Sermon Tone Analysis

*Building a Culture of Discipleship*

| Contents.......................................................................................... page |

| Leader’s Guide..................................................................................... 2 |

| Bible StudyOrdinary Folks Make Great Disciples \\ /   by //Stuart Briscoe/................................................................................. 3InterviewDoing Church as a Team \\ /   an //interview with Wayne Cordeiro/...................................................... 5AssessmentsWhat Every Christian Should Know \\ /   //by Jo Lewis and Gordon Palmer/......................................................... 7Are You Re-Parenting Your Disciples?

\\ /   by //Gordon MacDonald/....................................................................... 8Case StudiesThe Joys of Personal Discipleship \\ /   by //Mark Littleton/............................................................................... 11Discipleship Through Organic Small Groups \\ /   by// Dan Lentz/..................................................................................... 12DevotionalsAn Experiment in Coffeeshop Discipleship \\ /   by// David Swanson/............................................................................. 13Reflections on Discipleship \\ /   //compiled by Richard A. Kauffman/..................................................... 15How-To ArticlesMaking Disciples: Four Churches, Four Plans \\ /   by //Dean Ridings/................................................................................ 17A Look at the Discipleship Cycle \\ /   by //Erwin McManus/........................................................................... 20A Biblical Call to Making Disciples \\ /   by //Greg Ogden/.................................................................................. 23Mentoring That Produces Mentors \\ /   by //Rick Lowry/.................................................................................... 25ActivityFive Fresh Ideas for Discipleship \\ /   by V//arious Authors/............................................................................ 28 |

| ResourcesFurther Exploration........................................................................ 30Retreat Plan......................................................................................... 31 |

 

\\ | Leader’s GuideHow to use “Building a Culture of Discipleship” by Building Church Leaders in your regularly scheduled meetings.

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Welcome to Building Church Leaders: Your Complete Guide to Leadership Training.

You’ve purchased an innovative resource that will help you develop leaders who can think strategically and biblically about the church.

Selected by the editors of Leadership Resources at Christianity Today International, the material comes from respected thinkers and church leaders.

\\    Building Church Leaders is not just another program.

Each theme contains materials on the topic you choose—no tedious program to follow.

The materials work when you want, where you want, and the way you want them to.

They’re completely flexible and easy to use.

\\    You probably already have regularly scheduled meetings with board members or with other committees or groups of leaders.

Building Church Leaders fits easily into what you’re already doing.

Here’s how to use Building Church Leaders at the beginning of a board meeting or committee meeting:

1. Select a learning tool.

In this theme of “Building a Culture of Discipleship,” you’ll find multiple types of handouts from which to choose:

            ♦ Bible study                  ♦ case study            ♦ activities

            ♦ interview                    ♦ devotionals            ♦ resources

            ♦ assessment tools          ♦ how-to articles      ♦ retreat plan

 

2.

Select a handout.

Suppose, for example, you want to evaluate your congregation’s current level of spiritual knowledge.

Select the assessment “What Every Christian Should Know” on page 7. Or if you wanted to explore the discipleship patters of the early church, see “A Biblical Call to Making Disciples,” by Greg Ogden, on pages 24–25.

3.

Photocopy the handout.

Let’s say you selected “What Every Christian Should Know.”

Photocopy as many copies as you need—you do /not/ need to ask for permission to photocopy any material from Building Church Leaders (as long as you are using the material in a church or educational setting and are not charging for it).

 

4.

Prepare for the discussion.

We recommend you read the Scripture passages and identify key discussion questions.

How will you apply the principles to specific decisions your church is making?

 

5.

Lead the discussion.

Most handouts can be read within five minutes.

After you have allowed time for reading, begin the discussion by asking one of the provided questions.

Be ready to move the discussion to specific issues your church is facing.

Most Building Church Leaders handouts can be discussed in 15 or 20 minutes (except the Bible study, which may take longer).

