Discipleship in His Steps: Following Christ's Commission
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This document discusses the concepts of discipleship and making disciples. It addresses the condition of being a disciple as denying oneself and taking up one's cross daily. The greatest challenge or enemy is oneself. The cross represents the death that Jesus died, while the crown represents the eternal reward. Jesus commands his followers to make disciples of all nations by baptizing them and teaching them to obey all his commands.
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Discipleship in His Steps: Following Christ's Commission
- 2. In His Steps In His
- 3. In His Steps - Snapshot Be Disciples The Condition The Challenge The Cross The Crown Make Disciples The Great Commission In His
- 5. Be Disciples The Condition “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me”. Luke 9:23 In His
- 6. Be Disciples The Challenge Who is our greatest enemy?
- 7. Be Disciples The Challenge “An enemy I had whose face I stoutly strove to know For hard he dogged my steps unseen wherever I did go My plans he balked my aim he foiled he blocked my onward way When for some lofty goal I toiled he grimly said to me Nay One night I seized him and held him fast, from him the veil did draw I looked upon his face at last…
- 8. Be Disciples The Challenge … and lo myself I saw” -Dr. John Maxwell (Developing the leader within you)
- 9. Be Disciples The Challenge 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in [p]the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?25 Thanks be to God who does this through Jesus Christ our Lord! Rom 7
- 10. Be Disciples The Challenge I’ve had more trouble with DL Moody than I’ve had with any man alive – DL Moody
- 11. Be Disciples The Challenge Christ is not interested in what I do. He is interested in who I am in my personal space with him
- 12. Be Disciples The Challenge “A whole new generation of Christians has come up believing that it is possible to accept Christ without forsaking the world.” AW Tozer.
- 13. Be Disciples The Cross “32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die.” John 12:32,33
- 14. Be Disciples The Crown “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?” 1 Thess 2:19 In His
- 15. Be Disciples The Crown Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9:25) In His
- 16. Be Disciples The Crown For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Matt 16:25 In His
- 17. Characteristics of Discipleship Perspective of Life “I wanted to get a glimpse of the real world of cinema, which is the other side from my line of work. To me, the world of money is unreal”. .."because he needed to take a break".
- 19. Be Disciples The Crown He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
- 21. The Great Commission: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matt 28:18-20 In His Commission of Discipleship
- 22. Commission of Discipleship “In His last direct conversation with Peter, Jesus says: "Do you love Me more than these?... Feed my sheep!"In John 21:15- 17 In His
- 23. Make Disciples
- 24. In Gal 2:22 Paul says “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives (is living) in me” Make Disciples
- 25. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23 Summary Be Disciples In His
- 26. Summary Make Disciples The Great Commission: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matt 28:18-20 In His
- 27. Discussion • What are the hardest aspects to “deny” in our lives? • How do we overcome them? • What are some challenges that the church faces in fulfilling the great commission? • How can we make a difference in overcoming these challenges in our church?
Editor's Notes
- Walking in the snow A few years back when I was in Dallas, the city was experiencing a snowfall which was an extremely rare occurance for Dallas. That threw everyone off track as people in that area are just not equipped to handle snow. Most services shut down and we were told by our customer to operate from our hotel itself. As I looked out of the window everything looked so beautiful with soft white snow covering everything. I had a strong urge to go out and take a walk in the snow. It was several feet deep. I also needed to pick something up from the convenience store which was around half a km. away. I went to my colleagues and said “hey, why don’t you join me for a walk in the snow?” They said “what?..oo we’ve never done that before”. I said “that’s precisely why you need to try it?” They passed After much deliberation, I decided to venture out, alone, though I was barely equipped for it. I stepped out, and took a few steps. I realized that this exercise was going to be as simple and fun as it appeared. Beneath layers of soft snow there was this threatening layer of hard slippery ice. Though the distance was short, I realized that the journey was going to be long and slippery, with many falls. I, assured myself that even if I fell, first of all there was no one to see me fall (there was hardly anyone out there), and secondly, I would be falling on soft snow. I decided to go on. When I actually got down to walking more than slipping, I encountered a few spots where someone had walked before. Those areas were really easy as I just had to step into their footprints and walk in them. Every time I reached a spot where a found footprints, I said “God bless the person who left these footprints”. .and then a fresh perspective of what Christ had done swam before my eyes. I realized that in life’s journey, had done. He had walked a path no one else could walk and left his prints so that it was easy for us to walk in. I lifted up my eyes and told God, “I want to walk in the snow for you for the rest of my life and create footprints making it easy for those who come behind me”. That is discipleship. Walking in Christ’s footprints and making footprints for others to walk in. It may be lonely and slippery, but the destination is sure and it is the best journey you could ever possibly take. So, how exactly do we walk in his steps?
