed so that you don't miss future episodes.

And thanks for listening.

Amen.

I want to echo what Pastor Dave said.

You know, so many times we have.

The honor and the privilege to come.

Up and be on stage and to.

Use our gifts of what God has.

Blessed us with to serve you as the church.

And I'm reminded quite often that it is a wonderful calling that God has given me.

And I am blessed to be able to say that this is my vocation, this is how I support my family.

This is how I do the things that I do.

And this is an extreme blessing for.

Us to be able to do that.

But then for so many of you.

For the things that are seen to the things that are unseen not only.

On Sunday morning but throughout the week.

Are showing up in faithfulness, in regularity.

And looking to grow others in a form of discipleship to serve the body.

To serve the kingdom.

So many of you serve people that you know and people that you don't.

Know on a day in and day out basis.

And so I want to say thank you.

I will say this.

I've served at churches before where the ride to the church is like, okay.

Who'S supposed to have done something that didn't do know?

And you show up and then you.

Have to try to figure things out.

And it is such a blessing to be able to be here, to be.

A part of this Willow Ridge Church family and to be able to show up on Sunday morning with a great level of confidence that because of the work that God's done in you as individuals, that work will be done.

And it'll be done not for a goal of perfection so that we can boast in ourselves, but a goal of honoring God with how we do it.

And so I just want to echo what Pastor Dave said, say thank you.

We could not do the ministry that we do without you.

And so thank you so much.

If you've got your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to encourage you to please turn with me to Psalm chapter one and two, timothy, chapter three.

So we're going to look at a couple of different places this morning.

Speaking of volunteers, one of our volunteers got here this morning before any of you, for the most part got here and put out these Willow studies on the rows that are there.

So if you have not looked over this, I want to encourage you.

We're going to reference this a couple of different times in the message.

If there are too many families or individuals on your row and you do not have one, we'll be able to get you some.

Or you can reach around right there in some of these rows and find these on the back of this.

We'll reference this a little bit later as well.

There's a QR code as we talk about these studies.

That's how you can connect with us on there.

This message series that we're doing on Discipleship is a little bit different than a normal series as we work through this, as we are teaching from God's word, as we always do on Sunday morning.

But then we're also looking directly of how this connects with vision and ministry at Willow Ridge Church and some things that we're looking to do.

So this is a time for us of teaching, but also a time of vision.

And so each week, if you've been here every week, that is wonderful.

We are so grateful that you're here.

But there are going to be some things that we repeat, all right?

Because I know how many times I have to hear things for them to sink in and for me to latch onto them and understand and work out the questions that I have.

And so we're trying to do that with each and every one of us.

If you haven't been able to be here, I want to encourage you to go back and listen.

You can do that through our website, through YouTube, through Facebook, podcast, a thousand different ways that we have where you can go back and hear the messages because we are building and explaining what we do.

But I also think very importantly, why we do it.

Okay?

So one of the things that we're all going to feel here in the future is a change in our schedule, is how we meet together on a church, as a church on Sundays.

And I've gone through this in pretty good depth and I'm going to go through it really quickly this morning.

So on September the 10th, here's what we're going to see from nine to 950, we're going to have discipleship, all right?

Nine to 950, discipleship for kids, for youth, and for adults all over our campus.

Building one, building two.

Any place we can find for people to meet, they are meeting.

We will have a handful of people, like meeting under the stage in the basement, right?

So we've got them there, right?

We don't have a basement, so they're not going to be there, right?

Bad joke.

Didn't land well.

All right, so you got to admit when it happens, okay?

And so we're going to have discipleship, though, all over the campus.

And we're hoping that you will connect with that.

And that's largely of what we're talking about, are examples of that and how you can do that.

Then from 950 to 1015, it is all church fellowship.

So parents will go get your kids.

Teenagers will come down from the attic, people will come in from their studies and their groups will gather in here together from 950 to 1015 for fellowship that's goldfish fruit snacks, right?

Like muffin bars, like whatever we got.

Orange juice, coffee, water.

