Share Life with Others – Making Disciples
Share Life with Others
Together Church | Pastor Brandon Werner
September 6, 2026 | Series: Making Disciples
MESSAGE SETUP – PASTOR JERRY
If you’re just joining us, we’re at the point in this series where we’re identifying the fundamentals of disciple-making.
Last week, we laid out the roadmap for these fundamentals.
If you missed them, here they are – write these down.
Making disciples like Jesus means we…
- Share Life
- Share Love
- Share Lessons
Today, we’ll discover how Jesus SHARED HIS LIFE with those He discipled… and we’ll see how following His example is the only way to satisfy one of the deepest desires of our souls.
Are you ready? Let’s pray.
INTRODUCTION – PASTOR BRANDON
In 2012, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Israel.
That trip brought the Bible to life.
I saw all these places we read about with my own eyes.
- I walked paths that Jesus walked
- Stood on the shore of the Sea of Galilee
- And saw places where the Bible really happened
One of my favorite stops was the Dead Sea.
It is the saltiest natural source of water I’ve ever been to in my life.
The water is so salty that I got a drop in my eye and it burned severely. You definitely don’t want to get in if you have a papercut!
Because the salt is so dense, it changes the buoyancy of the water.
Here’s a picture of me FLOATING in the Dead Sea! I know it looks like I must be laying on the shore just beneath the surface, but in this picture I’m in water so deep that my feet can’t touch.
It really is a natural phenomenon.
The Dead Sea is the way it is for a reason…
The sea has inflow, but no outflow.
Water flows in from the Jordan River, but it has nowhere to go.
Instead, the water evaporates—and when it does, the water leaves while the salt stays behind.
Over time, the salt becomes so concentrated that fish and most other aquatic life simply cannot survive.
And thus, its name, the Dead Sea.
The sea is dead because it is being poured into but isn’t pouring out.
And that’s the lesson for disciple-makers this morning.
Your need for meaning is met by God as you pour out for others what has been poured into you.
That’s why the title of this message is: SHARE LIFE WITH OTHERS.
BODY
Have you ever been doing the right things but not feeling it?
Going to church but feeling disconnected?
Going to small group but not feeling like it matters?
Let’s talk about why.
When God made you, He made your soul with needs… needs that He knew could only be met in Him.
Those needs include being loved, finding security, having self-worth, and for MEANING.
Right now, let’s focus on your need for MEANING.
Your soul craves MEANING… knowing your life matters.
For those of you in the discipleship workbook right now, on the wheel, this same need is called connecting to your PURPOSE.
Your need for MEANING deals with questions like:
- Why do I exist?
- Why did God make me?
- Why am I still here?
- Why didn’t God just take me to heaven when I was saved?
Like every need of your soul, this need for meaning can only be met by God… and it can only be met God’s way.
God made you with this need!
And He wants this need to lead you to depend on Him more.
When you come to God with this need, He will give your life MEANING!
But HOW?
He does it by connecting you to your PURPOSE.
When I say, “connect to your purpose,” I’m not saying find some purpose – any purpose – that makes you happy and chase it.
I’m saying God knows you, loves you, and made you for HIS PURPOSE.
I’m saying that your soul’s need for meaning can only be met when you trust God and decide that you will live for His purpose.
Ultimately, I’m saying that – like every need of your soul – this one has to be brought to God and met in God. And He meets it by revealing His purpose for your life to you and empowering you to fulfill it.
That leads us to an obvious question…
What is His purpose for your life?
The answer is found in JESUS…
In His teaching and His EXAMPLE.
So, let’s look at Jesus!
Open your Bibles to John 17:4.
While you open, let’s set the scene…
We are in the final hours before Jesus went to the cross.
Judas was gone, and Jesus was sharing final words with His disciples. Then, He started to pray.
With His eleven remaining apostles listening, Jesus prayed these words to His Father…
John 17:4
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
This prayer reads like a victory lap!
Before He has ever gone to the cross, Jesus celebrates, “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!”
He says, Father, I’ve ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED the work on earth that You gave Me to do.
How is that possible if He hadn’t died on the cross for our sins?
Jesus wasn’t talking about the mission of the cross.
He was talking about the purpose of His ministry.
Jesus had finished His work of making disciples.
Jesus makes that clear as the prayer continues in…
John 17:12
While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction [Judas], that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Jesus could look at His disciples and say, “Mission Accomplished.”
His life had made an eternal difference in theirs.
Do you think that’s true?
Did Jesus’ investment in His disciples’ lives change their lives for all of eternity? Were their lives now going to be used by God to change other people’s lives for all of eternity?
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
Jesus fulfilled God’s PURPOSE.
Wouldn’t you love to come to the end of your life and be able to say the same thing?
Now here’s the question:
How did He do it?
What was His strategy?
How did Jesus invest His life in a way that changed His disciples’ lives forever?
Flip over to Mark 3:13-15.
As you open, let’s set the scene.
