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Welcome back to the Why? and What is the Purpose? of your life journey.
I left you last time with this question to consider: “How is the disciple making process accomplished?”
Before I layout the outline that we will follow in the coming weeks, I want you to also consider again these two additional questions:
What did Jesus command His disciples to do? . . . and . . . Why is it so important to teach others to do as He commanded?
Again, the answers to these questions are the heart of the disciple making process used by Jesus.
To date, the history of discipleship in the Church has dramatically developed from . . .
. . . the immediate years following the resurrection of Jesus, and on up through the 3rd century, discipleship was the primary focus of the church. The gospel was preached, people repented and were baptized, and those who had been taught the Lord’s commands instructed others in the way of righteousness. Small groups of people were trained in homes and were then sent out to make more disciples.
It was just in the beginning of the 4th century that the Church began to bind itself to secular world power, thinking that this was the way the kingdom of God would be established in the earth. The focus of the Church began to shift from making disciples to developing an orthodox belief system. What a person believed overshadowed the One in whom he believed.
Today, there is hope, but Christians must act. We need to be involved in small groups, loving one another and working together to effect transformation in the lives of people. Christians must learn the things that Jesus commanded them to do, and then do them.
With that, allow me to layout for you How the disciple making process is accomplished?
1. In the disciple making process we have divided it into fifty-eight teaching lessons.
2. In each lesson, one or more of the action commands that Jesus gave His disciples, will be featured. (There are a total of 226 individual commands.)
3. A short teaching will provide insight into understanding the command. . . and finally . . .
4. An activity is suggested to implement what has been learned in the lesson.
For Jesus, the reason that making disciples is so important is that it is born out of a love relationship with Him.
With that, let us begin the discipleship making process together, where on the next lesson I will start with Jesus’ first Command. Until then, I would ask that you consider the following question:
What picture comes to mind when you hear the words “Follow Me?”
Until next time . . . Godspeed!
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