A Relational Shift – Your Personal Discipleshift
A Relational Shift
Sermon Manuscript | Together Church | August 17, 2025
Pastor Brandon Werner | Series: Your Personal DiscipleShift
SERIES INTRODUCTION
This morning, we’re talking about making a personal DiscipleShift in your life. A personal DiscipleShift is an intentional decision to live your life as a disciple of Jesus who makes disciples of Jesus.
Last week, we talked about the call to “drop your nets” – a decision to follow Jesus, be changed by Jesus, and live your life committed to the mission of Jesus.
Let’s say you’re ready to do that… you’ve believed your life is better off with Jesus than doing anything else. Now what? How do you shift your life so that you are following Jesus and living out His purpose for your life?
INTRODUCTION
A DiscipleShift is NOTHING
if it is not first a RELATIONAL shift in your life.
(say it again)
Here’s another way we could say it…
The Biblical Foundation for Discipleship is RELATIONSHIP.
Your personal DiscipleShift begins with a relational shift in your life.
Traditionally, many believers and churches have looked to other platforms to build their discipleship strategy on. These platforms can include…
- Bible studies
- Church services
- Church programs
- Care groups
- Entertainment and special events
- And more
All these things can be VALUABLE in the life of a local church. But none of these things can provide the BIBLICAL FOUNDATION for DISCIPLESHIP. There is only ONE biblical foundation for discipleship – and that foundation is RELATIONSHIP.
From Genesis to Revelation, God’s eternal purposes are clear… He desires a people who live in right relationship with Him and in right relationship with each other.
If you’re taking notes, and I hope you are, I want you to see the incredible scope and central importance of relationship in the scriptures. As we review these, keep this in mind… YOUR PERSONAL DISCIPLESHIFT IS NOTHING IF IT IS NOT FIRST A RELATIONAL SHIFT!
BODY
- The creation account reveals the biblical foundation for relationship.
Go to that account. What was the first human crisis in all of scripture?
The first human crisis in scripture can be found in Genesis 2. Now, hold on! The fall of mankind into sin does not occur until Genesis 3! That means the first human crisis appears BEFORE the fall!
Remember, in the creation account, God kept creating and calling what He made “good”. Then, before resting on the seventh day, God saw EVERYTHING that He had made and He called it VERY GOOD!
Then, just a few verses later, God identifies the first thing that is NOT GOOD in His creation. He said…
Genesis 2:18a
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone”
When God said this, what relationship was He talking about?
It couldn’t have been the man’s relationship with God. That relationship was intact and unhindered by sin!
It couldn’t have been the man’s relationship with animals. All the animals had already been created and were present with Adam.
God was talking about the man’s relationship with other people. There was no one yet created like Adam, and God said that was NOT GOOD.
You see, the Bible teaches that we are made in the image of God. We talked about this a few weeks ago. To be made in the image of God means there are aspects of the divine impressed upon us.
At the center of His being, God Himself is a RELATIONAL being. His very identity is a RELATIONSHIP. He is ONE GOD existing eternally in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God Himself is RELATIONAL. And God has this incredible capacity for relationship.
To be made in the image of God means that we were made for relationship! We were made for relationship with God and we were made for relationship with each other.
When God made us in His image, He made us with incredible capacity for relationship. Our capacity and ability to have meaningful and even complex relationships is part of what sets us apart from God’s creation. We were made in God’s image; made for meaningful relationship.
So, God’s creation reveals the biblical foundation for relationship.
- The fall of mankind reveals the biblical foundation for relationship.
What happened at the fall? Mankind sinned, and their sin broke their relationship with God and with each other.
Of all the things that sin could have broken, the most significant consequence of sin is how it broke our RELATIONSHIPS.
