Discipleship (3)

We’re Looking at Discipleship

The Purpose & Mission of Christianity & the Church…

Is for Believers to Become More & More Like Jesus…

And to Help Others Do the Same

To Be Disciples Who Make Disciples

Last Week, We Looked at this Graph…

That Shows Us the Life-Cycle of Discipleship

When a Person Learns the Gospel Message & Decide to Become a Disciple of Jesus…

They Become a Baby in Christ

As They are Discipled & Trained in the Ways of Jesus…

They Become a Child & Begin to Feed & Care for Themselves

As They Continue to Be Discipled in the Ways of Jesus…

They Become a Young Adult & Begin Serving Their Brothers & Sisters

As They Continue to Be Discipled in the Ways of Jesus…

They Become a Parent & Begin Sharing the Gospel with & Discipling Others

As They Continue to Discipling Others in the Ways of Jesus…

They Become a Grandparent Because Their Disciples are Now Discipling Others

And Thus the Cycle Continues

This is the Natural Process of Discipleship

This was One of the Last Commands Jesus Gave Before Ascending into Heaven

Matthew 28:19–20 (NASB95)

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

As You’re Going/Living Your Life…

Make Disciples of Jesus…

By Baptizing Them…

And Teaching Them to Obey All of Jesus’ Commands

Jesus Commands Us All to Be Discipling Others

As We Live Our Lives…

We Need to Be Making Disciples…

By Sharing the Gospel Message & Baptizing…

And Then Teaching Them the Ways of Jesus & How to Follow/Live Them

Paul Told Timothy the Same Idea:

2 Timothy 2:2 (NASB95)

2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

What You’ve Learned from Me…

Go & Teach to Others…

Who will then Go & Teach Others…

And So on & So on

Discipleship is about Growing to Be More & More Like Jesus in Every Way…

And Helping/Training Others to Do the Same

What We’re Going to Talk about Tonight is:

How Do We Do That?

How Do We as Individual Christians & as a Collective Church…

Practice Discipleship?

How have We Been Practicing Discipleship?

The Most Popular Form of Discipleship is:

Programs:

Gospel Meetings

VBS

Holiday/Seasonal Get-Togethers

Honorary Banquets for Certain Groups

(Graduates, Senior Citizens, Widows, etc.)

Bible Classes

There are Pros to Programs:

They Get People Together

There’s Typically a Learning or Serving Element to Them

But There’s a Lot of Cons to Programs:

They Often Follow the Business Model

They are Typically Broken Down into Consumer & Producer Roles

Some of the Disciples are Producing…

And the Rest of the Disciples are Consuming

Some are Serving & the Rest are Being Served

Don’t Misunderstand Me:

Serving Our Siblings in Christ is a Wonderful Things

And in Order for that to Be Possible…

You have to have Siblings that are in Need of Being Served

The Problem isn’t Disciples Serving Other Disciples

The Problem is When Those Who are Being Served…

Are Only Interested in Being Served

They Only Show Up to Be Served & Never to Do Any Serving

They’re Happy to Eat the Meal But Never to Serve it or Clean Up Afterward

My Favorite Program that We Do Here is the Community Thanksgiving Meal

Because Every Single Disciple that Comes…

Comes to Serve, Not Be Served

Everyone Comes to Give & Receive

Not Just Some Coming to Give & Others Coming to Receive

It’s Like a Potluck Meal

Everyone Brings Something to the Table…

And Everyone Receives Something from the Table

The Best Programs are When Everyone is Bringing Something to the Table

But the Majority of Church Programs Ever Strive to Meet that Goal

Many Times Programs Become the End Instead of the Means to the End

Gospel Meetings were Originally Intended…

As a Means to Share the Gospel with the Lost of the Community

Now We Just Do Gospel Meetings Because We Always Do Gospel Meetings

It Doesn’t Matter if Outsiders or Even Our Own Members Come or Not

VBS was Originally a Way to Give Children a Deeper Education on the Bible…

During the Summer Months When They weren’t in School

Now VBS is Just as Much for Adults as it is Children

Therefore, Most of the Adults Who Come to VBS…

Come to Be Served Instead of to Serve the Cause of Teaching the Children

Seasonal Gatherings & Honorary Banquets, if We’re Not Careful…

Can Become Things We Just Do Because We Always have…

Instead of Intentional Times of True Fellowship & Service to One Another

If We’re Going to Grow as Disciples of Jesus & Become More Like Him…

We Need More than Just Church Programs

We Need Deep, Real Life:

Fellowship

Relationships

Intimacy

Understanding & Application of Scriptural Principles

Obedience to Scriptural Commands

True Discipleship Requires Depth

So, How Do We Accomplish this?

Starting in January, We’re Going to Begin a…

3-Tiered Approach to Discipleship

Whole-Church Discipleship

Half-Church Discipleship

Small-Group Discipleship

Whole-Church Discipleship

Worship

Monthly Fellowship Meals

Regular Gatherings for Activities/Services

(Seasonal Get-Togethers, Community Thanksgiving Meal, etc.)

