DISCIPLESHIP
AT NAZARENE CHURCH
Pastor Jesse Ragan
We want you to grow spiritually! The only way you can do that is to ask Jesus and His Holy Spirit to open your mind to the Scriptures and let Him continue to make you into a masterpiece. Below is a sermon series on the basic values of Christianity. Please enjoy learning about Christianity but ask the Holy Spirit to do His work within you!! (Luke 24:45; Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 2:10)
If you're new to Weaverville Church of the Nazarene, then the Welcome Party is for you! Our Welcome Parties are a great time to meet other new people, meet our pastor, enjoy free dinner and childcare on us! You'll hear the heart and vision of Church on a Mission, hear from our Lead Pastor, Jesse Ragan, and find out your next step at Weaverville Church of the Nazarene. It's something not to miss and we would love to meet you! You can RSVP below today.
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Session 1 - Family of God
Family Values
Our Christian Values Series
Genesis 17:4-7; Galatians 3:6-9, 14; 1 John 3:10-11; 13:16-18; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 4:11-15; 1 John 3:1a; Ephesians 4:26-32
In whose family are you in? It seems like a simple question. I think it is difficult one for many of us in America. How far back can you trace your family?
Why should we not pay so much attention to endless genealogies? Those who find a special kind of status from their family line have missed where our status should come. All of us in Christ Jesus are a family! We are God’s family! (Titus 1:3-5)
God wants a people that wants to worship Him alone and that is God’s family – the family that He is God of. (Ezekiel 36:25-28)
Just as we are born to mothers and fathers, we need to be born into God’s family by being spiritually born. (John 3:3-6)
When you read your Bible and discover that God wants all of us to work together to love our communities by loving one another we see the need to become a member in a church. (John 13:34-35)
The bottom line is that you cannot love one another all by your lonesome! What we all need is a family to love and be loved!
A family gives us the opportunity to be loved as well as the challenges of loving another who is far from perfect! A hard thing about being loved is that people do things for you that you did not ask them. Not accepting a brother or sister’s gift of time or service can be very hurtful. We all need to realize that part of being in a family is that we belong to each other.
Another difficult part of being loved is that you have to let people know you. One may be afraid of being hurt, but that is the risk that love takes.
One of the main challenges that we face in loving others is that sometimes there is brokenness in the family.
The challenge to a family is that you are always family. You cannot just stop being related.
God is more pleased by us loving our brother than by the material gifts that we might give to God. If we are to be blessed by God and be a blessing to Him, we have to reach for forgiveness and be willing reconcile. (Matthew 5:21-24 & Colossians 3:13-14)
We cannot say that we love God and not love His family. We must learn to hate what God hates and love whom God loves. We may need to pray and ask Jesus for help in this.
These principles are true for both our physical families and our church family. Here are three qualities for strong families.
1) Having a commitment to family. People that have a strong family make “family” a priority. They intentionally participate in family activities. (Matthew 22:36-39)
It is true that we have been given freedom from our sin because of the grace that Jesus gave us when he died on the cross in our place; however, we often lose track of why he died for us. He wanted us to be capable of love. (Galatians 5:13-14)
The way that we love God is to love one another. We do this as a family. This commitment to family means that we decide to express appreciation for one another.
2) Families have the ability resolve conflict.
In order for a “win-win” to be possible there must be a sense of security where trust is authentic. With patient hearts the family members should be seeking forgiveness with excellent communication. Conflict resolution does not happen without people talking to each other.
We need to have an intimate relationship with Jesus in order to have fellowship with one that has hurt us. Our sinful nature will separate us from our family, we need Jesus in order for God to repair the hurt through the bonds of love. (1 John 1:3 & John 15:4-5)
The tools we need for conflict resolution in the family are God are not within our reach without God’s help. We cannot truly love without God. (Galatians 5:22-23)
3) Strong families spend time together doing meaningful things.
One of the most meaningful ways that we can spend meaningful time together is by participating in our church family.
What is spiritual well being? It means that one is dwelling with the Holy Spirit. It means that they are walking with Jesus. It means that the fruit of the Spirit is evident in their life. It means that we can please our Heavenly Father by loving like He loves.
The more time we spend together, the more we love each other and the easier it is to forgive each other.