Now we’re back at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
Jesus had been recruiting several new followers. The number of His disciples was growing (we don’t know how many, but a good number more than twelve).
At this moment, Jesus paused.
The Bible says He went up on a mountain and prayed all night.
What was He doing?
Surely this wasn’t the only time Jesus went out and prayed alone.
So why is this moment so emphasized?
Because Jesus was praying about the most important decision of His ministry (I don’t say that lightly)… He was depending on God’s power to choose twelve disciples to be His apostles.
Why did that matter?
Jesus knew His plan… He was going to devote Himself to these twelve individuals and share His life with them in ways He didn’t share it with everyone else.
How did Jesus pour into others? It starts with the first fundamental…
JESUS POURED INTO OTHERS BY THE WAY HE SHARED HIS LIFE WITH THEM.
That’s how He fulfilled God’s purpose.
When it came to discipleship, Jesus believed that, if they did their part and He did His, His life would make an impact in their lives for all eternity.
Can you see it?
Now, let’s read the passage…
Mark 3:13-15
“And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”
First on the list…
“that they might be with Him”
That’s sharing life.
Jesus could have chosen any strategy He wanted to.
He could have called the twelve…
“So that they might attend His weekly class.”
“So they might start a new weekly church service together.”
“So they might learn to lead Bible studies.”
“So they might volunteer and serve in His ministry.”
That wasn’t it.
It was “so that they might be with Him.”
JESUS SHARED HIS LIFE.
He opened His life and gave exclusive access.
And because He did, they were never the same.
How do we make an eternal impact on the lives of others?
By sharing our life with them and discipling them like Jesus did.
This one move defines His ministry from this point on…
- Who is with Jesus when He feeds the 5000?
- Who is with Him when He calms the storm?
- Who is there when He gives the sermon on the mount?
- Who travels with Jesus from town to town?
- Who did Jesus pull aside to explain certain lessons?
- Who is with Him when Peter makes the great confession?
- Who eats with Jesus at the Last Supper?
- Whose feet did Jesus wash?
- Who does Jesus visit after His resurrection?
- Who is there when He gives His Great Commission?
Other than His relationship with the Father, who does Jesus share His life with and pour into the most?
A small group of disciples.
And, it has credibly been argued that Jesus even shared His life more closely with three of the twelve – Peter, James, and John.
- They were the only three Jesus permitted to accompany Him when He raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead.
- They were the only three with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.
- They were the only ones invited to go a little further with Jesus while He prayed in Gethsemane.
Even within the twelve, Jesus seemingly narrowed His focus tighter and tighter to sharing life with a few.
By doing this, Jesus set the example.
- What’s God’s purpose?
- How do we make our lives count?
- What gives our lives meaning?
Our need for MEANING is met when we follow Jesus’ example:
We share our lives with a few so that their lives can be changed for all eternity.
It’s the lesson of the Dead Sea:
Your need for meaning is met by God as you pour out for others what has been poured into you.
CONCLUSION
That’s the lesson.
Now how do you need to apply it?
Some of you in this room are new to Together Church.
You’re experiencing small group or discipleship culture for the first time or in a way you’ve never experienced it before.
If that’s you, chances are there’s a newness and excitement to it!
It happened to me again this week in group…
Two new guys visited our group for the first time. When group was over, they came up to me personally and said, “We haven’t experienced this before in church! This was really amazing.”
They went on and said, “And you do a great job really listening and understanding what others are saying.”
I smiled because I knew that what they were experiencing was the result of what others have poured into me and the mature disciples in our group.
If you’re new, here’s my encouragement…
SOAK IT ALL UP.
Discipleship is better caught than taught!
Let others pour into you.
Be teachable.
Catch the culture.
Notice what others are doing and join in.
But know this:
There will come a point in this process when you’ve been around a while…
You’ve been poured into.
You’ve experienced discipleship with others.
You’ve gone through trainings…
Like DXP
Or The Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual
You’ve heard sermons and learned the answer to questions.
And the Holy Spirit makes it clear it’s time to pour into others what has been poured into you.
When that time comes, you’ll have a choice to make…
- Will you pour into others?
- Or will you become like the Dead Sea?
If you do not start pouring into others, something inside your soul will start to die. The purpose of making disciples is not just to be filled up… it is to pour out of the abundance what others have poured into you!
I’ve seen this time and again:
If you do not start pouring into others, what was once exciting to you will become routine or mundane… and you’ll clock out.
You might stay in our church but just start going through the motions.
Or you might even grow disillusioned and leave.
As a pastor, I’ve had a lot of exit interviews with people leaving our church. In that process, I’ve noticed an unmistakable pattern…
Not everyone, but many of the people who leave share this in common: they never started pouring into others what was poured into them.
Here’s the problem with that…
If you leave, but you haven’t learned the lesson of the Dead Sea, that problem goes with you.
Sure, at first a new ministry or church might be exciting!
But when a person is like the Dead Sea, those same problems come back around. The ministry spark will fade, and disillusionment returns.
