Four Chair Discipling

**Sermon is adapted from the book “Four Chair Discipling” By Dann Spader

Making disciples the way Jesus did

The Four Chairs of Discipleship and the Four Challenges of Jesus

Seeker- Come and you will see (John 1:39)

Believer- Follow me (John 1:43)

Worker- Follow me and I will send you out to fish for people (Matthew 4:19)

The Disciple Maker- Go and bear fruit (John 15:16)

· (John 1:35-41 ESV)

John 1:35–41 ESV

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 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. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

Let’s look at the condition of these two men…

1. Chair 1 people are…

Lost- Ephesians 2:1-3

Incapable of pleasing God- Romans 8:7-8

Will spend an eternity apart from God

A. Lost- (Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV)

- [1] And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—[3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

- Dead in trespasses and sins

- Followers of Satan

- Children of wrath

B. Incapable of pleasing God- [7] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. [8] Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8 ESV)

C. Will Spend an eternity apart from God…

Good news- Christ can reverse this condition…

Illustration: Problem you didn’t know about…

Application: We have all been lost at one point, it took somebody telling us about Jesus to make us aware of the problem. We have to grow to the point where we are THOSE PEOPLE WHO TELL.

2. Jesus modeled the process for reaching the Lost

A. Left the comforts of home, entered into our world

-left heaven to come to earth, met us where we were.

-experienced what it was like being human. Struggles included.

+want to reach the Lost? Have to be willing to leave our comfort zones.

B. Made himself available and intentionally developed relationships

-Vs. 38, Jesus made himself available to Andrew and the other future disciple, he saw their interest and blocked out time to share his good news with them.

-Story after story of Jesus making himself available to the lost, going to them, reaching out to them. Etc.

+If we are going to reach the lost, we must make ourselves available and intentionally develop relationships with them…

-the loaner kid at lunch, homosexuals, muslims, cultural Christians, etc…

Example: Jamie and Caleb

C. He responded to those who showed interest

-vs. 39, “come and you will see”

-Two men were interested, Jesus responded with an invitation to open the scriptures to them, to answer questions they had…

+You will get rejected, just part of it. But when people ascribe interest, take the time to respond.

-questions

-gentle debates

Importance of Apologetics- Learning how to give a defense of what you believe…

D. Challenged the seekers to repent and believe

-Vs. 40, we don’t know what exactly Jesus said to Andrew and the other, but it caused them to repent and believe he was the Messiah!

-He boldly preached that message to the last while here on earth, and charged us to do it when he left!

+Challenge is simple, but the process is not… can take a long time and many times sharing the gospel before people become believers.

3. The Simple Challenge…

A. If you know you’re lost…Repent and Believe!

B. If you’re a believer, seek out the lost!