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Session 2 - Intimacy
Who is Your Best Friend?
Our Christian Values Series
Exodus 33:7-11; Luke 6:12; 9:18; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; John 15:4-5
Who is your best friend? Is it your wife, husband, buddy, brother, sister … How does God fit in there?
Our main core values are that we are a Christian people, we are a Holiness people, and we are a Missional people.
The values that I would like to talk about today are that we are Christian and that Christians should have intimacy, or a very close friendship, with God.
When we call ourselves Nazarenes, we are saying that we are Christians who follow Jesus of Nazareth. (Acts 24:5-6; 11:19-26, Matthew 2:23, Mark 16:2-6)
What it is to be a Christian people? It means: Jesus forgives us our sins and we accept him as our Savior! (Ephesians 4:3-6)
From reading the Bible, I think History is more about God than us. However, God wants us to participate with Him in His Mission. It makes sense that we might see our relationship to God as a Christian Soldier, but one where the Commander and Chief, God Himself, walks with us onto every battle field!
It makes sense that God would have some expectations for those of us that are in the Lord’s Army. He wants us to be with Him! Always with Him!
It is interesting to me that the Shma matches the first commandment. “You shall have no other gods before Me.” God wants our total devotion. (Mark 12; 29-31)
You have been saved from your sin! You now have freedom from your sin!! However, you will not be able to experience this freedom as long as you do not walk with God constantly. He wants an intimate relationship with you – God wants to be your best friend. (John 10:30; 17:20-21)
We should not boast in the things of this world like fame and power. We should boast that we know God! (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
If you are going to have a relationship of any depth, then you are going to have to spend time with God. When do you meet with Jesus? … on Sunday morning? Do you do daily devotionals?
1) We need to prioritize God in life – in the life that God gave to us.
If we are going to have a best friend named “Jesus” then we are going to give lots of time to our relationship. Otherwise, we will have an acquaintance named Jesus Christ. That is clearly not what God wants from us and we will not experience the freedom from sin in our own lives. We need to walk with Jesus if we are going to be one of God’s men or God’s women.
(Psalms 42:1-2)
2) Superficiality is a barrier from having a real relationship. This is not what God wants. (Isaiah 29:13)
3) A third issue that we face in our time and place in the world is that people confuse knowing about God versus truly knowing God. God wants to be known by you! He wants you to have a deep personal relationship with Him. (2 Timothy 3:7)
4) If we are going to have a good friend, we cannot hold back from each other. This is the same with God! When we want to keep our sin, then we have traded our freedom for something that will lead to discontentment, loneliness, and eternal separation from God. (1 John 1:9 & 1 Peter 4:1)
The bottom line is that we cannot have the close intimacy that one should with a best friend if we have sin between us that has not been confessed.
How can we come closer to God? We can take advantage of our spiritual opportunities. We can pray, study, serve, give, and worship God in everything that we do.
We can have peace by praying to God! (Philippians 4:6-7)
Another opportunity we have is by spending time learning about who God is and what He has done for you through Bible study. (Hebrews 4:12 & Psalms 19:9-13)
A third opportunity that we have to grow deeper in our relationship with the Almighty God of the universe is by giving in faith. When we give, we show ourselves that we trust God. The best blessing is more intimacy with Him. (1 Chronicles 16:23-31)
Finally, we have the opportunity to become closer to God when we walk with God in service. (John 13:35)
We want to exercise each of these foundational spiritual disciplines as we walk through life with Jesus! I want you to be close to God. We want God as our best friend! (John 15:4-5)
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Session 3 - Vision's Call
Vision Calling
Our Christian Values Series
Nehemiah 1-2; 6:15-16; Proverbs 29:18; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Samuel 16:7b; Matthew5:16; 22:37-39; Ephesians 2:10; 4:22-24; Deuteronomy 11:26-28; 28:1, 15-16, 25, 32, 41; Habakkuk 1:5-7; Daniel 9:11-12; Esther 4:8-14; John 15:4-5;
God is interested in each of us embracing His vision for our lives.
Vision provides direction and keeps you moving in the direction that God wants you to go. Vision from God allows you to see your life with greater clarity and focus.
