The New Testamemt Model of Disicple Making

Call to worship

Welcome everyone!

Potluck on the 29th., Sign up sheet in the foyer.

Next week right after service we will have our members meeting.

LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS

Lord,

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS

Lord,

SERMON

Introduction

One of the marks of a healthy church is a church that is growing numerically. Churches that do not grow will start going the other way and eventually cease to exist. Even if every member of the church stays perfectly faithful that church will still die because those people are going to eventually die.

A church also has to grow to be in obedience to Jesus Christ and fulfill its mission. Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,”

Before Jesus ascended, He gave us the Great Commission which was to make disciples. It was demonstrated in His ministry, and that mission was passed on to the church to continue until He returns.

So we know what we are supposed to do, but how do we do it? This passage today presents the NT model of disciple making that works. I believe that this model is superior and more effective than any other method we see used in churches today when it comes to making disciples. And that if we will take personal responsibility to participate in this, we will see things happen in this church.

Look with me in John chapter 1, beginning at verse 35.

John 1:35–37 NASB95

Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Explanation

This section begins with John the Baptist who received the divine confirmation of who Jesus was and pointed others to follow Him.

John One of the characteristics of John is that he was a mighty preacher.

And that is what is being done here

John is in a public setting. These were his disciples that were with him. They were most likely baptized into a baptism of repentance, but not yet following Jesus.

“Behold” is word used to get people’s attention

It means “look” or “see”

Essentially this is what John is saying:

“Look! That is the One through whom salvation comes!”

“Look! There is the One God sent to this world to take away our sins

“The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus”

Principle

1) People become followers of Jesus through biblical preaching

Notice that no miracles drew in these disciples. Jesus did nothing more than walk by and a man pointed Him out and declared that He was the Messiah!

This is essentially what preaching is. Preaching is a public declaration of the divine word of God in the hearing of others!

And preaching was an effective means to point people to jesus then and it is an effective mean to point people to Jesus today.

Romans 10:14 NASB95

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

Preaching is one God’s ordained means of making disciples. Proclaiming the gospel in its fullness to those who have ears to hear.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF PREACHING!!

NEVER underestimate the power of the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

People have historically been converted for the last 2,000 years by one standing up and preaching the Word of God.

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

John Preached

Jesus preached

Peter preached

Paul preached

The early church fathers preached

And one of the ways God still makes disciples is by the preaching of God’s Word

Application

The church says that’s great, but what does that have to do with me? That’s your job right?

Yes, but we are all in this together! I am a servant just like you, I have just been called to serve in a different role than you!

But we are all responsible for the command to make disciples. And one way we can do our part is by taking this responsibility seriously!

Look at this gathering as a place where people can hear the gospel of Jesus and possibly become children of God.

There is no better service we can do for the world than this.

John 1:38–39 NASB95

And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

Explanation

The disciples who heard John preach and followed Jesus were Andrew (v 40) and I believe the other follower was John the Apostle who wrote this gospel

The main reason for that is the specific details mentioned in this story: (v 39) “for it was about the tenth hour” (which would be around 4:00pm our time)

John inserts this very specific detail because I believe he was that seeker who became a devoted follower and that moment was etched into his mind until the day of his death

Jesus sees these two “following” and turns and says: “What do you seek?” In other words, why are you following Me? What are you looking for? What are you hoping to gain by hanging out with Me?

What a pertinent question for anyone today who desires to follow Jesus!

What is it that we are looking for where we come to Jesus?!

Do we follow Jesus to live a better life?

Do we follow simply because we are looking for a sort of religious comfort to include into our lives?

Are we seeking Jesus to fix our lives?

Are we coming just for the fellowship and companionship of the church?

Are we after God’s blessings?

What are you seeking?!

Their answer: “Rabbi, where are you staying?”

This seems like such a strange answer, but it implies that they wanted more of Jesus than just a superficial hang out on the weekends kind of relationship

When they asked Jesus where he was staying, they were asking Him where He lived. And in a round about way they were asking to get to know Him in a real personal way.

When you meet someone out in the public and have a short conversation with them, its usually superficial.

But lets say you invite them to your house, to have dinner with you and your family, and sit down and talk and spend the evening together.

What happens is a much deeper kind of fellowship. What happens is people really get to know each other.

