JESUS DISCIPLED OTHERS

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Giles Welch
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1 THE L.I.F.E. PLAN JESUS DISCIPLED OTHERS THEME 2 - THE DISCIPLE-MAKER LESSON 2 (114 of 216)

2 THEME 2: THE DISCIPLE-MAKER LESSON 2 (114 OF 216): JESUS DISCIPLED OTHERS LESSON AIM: Show that Jesus modeled the disciple-making process. SCRIPTURE: (John 17:6a) I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. God s plan has always been to fill the earth with those who would walk with him in fellowship, enjoying the wonderful life and world he has created. His first command to man was to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and to enjoy it as he meant it to be enjoyed. He has never abandoned this plan. It can be traced throughout the Old Testament, generation after generation, and culminates in the New Testament with Christ s command to multiply, or reproduce, or to make disciples. His plan is still the same for us today. While this is his singular goal, the outworking of it can take many forms. Each individual Christian has to determine how he or she will fulfill God s command to make disciples. All of the ministries and efforts we see among the church today are the attempts of different ones to obey this command. Obeying the command to make disciples should be the foundation for any effort we expend in our lives and through the church. This will help us stay focused on our true mission and accomplish that one thing that God desires so much. Jesus was a disciple-maker. He did many other things, but the one thing he had to do, even if he was not able to do the other things, was to make disciples. He knew that his time on earth was short. If his work was going to continue into the future, he would have to train others to have the same purpose, passion, and plan as he had. This he did to perfection. Just before going to the cross, he spoke with all confidence in the work he had done, and in the people through whom he had multiplied himself. He knew at that moment, even before the final results were in, that he had conquered the world. The men he discipled made disciples of others. The others made disciples of others still. This process has continued down to each one of us today. God wants us to continue the work of making disciples of all peoples of the earth. As Jesus went about the process of building his men into visionary, reproducing, world-impacting disciples, he demonstrated a principle that would be good for us to notice and apply to our own disciple-making efforts today. Although he ministered to the large masses of people who came out to hear him and who brought their needs to him for his response, he was careful to pour himself into the men that he had invited to follow him in an up-close, personal relationship. No matter what he was doing, or how large the crowd might have been, his goal was to see that his disciples understood the things he did and taught. If they missed his point, his work into the future generations would be hindered. They had to get it. Many times, after having taught the masses, Jesus went over the same things in private with the men at his fingertips. He expounded the truths to them that they had to know for the sake of the future success of the work. There are so many things to do in the ministry. In every direction we turn, there is a world of work to do. Sometimes, when we turn into a direction, before we can do the

3 actual work, we have to put the structure in place with which to do the work. Or, the structure that is there is too rickety on which to support the work we want to do. So, we have to repair or rebuild the structure and then do the work. The point is, ministry takes much time and effort. It is so easy to get caught up into the work and to forget about the real work we are to be doing in the discipling of individuals. We get so busy building the institutions that we neglect the building of the individual. It is the building of the individual that is the desperate need of the hour, and the only thing that will carry our work into the future. True impact in the world comes when we make disciples. Wonderful things happen when we perform this assignment. Making a disciple means that we have multiplied our life. Now, instead of having one person doing the work, we have two. And the more those people multiply, the more people we have joining Christ in his effort to reach and make disciples of all the nations. Making disciples means that we have obeyed the Lord s Great Commission. What a blessing it is to know that we have done the thing that God wants so much for us to do. To know that we have pleased God by obeying his command is a wonderful thing. Making disciples also opens the door for the impact God wants us to have in the world. God wants our impact to be geographical, or to be realized in different places. He wants our impact to be global. We are to begin in the place where we are and multiply disciples who can carry our influence into more places until we are able to say that our life has had an impact in places around the world. And, he wants our impact to be generational. We are to invest our lives into others who can impact those who are coming into the world after us. All of this can come to pass in our lives when we make disciples as Jesus has commanded us to do. Jesus had disciples on several levels. The one level we are most familiar with is the 12 disciples who followed him for about two years. All of these disciples were men. And they are the chief example that we have to explore the motive and method Jesus had for making disciples. Observation of this disciple-making example shows that Jesus had a specific method, or strategy, for transforming these men from different backgrounds into reproducing disciples. We will look at this method in detail in our next lesson. We also see that Jesus apparently organized his group of 12 men into three smaller groups of four men each with one man being a leader of the other three. In this way, Jesus could prepare more leaders, and at the same time, model the process they could follow when they began their own efforts to multiply. The study of the training of the twelve should be our constant exercise if we would follow Jesus as a maker of disciples. Jesus also discipled, to some degree, other people as well. There are several instances in the Bible where Jesus spent one-on-one time with other men, including those who were already in positions of leadership within their religion. One of the greatest discourses anywhere on the new birth comes from an instance when Jesus sat down one night with Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, who had come to Jesus for instruction. We can read the gospels to note other such instances and study each account for more discipling principles we may learn from Jesus practice of disciplemaking. And, there were also women in whose lives Jesus had made a great impact. They followed him and helped support his work while he was here on earth. He had a special relationship with two sisters, Martha and Mary, and shared many of his teachings with them. Mary was known to sit at his feet and receive his instruction. Her devotion to him is seen when she used a vial of very expensive perfume to anoint him in an act of personal worship.

