Scott Chafee

The 21 Laws of Discipleship

Discipleship is Messy
What is a Disciple?
What Does a Disciple Look Like?
The Easy Yoke?
The Law of the Mind
The Law of Training
The Law of Worship
The Law of Community
The Law of Habit
The Law of Spirit
The Law of Example
The Law of Effort
The Law of Faith
The Law of Talk
The Law of Pain
The Law of Gospel
The Law of Service
The Law of the Way of Escape
The Law of Commitment
The Law of Time
The Law of Prayer
The Law of Replacement
The Law of Confession
The Law of the Kingdom
The Law of Sovereignty
The Discipleship Method of Jesus
 

Psalm 100 Invocation

Psalm 100:1-5 is a Processional Hymn – The people may have chanted this psalm as they entered the temple or began their worship.

1 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before him with joyful singing. 3 Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.

Thanking the Lord is something we must do with our lives as well as with our lips. How are we supposed to thank God with our lives?

By serving (Psalm 100:2). In some sanctuaries, there is a sign that reads, “Enter to worship—depart to serve.” The trouble with many congregations is that too many people serve themselves rather than serving the Lord. Another issue is that too often we don’t serve the Lord “with gladness.” Do you know any grumpy Christians? The Lord loves a cheerful servant, so let’s not be that church. This whole Essential series is about using our giftedness to serve the Lord and others.

By submitting (Psalm 100:3). As creatures, we submit to the Creator who fashioned the universe and made us as well. As sheep, we submit to the Shepherd who died for us and now leads us down His paths. He not only made us, but He is making us as we yield our lives and submit to Him (remember, we are his workmanship – Ephesians 2:10). For every believer, submission means fulfillment. As you have received a spiritual gift, submit to God’s leadership and use it to serve Him and others.

By sacrificing (Psalm 100:4–5). As a “holy priesthood, we are privileged to offer spiritual sacrifices to the Lord (1 Peter 2:5). Those sacrifices include our songs of praise (Hebrews 13:15), our good works (Hebrews 13:16), and our material gifts (Philippians 4:15–18). Following God in obedience (exercising your giftedness) will involve the sacrifice of your will and submitting to Him, but believe me, it is worth it because of who He is (Psalm 100:5) and what He does for us. Our God is certainly worthy of our joyful thanks.

We’d Rather Sit on the Bench?

Ken has been very clearly sharing each week about the reality of community life in the church, which causes us to think about our current relationship with God. Perhaps his biblical challenges have forced you to admit that we as a church have often been simply a casual fan of Jesus, rather than a committed follower of Jesus.

We believe just enough to know that heaven is the place we want to go after this life, but not enough to make actual changes in our lives that will allow God to use us and therefore make an eternal impact on his kingdom.

We believe the mission and purpose of God is to call out pastors, teachers, and missionaries to build his kingdom, but we settle for sitting on the bench, or sidelines, never really wanting to get into the game.

  • We’re glad we “made the team” by saying YES to Jesus at some point in the past.
  • We’re wearing the team uniform so others know we are on God’s team, but we really don’t make an impact on the team’s success.
  • We know there’s a playbook we have been given, but admit we have not read it enough to know the team strategy.
  • We regularly show up at practice, but make little preparation for the actual game.
  • We’re content to just sit here on the bench and leave reading the playbook and running the plays to the starting team.

We think to ourselves…

  • “I don’t expect to get in the game so I’m just fine sitting here on the bench, dressed out, and wearing my team’s colors.”
  • “I don’t really like practice all that much: the coach is always telling us what to do and how to do it.”
  • “I don’t like that the coach makes the whole team run, shoot, get in shape, hone our skills, and get prepared for the games.”
  • “I admit that don’t really DO all that stuff. I prefer just sitting over here on my team bench, next to this little orange water cooler filled with Gatorade.”

So, you may be asking, “Why are you even on this team?”

“Well, it’s because I like the crowd cheering for me and my team, knowing I just might make it to the Final Four and the Championship Game because of all the dedication, commitment, skills, and efforts of those five starters who get all the playing time.”

Wow, I didn’t think I would take this illustration so far, but the more I thought about it, how often is this true in the church?

  • My faith is all about ME.
  • My faith is personal.
  • My church is also about ME, and my preferences.
  • My church is here, people know how to find us.
  • My spiritual growth is optional.
  • Finding my place of service is optional.

But the Bible begs to differ. Faith is not something that we just have or live out personally or in isolation. There is way too much evidence in Scripture that the Christian faith is meant to be carried out in the context of community.

We often seek God’s will in our own lives but fail to realize that God has a will for HIS church.

  • The church is the gathered group of Jesus followers.
  • The church is people, those who have confessed allegiance to the One who bought them and saved them, not just to sit and soak, but to serve.
  • The church is gifted to do exactly what the Lord desires for each of us to do and accomplish.

I’m not talking about just volunteering, although that is expected when we have a corporate mentality of Christianity. I’m talking about truly understanding what the church is all about.

  • What does God expect of the church?
  • What is God’s vision that he has shown to pastor Ken?
  • What does a disciple of Jesus look like?
  • Why do we gather in worship?
  • What is the Great Commission (Acts 1:8) and how am I supposed to be a part of it?
  • What are my spiritual gifts and where can I exercise or use them?

Jesus mentioned that there are two great commandments: to love God, and then to love others (Matthew 28:18-20, Matthew 22:36-40). The whole law can be summed up in these two commands, but the Bible also has a lot to say about HOW we live as believers and followers and disciples of Jesus.

This is why Ken has spent so much time casting vision for King’s Grant, defining who we are as a church, helping us to discover our spiritual gifts, and how to exercise and employ the gifts of grace that God has so thoughtfully supplied.

Let God have his way for this church (Philippians 1:6). Stop being content to sit on the bench.

[ This is re-posted from www.scottchafee.com ]

Lasting Impact “I Will” Video Challenge

These video segments are coordinated with Ken’s teaching series called, How to Make a Lasting Impact (October – November 2017).

We handed out the Thom Rainer book to every family, and I challenge classes to get together and discuss the information we learn from our reading. We are not replacing the class lessons, but hope that we can stimulate conversation by encouraging every family to read this book.

  1. I Will – an Introduction – October 1
  2. I Will Gather for Worship – October 8
  3. I Will Gather in a Small Group – October 15

For the rest of the series, check out kgbc.us/impact.

King's Grant Baptist Church

873 Little Neck Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23452

Phone (757) 340-0902
Fax (757) 340-3686
Text (757) 330-3320

©2025 King's Grant Baptist Church. | All rights reserved | Website by R2R Marketing