Our crazy chaos together as a church family where we can meet one another, interact with one another, check in with one another.

It is by far my favorite time that we have here together on Sunday mornings and we see the necessity for this in Scripture.

But then we will have from 1015 to 1130 our time of worship primarily with adults and teenagers in here and then primarily our children's ministry over in building two for those times that are there.

So we're looking forward to that.

That schedule does start on September the 10th and we want you to be a part of that.

If you're asking me like bo, how do I remember that time for worship, I'm afraid that I'm not going to remember the change within there.

How do I guarantee that I'm going to be here at the right time for worship?

Here's how you can guarantee that you're going to be here in the right time for worship.

Sign up for a discipleship class, then you'll be here.

All right, so good to go.

And here's what we're working toward, the circle up on the screen.

So we've got this discipleship circle that we've been looking at and what we're working towards to be a fully engaged disciple.

We want to come alongside each other to help grow in our walk with the Lord.

And so each week we're talking about different areas of discipleship that we see in Scripture.

These are different discipleship strategies that form one discipleship process that we see in Acts chapter two that I'll read about here in just a minute.

And so that's relational discipleship, that's theological discipleship and that's missional discipleship.

And so this is what we see in Acts chapter two.

So I'm going to read that.

You don't have to turn there.

We won't be on Acts too long.

It says, as Luke writes in Acts and describes the works that are happening in the early church.

This is in the infancy of the church.

So this is before denominations.

This is before there's some strategic church planning system that's there.

This is before they've figured out who's going to go where and what's going to happen.

This is a complete work and move of the Holy Spirit that is being first manifest itself within the disciples and then the work of God is scattering.

Jesus has ascended and the people of God are gathering together without anyone with a seminary degree, without anyone with a Bible college degree, without anyone who's done this before.

But the work in the Spirit of God is happening.

And this is the beautiful snapshot that Scripture gives us of what this church looked like says and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread.

And the prayers in awe came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles and all who believe were together and had all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

And day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts praising God and having favor with all the people.

And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

And so this is this first snapshot that we get of the early church.

They'd never done this before.

They didn't have the expert who was there with them, they didn't have a library of resources to grab, they didn't have the Baptist Quarterly, they didn't have right now media.

What they had was the Holy Spirit who had fallen on them and dwelled them, empowered them to do the work of the ministry.

And what we see is evangelism explodes.

People are coming to faith in Christ.

Discipleship is taking place.

Men and women are growing in this very young faith that they have that Jesus has imparted to this ragtag group of disciples who get most of the things wrong with him.

But we see this beautiful work that.

Is happening and taking place.

And so as we read this passage of scripture is where we draw from for our strategies of discipleship.

And then overall we see this process.

We see relational discipleship that is there where believers come together and they're growing in a relationship twofold, they're growing in their relationship with Christ but they're also growing in their relationship with one another through shared life experience.

And when we think of this in the context for us at our church for relational discipleship, we're referring to this as peer to peer discipleship.

This is brothers and sisters in Christ.

This is equals sitting down across the table there's not the expert in the room that is sitting there leading the charge on this.

This is peer to peer interrelational discipleship.

This is the beautiful place where you come and you talk about the struggles and the successes of life.

This is where you come together and you bear one another's burdens.

This is the place where you come together and you're open and you're raw and you're real and you cry.

But at the end of the day it's not a pat on the back and hope you feel better, but it's a pat on the back.

It's an embrace, it's an encouragement and it's looking at God's word to affirm, to convict, to disciple one another in what we do.

And at the end of the day we're closer together because we're closer with the Lord.

We also see theological discipleship where believers come together to grow in their right understanding of the word of God.

And they know more about God so their faith is more grounded in proper biblical doctrine.

They're coming to faith in Christ.

I don't know how you got saved and maybe you can really identify with these early believers.

And here's what that would mean, that for the most part you know nothing about Jesus and then you get saved, right?

Most of us that's kind of far, that's foreign to to me, I got saved later in life.

I got saved at 22, raised in Church VBS Youth Camp and believe it or not, youth choir.