Have you ever known someone who was called to a particular place or sent to a particular place so as to achieve God’s purpose? It is really inspiring to see God at work in a person’s life.
Some people that I have talked to sit back with tears in their eyes and say, “Why? Why hasn’t God called me?” My response is, “Hasn’t He?”
I think too often we get caught up in watching other people do things and we don’t get busy doing what we know God would want us to do. Instead, we wait … we do nothing, while we tell ourselves and others that God hasn’t asked me to do anything yet.
God would have us “Go,” and “Make Disciples” for Jesus. The truth is that we all don’t go about this the same way, but the fun of being part of Jesus’ church is that we work together with our strengths and gifts along with Jesus to achieve God’s goal of reconciling the world to Himself. (Matt 28:18-20)
We should not sit around and not do anything while waiting for God to give us a specific vision for our lives. We should be striving to do good deeds in order to show the love of God to those who need to be saved from their sin.
God has called all of us and wants us to embrace the vision that He has for our lives. We know that whatever specific focus that He calls us to, will lead to seeing more people come to know Jesus as Lord and will strengthen the body of Christ, that is Jesus’ church.
Discovering God’s vision for you begins by seeing a particular need, and it becomes clear when you realize that God is calling you to meet that need.
God has designed us to be a people of purpose. God designed us to pursue causes for which we would exchange our lives. When one discovers God’s vision for your own life … you will not take hold of it, but it will take hold of you (International Leadership Institute, Christian to the Core, p. 27). That is what happened to Nehemiah.
Five Steps to a Vision Being Birthed:
1) See the need.
2) Feel the need. Nehemiah began to be so empathetic that the needs of the residents in Jerusalem seemed to become his own needs.
Nehemiah felt like he needed to take action. He needed to do something. It is better to risk trying something in faith with God than argue with God that it is not possible. God can make things happen!
3) Burdened for the need. Do you have a clear sense of a need that you could meet if God was with you? What is it that you would attempt if you knew that you would not fail? If you are forgiven, then what will you do with the gift of freedom from sin? How will you invest your time toward the gift of life eternal?
Are you waiting for God to use someone else while you ask God, “… but when will you send me to do something great for Your kingdom?” We know that God is faithful so we should act on the needs that God gives us the vision to do.
4) Believe that you can meet the need. You know that God will meet you. Why would God give you the vision if He wasn’t going to show up? God wants to show up if we are working toward His mission to seek and save the lost. The question is, “Will we show up?” The way a person feels at this point is that they have a sense of urgency and responsibility to do something.
5) Take action to meet the need. How do you do it?
The number one thing that I can do with you is pray. Your action will require a step of faith involving risk, and it will launch you into a closer and exciting relationship with God as you pursue God’s vision for your life. You will need to pray.
You will need God to meet His vision for your life and
He will be gracious to you!!
Before we responded to Jesus’ gospel, we had a different vision for our lives. Usually the vision has something to do with selfish ideas like fame, fortune, and power. Our attitude should not be the same as it was after we confessed our sins, turned away from our sins (called repenting), asked Jesus to forgive us our sins, and believed that Jesus could do what he has promised. Our vision should change to a new self that is interested in loving God and obeying Him. Such belief leads to discipleship.
What is God giving you a vision to do?
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Session 4 - Time & Money
Time & Money – Whose is it?
Our Christian Values Series
Luke 19:11-27; Matthew 25:14-30; 2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 John 1:9; Deuteronomy 10:14; Romans 11:35-36; Genesis 1:28; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; John 4:35
Stewardship includes our finances, but also how we spend our time and how we use the Spiritual gifts that God gives us. I want to primarily focus on our relationship and accountability to God with our time and money.
I am going to follow “The Parable of the Minas” because it has a few more details while utilizing “The Parable of the Talents” for clarifying the meaning.
Our time and money, everything that is on the Earth … who do they belong to? God owns it all! Everything belongs to God! (Psalms 24:1; 50:12; 89:8-13)
God created all things. It belongs to God. We were created to be God’s managers. We are to rule in His stead for Him, but He is still the owner.
We understand that Jesus is the one of noble birth who needs to go to a distant country, called Heaven, where he would receive his appointment as King of kings before he would return in what we call “Jesus’ second coming.”
