On the Journey with Jesus

Complete the Sentence:

God

desires…

God desires…

Relationship with us

Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away

Genesis 5:24

This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

Genesis 6:9

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

Genesis 3:8-9

Him (Jesus) we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Colossians 1:28-29

Him (Jesus) we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Colossians 1:28-29

Him (Jesus) we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Colossians 1:28-29

“…I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable….

1 Corinthians 9:22-27

So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:22-27

Him (Jesus) we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Colossians 1:28-29

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

Colossians 1:24-26

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

Romans 8:9-10

“He gave them to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:12-14

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work

Ephesians 4:15-16

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

.

Ephesians 4:17-18

Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

Ephesians 4:19-21

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness

Ephesians 4:22-24

1. A Disciple is a Learner

CHALLENGE: this puts following Jesus on an intellectual level and may not recognize the defining nature of the relationship between Jesus and the Disciple.

CHALLENGE: This creates a two-tiered class system between highly dedicated Christians and “ordinary” Christians.

Misconceptions about being a Disciple

2. A Disciple is a Super-Saint

3. A Disciple is someone in professional ministry

CHALLENGE: Same as above, creating a two-tiered class system based on value and God’s call

CHALLENGE: This separates evangelism from discipleship bringing into question the essence of the Gospel…what is the Gospel’s purpose? Is it just to save us OR to transform us?

Misconceptions about being a Disciple4. A person is first a Christian…then a disciple

5. Discipleship begins with and is inseparable from Conversion

(CHALLENGE: What do we do with all those who are nominal or consumer Christians? Are they really not Christians? Are they disobedient Christians? Or Are they immature Christians?

Misconceptions about being a Disciple

• That Jesus is Lord of all (by right as God and by action at the cross)

• That He requires a rejection of our self-centeredness and past sinful pursuits (repentance)

• That he insists on controlling our lives rather than just being a part of our lives

Biblical Discipleship is Understanding and Accepting for oneself :

• That we enter his kingdom as newly created children of God, transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light

That we are no longer to be slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness

That we can no longer be loyal to our earthly culture and condition, but are now to be loyal to His “called out ones” and the Kingdom of God

Biblical Discipleship is Understanding and Accepting for oneself :

“Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the

cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate”

Dietrich Bonhoffer, Lutheran pastor in Nazi Germany martyred for his faith and stance

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1 John 2:1-6

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him.

Colossians 2:6

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Acts 11:25-26

“The problem in our culture isn’t…the abortionists. It isn’t the pornographer or

drug dealers or criminals. It is the undisciplined, un-discipled, disobedient,

and Biblically ignorant Church of Jesus Christ. Several years ago a USA

Today/Gallup poll found that only 10% of the people who claimed to be believers read

their Bibles every day. There’s your problem! If you’re ignorant of the Word of God, you’re going to be blind to the way of God and disobedient to the will of God.”

Cal Thomas

1. Christian leaders have been diverted from their calling (Eph 4:11-13)

How did we get here?

2. The Church has tried to make disciples using programs3. The church has focused on the benefits Jesus offers rather than the submission Jesus demands and deserves.

4. The church is unwilling to call people to discipleship5. There is an inadequate view of the church as a discipleship community

6. There is no clear well-marked out pathway to maturity.

First Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem, PA, Growing a Disciple- Making Church Dmin class, Dr. Greg Odgen, 2002

1. Christian leads have been diverted from their calling- Eph 4:11-13

How did we get here?

2. The Church has tried to make disciples using programs

3. The church has focused on benefits Jesus offers rather than the submission Jesus deserves.

4. The church is unwilling to call people to discipleship5. There is an inadequate view of the church as a discipleship community

6. There is no clear well-marked out pathway to maturity.7. Most Christians have never been discipled

A Disciple is…

a person who has been born again into a relationship with Jesus that is marked by the costly willingness to die to oneself and learn from him, be like him, and let Him live His life through them in their world.

the intentional, life-long, love relationship in which disciples live together empowered by the Holy Spirit to encourage, equip, and challenge each other toward maturity and the reproduction of the Life of Jesus in themselves and others.

On the Journey with Jesus

Discipleship is…