We had choir tour.

Anybody grow up with church of choir tour?

I wasn't invited.

All right.

I knew about God, but I didn't know God and God saved me.

What's so wonderful about theological discipleship is.

It'S this teacher to student discipleship is how we look at it.

It's a person that God's gifted with.

The ability to understand and to study.

Scripture, to read and to acquire and.

To build more information that just isn't head knowledge, but is also heart applied.

To come alongside other men and women of faith and help explain the things that we feel like are unexplainable, right.

It's teacher to student and it's needed.

And this is what we're going to look at today.

And then there's missional discipleship.

The last part we'll look at this.

Next week where believers come together in their community to share the truth of.

Jesus Christ with those who are not yet followers of Christ.

This is believer to unbeliever discipleship that you and I have been called to go and make disciples.

Well, you can't make a disciple until they're a follower of Jesus.

And so what we have to do is we have to go, we have to carry the message of the gospel into a world that is actively against its message, right?

So what we're going to talk about.

Next week is how are we going to do that as a church?

How are we going to empower one another to walk in the faith, to.

Engage with the lost people that God.

Has blessed us with?

Right?

All those lost people in your life.

They'Re a blessing from the Lord.

How are we going to engage them with the truth of God's word, to share the gospel with them?

So let's throw the circle back up.

Last week we saw relational discipleship.

We're building off of it this week, theological discipleship.

And last week we said here's how we think of it.

Relational discipleship.

Pastor Dave referred to, this is the one another ministry.

This is the two word phrase that we see throughout Scripture, one another, one another.

So we lose titles, we lose standings, we lose cultures, we lose all those other things that define us.

And we understand that we, regardless of any way that society wants to define us, you and I are one another in the body of Christ.

And then today as we look at theological discipleship, it's going to be what we call truth ministry.

Truth ministry, right.

The understanding of the truth of God's word.

So I want to ask you a question for you.

This morning.

What is your basis of truth?

How do you determine if something is true or not?

Anything.

How do you determine, when you see, hear something, whether it's truth?

We're kind of filtering through this week.

There's a lot of ways that you and I do this.

We do it based off of experience.

My experience has led me to believe XYZ.

You know, I used to believe this, but then this happened and now I believe something different.

That seems like a pretty good way, right?

Through experience.

Well, here's the problem with experience.

The truth of experience is this.

We all have our own experiences.

You ever been to a sporting event.

With a friend who likes the other team?

One of you, usually the Clemson fan, has a great experience.

Y'all know I'm gonna take shots at Carolina fans, all right?

Because I am one and y'all can't yell at me for that.

And then the Carolina fan at the same stadium, at the same game has.

A worse experience, right?

So experience is limited.

How about this?

Feelings.

Oh, man, I was here and this is how this made me feel.

And now everything is now based off of this feeling.

So we can go a little bit deeper from our experience and we can draw a little bit more interpersonal and say, well, then I determine what is.

True, what is right, based off of the feeling.

So this circumstance happens and this is.

How it has made me feel.

So now this determines the truth in.

Which I'm going to apply.

Well, here's the only problem with that.

The Bible tells us that our feelings, while a gift from the Lord, right?

God gives us those and we use those in wonderful ways, but they can be deceiving, right?

You ever gotten into an argument with your wife.

Because of you did something that you thought was right and good, but then this is how it made them feel.

Same part, same action, same realities, but different feelings.

Our feelings can deceive us.

Okay.

Culture.

Culture.

Culture can determine because we're a group of a society of people from different places, with different experiences, with different mindsets, with different cultures or different backgrounds.

So we can rally around this idea that we're creating this system of culture.

And what we will do is we will look at the decisions that need to be made and then base them or make them based off of what culture dictates.

I would argue that this is probably the most prevalent argument of truth in our day.

What's the problem with that?

Well, there's lots because culture does what?

Culture changes.

And then if your standard of truth is based off of culture, then as culture changes, truth changes.

And when truth changes, it shows you that that's not truth at all.

