DISCIPLE

With JESUS …

• Where you live, learn, work and play …

• To the people, place or pain God has called you …

• As you connect, eat and do life with others …

DISCIPLE - Toward Baptism and Obedience

Mark 3:14-15

He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

Luke 6:40

Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

Matthew 28:18-20

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Galatians 4:19

Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.

THE WHO

• Be a disciple. Before you can disciple someone else, you need to be a disciple yourself.

• Who are you discipling? Who are Your 3?

THE WHAT

• What does it mean to follow Jesus? We can learn much from Jesus’ call to His first disciples.

Luke 5:1-11 (NLT)

One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

• A follower or a disciple of Jesus …

1. HEARS Jesus

   Jesus said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

2. OBEYS Jesus

   “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”

3. WORSHIPS Jesus

   When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

4. SHARES Jesus

   Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!”

• Definition

  A disciple is someone who hears, obeys, worships and shares Jesus.

• How could you grow in hearing, obeying, worshipping and sharing Jesus? You can’t lead others where you’re not going or growing?

• Notice that Jesus’ call to follow Him isn’t just a personal call to be with Jesus, but a communal call to be with Jesus with others.

  And as soon as they landed, THEY left everything and followed JESUS.

THE HOW

Initial Discipleship

• For seekers and new believers, including any newcomer (seeker, new believer or seasoned follower) to your MicroChurch, use Follow The Way Discipleship Journey:

1. Follow

2. Faith

3. Fruit

4. Filling

5. Foundations

6. Freedom

• Use Follow the Way with Discover Discipleship Groups

DISCOVERY

Instead of telling you what to believe and how to live, we’ll connect you with the Bible so you can discover that together as a group. Discovery promotes engagement in the process and ownership of the outcomes.

DISCIPLESHIP

Discipleship is a whole life response to Jesus. It’s about following Jesus and His way of life. As you grow in your faith and commitment to Jesus, you’ll learn to live your life as if He were in your shoes. You’ll be with Jesus and become like Jesus.

GROUP

You could go through Follow The Way on your own. You’ll get more out of it, however, if you work through it with 2 or 3 others. Consider finding a guide to coach you. This guide doesn’t have to be an expert in the faith. They just need to be a few steps ahead of you on the journey to point you in the right direction. Here’s a thought. After you have worked through Follow The Way, you’ll be ready to guide others through it.

• At the end of FAITH people are encouraged to seek baptism. The hows of Baptism are covered under Gather.

• Note that FREEDOM covers the critical subject of a disciple’s identity and freedom in Christ. Working through Freedom will help everyone find freedom in Christ. There may be some who need to go deeper in finding freedom. Neil Anderson’s The Bondage Breaker along with the Steps to Freedom in Christ are invariable resources. Some may need to be referred to a Christian counsellor.

• Don’t forget your teenagers. Follow the Way and the Discovery Discipleship Groups are suitable for them. Remember, Jesus calls teenagers to follow Him too.

• By definition, a disciple is disciplined—in both senses of the word. They are disciplined because they are personally committed to following Jesus and they are disciplined because they are accountable to others for following Jesus. That's why being in an accountability group of 3 to 4 Christ-followers is such a life-transforming thing. A community of disciplined disciples is what Jesus deeply desires and what the Holy Spirit can powerfully use.

• Direct disciplers (guides) to A Guide for Guides. This will help your guides find practical help in discipling their disciples.

• Full Scope and Sequence of Follow The Way.

Ongoing Discipleship

• For those who have worked through Follow The Way in Discovery Discipleship Groups their ongoing discipleship will continue through The Way’s overall Pathways:

1. Daily Connects and Missional Living

2. Discovery Discipleship Groups - This time as a Guide to others

3. MicroChurch Families

4. Compassionate Outreaches

5. Collective Gatherings

6. Leadership Formation

Relationship of Discovery Discipleship Groups to MicroChurch Families

• A Discovery Discipleship Group could be the foundation of a new MicroChurch family. As a group of 3 or 4 matures in their faith and commitment to Jesus, they may decide to continue to meet as a MicroChurch and invite others to join them.

  This is how the Apostle Paul effectively started churches all around the ancient world. His motto could have been …

  You don’t form a church to make disciples. You make disciples to form a church.

• Or a MicroChurch may direct their members and newcomers to be discipled in Discovery Discipleship Groups. The advantage of having the Discipleship Discovery Groups do the “heavy lifting” of crucial and initial discipleship (through Follow The Way) is that the whole MicroChurch doesn’t have to go back to square one in terms of discipleship every time a newcomer joins them. New Discovery Discipleship Groups would be formed as people join needing discipleship.

• After working through Follow The Way in the Discovery Discipleship Groups, ongoing discipleship would happen in the MicroChurches. Under Gather you’ll see how the various formats and components of a MicroChurch Gathering facilitate ongoing discipleship.

• Ongoing discipleship would also happen as those who have finished Follow The Way start guiding others through Follow The Way. There is no better way to grow as a disciple than by discipling someone else.

The KOS Dynamic (Knowledge/Obedience/Sharing)

• Knowledge leads the way, but obedience and sharing need to follow in step.

• That’s why these 4 questions are so important to emphasize …

  • What truth have you discovered from today’s Bible passage(s) and conversation?

    • What have they heard from Jesus?

  • What would stop you from believing and obeying this truth?

    • What blockages (questions, objections, fears, etc.) to believing and obeying do you need to help them overcome?

  • How will you live out this truth this coming week? Finish this statement: “I will ….”

    • How will they now obey Jesus?

  • Whom do you know that needs to hear this truth? How could you share it?

    • How will they share Jesus?

• And it’s important that at the following group meeting everyone reports on how their obedience and sharing are going.

• Discovery Discipleship Group - 3/3s Format is designed to promote a balance of knowledge, obedience and sharing.

Rapid Release of Discovery Discipleship Group Guides

The ideal way to prepare someone to lead a Discovery Discipleship Group is to take them through all 6 parts of Follow The Way with some fellow travelers. This is obviously a slow process, but it’s thorough and ensures discipleship outcomes. For new believers, this is pretty much mandatory.

But what about a mature follower of Jesus? What about a Christian who has been involved in ministry and leadership for some time? Is there some way to fast track them as a guide? Yes. Through a brief immersion into Follow The Way with an experienced guide. Here’s what it would look like.

Session 1

• Work through Part 1 - Follow together with the experienced guide leading.

Homework

• Read through the 3 follow-up Bible readings from Follow.

• Begin to prayerfully discern whom the apprentice guide could begin to disciple.

Session 2

• Work though Part 2 - Faith - Week 1 - Creation together this time with the apprentice guide leading. (It’s critical for the apprentice guide to experience leading this session.)

• Note that Faith systematically introduces the connection prompts of Daily Connect.

• Work through Daily Connect bookmark (printable PDF file).

Homework

• Read through the 3 follow-up Bible readings from Creation.

• Continue to prayerfully discern whom the apprentice guide could begin to disciple.

• The experienced guide makes a Buddy System contact to the apprentice guide before Session 3.

Session 3

• Work through A Guide to Guides together.

Homework

• The apprentice guide begins to invite others to Follow The Way Discipleship Journey.

Support

• Follow up on the discerning prayer and invitations.

• Be available for questions and encouragement.

That’s pretty much as fast as you could go to pass on the essential DNA of Follow The Way. Once again, it’s critical to maintain supportive follow-up.