The blessing of God’s sovereignty over us is evident from His choosing of us. We are not a second thought to God, but he deliberately and purposefully picked us to be like Him. As we understand that God chose us without any regard to our own merit, we begin to live a life free from fear of being rejected.
“even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” – Ephesians 1:4 ESV
God is a God of goodness and as our Father, He has withheld no good thing in the heavenly realm from us. As we learn to walk in the truth of who God has made us to be, we become more like Him along the way.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” – Ephesians 1:3 ESV
In the beginning of his book we will explore why the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus and how these very same things that were written to this 1st century church are still as true and life changing today.
“that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV
As we work with individuals in the disciple-making process, it is important to understand by what measures we evaluate growth in how we are doing. How do we measure spiritual growth? What things are important for a growing and maturing disciple? This message will tie together much of our series and discuss the characteristics of mature disciples.
“Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the fullness of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:13 ESV
Disciple-making is a two-part process – evangelism and discipleship. Many followers of Christ think that we do one or the other depending on our gifting, but this is not true. We do have an evangelism problem in most churches, and it’s because we have a discipleship problem. What does evangelism look like in a healthy church? How do evangelism and discipleship fit together?
“Him 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 ESV
Many Christians think that once an individual is saved and baptized that there is nothing more to do and that Christ has no more expectations. But the truth is our journey is just beginning! Jesus asks us all to go a step further and aim to invest in the lives of others. As Paul explained to Timothy, Jesus’ desire is for us to turn away from a self absorbed life and seek to make disciples that make more disciples. This message will explain what is meant by true disciple-making.
“and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” – 2 Timothy 2:2 ESV
Although the Bible doesn’t directly tell us to be accountable in discipleship, the concept is apparent in a number of different verses. We are told to be accountable to God, to our spiritual leaders, and to others. This message will look into how essential accountability is to changing to be more like Jesus in discipleship.
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” – Proverbs 27:17 ESV
Jesus chose twelve men to follow Him in discipleship relationships. How did He choose those folks? For what was Jesus looking? If we are to be a disciple, having certain qualities will greatly help us to grow in following Him. This message will look at the qualities of being faithful, available, intentional, teachable, and humble.
“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles.” – Luke 6:12-13
Discipleship is born out of a sincere love for God and a sincere love for people. We must avoid the all too familiar trap of falling in love with the business of His ministry and out of love with Him. Discipleship doesn’t begin with serving or even sharing the gospel; it begins in a prayer closet where we humbly bow before the throne of God. We must choose to leave behind our performance based religion and learn to love Him from the heart.
“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’”
– Matthew 22:37-40 ESV
When Jesus called his disciples to follow Him, He had a specific view in mind. Before we can be effectively involved in the process of discipleship we need to understand what a disciple is. Not just the dictionary definition, but the definition from Jesus’ perspective. He asks us to leave behind our old lives and way of thinking and to choose His way. This teaching will explore what a disciple looks like in the present age.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.” – Matthew 10: 24-25a ESV