It's opinion.

And then lastly, well, let's just come around an ideology.

There's people who are smarter than us that can come together and can determine a political ideology, a social ideology, an economic ideology, and we can come together and unite under the idea that human thought and human reason based off of intellect alone can determine our truth.

So do we need to jump back to Genesis for that?

It's flawed and it fails every single time.

So for us, Bo, this is a hopeless message.

What is truth?

If you are a follower of Jesus.

If you've professed Him as lord and savior of your life, if you believe that he is God's son, sinless, born.

Of a virgin, died on the cross.

Resurrected from the tomb to save you, to pay the price for your sins, ascended to heaven and will return to bring his church back to Him.

Here's what I would plead with you this morning.

This right here is our only source of truth.

And we are so blessed that God.

Gives us feelings and experiences and cultures and ideologies, but they fall short and insufficient unless it's done through the light of Scripture.

So this morning in Psalm one and in two, Timothy three, what I want to do is look at Scripture, look.

At some warnings that Scripture gives us.

When we break away from the truth of God not being our foundation of Scripture.

So what does it teach us about Scripture?

So Psalm one, look at verse one.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

So blessed is what we begin with.

The psalmist begins for us.

Who wants to be blessed?

I do.

You do.

We want to be blessed.

So is the man who does not do some things, who does not walk with the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

So here's this picture and this piece that we get that the Psalmist paints for us.

We don't have the time and we don't need to go in and say, man, we don't need to be about the wicked, the sinners and the scoffers, right?

You say, Well, I'm a sinner.

You're a sinner saved by grace.

Which means the Bible tells us that you're a saint, that your identity does not rest in the mistakes and the failures that you make, but your identity rests in Christ and Christ alone.

So you are a saint that sins, not the person who identifies with their sin.

So what we see here is this progression, and it's a dangerous progression.

Don't look at the people, look at the verbs that we see.

Blessed is the man who does not walk, nor stand, nor sit.

Blessed is the man get this journey.

Who'S just walking, we're just interacting, we're just talking about life.

But then we dive deeper and we stand together.

Now.

The mind has been captivated so that eventually we sit.

And it's the picture of the teacher teaching the student, right?

Remember a long time ago when we.

Had desks and bells and things like that in school?

At least when I grew up, we.

Had those we had those very weird.

Hard, uncomfortable wooden desk where if you.

Were a bigger person like me, it was that.

Like, here we go.

Don't make me move because I can't stand up.

And it's kind of stuck to you right here.

Hey.

And you think of that.

You stand, you walk into school, you stand, the teacher instructs, and then what do you do?

You sit down.

And now the education takes place.

Don't let that be us when it.

Comes to the ways of this world.

But look at verse two.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

So blessed is the man who does not walk, stand and sit with the ways of this world.

So instead, here's the negatives of what not to do, but here's the positive of what to do.

But he delights in the law of the Lord.

He delights in God's word, in God's truth, the ways of God, and God himself.

You see, there's a distinct difference of what you're going to choose when it comes to truth in this world.

You're either going to walk with the world, stand with the world and sit with the world, or you're going to delight yourself in the teaching of God's Word.

And then the psalmist gives a description.

Of what this is like for the.

One who does this, who delights in the law of the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit.

In its season, and its leaf does.

Not wither in all that he does.

He prospers verse four.

I apologize.

It might not be on the screen.

I didn't send him this one.

The wicked are not so, but are.

Like the chafe that the wind drives away.

So we see this harsh reality of.

Two things the tree that produces the fruit that is valuable, the tree that produces the fruit that life comes from.

And the Bible says that this is the person who delights in the law of God.

They find value.

They find life.

They find foundation, they find health.

They find meaning and purpose that does not change.

But the other person, who they are.

And what they find, the Bible describes is worthless trash that's removed by the wind, worthless trash that is removed by the wind, a tree that's flourishing, a.

Tree that's got foundation, a tree that.

Has life or trash.

I'm going to ask you this.

Where do you seek to find truth?