The master gave sums of money to be invested in the future kingdom according to each servant’s ability.
1) Just like the first servant, we want to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
2) The second servant was faithful with the abilities that God gave him. Remember, the money was given to the servants according to their abilities.
3) This third servant judges his master as a “hard man.” Is this a true judgment? It is significant that the master explains that he will judge the wicked third servant “by his own words!” The master does not agree with servant number three. (Matthew 7:2 & Luke 6:38)
What we can gather from the words of the wicked servant is that he did not know his master at all. He knew of him. He could recognize him. However, he did not have a personal relationship with his master.
Simply having an association with the King’s community will not count for anything when the King holds any of us accountable for what we have done with the time, money and abilities that he has entrusted to us. They only thing that will matter at such a final judgment will be whether or not you have a personal relationship with King Jesus! (Psalms 50:19-23)
4) The fourth group did not want the master to be made king in the first place. They had rejected the King from the beginning. Their rejection of the King negates any previous relationship that they might have had with him.
Everyone in the world is accountable to Jesus! (Romans 1:18-20)
Those that reject Jesus as King are accountable for not recognizing who Jesus is. This is the fourth group from the parable. The first and second groups are full of people who know Jesus personally as their Savior and King. They were not saved by what they did, that is their works. They were saved because they responded to Jesus by responding to his gospel.
The third servant is a mix between the group that rejects Jesus as King and those that are connected to the King. He is associated with the Kingdom of God, but the third servant is not in the kingdom.
For the wicked servant it is like he or she is looking into the Kingdom through an open door, but will not walk in.
For the stewards who have been “good and faithful” judgment is a time of blessing. There is nothing to fear from the judgment if we have been walking with Jesus as faithful stewards. (2 Corinthians 13:5)
What does the Bible tell us about being a faithful steward?
1) In terms of money, God says to tithe. (Leviticus 27:30 & Matthew 23:23)
The other 90 percent of your money belongs to Him too. God has entrusted it to you to as His manager. He expects that you will love God and one another in Jesus’ name with it. God is generous and He wants to bless us. When you tithe, you are expressing your faith in God. You are acknowledging that everything that you have belongs to God and you are expecting God to provide for your needs by obeying Him. God wants to bless you!
2) God says to test Him with tithing! I love it! This is not about money. This is about God revealing to you that He is trustworthy! Just know that the blessings that God may choose to give you might not be financial. (Mal 3:8ff)
How are we to be a good steward with our time? We should imitate Jesus. How did Jesus model time management?
1) Jesus understood that he only had so much time. (John 9:4)
2) We also know that Jesus was always mindful of his purpose. (John 17:4)
3) Jesus understood that there is a right time to do the important things.
We want to be good and faithful stewards for King Jesus!
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Session 5 - Heart for the Lost (Passion)
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Do You Have a Heart for the Lost?
Our Christian Values Series - Passion
Luke 4:31-44; 5:1-11; 19:10; Matthew 4:13-22; 7:7-8; 10:28-42; 28:18-20; John 1:36-42a; John 3:18; 5:12; 5:25; 11:25-26; Romans 5:6-8; 10:13-15; Titus 3:4-7;
1 Timothy 2:3-4
I want to talk to you about passion!
The Son of God, came to earth to relentlessly pursue those who had become lost. Jesus went to the sinners, which included everyone, and he began fighting for every man’s soul! His passion was great!
Why did Jesus call disciples? If the only reason he came to Earth was to die as a sacrifice for our sins, why would he need disciples? Jesus came to his people to do more than die for them. He came to seek the lost and show them the way home. Jesus wanted to raise up the church, the entire body of Christ, to join him on his mission to reconcile all of us to Himself. (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
Jesus came to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. He was sent by God-the-Father for this reason.
Jesus was passionate about spreading the good news of the kingdom of God! In doing so, Jesus was relentless in bringing Simon Peter into the Kingdom of God. Jesus knew how to catch fish and how much more did he know how to catch men? He new well enough to teach Simon Peter.
If only one thing you did on this earth mattered to you, what would it be? Whatever you answered, that is your passion.
Jesus knew exactly why he came to earth and he was relentless in pursuit of his people. He loves us! (Luke 19:10)
How is it that we can love like Jesus loves? How can we have his passion?