Your board, committee, or team will still have plenty of time to discuss its agenda.

Need more material, or something on a specific topic?

See our website at www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

To contact the editors:

            E-mail   BCL@christianitytoday.com

            Mail      Building Church Leaders, Christianity Today International

                        465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188

\\ | *Ordinary Folks Make Great Disciples*Here is a basic job description for disciples of Jesus Christ.Mark 8:27–38 |

 

Some people think a disciple is a Christian put up a notch or two.

Other people have the idea that a disciple is somebody who has come through a course where you get up at some unearthly hour in the morning and go talk with somebody over interminable cups of coffee.

We’ve got the idea that /disciple /is a term you don’t worry about if you just want to be a Christian.

But if you get serious, then you get into a disciple course and come out discipled.

This thinking needs to be re-evaluated.

Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ?

A disciple is somebody who has a relationship with a teacher.

That’s the simplest definition.

Are you sitting at his feet, hearing his Word?

Are you discovering his truth?

Are you identifying with him personally?

Are you applying his principles?

Are you gladly sharing these things and disseminating them?

!

Disciples Confront the Issues Jesus Raised

In Mark 8, the Lord Jesus outlines a basic job description for being a disciple.

There are three things I want you to notice.

First, Jesus’ disciples were prepared to confront the issues he raised.

For instance, in verse 35, Jesus says, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

The issue is this: What on earth are you doing with your life?

It’s hard to imagine a bigger issue than that.

Then he identifies two possibilities: You can invest your life, or you can waste your life.

Jesus is basically saying, “What determines whether your life is wasted or invested is your attitude toward me.

If you want to hang onto your life for yourself, you’ll waste it.

But if you want to hand over your life to me, you will invest it for eternity.”

!

Disciples Confirm Christ’s Claims

Second, disciples of Jesus Christ confirm the claims he made.

Christianity does not stand or fall on whether the Spanish Inquisition was right, or the Reformation or the Crusades.

Christianity stands or falls on whether Jesus Christ was who he said he was—or not.

And disciples of Jesus Christ are ready to carefully evaluate the claims he made, and then confirm that those claims are true.

If disciples of Jesus Christ can’t do that—if they cannot build their lives on the absolute bedrock certainty that Jesus Christ is Lord—then it’s only a matter of time until they’ll collapse.

Christianity stands or falls on the validity of Jesus Christ.

Talking to his disciples Jesus said, “Who do people say that I am?”

They all had their answers ready.

They’d been out polling the people at Jerusalem Airport.

But what they didn’t expect was the next question: “Now who do you say I am?” That’s what disciples of Jesus Christ are ready for.

!

Disciples Conform to Christ’s Pattern

There’s a third thing about Jesus’ disciples: they conform to the pattern he outlined.

Let me read to you some challenging words: “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”

There are four things here that will show whether a person is conforming to the pattern of discipleship that Christ outlined: they come after him, they deny themselves, they take up their cross, and they keep on following him.

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Some of you are going to go out tomorrow morning and say, “Look out!

Here comes another disciple of Jesus Christ skillfully disguised as a stock broker.”

And somebody else is going to say, “Look out, neighborhood.

Here’s a busy disciple of Jesus Christ disguised as a homemaker.”

If you’re disciples of Jesus Christ, that will be the predominant thought.

So the question is, are you a disciple of Jesus Christ?

You say, “I’m not sure about that.

Why can’t I just be a good Christian?”

The Lord Jesus came looking for disciples, and at the end of his ministry told the church to do one thing: make disciples.

—Stuart Briscoe; adapted from the sermon “Ordinary Folks Make Great Disciples” on www.PreachingToday.com,

© 2008 by Christianity Today International.

Discuss

1.       How does discipleship occur in the “secular” world today?

How is that process similar to Christian discipleship?

2.       In what ways have I been discipled by Jesus Christ?

In what ways have I been discipled by other Christians?