Believe | To Know Him is to Trust Him More

All right.

I know that making assumptions, it's not always an encouraged thing, uh, but it is a natural part of life.

So I assume that since we have gone through summer and we are starting the school year, it has started.

My assumption is that some of y'all went places.

Okay, so that's my assumption.

So we're gonna do this.

Raise your hand if you physically left your house this summer.

We have 100% success rate.

Well done, everybody.

Okay, hands down.

Um to the true winners who need to get their due, who has stayed on the island the whole summer?

Well done.

Well done.

To those who stayed on the island, this place is rich with wonderful places to go and things to see.

And so you were doing it right.

It was good.

We need to learn from you.

Okay, so anybody, anybody do the lower mainland?

Did you get off the island, but you just kind of chilled over in Vancouver and ish areas.

That it was us as well.

All right, so here are wonderful, wonderful photos.

Wonderful.

Okay, there we go.

We went to go see the Odyssey in IMAX at Langley.

And there were nine whole rows.

This was the theater.

So here is our family sitting, waiting to see the Odyssey the day after it came out.

It was exciting.

It was wonderful.

It was so, so good.

I cannot wait till it comes on Limax downtown.

So I can see it at that theater again.

Okay, so that's me.

That's us.

All right.

So raise your hand if you went to another province in Canada.

Raise your hand.

All right, so we've got a few more hands.

A few folks ventured out past BC.

All right, hands down.

Hands up if you got to visit another country this summer.

This is good.

This is great.

That's right.

All right.

Who thinks they went the furthest for their wayfaring?

I kind of know who went the furthest, but I wanted to see if somebody beats Jeff Brown.

Jeff, where did you get to go?

Where was the farthest place that you went?

Okay, he went to Hungary.

He went to Hungary.

You were in Budapest, right?

See?

Perfect.

Okay.

Jeff gets the fake award that I am now giving.

You traveled the furthest.

Well done.

Well done.

Uh, wonderful place.

Okay.

Assumptions like mine are not too far off because they're based on previous experiences, right?

We we have experiences, we've seen that everybody just gallivants during the summer.

I can assume that there was more gallivanting, thus, the assumption is proven true.

Um, I have another assumption.

I assume that many, I'm not saying all, but that many here have at least heard of the Great Commission in the Bible.

Raise your hand if you've just heard of it.

Not that you know it, but that you've heard of it.

Okay, so there is proof I was not crazy.

If you have a Bible or you would like one, there was a slide earlier.

If you would like a Bible and you do not have one, just put your hand up.

One of our ushers will bring that to you.

Uh, if you have a Bible or if you have your Bible app, open that.

Jump to Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 28, uh, the Great Commission is there in Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 through 20.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention Matthew 28:16–20

Now let's set the stage.

This is at the very end of the Gospel of Matthew.

Jesus has lived the perfect life.

Uh, he was he was born to a virgin.

He, a normal Jewish family, went through life, lived the perfect life, had disciples, taught, did miracles, was beyond amazing, did things that no human has ever done nor will ever do.

And then he died.

He died a sinner's death.

He was buried in a tomb.

They rolled the stone away.

He was dead and buried for three days.

And then he came back to life.

He came back to life and he actually went and talked to a lot of people, over 500 people over the next 40 days.

So, in that time, probably towards the latter time, he is up on a mountain with his disciples, and we have this: the Great Commission.

It is, it is a word, it is a command that Jesus gives his followers from here until he comes back.

This is what we need to be about.

Great.

Okay.

I have another assumption that most of you, if if you've been in the church for a while, can at least complete a few of these extra words by memory.

So, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna read verse 18 and just at the start of 19, and I want to see if anybody is bold enough and they can remember these next few words.

So, verse 18, then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore, there we go.

I heard the mumbles, but they were unified mumbles.

So well done.

Everybody chimed in.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.

So uh can we throw up the rest of the verse?

I will read the whole thing.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always to the very ends of the age.

All right, so nearly every English translation has verse 19 saying, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.

If you have been in the same rooms that I have, or I should say similar rooms, because not many people are in the same rooms as I was in America, um you probably heard many scholarly preacher types.

And they have explained this verse and they said, okay, verse 19, the main verb here is go.

All right, main verb go.

All right, and then there are three sub-commands in this make disciples baptize, teach.

Make disciples baptize, teach.