This is what was happening here

2) To be a true disciple of Jesus, we must become intimately involved with Jesus

Nothing happens when we make Jesus a casual weekend visit. We do not see the real person of Jesus, His greatness, His glory, His awesomeness when we make our relationship with Him casual and occasional.

They stayed with Him that day and then from that day they were with Him always.

What did that look like?

What did they do in Jesus’ house?

They listened and learned all that they could so they could become just like Him.

Look what they called Him: “Rabbi, (which means teacher)”

It was a way of asking: “can we be your lifelong students?”

And Jesus welcomes them and says, “Come and you will see”

This is where discipleship begins, it’s not just about going through a book learning principles, it is about being constantly connected with Jesus and having your eyes opened to things that you could not see before

It is seeing Jesus as the true Teacher, the Master, the One who has all the answers and living our lives in Him

Jesus does not merely have good things to say, He has the Words of God!

No higher authority has ever been on the face of the earth than in Jesus

No greater significance has ever been communicated in human words than what Jesus spoke

Here is God Himself inviting men to come and know Him personally through the person of Jesus Christ!

Jeremiah 29:13 NASB95

‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Application

Many people stay just like Andrew and John began.

They follow behind Jesus never really getting know Him personally.

They never really take His teachings personally, He is never really TEACHER to them.

He has great things to say, but there is no way we can do all that He said for us to do.

And so people follow, but they never really see

Jesus said to them, “Come and you will see”

Sight comes after we exercise faith

Faith is believing and trusting in all God has told us.

Disciples are not made until they begin to see

To get people into church is not enough

People go to hell from the pews every day

We must understand this as a church. Our mission is about getting people to KNOW JESUS AND SEE HIM AS THE LAMB OF GOD

3) The result of knowing Jesus is bringing others to Jesus

John 1:40–41 NASB95

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).

Here is the sequence:

John the Baptist Preaches Publicly

Andrew follows Jesus and really gets to know the person of Jesus

He then then goes and tells his brother Peter about Jesus.

(v 43) Philip encounters Jesus goes and then goes and tells his friend Nathanael about Jesus

This is the model of making disciples in the New Testament!

Find the Ones closest to you and bring them to Jesus!

Start there with your family!

Who closer to you to witness to about Jesus than your own family members?

Who knows you and trusts you more than your own family?

We see this over and over in the NT.

Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins

Peter and Andrew were brothers

James and John were brothers

Judas (not Iscariot) was the son of James

Mary and Martha were sisters

Lazarus was the brother of Martha and Mary

The gospel often travels from one family member to another.

Who in your family does not follow Jesus?

have you seriously prayed, witnessed, and demonstrated in your life that Jesus is real and the Son of God?

But we also see the gospel traveling through friendships

John 1:43–46 NASB95

The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Philip and Nathanael were not brothers (atleast not that we are told)

But Philip seeking him out seems to imply they were at least friends!

Not only does the gospel travel through blood relationships often, but it also travels through friendships

Who are your friends that do not know Jesus?

Have you ever told them about the Christ, the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world.

3) The gospel is transferred through co-workers

Remember at the the beginning the two disciples heard John the Baptist and followed Jesus

One was Andrew and I believe the other was John the Apostle who wrote this gospel

Why were they together?

Because they were both fisherman and business partners

Co-workers are an excellent place to share the gospel

You know these people well!

They trust you and they know your not a quack!

So what you tell them has much more weight than hearing something from someone they do not know

Bridge

I am not a fan of church events. I am not saying church events are wrong or bad. I’m just saying I do not believe they make disciples like the biblical method we see here.

What we see in the NT, is one person who tells and brings another person to Jesus. It is often best done through close relationships, but this seems to be the biblical method of making disciples.

Application

Can you imagine if every person in this room took this personally?

If each of us started with our family, and friends, and coworkers and trusted that God would work through that

Think of how many names we would have on the wall back there

Think of the people you love having their lives transformed by the power of God and their names written in the Lamb’s book of life

Listen to what Jesus tells us to be!

Acts 1:8 (NASB95)

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses...

Do you know what a witness is?

A witness is someone who has seen and heard something and has come to testify of it

A witness is one who has a had a real living encounter with a living God.

You don’t haver to haver a theological education to share your faith!

You don’t have to have 30 verses memorized!

All you have to tell them to be a witness is what Jesus has done with you and through you!

And anyone can do that unless you have never had an encounter with Jesus.