4 From these examples of Jesus disciple-making, we learn to be about the process of making disciples in everything we do and among everyone with whom we have contact. In this way, disciple-making can be the order of our life, and we can engage in it with everyone, everywhere, and at all times. To learn and practice Jesus s method of making disciples will ensure the greatest investment of your life on earth into others. And, it will also open the door to a life that goes on making an impact for God even after your life on earth comes to an end. LESSON OUTLINE THEME 2: THE DISCIPLE-MAKER LESSON 2 (114 OF 216): JESUS DISCIPLED OTHERS LESSON AIM: Show that Jesus modeled the disciple-making process. I WHAT IT MEANS TO MAKE DISCIPLES When we make disciples: A. We have multiplied our life B. We have fulfilled the great commission C. We open the door to world-impact II JESUS BUILT DISCIPLES A. His 12 disciples B. Individual men C. Individual women SCRIPTURES TO BROADEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING 1. God s first command to multiply Genesis 1:28 2. Multiply Acts 1:8 2 Timothy 2:2 3. The joy of multiplication 1 John 1:1-4

5 4. Jesus was discipled by the Father Isaiah 50:4-5 Proverbs 8: Lists of the 12 Mark 3: Luke 6:14-16 Acts 1:13 6. Jesus relationship with others Nicodemus - John 3:1-22 Lady disciples - Luke 8:1-3 Mary, Martha, and Lazarus - John 11:5 7. Everlasting life 1 Thessalonians 3:8 LINES OF THEOLOGICAL CONNECTION 1. DISCIPLE-MAKING Global impact Spiritual reproduction 2. CHRISTOLOGY The work of the Messiah LESSON GLOSSARY 1. Disciple To be a learner and a follower of, a student disciplining oneself in the things that Jesus taught 2. Great Commission The command given by Jesus to tell the good news of Jesus to all people; teaching others to obey all the God has commanded 3. Visionary A person who can testify and relay what God has put in his heart to tell others

6 4. Strategy A careful and intentional plan or method for achieving a particular goal usually over a long period of time 5. Impact To have a strong effect or influence on someone or something QUESTIONS ANSWER KEY 1. From this lesson, what is the one thing that God desires of each individual Christian? God want each individual Christian to determine how he/she will fulfill his command to make disciples of all peoples of the world 2. What was the name of the first group of people Jesus invited to follow him in an upclose and personal relationship? The twelve apostles or disciples 3. Why was it important that the disciples get the message, or the point Jesus was making in their lives? What extra efforts were sometime needed to relay the plan into his disciples? Jesus s time on earth was short to train his apostles to have the same purpose, passion and plan he had. Many times, Jesus expounded the truths so that the disciples would not miss the point of the truths Jesus was planting in these men 4. What is the desperate need and the only thing that will carry our Christian work into the future? The building of the individual person into a disciple for Christ; making disciples of others 5. Can you think of anyone that you could disciple? Student response

7 THEME 2: THE DISCIPLE-MAKER LESSON 2 (114 OF 216): JESUS DISCIPLED OTHERS QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE THOUGHT 1. From this lesson, what is the one thing that God desires of each individual Christian? 2. What was the name of the first group of people Jesus invited to follow him in an upclose and personal relationship? 3. Why was it important that the disciples get the message, or the point Jesus was making in their lives? What extra efforts were sometime needed to relay the plan into his disciples? 4. What is the desperate need and the only thing that will carry our Christian work into the future? 5. Can you think of anyone that you could disciple?

THE GREAT COMMISSION IS FOR ALL CHRISTIANS

THE L.I.F.E. PLAN THE GREAT COMMISSION IS FOR ALL CHRISTIANS BLOCK 6 THEME 4 - GOD S GENERAL PURPOSE LESSON 1 (193 of 216) BLOCK 6 THEME 4: GOD S GENERAL PURPOSE LESSON 1 (193 OF 216): THE GREAT COMMISSION