Sin has broken our relationship with God. To be spiritually dead literally means for our spirit to be separated from the Spirit of God. When a person is “lost in their sins”, it means they are separated from God. Sin has broken our relationship with God, and…
Sin has broken our relationship with other people. Our sins drive a wedge between us. Rude, arrogant, abusive, slanderous, divisive, envious, bitter, pride, hateful, boastful, selfish and the like… all these sins drive people apart.
When the first people fell into sin, their sin broke their relationship with God and with each other. It is seen in their behavior!
They hid, naked and ashamed.
They blamed each other.
They were cast out of the presence of God.
In the story of the fall, we also see God’s plan to COVER their sins through death! Yes, God curses them because of their sin; but what else does God do? He kills two animals and uses their sin to clothe the man and the woman and cover their shame.
In that act, God is foreshadowing His plan to reconcile mankind back to right relationship! It is a prophecy: “I will use the death of another to cover your sin and shame.”
So, the story of the fall reveals the biblical foundation for relationship.
- God’s law reveals the biblical foundation for relationship.
The law of God, with all its detailed components, was given as a tutor to help guide God’s people back into right relationship with God and with one another!
Consider just one aspect of the law of Moses… the most famous part… the 10 Commandments. They are found in Exodus 20:1-17.
These 10 Commandments are all about RELATIONSHIP!
- You shall have no other gods before me.
Breaks relationship with God, inconsistent with love. - Make no idols and do not worship them.
Breaks relationship, inconsistent with love. - Don’t misuse the name of God.
Harms relationship, inconsistent with love. - Remember the Sabbath.
Honors relationship, consistent with love. - Honor your father and your mother.
Builds relationship, consistent with love. - Do not murder.
Kills relationship, inconsistent with love. - Do not commit adultery.
Hurts relationship, inconsistent with love. - Do not steal.
Breaks relationship, inconsistent with love. - Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Breaks relationship, inconsistent with love. - Do not covet the things that belong to your neighbor.
Harms relationship, inconsistent with love.
Every one of the 10 Commandments centers on the biblical foundation of relationship! These commands are intended to guide people into right relationship with God and with one another.
And when you look at the rest of the law, you see relationship is what it is all about. Right relationship with foreigners, with your neighbor, towards the poor, in your sexuality, with property and possessions, in sacrificial worship… the list goes on and on!
The law of God reveals the biblical foundation for relationship!
- God’s covenants reveal the biblical foundation for relationship.
The word “covenant” in a biblical context describes conditions and terms God made with specific individuals or people groups that fostered right relationship. For example…
God made a covenant with Noah, and through it He spared mankind from total annihilation.
God made a covenant with Abraham, and through it established a nation, a people, for Himself; His purpose was for this people to multiply and to be a blessing to the whole world.
God established a covenant with Moses, and He gave us the law and 10 Commandments we just talked about through that covenant.
God made a covenant with King David. God called David, “A man after His own heart.”
And in all these covenants we find foreshadows of God’s plan to send us Jesus. Through Jesus, God has established a new and far better covenant with mankind – so that all who believe in Him might be saved from sin, saved from death, and be reconciled to God and to one another through Christ!
The covenants of God, and especially God’s covenant with us through Jesus, reveal the biblical foundation of relationship.
- The Holy Spirit reveals the biblical foundation for relationship.
What has God done for us through the Holy Spirit? He has far exceeded the notion of just forgiving our sins. Through the Holy Spirit, God has brought an end to our old life so that who we once were is dead and gone, and He has caused us to be born again of the Spirit of God so that we are new creations in Christ!
In our new condition, our relationship with God is AWESOME:
We are dead to sin and alive to God.
Our spirit has been made ONE with God’s Spirit.
We are new creations in Christ.
We are partakers of God’s divine nature.
We have received power to be His witnesses.
We have been adopted as sons and daughters and brought into God’s eternal family.
We have been made one with each other through Christ and are
part of the one body of Jesus Christ.
The life of Jesus now literally lives in us.
We bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit as we walk by faith as new creations in Christ.