Maybe we should lean in on God's Word.

Instead of picking up a remote control, maybe we should press in to God's Word before we open a computer.

Maybe we should open God's Word before we sit down with, stand with, and walk with the ways of this world.

I'm not saying.

Hear me.

I got TVs, I got computers, I got phones.

I want to know.

I want to hear.

I want to educate myself on what is happening in this world, but allow scripture to be the filter by which we receive the opinions of this world and not the other way around.

Don't let the wicked, the sinners, and the scoffers determine what the truth of God teaches us.

Right?

Jump now to two Timothy three.

I think this passage is very all passages are applicable, but just reading this this week, it just settles with so much that is going on in our day and time.

And I know a pastor in 19 50, 18 50, 17 50 could say.

The exact same thing.

Two, timothy three, verse one.

But understand this, that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty, for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents.

Love that one.

Ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not loving, good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having the appearance of Godliness but denying its power.

Avoid such people.

Now, this feels like today, right now.

Here's.

Why?

I said what I said.

For people will be lovers of self continues on, disobedient to their parents.

All right, let's pause here for a minute.

What age limit is put on that?

Because some of us are like, man, he's about to light my 13 year old up.

Let's light the 43 year old up.

God doesn't say, oh, by the way.

At 18, you're out.

Do what you want to do.

Live how you want to live.

You're your own person.

Mm.

For there will be lovers of self.

Lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not loving, good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit.

They're so full of this that they're fat with it.

Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having the appearance of Godliness but denying its power.

Avoid such people.

I think what Paul does here is he gives us the very first description.

Is lovers of self.

And then what he does for the.

Rest of it is describe what that looks like.

If self is number one, which, let's be honest, is our struggle, this is our battle, then Paul says this is what can begin to happen and take place.

And so when we look at the world and determining the truth factor, here, what the world says needs to be your truth factor is what you you and me.

The world says, I get to decide my truth factor based off of what benefits me.

And then Paul look at verse start in verse six.

Paul's gonna describe like, this is what happens when this thought process invades it's destructive.

He says this for among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Just as Janus and Jambrus opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth.

Men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

So here's Paul's warning, here's what's going to happen.

And he paints the picture of a burglar breaking into your home and taking people that they capture, those whose understanding of God's word is not strong, but it's weak.

And where they're appealing to them is in their passions of self, of what's there.

And then Paul gives an illustration to remind them of Janus and Jambrus.

All right, so we won't find this account in Scripture, but this was told through Jewish history of what was there.

And the example is these two individual, these two men from Jewish history were magicians who stood to oppose Moses and Aaron.

And what we see in that, in that story is the battle for the truth of God.

So Paul's communication to them as they.

Would have known that don't let this world creep in, don't let this world come and take away from what we know is true.

And then Paul does something gutsy in verse ten.

He uses himself as an example.

Look at verse ten.

You, however, have followed my teaching, my.

Conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, which persecutions I endured, yet from them all, the Lord rescued me.

Paul says this, here's what I want you to look at.

Here's what I need you to understand when it comes to the truth of God's Word and what we're hearing, ask yourself this that the proof is in the pudding.

It seems arrogant, what Paul does.

We talked about that.

We're not to be people of self.

And what does Paul do?

Paul says, look at me.

Look at what I've gone through.

Look at what I've endured.

Look at my teachings, look at my life, look at my patience, look at my love, look at my steadfastness.

Look at these things.

And that seems to be sinful, but it's not.

Why is it not sinful?

Because the last three words that we see in verse eleven, lord rescued me.

What does Paul do?

Paul says, look in these things that you see in my life.

Anything that is good in my teaching, my conduct, my aim of life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness.

All of this happens because of what God has done in me.

If it's just up to me, I'm messing all this up.

That every moment of righteousness that you find in my life is the evidence of the work of God and the.

Truth of His Word.

So.

We can say, look at me, because you're not going to see me, you're going to see Jesus.

And when you see me and not Jesus, then I got a problem.

Verse verse twelve.

This is the encouragement indeed.

