GCJ Discipleship Program and Process | DC20260118

Grace Communion Jamaica

DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM 

INTRODUCTION 

1. Why should we be interested in discipleship?
2. What is discipleship?
3. What/Who is a disciple?
4. What is involved in the making of a disciple?
5. What is the discipleship process?
6. What is the essential objective of each stage in the process?
7. What is the Gospel that must be believed?
8. What are the essential doctrines that one must believe in order to be considered a believer?

OVERVIEW  

1.  Why should we be interested in discipleship?

• Matthew 28:18-20
• It’s part of the Great Commission … given to the disciples … to the Church … to us

2.  What is discipleship?

• Based on Matthew 28:19, it’s the making of disciples.
• To understand, we need to understand
  • 1) what is meant by “disciples” and
  • 2) what is involved in the “making” of disciples.

3.  What/Who is a disciple?

• If discipleship is the process of making disciples, then we need first to understand what a disciple
• Consider the following passages … Mark 1:16-17, Matthew 4:19, 8:22, 9:9, 10:38, 16:24
• Based on those passages, we see that a disciple is …
  • one who follows (Mark 1:17a, Matthew 4:19, Matthew 9:9)
  • one who follows … for a reason (Mark 1:17b)
  • one who follows … in order to learn … in order to teach (Matthew 28:18-20, 2Timothy 2:1-2)
• For the purposes of this study … a disciple is a follower of Jesus, who is learning in order to teach others.

4.  What is involved in the “making” of disciples?

• Jesus called a small group of people to become His disciples (by following Him).
• But He didn’t just call them to follow Him.
• Notice Mark 1:17 b …
• Jesus equipped them (spending time with them, interacting with them, teaching them). In short, He took time to equip them (to be His witnesses and to share the Gospel with others).
• That “equipping” of the disciples involved some sort of process.
• to follow him, and equipped them to share the good news of the Kingdom of God with others.

5.  What is the discipleship process?

• Discipleship is not just about following Jesus.
• It involves learning about Jesus. It involves getting to know Him.  It involves obeying Him.  It involves sharing His message with others.  It involves sharing life and life lessons with them so that they can become disciples who can (and will) disciple others.
• Discipleship is similar to training or apprenticeship and the results of it affect every area of our lives.
• That is why we say that discipleship involves some sort of process.
• So, what is that process?
  • The “process” that Jesus used is not spelled out, specifically, in a step-by-step format … but I don’t think we NEED for Him to spell one out. Given that the object of the exercise is the same for all churches (get an unbeliever to believe in Christ, follow Christ and share Christ), I think each church can come up with it’s own process.
  • To this end, we’ve come up with a program that involves four (4) categories of persons: Attenders, Believers, Christians and Disciplers, where …
    • • Attender … one who attends church, or associates with believers, but who does not believe
      • Believer … one who believes, but who has not committed to following Christ
      • Christian … a believer who has committed to following Christ
      • Discipler … a Christ-follower who invites others to follow Christ
  • In light of the above, our discipleship program involves a “process” that takes a person through three (3) stages/phases …
    1. 1. Attender to Believer
       2. Believer to  Christian
       3. Christian to Discipler

6.  What is the essential objective of each stage in the process?

• In stage ONE … Attender must hear the Gospel and BELIEVE the Gospel.
• In stage TWO … Believer must move from just believing in Christ to FOLLOWING Christ.
• In stage THREE … Christian must transition from following Christ to SHARING Christ.

7.  What is the Gospel that must be believed?

• You deserve to die because of your sin … but you will not die because Jesus Christ died in your stead, so that you could live.  As a result, you’ll be going to Heaven and spending eternity with God.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:45-49  ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.  ⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.  ⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.  ⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.  
  • 2 Corinthians 5:18-21  Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself  through  Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.    ²⁰ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.  ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  

8.  What are the essential doctrines that one must believe in order to be considered a believer?

The Bible itself reveals what is important and essential to the Christian faith.  These essentials are

• • the deity of Jesus of Nazareth,
  • salvation by God’s grace and not by works,
  • salvation through Jesus Christ alone,
  • the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth,
  • the Gospel — the substitutionary atonement for our sins,
  • monotheism
  • the Holy Trinity.