And then in all of these lessons, the main emphasis, the highlight are these action verbs.

It is this thing that we must do.

It is the go, it is the go, it is the go, right?

And we've minimized or not talked very much about the fact that all authority that God had, he gave to Jesus to then give this to his disciples.

And then we also kind of bury at the back end that Jesus has promised us that he would be with us forever.

We focus on the actions.

Go, go, go.

Uh, these passages, this passage, it has been used, I know it was in my life, it has been used to get a significant number of people involved in missionary work, to go on a mission trip far, far away, to become a missionary, even just simply to be on mission.

We have gone to this text, we have leaned on that, and it isn't wrong to go to this text and see that.

It's good, but the translation does leave a little bit to be desired.

So I will save you the grammarian fight, covering the Greek words that are above me on the screen.

Um but the first one, all right, the first word, poruthentes, this word is often translated as go, right?

It is this go, uh, but it actually isn't the main verb that everything else falls under.

In fact, as my friend Michael Cooper has said about this text, that word is an undefined action that describes the manner of the action.

So it isn't the action that we need to chase after, it's the manner in which we are supposed to do it.

So a better translation of this word might be while you are going or as you go.

Right?

So we're swapping the command of go to as you're going or as you go.

Jesus isn't in this text inviting all of his followers to just like really get out there and do stuff.

Instead, he assumes that all of his followers, from then until he comes back, he assumes that they will already be going.

Where?

It isn't clarified.

It isn't clarified.

And I actually find that confusion, rather the lack of clarity, I find that wonderful.

As you go, assumes that whatever the next command is gonna be, as you go, assumes that the next command can be done wherever we are.

It assumes we can do it no matter where it is.

So as you go, okay, well, what's the next word?

All right, the next big change to this word, mate tusate, is I know I mispronounced that, that is translated, we just talked about make disciples.

Yes, it's linguistically permissible to say make disciples, but it shockingly puts the action of bringing a person from not a disciple of Jesus to being a disciple of Jesus into our control.

I like raising hands today.

So raise your hand if you have managed to move somebody from the eternal state of death to life on your own.

Awkward laughter.

Nobody raised their hand.

Again, second gold star for the day.

Well done.

None of us have that power.

The making of disciples is something that God does.

The Holy Spirit moves within our hearts.

He reveals to us the joyous gift of salvation that is available to us through Jesus Christ and Jesus alone.

The scales falling from our spiritual eyes.

That's a thing that the Spirit does.

It's not something that Matt does, it's not something that Jessica does.

It is not something that Jillian does.

No one here has that power.

It's the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to make us more like Jesus.

So this is what Jesus does.

Holy Spirit, he's very busy.

He's very busy.

So then, when we look at this phrase in this pivotal text that everybody has been talking about forever, it's not make disciples, it's just disciple.

Disciple.

That's what Jesus is calling us to.

The assumption is that all believers in Jesus are going about life.

And so as we all go, disciple, right?

Alan Hirsch says this discipleship, properly understood, is an apprentice relationship with Jesus that is embodied, transmitted, and reproducible.

It is learned on the road.

If you like that, as you go.

It is learned on the road, in shared mission, through active imitation.

It is not a program to attend, but a life to be shared.

And it is the primary task Jesus gave us to disciple another, is to do this, right?

We are making Jesus known in all of life.

Now, making Jesus known is what we as West Village Church have been about since day one or slightly after day one.

I'm going to have to refer to the living room crew to tell us how soon after day one that was.

This has been our rallying cry as we've gone out on mission to bring this good news to the Greater Victoria area and beyond.

The church has lived this out this whole time.

However, many of us as leaders have wondered do you know what making Jesus known assumes about the people that are making Jesus known?

It assumes that everybody knows Jesus.

It assumes that everybody who is a part of the church knows Jesus.

And I'm not talking about like, I have these facts, I've done this test, I've passed it, and now I'm moving on.

I actually am talking about this knowing Jesus as the driving force of our whole life.

Is this a deep, intimate, passionate, propulsive knowing that we are talking about?

Okay, now we started in Matthew 28.

We will kind of jump back here.

Join me, we're going to jump over to what Matt read, Philippians chapter 3, verses 8 through 12.

Philippians 3:8–12

Paul's in mid-diatribe, so we're just jumping right in with Paul, verse 8.