(Gospel Meetings, VBS)

This Tier Deals with the Programs that We’re Already Involved in…

And Any that We May Be Involved in in the Future

Half-Church Discipleship

Lady’s Days, Trips, Classes, Retreats, Service

Men’s Days, Breakfasts, Classes, Retreats, Service

This Tier is Gender Focused

Many of Our Women have Already Been Involved in Things like this

Now Our Men are Going to Be as Well, Beginning in January

Like the 1st Tier…

These will Be Scheduled Events on Our Calendar

Either Every Other Month or Once a Quarter

The Point of Discipleship is to Keep Jesus as the Focus

Though We Hope There will Be Lots of Socializing…

This is Not a Social Gathering or Club

Every Gathering should Consist of:

Prayer

Study of Scriptures and/or Spiritual Discussion

Decision on What the Next Gathering will Consist of

Small-Group Discipleship

Groups No Smaller Than 3 & No Larger than 12

Jesus had 12 Disciples to Whom He was Very Close

Jesus had 3 Disciples to Whom He was Most Close

Meet Together on a Frequent & Regular Basis

Ideally, Once a Week

We’ll Begin with Groups Meeting for a Quarter at a Time

Each Gathering Needs to Consist of:

Praying Together

Study & Discussion of the Scriptures Together

Or

Serving Together

Or

Sharing a Meal & Relaxing Together

Try to Fit All of These in the Quarter of Gatherings

Don’t Only Study

Don’t Only Serve

Don’t Only Eat Together

All of These Things were Important to Jesus’ Ministry

They Need to All Be Important to Our Small-Group Gatherings

1 Group Leader Per Group

Schedules the Where/When of Group Meetings

Plans & Leads Study

Plans the Activity/Service

Encourages & Participates in Deep/Intimate Discussions

It’s Very Flexible

Doesn’t Matter Where You Gather

Doesn’t Matter When You Gather (As Long as it is Each Week)

Doesn’t Matter How Long You Gather

Be Reasonable - Leaders, Don’t Hold Your Group Hostage

Doesn’t Matter What You Study

Doesn’t Matter What Kind of Service You Do Together

Doesn’t Matter What Kind of Activity/Hobby You Engage in

As Long as Your Gatherings are Spiritually Focused…

The Details are Up to the Leader of the Group

These Small Groups can Be Structured Around:

A Shared Hobby:

(Ex. Sewing Group)

Hiking

Coffee

Cooking

Reading (Spiritual Book Club)

Sports (Watching or Playing)

Gardening

Serving:

Visiting

Card-Writing

Handiwork/Maintenance of Homes/Cars

Teaching (Learning How to Teach)

Cooking/Delivering Food

Stages/Circumstances of Life:

Widows/Widowers

Singles

Young Families

Married Couples

Study Interests:

Grief

Marriage

Eschatology

Bible Book Studies

Each of the 3 Tiers are Designed for:

Growth in Discipleship & Christ-Likeness

I Believe if We Participate in Each of These 3 Tiers…

And Keep the Focus on Jesus…

That’s Exactly What We’ll See

But the Tier that will Produce the Most Fruit will Be the 3rd Tier

That’s Where Relationships will Grow the Strongest

That’s Where Prayers can Be More Personal

That’s Where Discussion can Be More Intimate

It’s a Close, Tight-Knit Group to Study, Serve, and Share Meals with

It’s the Perfect Environment to Evangelize the Lost

It’s a Comfortable, Spiritual Setting to Invite Outsiders to

Small-Group Discipleship is What Jesus Spent Most of His Time Doing

That’s Where Deep Spiritual Growth Takes Place

But Being Involved in Small-Group Discipleship Requires Sacrifice

Discipleship is about Discipline

Discipline is Training

Discipleship is Disciplined Training to Be More Like Jesus

That isn’t Always Easy

It will Take Your Time, Effort, & Devotion

But I Believe with All My Heart…

That if We will Devote Ourselves to this…

We will See More Spiritual Growth & Blessings…

That We can Imagine

But it will Take Your Time, Effort, & Devotion

Matthew 4:18–22 (NASB95)

18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Discipleship Takes Difficult Sacrifices

These 4 Fisherman were Expected to Leave Their Jobs Behind to Follow Jesus

And They Did!

If We’re Going to Be a Church that Takes Discipleship Seriously…

We’ve Got to Be Willing to:

Make Some Sacrifices

Rearrange Our Priorities

If You’re Interested in Being a Group Leader…

We’ll have a Meeting for Leaders Before January…

To Discuss the Small-Groups & Answer Any Questions You Might Have

Invitation

Paul, a Disciple of Jesus, Discipled a Young Guy Named Timothy

In this Letters to Timothy…

We See a Lot of Imperative Commands

Paul Commanded Timothy to Do a Lot of Things

Things that would Help Him Grow as a Disciple of Jesus

For the Invitation on Wednesday Nights…

We’re Looking at These Commands…

And Seeking to Grow as Disciples Ourselves

I’ve Been Using this Graph in Class to Show the Life-Cycle of a Disciple of Jesus

The Goal of Discipleship is to Eventually…

Make Disciples Who then Go on to Make More Disciples

This is How the Kingdom of God Expands Throughout the World

This is Along the Lines of an Imperative Command Given to Timothy By Paul

2 Timothy 2:2 (NASB95)

2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Timothy had Spent a Lot of Time Being Discipled By Paul

All the Things He Heard Paul Teach…

He is Now Told to Entrust to (Lit. Set Them Before)…

Other Faithful People (Men & Women)

And the Expectation is for Those Faithful People…

To Then Continue to Take Those Teachings to Others

Discipleship in the Church is to Be a Constant Cycle

Those Who are Discipled Up & Taught…

Are Supposed to Disciple Up & Teach Others…

Who will Continue the Same Process

We’ve Failed Miserably at this as a Church

But it’s Never Too Late to Begin Obeying Jesus

It’s Never Too Late to Begin Discipling & Being Discipled

Take the Teachings of Jesus & Paul & Teach Them to Others

Let’s Start Discipling Each Other…

And Inviting Outsiders to Join Us…

In Learning about & Growing into the Image of Jesus