Not just what we believe—but how we live it: daily, humbly, out there.
(notes from message shared, Village Church, 15th June 2025)
INTRO – Shaped by Jesus: Living It Out There
As we talk about being shaped by Jesus—being His apprentice—I’ve been thinking again about where that actually happens.
For me, it’s rarely in a church service. It happened just yesterday in an olive grove overlooking the Forth Valley. Sometimes it’s on a trail. Over coffee. Or in that early stillness before the day takes off. Those moments—when it’s just me, real life, and God—that’s where the words of Jesus land. That’s where the Spirit presses into the gap between what I say I believe and how I live.
Because apprentices aren’t shaped by theory. They’re shaped on the job.
We learn Jesus as we walk with Him—in the real, the messy, the ordinary.
But that doesn’t happen without intention. Life is noisy. Even good things can distract us. And if we’re not careful, that noise drowns out the one voice that gives life.
This life we’re called to doesn’t begin with doing more. It starts here:
Just you and God. Quiet. Honest. Real.
And that ties beautifully into what Craig shared last week: (8th June, Pentecost Sunday, Village Church) Pentecost wasn’t just a sacred moment—it was a sending.
The Spirit didn’t fill a building. He filled people.
We are the temple now.
God’s presence goes where we go—into homes, worksites, schools, streets. Out there. And if our faith never leaves this space—then maybe we’ve missed what the fire was for.
PERSONAL STORY
Twelve years ago, a man walked into my office and said: “I’m an atheist. I don’t even know why I’m here.”
But he stayed. Kept asking questions. Kept showing up. Eventually he said: “I can’t dismiss this anymore—because what you talk about, and how you live… most of the time, they line up.”
He didn’t lean in because of a theological argument. He leaned in because he saw something real.
Discipleship isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about living in a way that makes people stop and ask: “Maybe God really is who they say He is.”
SCRIPTURE: SIMPLE WORDS THAT REFRAME EVERYTHING
Matthew 22:34–40 (NLT)
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
This wasn’t an honest question—it was a trap. The bloke asking wasn’t trying to understand Jesus. He was trying to back Him into a corner with religion.
But Jesus doesn’t take the bait. He doesn’t rank commands. He reframes the whole thing around love.
“A second is equally important…”
That’s not a side note. That’s the whole point.
You see… loving God and loving people—they’re not two separate things. They’re one life. One story. One way of being.
If we reckon we love God but don’t love people—we’ve missed the mark. And if we try to love people without being grounded in God’s love—we’ll burn out, go bitter, or end up going through the motions.
Jesus is clear: you can’t pull the two apart. They belong together. Always have.
SALVATION AND LOVE CAN’T BE SEPARATED
We’ve sometimes treated salvation like a one-off deal— say a prayer, get your ticket stamped, and wait for heaven.
But Jesus never spoke of it like that. He didn’t separate loving God from loving people—and neither should we.
Because real salvation—Jesus-shaped salvation—isn’t just about what happens when we die. It’s about the kind of life we live now.
Dallas Willard put it this way:
“We don’t believe something by merely saying we believe it… We believe something when we act as if it were true.” Dallas Willard
If the gospel we believe doesn’t start changing how we live—how we treat others, how we show up—then maybe we’ve only half-believed it.
The good news isn’t just something we hear and nod at. It’s something that gets under our skin. It shows up in how we forgive. How we love. How we listen. How we carry others when they can’t carry themselves.
If it’s not lived, it’s not whole.
DON’T GET STUCK ON LAW—FOLLOW JESUS INTO LOVE
The Pharisees came looking for a theological debate. Jesus wasn’t interested in playing that game. He wasn’t there to win arguments—He was there to transform hearts.
They wanted rules. He offered a way of life.
1 John 4:20 puts it pretty straight:
“If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?”
That’s not soft language. That’s a wake-up call.
Jesus isn’t forming better-informed Christians. He’s shaping people whose lives actually line up with His way.
As Willard said: “The first act of love is always the giving of attention.”
That’s where it starts—paying attention. To God. To the people in front of you. To the way your life is actually unfolding.
So what does that look like? Here are four marks of a disciple—four ways we’re shaped to live like Him.
FOUR MARKS OF A DISCIPLE
Shaped by Jesus: Living It Out There
In the words of Jesus Christ – “Love the Lord your God… and love your neighbour as yourself.” — Jesus
1 – Move toward the Mess
Disciples Love God Deeply—And Step Toward Others Sacrificially
Jesus didn’t pull these two commands apart—and neither can we. If we love God, it’ll show in how we treat people.
This love isn’t just a warm feeling or belief we nod at. It’s gutsy. It moves toward pain. It forgives first. It stays at the table. It costs something.
1 Corinthians 13:1 (NLT)
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
📍This week:
Who is Jesus asking you to love—not out of comfort, but out of obedience?
2 – Step into the Street
Disciples Honour God by Showing Up in the World
Loving God doesn’t mean hiding in safe spaces. It means stepping into the real world—with all its mess and need.
Jesus didn’t stay behind synagogue walls. He walked streets, entered homes, touched the sick, listened to the ignored.
If we say we love God but won’t cross the street—our faith hasn’t left the building.
Philippians 2:15 (NLT)
… so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.
📍This week:
Where is Jesus already moving—and where’s He asking you to show up with Him?
3. Walk the Tough track
Disciples Obey God—Even When It Costs—Because People Matter
Obedience is love with boots on. It’s not about earning approval—it’s a response to already being loved. And often, it’s inconvenient. Costly. But people are worth it.
James 1:22 (NLT)
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
📍This week:
What’s one thing God’s asking you to do—for someone else—that you’ve been putting off?
4. Be Worth Following
Disciples Reflect God by Living What They Preach
We honour God when our lives line up with His character. And people notice—not just what we say, but whether we live it.
You don’t need a pulpit to disciple someone.
Often, it’s the life people quietly watch that speaks the loudest.
That man who walked into my office didn’t change because of an argument. He kept turning up because what he saw—most of the time—lined up with what I said I believed.
We’re all shaping someone. Fellow believers are watching—hoping to see courage and consistency. Those not yet of faith are watching too—hoping to see something real.
Matthew 5:15- 16 (NLT)
15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
📍This week:
Who’s being shaped by how you live—and what are they seeing?
CONCLUSION – LINE IT UP
That man who came into my office all those years ago didn’t need a religious lecture.
He needed to see something that lined up.
And Jesus made it simple:
Love God. Love people.
Do this—and you will live.
That last line—“Do this and you will live”—isn’t just a throwaway phrase.
It’s exactly what Jesus said in Luke 10:26–28, when a man quoted the same commandment back to Him.
“Jesus replied, ‘What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?’The man answered, ‘“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”’
“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”” (NLT)
Let’s be the kind of disciples whose faith isn’t just something we believe, but something we embody.
Let’s live in a way that others can look at and say:
“What they say—and how they live—it lines up.” It reflect the Jesus they believe in.