What is more, I consider everything a loss, because of the surpassing, surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ, of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.

So across this letter to the Philippians and other letters, Paul has not been shy to drop his resume, right?

He was a notable scholar, he was a Pharisee, he was a Jew of Jews, he was a leader, and he has made so many accomplishments, everybody should be wowed.

And Paul says, throw those in the back seat, because the thing that is best is knowing Jesus.

And I love with the flourish, the flourish with which Jesus describes this.

No, Jesus, Paul describes this.

He says it's the surpass.

Why can I not say the best part of the passage?

The surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

The surpassing worth of knowing Jesus.

Knowing Jesus carries this surpassing worth that it is literally above everything that Paul can think of.

Right?

He goes on, end of verse eight.

I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, meaning he was awesome and he proved how awesome he was.

No, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

Paul talks about what all he has done, and he says it's garbage.

It's not just a loss, it's garbage.

It's something to run away from.

I don't want to focus on it.

I want to get as far away from it as possible.

At this point in his life, Paul was already to be admired by a certain part of the Jewish society.

They would all look to him and say, wow, he has done.

Look at all the things that he has done for God.

Now, side note, this is just hitting me.

As I was contemplating about this passage, could Paul also be pointing to everything that he has done in the name of the Lord and spreading the good news?

So I'm not just now talking about his pre-Jesus stuff.

I'm talking the work that he has done with Jesus so that other people might know him is Paul's actual work, the things that he has done.

He says, I don't care about any of it.

It's garbage in comparison to knowing Jesus.

That knowing was everything.

That knowing was the highest good.

That knowing was the most important thing in the whole of his life.

Knowing Jesus was core to his discipling.

Knowing Jesus was core to his discipleship.

So Paul continues, verse 10.

I want to know Christ.

I want to know Christ, yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

And not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal.

But I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Okay, so Paul, the apostle who has taken the good news of Jesus all over the known world, he was desperate to know Jesus more.

I want to know Christ.

Again, there's some really great phrases in these few short verses.

I want to know Christ.

He knew that there was more to know.

And can we just say, of all the people in the world, who we might assume kind of knows Jesus pretty well?

Paul might be at the top of that list.

And what does he tell us?

The rest of this is garbage.

I want to know Jesus more.

Knowing him is everything.

And there's this little phrase at the end of chapter or verse 12.

I missed it after rereading and rereading this passage many times, right?

So in this passage, he starts by acknowledging that he has not attained this final knowing.

He hasn't reached the end, but that he presses on to take hold of that.

Here it is, for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Jesus has already done the holding.

Jesus has already done the holding.

Paul is firm within Jesus' grasp.

Jesus isn't waiting for Paul to know him to a certain degree.

He isn't waiting for Paul to do a certain number of good things and then, aha, I have you.

You have done enough.

No.

Jesus has done everything.

He has grabbed Paul.

He is safe.

Paul is safe and secure in his salvation in Jesus as all of us are able.

We are invited to have the full life in Jesus.

And now, with joy, with excitement, Paul responds to know Jesus because he understands that he is already secure.

He is not wanting to know Jesus to be secure.

He wants to know Jesus because he is secure.

Knowing Jesus was the driving force for all of Paul's existence once he came to faith as a disciple of Jesus.

Once he had that belief, once he had that trust in Jesus as Lord.

And because he increasingly knew Jesus, he became more and more like him in every aspect of his life.

This is discipleship.

This is discipleship.

Knowing Jesus, it's not an intellectual exercise.

Right?

This isn't like the mushroom power-up you get with Mario, right?

You get that.

And now that you've known Jesus, you know, now you're able to do more stuff.

You can jump higher and not die when you get hit by fireballs.

This is very real life analogies, I understand.

Knowing Jesus is the thing that we are called to.

It's the central component.

It is the central component of being a follower of Jesus.

It is the central component of being a disciple.

This is knowing Jesus is a never-ending well of goodness that renews us, and it has the opportunity to renew all the people around us as we follow in his steps.

Knowing Jesus is an all of life endeavor in becoming like him.

Jesus loves us so much.

Jesus loves you and you and you and you, everyone in this room, Jesus loves.

Us so much that he came to earth to save us and reconcile us.

And not only did he come, but he left his holy spirit with us, right?