Consider the fruit of the Holy Spirit! Which one of those fruits do not find their fulfillment in relationship with God and with others?
Love for whom?
Joy with whom?
Peace between whom?
Patience towards whom?
Kindness shown to whom?
Goodness passed on to whom?
Faithfulness to whom?
Gentleness shown towards whom?
Self-control to honor whom?
The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives – and every fruit of the Spirit – reveals the biblical foundation for relationship!
- Jesus’ example reveals the biblical foundation for relationship.
Remember last week, how Jesus called those first disciples to drop their nets? What was the invitation? It was to BE IN RELATIONSHIP with Jesus!
Jesus said, “Follow Me”. That’s an invitation to relationship: to be close to Jesus, to be in proximity to Jesus, to know Jesus, and to be with Jesus.
Jesus continued to call more and more disciples to follow Him. After a while, Jesus had dozens of disciples following Him. So, what did He do? Jesus focused on relationship by forming a small group of twelve disciples whom He also named apostles.
Why did Jesus do that? Mark’s gospel tells us…
Mark 3:14
And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach
Jesus recruited the twelve to be in closer RELATIONSHIP with Him! “That they might be with Him”.
So, the example of Jesus reveals that the biblical foundation for discipleship is relationship.
And there’s one more…
- The new heaven and earth reveals the biblical foundation for relationship.
What is the picture of that final place? How is it described?
Revelation 21:1-5
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
God is planning an eternal dwelling place where we will exist for all eternity in right relationship with God and with one another. From beginning to end, God’s plan is all about RELATIONSHIP.
For you to make a personal DiscipleShift means shifting your life to center on God’s plan. A personal DiscipleShift is nothing if it is not first a relational shift!
CONCLUSION
Through the work of Jesus, God is offering every believer real, authentic, meaningful relationship with Him and with others in Christ.
Satan hates that.
His goal is to kill, steal, and destroy. He was there, spinning his lies, when mankind fell into sin and relationship with God and others was broken. He’s never stopped. One of his primary tactics is to take God’s good gifts, pervert them, and offer cheap knockoffs that promise to fulfill but ultimately bring destruction and chaos into our lives.
It isn’t hard to see.
Consider the word “LOVE”.
Consider internet pornography.
Consider AI.
Satan is attacking relationships! Why? Because it is God’s nature! He IS an eternal relationship in and of Himself! When He made us in His image, He gave us the ability for relationship with Him and one another. He placed a need in us for those relationships. Satan’s assault on relationships is an assault on God and on mankind!
And there’s one obvious reason for this assault…
The biblical foundation for discipleship is relationships.
Kill relationships, kill the Great Commission.
That’s why we must hold the line. You personal DiscipleShift is NOTHING if it is not first and foremost a RELATIONAL shift.
Discipleship is better caught than taught. We need real-life relationships to learn how to be mature followers of Christ. We need authentic relationships to be able to help others grow as mature disciples of Jesus.
Can you see it?
INVITATION
So, why would anyone substitute real-life relationships with AI?
I’ll tell you.
AI is cheap.
It doesn’t cost you money, time, or energy. You don’t have to serve it, it promises to serve you. It won’t fight or argue with you. It will tell you what you want to hear. It will encourage you and you don’t have to encourage it. It will be available to you when you need it, and you can ignore it when you don’t.
AI is cheap. It is easy.
And that’s why someone would let it replace real-life relationships. The cost to make disciples is a high cost! It will cost you time, money, emotional energy, physical energy, and pain.
To follow Jesus means following His example. For Jesus, it is all about real relationships. Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you everything.
Are you willing to pay the price to know and follow Jesus? For those of us who are in Christ, discipleship is not just something we do, it is who we are in Christ. You have what it takes to make the relational shift of opening your life up to other people because the Holy Spirit will give you the power.
Will you commit to make a personal DiscipleShift? And will you begin by becoming a person who counts the cost and chooses to live in real-life relationships with other people?