Make Disciples - Tim Horman
Have you ever felt stuck? Like you've been learning about Jesus for years, maybe your whole life, but you still don't quite know how to live the faith yourself? Like you're watching from the sidelines while others do the real work of ministry?
You're not alone. And there's a way forward.
This past Sunday, Tim Horman continued our "Together Together" mission month series by exploring Jesus' Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. In a message that was both challenging and deeply encouraging, Tim laid out what it actually means to be a disciple — and how we might move from being "learner bystanders" to "empowered agents" in the ministry of Jesus.
You can watch Tim’s full message above or listen to an audio version of it below.
A God on Mission
Tim began by reminding us that the Great Commission isn't just the great mission — it's the great commission. We're not simply called to admire Jesus' mission from a distance. We're commissioned to join it.
And this mission has been God's heart from the very beginning. Tim walked us through the grand narrative of Scripture: God has been seeking after lost and hurting humanity, working to draw his exiled children home, from the moment of the fall. Even in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve hid from God, his first words were, "Where are you? Why have you hidden yourself from me?"
"God has been working from the beginning to draw his lost children home. That is what the Scriptures are all about, and that is what has been fulfilled in Christ."
Through Christ, we've been reconciled to the Father. And now, as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, we've been given the ministry of reconciliation. We are Christ's ambassadors, as though God is making his appeal through us.
The question is: how do we step into that call?
Lessons from Church Planting
Tim shared honestly from his own experience planting a church at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver — a place once described as "a church planting graveyard." With an 80% student turnover every four years, they simply didn't have the luxury of time. They had to get really good at making disciples or they wouldn't survive.
What they discovered was both sobering and hopeful:
Many students who'd grown up in church were functionally biblically illiterate and terrified of sharing their faith. They'd been trained to be learner bystanders, watching others do ministry rather than being empowered to join in themselves.
Meanwhile, new Christians often outpaced long-term believers in biblical understanding, maturity, and engagement in ministry. Why? They were hungry. They were motivated. And critically, they were quickly engaged in mission.
"The secret is that the early disciples in Acts 6, like our new believers at UBC, were quickly engaged in mission. As soon as those new disciples moved toward taking up responsibility for the mission of the church for themselves — not just watching other people do it — their growth and their empowerment in Christ seemed to ramp up exponentially."
The lesson? At some point, you have to stop talking about it and just start doing it. Something clunky and imperfect is infinitely better than nothing.
What Is a Disciple, Anyway?
Before we can make disciples, we need to know what a disciple is. Tim turned to Dallas Willard's brilliant definition:
Discipleship is being with another person under appropriate conditions in order to become capable of doing what that person does — or to become like who and what that person is.
Therefore, an apprentice of Jesus is learning from him how to lead their life as Jesus would lead their life if he were them.
Read that again. This isn't about becoming a first-century Jewish rabbi. It's about learning to live as Christ would in our time and place — in our homes, workplaces, friendships, and struggles.
As Paul puts it in Romans 13: "Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ." Put him on. Learn to become like him. Live your life as he would if he were you.
Two Essential Dynamics for Disciple-Making
For the church to effectively make disciples, Tim explained, two core dynamics must be at work:
A community characterized by the empowering presence of God
A community that intentionally trains people in the way of Jesus
And there's an order to them. You can't do the second effectively without the first. You can't teach or model your way into the presence and power of God — but you also can't teach people to follow Jesus effectively if you don't have the empowering presence of God at the heart of it all.
This is what Jesus means in the Great Commission when he commands us to baptise in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Scripture, "the name" means the reality of the thing named. To be baptised into the name of the Trinity is to be surrounded by, immersed into, and filled with the dynamic presence and life of God.
And notice: the verb is present active continuous. Not "be baptised" (past tense), but "baptising" — continually, ongoing, immersed into the reality and power of the Trinity.
"This is the heart of the church. If we don't have that, we don't have anything. If we don't have that, we cannot be effective at making disciples."
As Paul says in Ephesians 2:22, the church is not a building made with human hands, but a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. That's what we are: a people gathered to be filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
And since no single person can contain or express all the gifts and ministries of the Spirit, we need the whole body. We need everyone engaged. That's how we experience the fullness of life in Christ. That's how we grow into maturity.
When only some people in the church are engaged, we're working with one arm tied behind our back.
We Are People of the Presence
Tim pressed in on this point with urgency. For too many Christians and churches, the work of the Spirit is just background noise — something that happened at Pentecost two thousand years ago.
But that is not that.
