Discipleship

Disciple Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines disciple as: One who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: as A: one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ’s followers according to the Gospel accounts B: a convinced adherent of a school or individual

12 Disciples of Jesus Simon called Peter Andrew (brother of Simon Peter) James (son of Zebedee) John (son of Zebedee) Philip Bartholomew (aka Nathanael) Matthew (Levi) Thomas (aka Didymus) James (son of Alphaeus) Simon (the zealot) Judas son of James (aka Thaddeus, Jude) Judas Iscariot (the traitor)

Calling of the First Disciples John 1:35-42 John the Baptist proclaims (about Jesus) “Look, the Lamb of God!” Two of John’s disciples (Andrew, unnamed disciple) hear this and follow Jesus After staying with Jesus for the day, the first thing Andrew does is tell his brother Simon (Peter) “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ)

Calling of the First Disciples John 1:43-51 Next day, Jesus finds Philip and tells him to “follow me” Philip finds Nathanael (Bartholomew) and says “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael has doubts “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Jesus answers “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you” Nathanael declares “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel”

Calling of the First Disciples Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11 Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, James son of Zebedee and his brother John “Come, follow me” Left their nets, boat, and family and immediately followed Jesus In Luke’s Gospel Jesus gets into Simon’s boat and tells him to “put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” Simon catches a large number of fish Simon Peter falls at Jesus’ knees and says “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” “Don‘t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people”

12 Disciples of Jesus First, believed in Jesus as the Messiah (Christ) Accepted him as their Lord and Saviour Second, followed Jesus Made a decision to commit their lives to Jesus

Fundamental Beliefs Believe in the existence of God Trinity of God; God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit God is the Creator and source of life (Gen 1:1, John 1:3,4) We are ALL sinners, and the wages of sin is DEATH(Romans 3:23, 6:23a) We cannot save ourselves, we need God to intervene Jesus is God-incarnate and he came down to earth to die on the cross for our sins (John 1:1, 14, Rom 8:3-4, 1 Peter 2:24) We are saved by GRACE through FAITH (Eph 2:8-9, Rom 3:22, 24, 28 Gal 2:16) Faith must be alive (James 2:17, 26) Bible is the truth and the word of God (2 Tim 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21)

Confession of Faith Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’” Matthew 17:16 “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’”

Follow Jesus Calling from God Requires a decision and commitment (free-will) Disciple = follower of Jesus’ teaching Jesus’ teaching = the word of God (the Bible) We need to read, study and meditate on the Bible, while asking the Holy Spirit for understanding and interpretation 1 Peter 2:2 “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation”

Discipleship John 8:31 “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.’” Not only knowledge, but living according to Jesus’ teachings Hold to my teaching = to retain and obey Being a disciple isn’t passive learning, but actively carrying out what Jesus tells us

Love of Discipleship John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” First, receive God’s love through his son Jesus (Jn 3:16) Second, love God (Matthew 22:37-38) and love others 1 John 5:2 “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.” Loving God and loving others is inter-related, and if we love God we will obey his commands

Cost of Discipleship Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’” Living for God’s kingdom and will (requires denial) Called to live according to God’s standard (requires denial) Take up our cross (mission/purpose) There will be sacrifice, suffering, and patience involved However, Luke 9:24 continues with “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” 1 John 5:3 “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”

Fruit of Discipleship John 15:8 “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Fruit of the Spirit: Gal 5:22-23 ”But the fruit the Holy Spirit produces is love, joy and peace. It is being patient, kind and good. It is being faithful 23 and gentle and having control of oneself.”

Multiplication of Discipleship John 21:17 “‘…do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’” Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Evangelize through our words and actions

Discipleship Justification through faith in Jesus Christ Sanctification through the Spirit Loving God and others because He first loved us Passion for Jesus; grow in his image Personal Bible and prayer time Fellowship with other believers Sharing the Gospel

Book of Acts “Acts of the Holy Spirit” The lives of the disciples after Jesus’ ascension The Early Christian Church

Discussion Questions What are your thoughts on discipleship? What are some obstacles preventing or hindering you from becoming a disciple? How can we use this meeting to help us grow as disciples?