Doing Discipleship
Three
Primary Contexts for Discipleship to Take Place.
#1: In
the Local Church. The local church fellowship is the
foundational setting for discipleship.
Wherever a group of believers are grouping together the purpose is for
growing as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And within the local church fellowship, the Sunday Worship Service
is the primary means of making disciples.
The hearing of God’s Word being preached happens. Making music to the Lord with gladness and
thanksgiving happens. Giving our
encouragement to others happens. Giving
our offerings to the Lord happens. Prayer
together happens. Spurring one another
on in the faith and towards good deeds, pointing each other forward to the
return of Jesus Christ, coming alongside one another, and spreading the Gospel
are all aspects of Sunday morning worship together.
Don’t forsake getting
together with Christians regularly and habitually. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give the habit of
meeting together as some are doing…”
In Acts 2:42 the first 3,000 Christians were born and it says this: “They devoted themselves to the
apostle’s teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Verse 46 says that they actually were meeting
every day for church and then on top of that they were meeting in each other’s
homes. The local church is indispensable
to a disciples progress.
Then there are
the other ministries performed by the local church. These are also all aimed at growing
disciples. Sunday School, Men’s &
Women’s Groups and so on. Take advantage
of these.
To get the most
out of local church discipleship do these 3 things:
1) Attend. Don’t skip.
What is more important than the Church gathering together for
worshipping God? Really? Commit yourself to attending.
2) Engage. Turn your phone off. Tune out the week’s distractions. Take notes.
Talk about the service with your family – how did the passages, the
message, the songs speak to you? Don’t
do church in autopilot. Engage.
3) Prepare. Get yourself ready for church before you get
here. Pray before coming. Bring your Bible. Determine what time you need to be out the
door to be here on time. Sometimes
getting everything ready Saturday night is the best way to do it, with kids
especially.
#2: In
the Home.
Parents disciple their children.
Children are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Parents we are their God-given
disciplers.
Be worthy of
imitating.
What kids need is an example worth following. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow
my example, as I follow Christ.”
He says in Philippians 4:8, “Whatever you have learned or received or
heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice.” This is authenticity in the faith, and
authenticity is what kids need.
When we live out
what we say we believe it gives us 2.5 things.
First,
credibility with our family. Our
family’s trust in us should be the most important treasure to us.
And, 2) it shows
that faith in Christ is real and it impacts us in our day to day lives. Faith in Jesus isn’t just something we do on
Sunday morning in front of everyone at church.
Faith in Christ changes the way I am a husband and father at home.
And 2.5) being
worthy of imitating means having the luxury of being able to confidently call
our children to imitate us. There is
nothing more I want as a dad than that. Be
what God wants your children to become.
Do Family Worship
at home.
Family worship is a great way to strengthen your leadership at home as
the spiritual leader of your home. There
is nothing like bringing your family together to read God’s Word, discuss it,
pray, sing, and memorize Scripture.
#3: One
on One.
Basis for One on One discipleship. Jesus had 70 disciples. Out of that 70 he had 12. Out of that 12 he had 3 (Peter, James and
John). Out of those 3 he had one
“beloved disciple” – John.
Paul had Timothy,
and Titus, and Silus.
In the OT Moses
had Joshua, the prophet Samuel was discipled by Eli the High Priest and the
list goes on.
There are great Benefits
of individual and personal relationship with a disciple. First of all it Strengthens the
relationships between people within EFC.
Something happens in a one-on-one setting that does not happen in a
group setting. Is there a more powerful
way to say you care than to commit to helping another brother or sister’s
spiritual growth? How many parents here
would love for another adult to take your child under their wing for a while and
invest in their spiritual life? That is
after all what we as a whole church promise to do when a baby is dedicated. Question:
How many kids graduate and leave the church they grew up in? Plea to older Christians: invest in the younger Christians. We have too much segregation going on
today. I can’t stand the trend today to
have some supposedly hip, cool, modern youth minister to raise up our
kids. We in the younger generations need
the wisdom that you have gained from many years of knowing the Bible and
walking with Christ through life’s experiences.
How did you tackle the tough questions about life? How did you choose your spouse?
#2: Secondly a personal discipleship relationship
gives you a chance to Develop spiritual children. Spiritual
children is simply the Bible’s way of talking about people you’ve personally
worked with to help them grow in Christ.