1) If you want to love with the passion that Jesus loves, then you must love Christ and be totally committed to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
The question that we all face is “How can I use my God-given gifts, to work for Jesus’ kingdom?” The more that you love God, the more you will be compelled to love what Jesus loves.
If we truly believe that Jesus is the anointed King, or Christ, then we will love who he loves. That means that we will spend the days that we have on this earth loving people and working together in the body of Christ, that is the church, to seek and save the lost! (1 John 5:1)
2) We must nurture our passion by doing what God has commanded us to do. When we nurture our passion by feeding it in service and study in small groups or our Sunday service, we see the need and our eyes get off of our own troubles and we seek God to help those who are spiritually bankrupt. We must feed our passion.
3) If we feel like our fire to do God’s will has gone out, we need to remember that our passion is something that God sets us alight with. If we want to be ablaze with passion then we need to ask God for passion. Passion comes from God like every good thing. (John 15:4-5)
We know that if we ask God for “Passion” and we “seek” God by reading our Bible, serving compassionately with the church, and praying to God for the boldness and proper words to bring someone to church, we will receive. We just need to start knocking on the door. We need to be about the King’s business! (Matthew 7:7-8)
Where can you go to seek and see the lost saved? What is your opportunity? Certainly, by inviting friends and family to church you can seize the day. We must invite people to church.
You should pray for your friends and family and we should help each other by praying.
The problem is that the unbelieving don’t know why they need a savior. They are more of the mindset that it is fine if you want to believe and it is fine if you don’t. That is not Jesus’ message to us.
We need to pray that our county will respond to Jesus’ gospel. We need to pray that the Believing Christians of our County will be kind and gentle to those who do not yet have Jesus while bringing them the gospel of Jesus Christ. (Romans 10:13-15)
Why is it that American Christianity isn’t spreading like Africa or Asia? Could it be that the churches are not preaching the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:18-20)
We are all to share the gospel.
I really believe that the reason that American Christianity is not growing is because the gospel is not being preached in all of the churches and so the people are not being equipped to share it.
We must keep our passionate fire burning within us. How else will the lost be found? How else will the ungodly sinner be transformed and spiritually birthed? If we really love God, then we will love His people. (1 John 5:1)
Session 6 - Integrity - Yes or No?
Integrity – Yes or No?
Our Christian Values Series – Integrity
Matthew 5:37 & Genesis 39-40
I want to talk to you about integrity. When you say, “Yes,” does it mean “Yes?” (Matthew 5:33-37)
Should our words mean something different depending on the context?
What if you find yourself hungry and without food? Should you set out to steal food so that you will survive? I think many try to rationalize this sort of situational ethics with such a question, but the problem is that they leave God out of the predicament!
How big is your God? We need to trust God!
Sometimes we try to make things happen with our own ability, but what we need to do, is be a people of integrity, pray to God who has control, and trust God. Jesus makes things happen! (Matthew 28:18)
I want to study some of the life of Joseph, Jacob’s son, in order to look at how his life exemplified integrity.
If you were in Joseph’s circumstance, would you honor your commitment to God?
There are many who have been sold a lie that if you become a Christian nothing difficult will come your way. Joseph believed God, and yet, through no recognizable fault of his own, other than bragging about a dream, was sold into slavery. God’s hand was on Joseph.
Joseph was a man of Integrity. Joseph had not forgotten about God just because he was in the midst of a very rough trial. In fact, Joseph probably leaned on God more than ever. (Genesis 39:6-9)
Some would see Potiphar’s wife as the perfect crime. They would see opportunity and hope for secrets to remain hidden while they went along with the wishes of a wayward woman. Given this situation, Joseph’s ethics remain unchanged.
Joseph had gone from the favorite son, to slavery, and now prison. What did he do wrong? How did he compromise his integrity? He didn’t. God had been with him through the whole ordeal. In fact, God was still with him. (Genesis 39:20b-23)
Joseph’s faith in God had not wavered in the midst of his trials. He used this opportunity to give his testimony of the One and True God to the King’s officials by giving the glory to God. (Genesis 40:1-8)
Joseph knew that the baker wanted Joseph to give him a favorable interpretation, but Joseph would not bear false witness. Joseph told the truth as a man of integrity should. It did not matter how unpopular the advice was. (Genesis 40:16-19)
God wants people of integrity who glorify Him. He will be with them and reward them wherever they are taken.