All who desire to live a godly.

Life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

That just doesn't land well on a.

Bumper sticker, does it?

Right.

All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

While evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have been firmly believed, knowing from whom you earned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul writing this to Timothy, his son in the faith.

He loves him the way you love your kids.

Says, look, if you're going to desire to live for the Lord, you're going to be persecuted, you're going to be in the minority.

Life is not going to be easy, but continue on because you've been acquainted with the sacred writings.

He says, and you know this of all of the truth that we find, that salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ.

That's it, Timothy.

That's it.

So when you want to tap out.

Because of the persecution, when you want to give in because everybody else is doing it, when you want to give in because the desires of the flesh are creeping in, no know the truth of God's Word.

And now the verse that we all know, verse 16.

Because all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work of what we see, right?

Man's truth.

Man's truth.

Our feelings, our experiences, our cultures, our ideologies are created by us.

But Scripture is breathed out by the very breath of God.

Go back to creation in Genesis two.

Everything around, how is it created?

By the powerful word of the Lord.

So we can see this right here.

Paul says, You've seen the truth in me, but you need to know the truth of God's Word.

And we'll use it for teaching, Paul says, so that you can know what's right, we can use it for reproof, which is how we're going to view and address the depravity of sinners.

This helps us understand sin and the reasoning for it.

You'll use God's word for correction, how to bring someone back who has fallen, including yourself in God's Word, and you'll use it in the training of righteousness.

This word training is the rearing of a child, right?

Paul literally says that God's word is used for teaching a child the way that it should go, but the way that it should go in faith.

This is why we don't jump to meat, but we move from milk to meat.

But we got too many adult Christians in body trying to live off spiritual milk alone.

And that through it all that through this, God's Word completes, prepares and equips us for what God has done.

And this is the heart.

This is the heart of why we are so pressed to grow in the area of theological discipleship.

Think about this.

I've had to think about this in my own life.

How many times has the question come up, why do I believe that?

What do I believe?

Like, I know what the Bible said, but I just heard this on Fox News, CNN, any other media source, and it seems to stand in opposition to that, but it seems to settle good with me.

It's growing in the United States the number of evangelicals who believe that Jesus committed sin.

It's growing in the United States, the numbers of evangelicals that think you can earn your way to heaven.

The thought process that we just believe.

And we do because we know and this is what this is, is not growing, it's actually shrinking.

And so we desire for us to know what we believe because this is what the Bible teaches.

So talk about this last week.

We hear the word theology and it scares us.

It scares me, right?

It's not easy.

It takes some stretching, but it's good and it's needed.

So what we're going to be providing when you look at these, you'll see are systematic or our theological discipleship studies that we're going to provide.

And here's what I want to explain to you.

We had this months ago when I was meeting with our elders and talked about this.

Mike Morgan asked a wonderful question.

The question that he asked in the meeting as I was talking about all this is why would we offer the different studies that we're going to offer?

And he used the illustration.

He said when someone takes a class for college, you take classes in this department or in this school because, you know, this is what this is teaching about.

And in this school, this is what this is teaching about.

So when you sign up for a calculus class in the math department, you're not going to show up one day and learn about health science, right?

We go and it kind of gives us and then it gives us a process of what we're to do.

And I hadn't thought through that, but that's brilliant.

And so sat down over the next several weeks and months and working through this.

And so we kind of came up with three schools of teaching that we're going to provide studies out of in Willow Ridge through our theological discipleship opportunities.

And the first one, and this is kind of really two really scary words, all right?

But we're going to explain them why they're not scary is systematic theology.

So around the school, we're going to have this area of systematic theology where we seek to answer the question, what do we believe?

What do we believe?

That's a great question, and you want to know that, and I want to know that.

What do we believe?

When we look at Systematic Theology, it is this.

That all of what we believe in the truth of God's Word.

Here's what it does.

It connects together.

Everything from Genesis to Revelation connects.

There are parts of Scripture that are difficult and seem on the surface to contradict one another.

But here's the truth of God's word.

They don't.