(Turn to 1 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4; 1 John 2:1; 1 Corinthians 4:15). The reward of entering into another person’s
life to play a part in their progress cannot be overrated. The value is mutual, the benefit goes both
ways. Don’t be afraid to adopt them into
your heart, or let them adopt you.
#3: Thirdly, there is a Much better chance to
learn Biblical teaching. Someone can learn when they are part of a
crowd being taught, but, they learn far more in a one on one setting. Smaller classrooms with smaller teacher to
student ratios helps kids learn better.
One on one tutoring is the best way for kids to learn. It’s also the best way for someone to grasp
biblical teaching.
Because it is
more personal, the things that you learn are personalized more. Questions can be asked and answered with
Bibles open. Many people have felt they
can’t ask the questions they have. One
on one gives them a safe place to ask. So
many times in one on one discipleship hard questions have been asked. I love the questions that I don’t have
answers for because it is an opportunity for me to learn something too. Isn’t learning the essence of
discipleship? Disciple means, “a
learner”.
***I suggest that
the widespread shallowness in church today, and the widespread ignorance of
Scriptural teaching, is due to the absence of committed discipleship. But it is not only the disciple who gains
more from a one on one relationship.
Both disciple and discipler learn much together. Nothing cures staleness and stalling in our
personal walk with Christ like helping someone else grow. It reinvigorates our own love to learn and
grow.
Now, to do one on
one You don’t have to know everything. That
is a misconception. You don’t have to be
a seminary graduate to disciple – you don’t even have to be a seminary grad to
be a pastor! There are so many resources
all you have to do is pick one and go through it together (Show materials under
pulpit). That’s the idea: learn together. Share the experience of doing the Christian
walk together with someone.
Let’s someone
else see you living for Christ. Makes
living for Christ real. (Turn to 1
Thessalonians 2)
The benefits and
rewards that come from personal 121 discipleship cannot be overrated or
overstated.
How to conduct
one-on-one discipleship.
1. Start with a commitment that you will try
it. Don’t wait until you feel like you
know everything. Most of what you need
to know you learn while doing it. Pray
to the Lord to give you a willing heart.
2. Pray for the Lord to lead you to someone in
the church. Look for someone of the same
gender.
3. Go to them and ask them if they would be
interested in doing discipleship. Don’t
wait for them to come to you – go to them.
Jesus sought out His disciples and when He approached them He said,
“Follow me.” Invite them - tell them you
would love the chance to do it with you.
Commit to a certain time – whether 6 weeks or 6 months.
4. Meet weekly, bi-weekly, monthly meetings.
5. Use some good discipleship material.
Three
Areas of the Christian Life that Discipleship Promotes.
1. Theology. One
of the most important areas to always be growing in is theology. You
might say it means knowing sound doctrine, having knowledge of God's Word,
understanding the teachings of Scripture. This is the foundation for
everything else that follows in our faith. This Goal will require the
discipline of regular reading and studying of the Bible, discipleship with me where
we discuss theology. You will explain your understanding of theology in
our times together to start developing your ability to articulate (teach)
theology. Important Bible verses are 2 Peter 3:18; Ephesians 4:13; and 2
Timothy 1:13-14 and 2:2.
2. Character. By this is meant your
growth into more Christ-like character as a man. This is ongoing for our
entire lives for we never "arrive" until we stand before Him.
But character grows out of our theology. Discipleship is not just growing
in "head-knowledge", but, heart character. Knowledge that
doesn't transform the heart leads to pride and haughtiness and a bloated
estimation of ones own self. Immediate areas usually are the outward
external behaviors. Long-term areas are the inward attitudes and heart
conditions where the fruit of the Spirit develops in us and effects our
responses and our relationships to others.
3. Effectiveness. This grows out of your
character. Whereas character emphasizes your personal growth,
effectiveness refers to your impact on the growth of others. Think of
"service" to others, "usefulness" to the Lord, a life that
"counts for Christ", "Iron sharpening iron", and edifying
others, etc. Logically, if you are not growing, you aren't helping anyone
else grow - probably the opposite. ***The importance of Effectiveness is
because we know we will all stand before Jesus Christ someday and have our
lives evaluated by Him. On that day we will receive reward or lose
rewards based on how we lived our Christian lives. So, my goal right
now is to help you earn as much reward as possible on that day.
Therefore, you and I need to be ready to be encouraged, challenged,
and affirmed by one another in areas of our character and effectiveness.
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