When given the opportunity to “make something happen” for himself, Joseph walked in step with the Lord rather than attempt to take matters into his own hands.
1) When we teach God’s way truthfully and we don’t allow any other cultural influences, whether it is people or their ideas, we see that a person of integrity is a whole person. He or she is not different in one situation from another. Their beliefs are apparent in their testimony from the way they live. (Mark 12:14a)
2) Jesus teaches us that the person of integrity is a reliable person. If you commit to a promise, you should be faithful. This is true regardless of who you make the promise to. (Matthew 5:37) There should be no need to make a promise, if we give our word.
3) Jesus teaches that our actions should reflect our beliefs. (Matthew 7:21) If we say it, we should do it.
Joseph finished the race of life with integrity before God. (Gen 50:25-26)
Paul fought the good fight. Life is a fight at times … isn’t it? We are involved in a mental battle all the time to keep our head in the game and not check out of what God has asked each one of us to do. (2 Timothy 4:8)
Paul also said that he finished the race. He had the goal to finish well. The obstacles or trials in his life only brought him closer to our Lord … just like Joseph.
Our role is to trust God and keep our commitments to Him.
If we align our will with God’s will then it won’t matter what trial or trouble gets thrown at us. We will take joy in the fact that we are people of integrity. We will have peace that we are on God’s team. We will seek to finish this race of life well! Our “Yes,” will always be, “Yes,” to God.
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Session 7 - Disciple or Disciple Maker?
Disciple or Disciple Maker?
Our Christian Values – Missional
2 Timothy 2:2; Psalms 27; 42:1-2; Luke 14:26, 29, 33; Matthew 10:37-39; 28:18-20; Acts 1:4-8; 11:19-26; Romans 10:9; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 6:1-2
I want to discuss “disciple making.”
I want to point out that the Great Commission was given to Jesus’ disciples.
Why did Jesus die? It was because we needed someone to die in our place or we would not be able to live! We needed a Savior!
The disciples were leading people to understand the problem of death that we all face because of sin.
Many people believe that they need a savior and ask God for forgiveness, but not all of them really want to obey Jesus. They just want to avoid being condemned to Hell because of their sin. Unfortunately, they have not understood what it means to call Jesus Lord! They have not understood that “the Lord” or “King” has the right to command you and hold us accountable for our obedience. (Romans 10:9)
It is only when we give ourselves totally to Jesus, when we consecrate ourselves, that we are disciples. (Luke 14:26, 29, 33 & Matthew 10:37-39)
So first, we believe that Jesus can save us because we need a Savior.
Secondly, we understand that Jesus is our Lord and we are baptized a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The third step of obedience to Jesus is that we wait for the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 1:4-8; Psalms 27:14)
The Great Assumption that goes with the Great Commission is that
you have to be “a disciple” to make “a disciple.”
The fourth step of obedience is to become a “Disciple Maker.”
The Great Commission is for the disciple. Jesus wants us to be disciples so that we can become Disciple Makers.” So how do we make disciples?
(Acts 11:19-26)
Barnabas and Paul spent a year teaching the people in Antioch to obey everything that Jesus had commanded! Both becoming a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and “Making a Disciple” takes some time. It was the disciples who were called Christians. (Acts 11:26)
In our world today, there seems to be a false teaching that says one can be a Christian and not a disciple. Some want to call themselves Christians because they agree that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sin without being obedient to Jesus and becoming a disciple. Others want to say that they are a disciple without loving Jesus most in this world. Jesus is very clear on the commitment of his disciple. (Luke 14:26, 29, 33 & Matthew 10:37-39)
Those that try to hold on to the life that is “all about them” rather than being obedient to Jesus and loving God, much less one another, are missing the opportunity to follow Jesus as a disciple. When you find your life and respond to the gospel, you should no longer live for yourself, but live for Jesus! (Matthew 10:39)
I really think the reason for the confusion is because many people are “undiscipled disciples.”
