Discipleship 101 - Catching the Vision

What is your mission? Why are you here? ()

Proverbs 16:1–3 NASB95

The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the Lord weighs the motives. Commit your works to the Lord And your plans will be established.

What are you wanting to accomplish with your life?

What are we wanting to accomplish with our local church body?

What does the Lord want for us?

What do these verses tell us?

Luke 6:40 NASB95

“A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

Romans 8:29 NASB95

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

Galatians 2:20 NASB95

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

So, in one word, what is the goal of the Christian life?

What does the Lord want from us? What has He told us to do?

Great Commandment -

Matthew 22:37–40 NASB95

And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Great Commission -

Matthew 28:18–20 NASB95

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We are to love the Lord and to love others!

We are to love the Lord and to love others! That's gotta be first. We've got to build our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ. ()

We are to love the Lord and to love others! That's gotta be first. We've got to build our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ. ()

That's gotta be first. We've got to build our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ. ()

And, we are to MAKE DISCIPLES!

If our life goal is to be Christlike, then we will be disciple makers, because Jesus is a disciple maker.

Our Mission:

(NASB)

Colossians 1:28–29 NASB95

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

TELEIOS

τελειοσ (teleios); having reached its end, i.e. complete, by ext. perfect: complete (2), mature (4), more perfect (1), perfect (12).

What do you see in these verses?

Matthew 5:48 NASB95

“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

James 1:2–4 NASB95

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Philippians 1:6 NASB95

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 4:11–16 NASB95

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

John 19:30 NASB95

Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

complete: brought to completion; fully accomplished, fully developed; fully realized, thorough; complete, entire, as opposed to what is partial and limited

Ok, so our mission is to make complete, mature, disciples of Jesus Christ. HOW?

New methods? Not really...

“Men are God’s method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.” E. M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer (1912)

- E. M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer (1912), 1.

-Excerpt From: Sanders, Shane. “Critical Mass.” Xulon Press, pg 45

Our strategy is simple to understand.

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Luke 5:1–11 NASB95

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

1 Corinthians 11:1 NASB95

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

Our strategy for how to make disciples is the same as our goal for our lives - be Christlike!

If we are to make complete disciples, we must first be made a complete disciple.

1 Peter 1:13–16 NASB95

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”