This is the fulfillment of the promise in Matthew 28 that he left his Holy Spirit with us, that we are in him.

We have his power.

This Jesus, I want to know this Jesus.

I want to know this joy, this love, this grace, this fullness.

I want to know him more and more and more and more and more.

And I can make it awkward and say more a lot more times.

But I want to know him more.

Knowing Jesus means that I will trust him more.

Knowing Jesus means I will be united more to him.

Knowing Jesus means I will be with him more.

Knowing Jesus means I'll be like him more.

Knowing Jesus means I will love like him more.

Right?

So this is what Jesus calls us to when he says that we are to follow all that he has commanded in Matthew 28.

This is what Paul is talking about when he says that he presses in to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus has took hold of him in Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

These are the hopes that I have for myself, and these are the hopes that I have for every one of you.

For y'all, for all y'all.

These are what I hope.

And these aren't just the things that I hope for us.

As we are in this five-week series, foundations of discipleship.

West Village is going to be entering a new season.

As a church, we are going to make a two-degree change from making Jesus known to knowing Jesus.

We are going to make a change from making Jesus known to knowing Jesus.

What we're aiming for, that this knowing Jesus is not a component or a part of what we are about.

It is the whole thing.

It's the thing that everything else that we are and will be doing as a church flows from.

Think back to what Paul said in Philippians chapter 3, verse 10.

Philippians 3:10

I want to know Christ.

I want to know Christ.

Knowing Jesus is everything, and I want it, we want it to be our everything too.

So how are we going to get there?

How are we going to get there?

Through five Bs that we are calling the foundations of discipleship.

So if you were paying attention last week, or you just happened to see them up on the screen, during our prayer and praise gathering, we actually separated the gathering into the five B's.

The first B, believe.

To know him more is to trust him more.

Second, belong.

To know him more is to be united more to him.

Right?

And you're saying also to one another, we are his body.

The body is Christ's.

And to see him and know him.

Fourth one, become.

To know him is to be like him more, to become like Jesus, Christ's likeness.

And the last, bless.

To know him is to love like him more.

Bless is absolutely the result of knowing Jesus that is an outward overflowing for everyone else, so that they are loved like Jesus loves us.

Now, these five B's, they are not linear, right?

We don't believe in Jesus.

Check that box and now move on to belonging in Jesus.

Oh, I've belonged to Jesus enough.

Now I can go behold, right?

These are not stages to hit and move on from.

These five Bs are like pillars.

They are like posts that are set into the foundation of discipleship at West Village.

We will believe, belong, behold, become, and bless more as we know Jesus more.

These five Bs, the aim to grow in them is going to be as we go.

As we go.

And as we go in these five Bs, we will grow as disciples.

These five Bs are components of growing as disciples, and as we grow as disciples, we are knowing him more.

Okay?

Now, I want to address some worries that might be in the room.

One, if we move on from making Jesus known, are we turning our backs on all the great history that we have at West Village?

Not at all.

Not at all.

We are still rooted in our missional and movemental theology.

And we actually have arrived here that knowing Jesus is the thing that we are pursuing because of our missional and movemental theology, not in spite of.

Okay?

Our history is rich, it is wonderful, it is near and dear.

All right.

Second concern.

Knowing Jesus seems inwardly focused.

Making Jesus known known seems outwardly focused.

Does this mean that we are just going to become like every other church?

Okay, so firstly, because I have heard this, I want to address that.

Those other churches outside of us, they are filled with our brothers and sisters who serve the same Lord.

And so when we refer to those other churches, it should be done with love and grace and collaboration in God's greater work.

We are about what Jesus is about, and we are doing so with our brothers and sisters throughout this city, and it ain't happening if we aren't working together.

Sorry, passion project.

I will step aside.

Secondly, no, we aren't becoming what I think some people are kind of referring to, quote unquote, other churches.

We are not going to become holy navel gazers, right?

Just looking inward and saying it's just about us.

Knowing Jesus is both the initial and the continual enjoy, the continual joy that invites us into Jesus.

And then as we are in him, it is the thing that he is going to work through to bring his glory to this broken world.

As faithful disciples that know him more, we expect there to be healthy.

Disciples are actually going to be propulsive, missional, movemental respondents to live like Jesus calls us to.

So we pray that this upcoming season makes the greatest impact on the greater Victoria area and beyond.

That's what we're praying for.

