Unit Aim: We ll explore the need for discipleship, and look at evidence from the Bible so that we can decide if we re 100% up for this, or not.

Transcription

1 Unit 1: Why Bother Anyway? Unit Aim: We ll explore the need for discipleship, and look at evidence from the Bible so that we can decide if we re 100% up for this, or not. List below some of your dreams I would like to have the following skills: I would like to know more about: I would like the opportunity to do: Let s take this a stage further. Your life stretches out ahead of you. At the moment, it s often enough to do to deal with the day to day stuff of school, of work, of family and friends. But wait a minute. What do you dream of doing with your life? How will you make it count for God and for others? Dream ahead, and list below. What would you like to do for God? 1. In the next 5 years? 2. In the next 10 years? 3. In the next 20 years?

2 You look at what is, and ask why? I look at what is not, and ask why not? Robert Kennedy, US Politician Thinking and planning ahead, gaining a sense of perspective and priorities, anticipating consequences of our actions, all these things can grow with age and experience. But nothing can stop us dreaming in the here and now. Is Discipleship really necessary? Go back to the two lists you ve just completed. Now ask yourself (and answer!) these two questions about both lists: 1. What would you say were the factors which would help you reach your dreams? 2. What would be likely to stop or limit you in reaching your dreams? Discipleship is necessary; it facilitates the first and reduces the second. CD Rom Dreams Demand Development It is not difficult to dream. It is a good thing to raise our heads and our hearts above the stuff of everyday life, with its pleasures and pains, and to dream about what life might be like. And not just about winning the lottery, or topping the Premier Division, or becoming the next chart-topping band. It is also about how God might use us to change the world for the better. Because in part, this world is yours to change, for good or ill. Yet dreaming about change isn t enough. It s the energy of youth that turns dreams into vision, and vision into reality. (Acts 2:17). But how do we do that? A friend of mine once asked for directions as he was lost in his car in the countryside, only to be told by a local, Oh, you can t get there from here!! Of course you can! We can dream, and we can deliver our desitiny, but our dreams demand our development in order to deliver our destiny. Discipleship is about development. Is it Biblical? Can we find examples of people developing people in the Bible, Old and New Testament? Check out the following and complete the grid: A

3 WHERE WHO DISCIPLES WHOM 1. Deuteronomy 31:1-8, 34: Kings 2: Kings 6: Mark 2: Timothy 1:2 2 Timothy 1: Timothy 2:1-2 Is it optional? Make a careful reading of Matthew 28:16-20 These are the final recorded words of Jesus on earth, so you can be sure that they are important and carefully thought out directions. Can you answer the following questions? Who received this Great Commission? Who did the commissioning? Has the Great Commission been revoked? Has the Great Commission been fulfilled? Whose is the authority? Who gets the job? What is the job? Who gets included? >>> Is it biblical? Yes, it is! CD Rom B

4 You can see from the above that the first disciples of Jesus received the command to (a) make disciples of everyone else and (b) teach them everything Jesus taught and commanded. So disciples are commanded and taught to make disciples, who in turn make disciples, and so on and so on. Across the 2000 years and across the miles to you and me. The Great Commission to make disciples ripples out, multiplying on its way. It looks a little like this: JC (All He taught and commanded, i.e. make disciples) The 11 The Nations ( te ethne in the Greek means people groups ) You and Me! >>> Is it optional? No, it isn t! Is it Automatic? A lot of Christians think that a disciple is simply another word for a Christian. But it isn t. It s possible to really believe in Jesus and not to be a disciple. What the Bible is always looking for is belief in action: What you do on Monday morning is what you really believe. Everything else is religion. (Jim Wallis, Christian Sociologist). A disciple is someone who keeps/embraces a discipline; the two English words share the same root. So discipleship is not just a system of beliefs, it is a way of life. It doesn t happen automatically, or accidentally, or incidentally. Discipleship happens deliberately, or it doesn t happen at all. Disciples are made, not born. Not even just born again! Disciples are shaped, honed, developed by process. >>> Is it automatic? No, it isn t!

5 Does it ever Stop? Who do you think needs discipling? Who do you think doesn t need discipling? Can we ever know everything about God? Can we ever know enough about God? Will we ever need to stop changing? The reality is, discipleship isn t just for new Christians. Or for young people. It is for every Christian. Everywhere. All the time. >>> Does it ever stop? No, it doesn t! What do you think are the three most important things you ve learned from this Unit about Why bother with Discipleship? Discipler s Endorsement: The trainee has satisfactorily completed this Unit. Signed Date