And that may be true for some in here today

You have no real life story because you have yet to encounter Jesus

That part is essential of any witness.

4) The end goal of discipleship is transformation

John 1:41–42 NASB95

He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Explanation

Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter

Peter was Simon before he met Jesus

SIDE NOTE: There is no contradiction here and in the synoptic gospels about Peter becoming a follower of Jesus

John writes his gospel after the other writers (Matthew mark Luke) wrote their gospel accounts.

What John is doing is giving us details that the others did not provide. And most of the material in John is not found in the other gospel accounts.

What we have here is the very first time Peter met Jesus.

In the synoptic gospels, Jesus is calling them to be on mission with Him, which took place after this initial calling to follow Him personally.

Names had meaning in the Bible

Peter means “rock”

And by naming Simon “the rock” here, he is saying something about who Peter is

A rock is a stable foundation

Something solid, unwavering, trustworthy

Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 15, “upon this ROCK I will build my church”

Now there is only one problem: Peter was really quite the opposite stability

Peter is the one who stepped out of the boat on the sea of Galilee and then immediately doubted and sank

Peter is the one who confessed Jesus as the Christ, then just hours later denied Him 3 times

Peter is the one who cut off the ear of Malchus trying to stop the arrest of Jesus despite countless times Jesus told them He was destined to be betrayed and killed

Jesus sees not who Peter was then, but who he would become

Peter was not the rock for quite some time, but he did become the rock

On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood before the entire city of Jerusalem and proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, the one whom they crucified

Peter healed a man, was arrested by the religious leaders put on trial and told the entire council that Jesus healed that man and there is no other name by which men may be saved

When he was threaded by the Pharisees to never mention Jesus’ name again, He boldly proclaimed that he would obey God over men!

There was a transformation that came to the person of Peter!

Just like Saul became Paul!

Just like Matthew the tax collector became Matthew the evangelist

And that is the goal of discipleship!

We do not want people to have merely head knowledge of Jesus

We do not want people to become dead bodies sitting in the chairs

We want people to be radically transformed by the power of God!

And that will only happen when we do things God’s way!

We teach and live God’s truth!

We do not succumb to the pressures of this modern church culture but do what God has said

And we live our lives as salt and light

One of the evidences of the Christ who came in the first century is the lives that are transformed in the 21 century

You want to know if God’s power is real, just look at the people who had an encounter with Him, theres your evidence

5) It is always Jesus who seeks us first

John 1:47–48 (NASB95)

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Before Philip got to Nathanael, to tell him that they had found the Messiah, Jesus had already seen him

It is a picture of Jesus’ divine ability to see everything

But it is also a part of Jesus’ plan from the beginning

John 1:43 NASB95

The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.”

Philip couldn’t see His need for Jesus, he couldn’t see the greatness of Jesus, nor even fathom the thought that God Himself put on flesh and had come to earth

But Jesus could see Philip before he ever put His eyes upon him.

We are blind to our own sin, our own situation, our own self-righteousness that we cannot see the wonder of Christ, so Christ seeks us out first

Even if we do not understand this, and may think it was all our doing by coming to Christ, we must understand that it was Jesus who put it all together

That person who came into our lives to point us to Jesus was sent by Jesus

That great difficulty that rocked us and brought us to our knees was ordained by Jesus

That change of desire that began so faint in our hearts and eventually compelled us to turn to God came from Jesus

And if your here today and in this place it is no mistake.

God is calling you to see Jesus as the Lamb of God who can take away your sin.

He is saying to you, if you will seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him!

Your journey is not hopeless!

God did not make it impossible for you, salvation is available to all who come to Jesus!

And God is showing those who know Him, that this model of making disciples is effective!

And if this church is going to fulfill its calling, it must get serious about taking it personally

God has placed you in a unique place with unique people than no one else can reach, and is calling you to bring them to Jesus

Let us together make a commitment to do this together so that this ministry will continue on!

~PRAYER~

Conclusion

How does this relate to the gospel?

~PRAYER~

RESPONSE

PUBLIC INVITATION

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

OFFERING

We will now worship the Lord through our tithes and offering.

CHARGE TO THE CHURCH

I want to ask each of you this week to pray that God would send you into the path of another person who desperately needs to follow Jesus.

Pray that God would give you an opportunity to make a disciple, or plant a gospel seed that will cause one to become a disciple of Jesus.