Discipleship (Part 2) How One Becomes / Makes Disciples

Matthew 28:19,20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

1, We are called to be disciples
2, Disciples are "made"
3, Jesus intends for disciples to make more disciples:

We are called to become disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ and also how to make disciples.

disciple = a learner, one who follows another's teaching.
"A "disciple" was not only a pupil, but an adherent; hence they are spoken of as imitators of their teacher" (Vines Dictionary)

A disciple is a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ who strives to be like Jesus.

Last Sunday: The Marks of A Disciple
What did the Lord Jesus say would be the "identifying marks" that would characterize those who would be His disciples?

1, As a disciple, I obey (remain in) His Word
2, As a disciple, I walk in love, just as I am loved
3, As a disciple, I pursue fruitfulness in life
4, As a disciple, I endeavor to be Like Jesus
5, As a disciple, I carry my cross (sacrifice, separation, suffering)

Today : Part-2: The Process - How one becomes/makes disciples

From all the people around Him, Jesus handpicked a few whom He would call His disciples. He called them from different walks of life.

Matthew 4:18-22
18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them,
22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Follow me and I will make you…

How Jesus made His disciples
1, He had them be with Him – He taught them personally

Mark 3:13-15
13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him.
14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,
15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:

They traveled with Jesus, they rested with Jesus, they prayed with Jesus, they ministered with Jesus, etc.

Mark 3:7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea

Mark 6:30-32
30 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.
31 And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
32 So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.

Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

2, They were together as a team
As a team, they learnt from one another.
They rubbed shoulders with one another – they saw the differences amongst themselves – and learnt from that.

Matthew 14 : when in a storm, they reacted differently
John 6 : When faced with thousands of people to feed, they had different perspectives on how to do it (Philip-not enough money, Andrew-possibility thinking).
Matthew 20 : James and John wanted to be on Jesus’ right and left hand.
..etc…

3, He sent them out to do whatever He taught them

Luke 9:1-6
1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
3 And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.
4 "Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.
5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."
6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

4, They learnt through their experiences/mistakes

When they did not understand what Jesus taught – He explained things privately.
When they could not cast a demon out – they asked Jesus privately.

5, He never gave up on them

Even when all of them left Him, even when Peter denied Him, even when they were unbelieving – Jesus came back to them and commissioned them.

About 40 days following his blatant denial of Jesus, the Lord Jesus still used Peter – to preach the inaugural sermon of the New Testament Church in Acts 2!

Let’s take these five aspects of making and molding disciples and apply them to us personally.

Disciplines of a disciple

1, Time with God in His Word and Prayer
Today, Jesus is not with us physically. But He has sent us His Holy Spirit who makes Jesus real to us as we fellowship with Him.

Acts 20:32 1 John 1:2,7 Jude 1:20

2, Fellowship with other believers
In life groups and local church Hebrews 10:25,26

3, Sharing your faith/Serving His Kingdom
Romans 12:4-6

4, Learning through life’s experiences
Romans 5:3,4 James 1:2-4

5, He never gives up on us

Developing Other People Into Disciples

1, Time with God in His Word and Prayer
Teach them to spend time with God in His Word and prayer. Teach them to develop a personal devotional life.

2, Fellowship with other believers
Help connect them to a group believers : Life Groups and the local church

3, Sharing your faith/Serving His Kingdom
Teach them to share their faith and serve God in His Kingdom.

4, Learning through life’s experiences
Help them learn from life’s experiences and see how these experiences actually build them up in God.

5, Don’t give up
Don’t give up on them – unless they don’t want to journey any further in God.