These are the main “essentials” that we should understand and believe if we are followers of Jesus Christ.

Let’s look at all of these in a little more detail.

• The deity of Jesus of Nazareth.  Quite simply, Jesus is God. While Jesus never directly says, “I am God” in the Scriptures, He makes it very clear to those around Him, especially the Pharisees and Sadducees, that He is God. John 10:30 says, “I and the Father are one.” Jesus was claiming deity, and, interestingly enough, He did not deny that He was God. Another example is John 20:28, when Thomas says, “My Lord and my God!” Again, Jesus does not correct Him by saying that He is not God. There are many other examples one can find in the Scriptures regarding Jesus’ rightful place in heaven.
• Salvation by grace. We are all sinners separated from God and deserving of eternal punishment for our sin. Jesus’ death on the cross paid for the sins of mankind, giving us access to heaven and an eternal relationship with God. God did not have to do this for us, but He loves us so much that He sacrificed His only Son. This is grace, and it is most definitely undeserved favor. Scripture tells us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor or gain access to heaven apart from His grace.
• Salvation through Jesus Christ alone. A truly provocative question to ask someone might be “Do all roads lead to God?” The truth is that all roads do lead to God. Eventually, we are all going to stand before God when we die, no matter what faith we are. It is there that we will be judged for what we have or have not done while we were alive and whether Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives. For the majority of people, this will be a terrible occasion, as most will not know Him or be known by Him. For these people, hell will be the final destination. But God in His mercy has provided all of us the only means for salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 tells us that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” This passage speaks of the name of Jesus and His saving power. Another example is found in the book of John. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). No one gets into heaven except by faith in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ on his or her behalf.
• The bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.  Perhaps no other event in the Bible, aside from Jesus’ appearance here on earth and subsequent death on the cross, is as significant to the Christian faith as that of the resurrection.  Why is this event significant?  The answer lies in the fact that Jesus died and then after three days came back to life and rose again to reappear to His followers in bodily form.  Jesus had already demonstrated His ability to resurrect others such as His friend Lazarus.  But now God the Father had resurrected Him to display His awesome power and glory.  This amazing fact is what separates the Christian faith from all others.  All other religions are based on works or a powerless deity or person.  The leaders of all other religions have died and remain dead.    The Christian faith is based on Christ crucified and resurrected to life.  “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).    Lastly, to deny Christ’s bodily resurrection (John 2:19-21) is to deny that Jesus’ work here on earth was a satisfactory offering to God for the sins of mankind.
• The Gospel.  In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul spells out what the gospel is and how important it is to embrace it and share it with others. He reminds the Corinthians of the gospel he preached among them: “That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”  This is the essence of the gospel.  Paul also warns us to be wary of the many “false gospels” that are being offered to the unsuspecting: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9).  The pure gospel of Jesus Christ — His death on the cross for sinners and His resurrection to everlasting life — is central to the Christian faith.
• Monotheism.  Quite simply, there is only one God.  Exodus 20:3 states very powerfully, “You shall have no other gods before me.”  Monotheism is the belief that there is only one God to be worshiped and served. “‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me’” (Isaiah 43:10).  Here we see that we are to “believe” and “understand” that God lives and is one.  A Christian will know that there is only one God, the God of the Bible. All other “gods” are false and are no gods at all. “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live” (1 Corinthians 8:5-6).
• The Holy Trinity. While the concept of a “three-in-one God” is not represented by a single verse or passage, it is described frequently throughout Scripture. If we look at Matthew 28:19, we see the verse calling out the Trinity: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” While this verse mentions all three Persons of the triune God, it does not call them the Trinity. So to understand the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, we must look at the “totality” of Scripture and glean from it the definition. In 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, we see how this comes together: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.” Again, we see all three Persons being represented but not titled the Holy Trinity.
• Finally, the essentials of Christianity would not be complete without the ingredient that binds everything together — faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).  As Christians we live by this verse with the understanding that we believe in a God we cannot see.  But we see His work in our lives and all around us in His creation.  We do all of this through faith because we know that faith pleases God.  “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