They connect and affirm one another and.

Build on one another.

And so what Systematic theology does is how do we take all that's here and connect it together to equip us.

To understand the truth?

And so we're going to offer two studies doctrine of the Word of God that begins on September the 10th, which very simply is, what do we believe about the Bible?

What do we believe about the Bible?

And then the doctrine of man on November the fifth, which is this.

This is going to be a little tougher, okay?

What we believe about us?

What do we believe about mankind as we've studied through Genesis?

It's a bad picture, right?

What do we believe about the Word of God?

And then, what do we believe of the doctrine of man?

And then the second one that we're going to do is we're going to do apologetics, right?

Apologetics.

So if systematic theology is what do we believe, then apologetics is, why do we believe this?

They're really close.

They're really close in understanding of what's happening.

But systematic theology says, what do we believe?

Apologetics says, Why do we believe this?

And when we think of apologetics, it's defending the doctrine of what we believe, right?

It literally, like, paints the picture of a courtroom and defending of the faith.

Why do I believe those things?

Which I know has been a question that you've had on several topics.

It's been something that people have asked you, like, why do you believe this?

And I raised my hand to this, that this has been me.

Well, why do you believe that?

And what comes to my mind oftentimes is, well, I mean, I remember growing up, dr.

Redding told me this, right?

And that's just why I believe this, because he was my pastor, and he said so, and he had a degree in Bible, right?

So that's why we believe this.

But why do we believe it?

There's tough questions, tough things in this world.

And that's why we're taking this first semester in two different sessions, right?

September the 10th and November the fifth, and simply answers to tough questions, right?

And then we're getting really creative, more answers to tough questions, right, and just grow in that in understanding.

And it's a beautiful place for all.

Of us to come together and to learn.

So we're talking about what we believe.

We're going to talk about why we believe.

And then the last is mythology.

Mythology which answers the beautiful question of who is this for?

Who is this for?

Mythiology is defined as the study of missions, its method, and its purpose.

We are a church who loves to go on mission.

But the question that we have to answer is, why do we do that?

Why do we go on mission?

Why should we take time to travel to the other side of the world?

Why should we take the time to travel to the other side of the street?

Why?

Well, because when we understand who this is for, then it makes sense.

It's for the name of God and his glory and our love for Him.

And it's our call to go and make disciples.

Mythiology is the application of the great commandment to love the Lord, your God and your neighbor as yourself.

And so here are the classes that we're going to or the studies that we're going to offer.

The first one on September 10 is just introduction to global mission.

Just a wonderful snapshot, right?

If you've ever had the question, this.

Is a great question to ask.

Okay, sometimes we criticize this question, but it's a great question.

Like, why should I go to the.

Other side of the world when there's people who live right next to me who don't know Jesus?

That's a great, great question.

It's a fair question.

It's a question that we need to answer.

And what we become to understand is that the answer to that question is not an either or, but it is a both.

And we go to our neighbor, and.

We go to the other side of.

The world because God calls us to do that.

And so in this seven weeks, we're going to understand global missions, what it's about, why we do these, and then hopefully, how you can engage with us.

And then on November the fifth, we're going to teach a class on Mormonism.

All right, let me explain that.

You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

A Baptist church going to try to.

Turn us into Mormons?

That's not what we're doing, all right?

What we want to do is examine the religion of the Latter day Saints.

God has brought us into very unique and special relationships with church planners and missionaries.

And one of our favorite partnerships that we have, some of our favorite people are the stopmans who live in Salt Lake City, Utah, and whose mission field is largely the Mormons who live there.

Let me tell you, when you go and when you witness with someone and you want to share your faith with them, it is wonderful to understand what they believe and why they believe it right.

Hear me clearly.

What they believe is wrong, okay?

What they believe is wrong.

But when we can understand the why, why do they believe that?

How have they come to this decision, then it makes our opportunity to share Christ that much more impactful.

So what we'll do is we'll teach about what Mormons believe.

And then here's the other part of that and how it stands in opposition to what we believe as followers of Jesus, right?