And then the last thing does Chris Sinusol know you're doing this?

Yes, the founding elder of West Village knows.

Okay, one, we've already talked about it.

Two, just like you, he absolutely laughed pretty heartily that I told him I was going to include this section today.

And three, he loves it.

He thinks this is great.

He is excited for us that we as a church are moving in this direction.

And he reminded me, he said, Andrew, I think I said this the last time that I preached.

All this is, is the next chapter in what God is doing at West Village.

We are not changing books.

It's not a different book.

It's just the next chapter.

And he is super excited for every one of us to know Jesus more and continue to grow towards what God is doing in us and will be doing through us.

It is very good.

So we are going to turn our ship two degrees.

We're hoping for that two-degree difference from making Jesus known to knowing Jesus.

We hope that it becomes known around the West Shore that knowing Jesus is our thing.

And if people want to know Jesus, go to West Village Church.

They'll help you.

And by they, I mean they.

I don't mean they.

This is a team effort because we are the church.

We have been built up, we have been established in his mission, and we have been called to know him and show others his goodness.

It's an us thing.

We're doing this together.

We are our family, and we want everybody who is a part of West Village, who is a part of this family, to know that on a Sunday morning, over in Little Villagers, midweek through West Village youth, at the homes throughout the community that meet as missional communities, no matter where we are, we know that we will be able to know Jesus more because knowing Jesus is worth it surpassingly.

He is good.

Okay.

So today, some of you might be all in on Jesus, and you are also all in on these ideas.

You are amped.

You were just saying, point me in a direction, I'm ready, let's go.

So if that's you, woo-hoo! Welcome in.

We have some fun coming up.

Others of you have been sitting, you have been listening, and you say, I am going to sit in my wait and see posture.

Let's wait and see.

I want to hear what more is going to be said about this.

We are in the beginning of a five-week series.

I had a lot to cover.

I had a lot of things that I'm very excited about, and I can't talk about all of them in one week.

And so you are in a wait and see mode, and you will say, I will wait and see, and I will wait to listen.

Where else will we be going?

I cannot wait to tell you.

Just stick with us.

There are others that actually find what we are talking about today unnecessary and a distraction.

So I'm asking if you are finding something here that's like, I feel myself bumped and I am not thrilled.

Stick with us.

Stick with us through this series.

Listen what God is going to be showing us and revealing to us as we step forward.

We're doing this together.

It is not this big hill that we're chasing after.

We are one group and we are going to be chasing Jesus because we want to know him more.

And lastly, I know this room, just by size, not everybody knows Jesus here.

As in, you haven't even come to him in faith yet.

I hope that you understood that all of these things about Jesus making people new and making them whole and actually saving us, that's for you.

It's for every one of us.

And if you have listened to all of this and like, this isn't me.

Oh, no, that's definitely not me.

Okay, this sounds foreign.

But I want to know him.

I want to be made whole.

Well, then come forward.

We'll have people available for prayer in the corners.

Come and pray with us.

We would love to talk with you about it.

Knowing Jesus is surpassingly worth it.

So as we close, my encouragement to every one of us, okay, what can we do to take steps towards this?

Why don't we just read Philippians a couple times this week?

Just read Philippians a couple times.

And answer this question.

Why is Jesus, why is knowing Jesus so important to Paul?

Why is knowing Jesus so important to Paul?

What do we find in this text?

If you get to do this, why don't you grab somebody, take them to coffee, and talk to them about it?

What's so important about knowing Jesus?

What does Paul say about that?

These are our action steps.

So as the band comes up, we've already got that pad playing in the background.

You know they are on their way.

Band, make your way forward.

I want us to take the next moment to have quiet, reflective prayer.

Two questions are gonna be on the screen.

So take this time to pray.

Our two questions are gonna be, Jesus.

What have I placed in front of knowing you?

What have I said is more important than knowing Jesus?

Secondly, Jesus, where do you want me to trust you more?

Where do you want me to trust you more?

So what have I placed in front of knowing you?

Where do you want me to know you more?

We are going to just take a quiet moment to pray.

And then you know that that prayer time is transitioning to the next response for communion as Nathan explains how we can respond through communion, through prayer on the sides, and through musical worship.

Lord, I ask that you speak to us now.

Let us hear your voice as we ask you these questions.

Holy Spirit, come.