What if the MEANING you’re looking for isn’t in a change to your environment, but it is in a change in your soul?
That brings me to another group of people here this morning…
You’re not new to our church. You’ve been poured into.
Perhaps you’ve experienced relational discipleship firsthand.
Or you’ve been in a small group where many people have loved you, listened to you, served you, and invested in you.
Maybe you’ve been through trainings and equipped.
I’m talking to those who know they’ve been poured into.
You’ve been poured into, but, right now, you aren’t pouring out.
I didn’t say you weren’t ministering…
- You’re volunteering
- You’re in a small group
- You may even be a leader in our church!
But you feel unsatisfied.
You’ve been trying to pinpoint why.
And the reason is you’re becoming like the Dead Sea.
Please hear me this morning:
God loves you! He made you with this need for MEANING. He is inviting you to come to Him and have this need met.
This need is met in Him when you depend on God’s power to pour out for others what has been poured into you.
This need is met when, like Jesus, you share your life with others in a way that changes their life for eternity.
I think someone’s probably realizing this for the first time…
- Small group has felt routine.
- Church hasn’t been as exciting.
- You feel unfilled in your day-to-day routine.
And the Holy Spirit is helping this click: you’re not pouring out.
Maybe you never have, but you know you should start!
If that’s you, today is your day to begin.
Or, and I think this is more likely…
You were pouring out, but, somewhere along the way, you stopped.
You were leading a small group with this purpose… but it ended… and when it did, you didn’t start a new one – and these feelings of purposelessness were set into motion.
You didn’t realize that would happen, but God is helping you see it.
Or when your last discipleship relationship ended, you didn’t start a new one… and these feelings were set into motion.
Or you were sharing your life with someone who is lost to lead them to the Lord… but that relationship ended. Maybe they were saved; maybe they rejected you; or maybe after so many attempts it just fizzled. Whatever the reason, when it ended, you didn’t start a new one… and these feelings were set into motion.
Can I encourage you?
God is waiting and ready to meet this need for MEANING in your soul!
So often, when we hear about God’s purpose, it is just like, “DO IT.”
That’s not how God feels about this at all! He knows you and cares about you. He wants to meet the deepest longings of your soul.
When you come to Him, He will meet this need!
Like we learned last week, He will give you His power so that you can constantly be poured into through His supply… He is your SOURCE.
AND He will help you as you depend on Him and pour into others what has been poured into you.
Contrary to what you may have believed, your greatest need is not a change in environment, it is a change in your soul.
Our enemy wants you to look to something – anything – other than turning to God to fulfill His purpose for your life.
He wants to keep you in an endless search for fulfillment in things where it cannot be found.
But God wants to fill you up.
He wants to give your life MEANING.
Have you been feeling like the Dead Sea?
If you’ve been poured into, it’s time to pour out.
INVITATION
It’s time for our response.
First, I want to tell you my response to this message.
As your pastor, without compromise, this is what we are committed to. I’m not going to change it on you. We are going to depend on God together for the need for MEANING in our lives.
This is what God calls every disciple to do.
This is what He has called me to do… and I’m all in.
This is what I’ll be doing with my life…
and I want to invite you to join me!
- Some of you have.
If this is you, we are brothers and sisters in arms. Let’s press on together! You are such an encouragement to me. I hope I am to you. Let’s encourage one another to let God’s supply flow through us… receiving from the Lord and from each other and pouring out what we receive!
- Some of you haven’t joined us yet.
If this is you, will you learn the lesson of the Dead Sea? Your part is to allow God and others to pour into you so that you can pour into others.
Will you agree with God’s purpose for your life?
Will you find your meaning in Him?
- Some of you have joined us in the past, but you stopped.
You’ve discipled others before. Maybe you even led a group before. But somewhere along the way you stopped sharing life with others the way Jesus shared His life with His disciples. You stopped giving access to your life to a few for the purpose of making disciples.
You might still be busy in ministry!
But the outflow stopped.
And something inside feels empty.
If that’s you, would you remember how much God loves you? Would you come back to Him to have this need met in your life? Would you join us again and pour out for others what you have received?
TIME OF PRAYER
CLOSER
Church, let me leave you with some hope.
According to the Bible, the Dead Sea won’t always be dead.
In Ezekiel 47, God gave the prophet a vision of a future day when water would flow from the presence of God, down through the Arabah, and into the Dead Sea.
Ezekiel 47:8–9
When the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live…
This is an eschatological prophecy with a real geographic picture.
One day, the literal Dead Sea will come alive
when living water begins to flow.
And maybe that’s what God wants to do in some of you today.
Something in your soul has felt dry.
Something that used to excite you has started to feel routine.
You’ve wondered where the passion went… where the meaning went.
Maybe you don’t need another place to receive.
Maybe it’s time to start pouring out.
God has poured so much into you.
Now open your life.
Share it with someone.
Make a disciple.
And watch what God does—not only in their life… but in yours.
Because when what God pours in begins to flow out… dead places can come alive again.