So we want to be able to understand so that we are greater missionaries of what God's called us to.

So here's how you can register for classes.

We added this.

If you see this piece of paper on the back right here, you'll see a little QR code, all right?

So three ways that we want to.

Encourage you to register for these classes.

Way number one is just scan this.

QR code at some point in time, and you can go and you can register for your class.

We'd love to have you be a part of any of these relational studies and any of the theological studies.

Now, we will not be offering missional studies.

We'll talk about this next week.

We will not be offering those on a Sunday morning, okay?

Just theological and relational.

So you can scan this QR code to go and to register for those.

So that's one way that you can do that.

The second way, if you're like me and the QR code just frustrates you.

I think it's my fat thumbs and the issues that I have with them, right?

But if you don't want to do.

That, you can also go to our church website and on the homepage you'll see discipleship and you can click right there and it'll take you to a description, who's teaching it, all of those things.

And you can jump right in and you can register there.

And then the very last way if you're like bo.

I don't want to scan the QR code.

I don't want to go to the website.

Right.

I just want you to do it for me.

Okay, that's fine.

Just tell us circle one that you want, write your name on it, hand it to Dave, and we'll call that Monday morning for him, okay.

As he gets you registered.

Right?

But here's the truth.

This is a new season for us that we're excited about.

We're going to try some things differently.

There's going to be some bumps in the road.

There's going to be some things that we got to work out.

But here is our goal.

This is the why.

This is the reason why we've put in the meetings, the time.

This is the reason why there are teachers out there studying and writing curriculum and reading books that they didn't know existed, is so that this so that you and I as this very unique body of Christ as we walk together, as we each take a bold next step with Jesus.

That's what this is all about.

Where you are is where you are.

And I'm glad that you're there.

And I want to invite you to join me in taking a next step and then we'll take another step.

And then we'll take another step, because the psalmist warned us not to walk with the wicked, not to stand with the sinners, and not to have a seat with the scoffers.

But Paul encourages us to walk together, to stand united and to sit under the teaching of the Lord.

And then what comes from that is that you and I are prepared and equipped for every good work that God has for us.

Would you pray with me.

God, to.

Come to you this morning, Lord, just thanking you for the work that you're doing for all that is here.

Lord, I want to echo what Pastor.

Dave said as he thanked our volunteers.

For leading in such a powerful way.

And serving faithfully week in and week out.

Lord, I pray that as we go.

Into this new season, this new time.

For us as a church, Lord, that we would, under the guidance of Your Holy Spirit, evaluate where we are.

And God.

Maybe we need to say, I'm willing to stretch my mind and gather with a group of men and women to discuss what I believe, why I believe it.

And who is this for to step into a teacher student environment where I can learn the truths of God's word so that, Lord, I have a better understanding of who you are and what it means to walk with you.

Or maybe, Lord, the season of life that we're in.

Or we need to step into a relational discipleship environment.

We need to go to a small group.

We need to engage in one of the studies that we're providing.

Here where I sit along inside men and women of faith and we pour our lives out with one another and we talk about our struggles and our successes.

We talk about our questions and our confusion.

We talk about our victories and our defeats.

And we come together as one another to minister and care for each other so that we can grow in our relationship with you.

Lord, my heart as a pastor, Lord, I'm tired of trying to figure out and regulate and mandate in order.

This is what you need, this is what you must do.

Instead, Lord, just saying, like, God, here's who we are.

And Lord, I'm on this journey too, and I need to take another step, and I need to take another step.

And Lord, my prayer is that my brothers and sisters in Christ would not be content and stagnant of where they are, but we would evaluate and say, I'm ready.

I'm ready to go.

I'm ready to learn, I'm ready to mature, I'm ready to deepen my faith.

And it's going to be found in understanding the truth of your word.

So God, may we be brave and.

May we be bold to take those steps.

It's in Jesus name we pray.

Thanks again for listening and be sure to check back next week for another episode.

In the meantime, you can visit [e-mail] or by searching for Willowridge Church on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.