If someone has not understood that we are all to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord which means that we would become Jesus’ disciples, now is the time of God’s grace and now is the day of salvation! (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)
We all need to be discipled and we all should be either discipling someone else or asking Jesus who he would lead them to disciple. This is how the Kingdom of God multiplies!
The ultimate goal of discipleship to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Four characteristics of a faithful disciple
1) A faithful disciple has a Heart for God. (Psalms 27:8; 42:1-2)
2) A second characteristic of a disciple is that they are available for God. (Isaiah 6:8 & Luke 22:42)
3) A third characteristic of a faithful disciple is that he or she is faithful to God and others. (2 Timothy 2:2)
4) The fourth characteristic of a faithful disciple is a person who possesses a teachable spirit. (Proverbs 9:9 & Matthew 13:23)
How one disciples another is by making sure the new disciple:
1) Understands the foundational principles of the Christian Life.
2) A life coach is a person who talks about life with you. Helps you understand the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Helps you learn to pray and is a good friend.
3) A mentor can help the new believer find a place to serve and talk them through their life priorities so that they are in line with what God wants to achieve in their life.
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Session 8 - Be a Witness
Be a Witness
Our Christian Values
1 Corinthians 9:22-23; Romans 10:13-15; Isaiah 52:7; Acts 26:4-20; Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 3:15; Romans 10:17; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Matthew 28:18-19; Psalm 46:10; Malachi 3:7-10; James 1:27; 2 Corinthians 4:4-6
Paul became “all things to all men so that by all possible means” he “might save some” for the sake of the gospel. This does not mean that Paul changed who he was or how he acted when he was in a different group. Rather it means that Paul worked hard to relate to every people group he came in contact with. He worked as a missionary. He would find something from their culture that he could relate to and build bridges between his life experience and their culture. What he would relate in his life was the gospel of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 9:20-23)
We need to have the heart that Jesus has to seek and save the lost. This week I want to talk about how one might do that.
I have found one of the best ways to share the gospel of Jesus Christ is by sharing your own story. This is called “a testimony.” It is the testimony of how God has worked in your life. It does not have to be the story of how you responded to the gospel, but it should be a truthful account of how God has changed you and what He did. (Acts 26:4-20)
Paul expressed to King Agrippa what life was like before Jesus Christ came to him, how he responded to Jesus, and what Paul’s life was like now that he was following Christ? These are three essential points that a testimony should make. It is very simple. A fourth point that can be added is an invitation to follow Jesus.
1) What was life like before following Jesus?
2) How did you come to know Jesus and follow him?
3) What is life like now that you are following Jesus?
4) “Are you a follower of Jesus? Would you like to be?”
The Gospel: Explain that if we want to follow Jesus we must confess our sins, tell Jesus that we want to turn away from our sins – this is called repenting – ask Jesus to forgive us, and believe that Jesus. One must believe that Jesus can forgive sins, that he is Lord, that he died on the cross for your sins and mine, and he was resurrected from the dead on the third day. Jesus will raise you up and give you eternal life if you follow him.
How powerful a story, or testimony, is. A story told well is not just instructional, but it paints a picture where the story teller can step inside. What is more is that engagement is much higher because testimony is usually not read when you are talking to a person casually. You usually just “say” it.
The beautiful thing about sharing your faith in Jesus through testimony is that you don’t have to memorize something that you don’t know. You just share how Jesus has changed your life by telling them your story. It should not be complicated. When you do share, you should also listen to their story. (1 Peter 3:15)
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to share your testimony and listen to their story with gentleness and respect.
The truth is that if you are a follower of Christ, you want to see the person that you are talking to … probably a friend or a family member … saved from sin and death. It should be obvious that you care for them. I have said to people many times, “I don’t care if you think I am crazy. I want you to know that I really believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and I care enough about you that I want to share it with you. I want you to be okay and live after death. We don’t need to fear death! Isn’t that good news?!” When this is done with sincerity, gently, and with respect, most people are not put off at all. They are thankful to you!
When you work out your “Jesus story” you might want to consider addressing these questions:
1) What difference has Jesus made in your life?
2) How is your life now more meaningful?
3) What are some of the benefits of following Jesus?
The greatest teachers in history all used “story” to teach! (Romans 10:17)
May Jesus shine in your heart as you share your testimony of him
with your friends and family.
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