As Peter declared on the day of Pentecost, "This is that which was promised by the prophet Joel." To be the people of God is to be people of the presence. People of the Spirit.
Dane Ortlund puts it this way: The Father ordains salvation, the Son accomplishes salvation, and the Spirit applies salvation. There is no Christian life without the Spirit. Everything we experience of God is the working of the Spirit.
"It is the Spirit who turns doctrine or teaching into power to live as Christ did. It's the Spirit who takes us from observation of the ministry of Jesus to agency in the ministry of Jesus."
Without the Spirit, the Christian life is purely theoretical. With the Spirit, we can do the impossible.
A School of Life
The second dynamic is that the church must be a school of life — a community that intentionally and deliberately trains and equips people to live their kingdom calling in the world. Not just to be good Christians on Sundays, but to take the way of Jesus into our workplaces, families, friendships, and decision-making.
This is hard to do in a 30-minute sermon. It's even hard in small groups, which tend to focus more on community and care. We need to create contexts where this kind of formation can actually happen — and that's what One Church is working toward, through the Ally, kids and youth ministry, and a new discipleship pathway being developed for the whole church.
Dallas Willard described the church as a community of students gathered in Jesus' name (that is, in his presence and power) with the singular purpose of learning to live more deeply into God's kingdom — or more accurately, learning how to be the sort of people who live deeply into God's kingdom.
This isn't just about information. It's about a renovation of the heart — having our desires and behaviour reshaped around kingdom priorities rather than self-priorities.
Three Elements of Effective Discipleship
Drawing straight from the Great Commission, Tim outlined three things that must be involved if we want to make disciples effectively:
Being with Jesus through the Holy Spirit in the context of the church (baptise in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
Learning about Jesus through studying Scripture (teach them all I have commanded you)
Doing what Jesus did through observation and practice (teach them to obey all I have commanded you)
All three are essential. And all three depend on the transforming life and power of the Spirit. This isn't about white-knuckling it or trying harder. It's about the Spirit taking away our old, stony, cold hearts and giving us hearts that are alive and soft to God.
God is the lead actor. We're just the supporting cast.
The Challenge (and Hope) of Our Mission Partners
Tim connected all of this back to the One Care mission appeal. Our mission partners — in the Philippines, Indonesia, locally through Babes Project and Prison Network, and so many other places — challenge and stretch us. They're doing this hard work of disciple-making in difficult contexts, often with very few resources.
He shared the powerful story of Mark from the Philippines, whose life was transformed through the feeding and education programs we support. Mark spoke of how God saw him, sustained him, and gave him a purpose and a plan.
"Together, we are working in those places. That is us over there."
And Tim also shared a thrilling story from our own youth ministry: a couple of young people who went to a conference on the Gold Coast, came back inspired, and started an Alpha course in their school. One hundred kids showed up the first week.
They didn't need much. Just some faith and the power of the Spirit. And look what God is doing.
One Way to Live It Out This Week
Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you afresh. Pray something like this: "Lord, I want to step into this. I want to follow you in whatever it is you have for me. Help me to trust you." Then take one small, concrete step — reach out to someone who doesn't know Jesus, serve in a way you've been putting off, or sign up to help with a ministry you've been thinking about.
A Short Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the redemption of the world that has come to us through your Son, Jesus Christ. We confess that we have not always lived as your empowered agents. We have been learner bystanders. Forgive us. Fill us afresh with your Holy Spirit. Give us the courage to follow you wherever you're sending us. Align our hearts with your mission. Ignite our passion to be your hands and feet in the world. May everything we do bring honour to your name. Amen.
Personal Reflection
Do you identify more as a "learner bystander" or an "empowered agent" in the ministry of Jesus? Why?
What would it look like for you to lead your life as Jesus would lead it if he were you — in your home, workplace, or friendships?
Where do you sense the Holy Spirit inviting you to step forward in faith, even if you don't feel ready?
Small Group Discussion
What stood out to you most from this sermon?
Tim said that many Christians feel "not ready" to step into mission. Why do you think that is?
Read Matthew 28:18-20 together. What does it mean to "baptise" people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — not just as a one-time event, but as an ongoing reality?
How have you experienced the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in your own life? What difference has that made?
What does it look like practically to be "a school of life" — a community that trains people in the way of Jesus?
Tim shared the story of young people starting an Alpha course at their school with 100 kids showing up. What inspires you about that? What scares you?
What's one area of your life where you sense God calling you to "clothe yourself with Christ" — to live as Jesus would if he were you?
How can we pray for one another as we seek to move from being learner bystanders to empowered agents in the mission of Jesus?