- So, how exactly do we walk in his steps?
- If we truly want to follow Christ there is a price to pay, or, more accurately, an investment. It is an investment with infinite returns. Let us look more closely at this investment and the returns.
- Following Christ is a choice..has to start with desire..let him deny himself denial.. implies that the desire has to be all consuming..take up his cross daily..it is a 24*7 commitment..this does not mean we leave our responsibilities and professions. Jesus himself lived a regular life as carpenter for a large part of his life…it simply means that once we take this decision, once we make this choice…everything we think, everything we say, everything we do has to be aligned with his commandments. This decision involves a complete change in the way we view our professions, our position, our posessions…they are no longer ours but whatever we have belongs to Christ..he is the owner and we have it on loan.
- I am the biggest enemy of myself. We often tend to give Satan more credit than he deserves for ruining our lives. Satan can only provide consulting services. It is we who make the choice as to whether to fall for his schemes or not.
- The big problem that Paul and all of us face is that while in our minds we are completely aligned to Christ and crucify our body, in reality, our body starts wiggling out of the cross. While in our mind we bury our carnal self, in our body keeps popping out of the grave. There is this huge conflict between what we want to do and what we actually are doing.
- When I was setting my goals for 2014 and praying about what God wanted me to do, the message I got from God was that the one thing He wanted was that I go several notches up in my personal relationship with him…in terms of how much I have truly surrendered in all aspect of my life.
- God is not interested in my work, he is interested in my walk with him. In the current season 4 of – koffee with karan – when Alia Bhatt who she wanted to marry among the other “students of the year stars” she promptly responds “I want to marry one and date the other”. We as Christians say we belong to God but want to flirt with the world..
- We often try to align God with their desires rather than aligning ourself with God’s desires. In the OT we see the Israelites constantly craving for things – the bible records that God gave in to their cravings but sent them leanness of soul – leanness of soul is a condition where they were never satisfied. When we surrender all to Christ, he gives us prosperity of soul, and even if we have a little we enjoy it far more. We are satisfied and contented. Are we ready to deny ourself take up the cross and follow him? Are we really ready to be his disciples? Are we Ready to have a desire, an all consuming desire him to follow in his steps 24*7?
- John 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
- Just as Christ’s biggest joy is to have eternal fellowship with those whose for whom he gave his life. Our biggest joy and reward is to fellowship in heaven with those for whom we have labored in this life.
- Discipleship involves discipline. Hard discipline. Unlike any other journey we may undertake on this earth, the rewards are truly infinite in the journey of discipleship.
- When we surrender our lives, that is when we truly find life – abundant life (in this world), eternal life! (after) God is a jealous God –He has given his all for us.. he doesn’t want a part of us, he doesn’t even want a large chunk of us. He wants all of us all the time…
- Raghuram rajan, top economist, slayer of inflation, saviour of the rupee And in the “real world of cinema”, the famous producer Mahesh Bhatt in his interview in koffee with karan talks of facing the dizzying heights of success and facing the loneliness of success saying “Nothing fails like success – Mahesh Bhatt”. Paul, on the other hand has a clear driving purpose when he says “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”
- Mahesh Bhatt talks of the loneliness of success.
- Jim Elliot. Peter: “No Lord”
- Story of Dawson Trotman..The pilot’s voice came over the speaker “the good news is that we’re safely on the ground. The bad news is, we never Took off”
- Being a disciple is an option. Being a disciple maker is a call, a command, a commission. The
- Satan deceives us by replacing: Making disciples with winning souls Word with works Disciplined study with Dynamic experiences Dr. Ron Jensen travelled around the country with his wife in a camper and interviewed 350 Christian leaders. At the end of the tour he made a discouraging observation. He said “I found a great deal of zeal for God’s work, but very little passion for God”.
- A great deal of zeal for God’s work, but very little passion for God! How much time do we spend with God in study of the word and prayer?
- Christ is living in me through my words, my thoughts and actions. (Tithing everything…?)
- Choice to be disciples…Discipleship gives us a new life in a new realm with Christ…as we crucify the old life.
- Command to make disciples. Discipleship gives us a new job, a new appointment – to make disciples. Everyone needs a Paul and a Timothy. “The one indispensable requirement for producing godly, mature Christians is godly, mature Christians.” ― Kevin DeYoung Not only do we need to provide the information, we need to provide the inspiration…