BRAWTA … courtesy of Plain Truth Ministries …

We believe the more Jesus is at the center of faith then the healthier our faith tends to be — and conversely, when Jesus is diminished or avoided, then toxic beliefs and practices are more likely to find their way to prominence.

Our CWR/PTM statement of faith is titled “We Believe”—based on the organization of the Apostles Creed:

God — We believe in one eternal, triune God who is three co-essential, yet distinct Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ — We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, fully God and fully human, the Son of God and Lord of all, worthy of worship, honor and reverence, who died for us as a supreme expression of God’s love, was raised bodily from the dead, ascended to heaven and will come again as King of kings.   

The Holy Scriptures — We believe the Bible constitutes the divinely inspired written revelation of God, the foundation of truth, the record of God’s revelation to humanity.  

Salvation — We believe that human salvation is the gift of God, by grace  through faith in Jesus Christ, not earned by personal merits or good works.  

The Church — We believe in the universal body of Christ and the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Two major creeds came out of early Christian history — one called the Apostle’s Creed and the other called The Nicene Creed. “Creed” is an English word that is derived from the Latin word credo — credo literally translated means “I believe.”

• • Each statement in The Apostle’s Creed, the earliest and most well known of the creeds, begins with the words “I believe.”

Some have asked, “OK, so you see the need for Jesus to be in the spotlight and center stage. But what does that look like?  Can you give me some examples of how you are different from other Christians? Just what kind of a Christian are you anyway?”  

• • CWR/PTM is Christianity without the religion. 
  • We are in harmony with the universal body of Christ, of which Jesus is the head.  
  • That said, we absolutely disagree with Christ-less religion (including that found within modern day Christendom) and adamantly believe in grace-based faith expressed by following Jesus as a way of life. 

Why without the religion?

• • Religion is generally defined and understood as a systematic and organized collection of teachings and practices that, if and when adhered to and followed, will mean that God will be more pleased than he would have otherwise been. 
  • When understood from this perspective, religion wars against the grace of God, for the grace of God says that our relationship with God is not at all, in any way, earned as a result of our performance of rules, rituals or regulations.  
  • When we say “All Jesus All the Time” we mean religion-less Christianity, which is a term popularized by the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis during World War 2.
  • CWR and PTM are all about following Jesus.
  • Here are a few examples of what we believe following Jesus looks like which differ with assumptions found throughout Christendom:
    • • As Christ-followers we are members of the body of Christ — the church is what we are, far more than a place we go and a building we attend.  Church membership or church attendance, or lack thereof, can be helpful or detrimental but not absolutely central to faith.  Jesus is.  
      • The cross of Christ changed everything — including the rules and regulations of the Old Covenant.
      • We refuse to believe in a God of wrath and anger, who is against you and me.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is clear — God is all about his love and grace.  We reject teachings that have God the Father torturing and killing his Son on the cross so that he wouldn’t have to kill and torture us.  We do not serve a god who must be appeased, whose sense of holiness and righteousness have been so offended that someone must die so that his wrath can be satisfied.  
      • In the same vein, we reject the hell that religion in fact has fabricated — a hell that religion needs because it must keep people in fear.  We reject a hell of eternal conscious torment (ECT) as being entirely incongruous and at odds with the revelation of the Father in the Son — a God of love, grace, mercy and compassion.
  • We believe “All Jesus All the Time” is Christianity Without the Religion.