Dl 1 fundamentals of discipleship
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This document outlines fundamentals of discipleship according to International Bible Baptist Church in Bangkok, Thailand. It defines discipleship as teaching believers to obey all of Jesus' commands, as in the Great Commission. Effective discipleship moves people from initial salvation to commitment to service, maturity and evangelism. Hindrances like pride, riches, and cares of this life can discourage discipleship. But the results of disciplining include sweeter fellowship, speeding up evangelism, and pleasing God. The goal is helping members attain spiritual maturity and fulfill the Great Commission.
Dl 1 fundamentals of discipleship
- 1. INTERNATIONAL BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH BANGKOK, THAILAND FUNDAMENTALS OF
- 2. I) WHAT IS DISCIPLESHIP A) Discipleship is a part of the task given to every believer by God. Matt. 21: 19-20 The Great Commission: “ Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” > Getting people saved and baptized is only a part of the command: teach all nations(evangelism) , baptizing > Discipleship is: “…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…” it is only when we disciple people that we can truly say that we obeyed the Great Commission. > Therefore discipleship is a command and not a choice.
- 3. B) We need to get people from FIRST BASE ( SALVATION AND MEMBERSHIP) to SECOND BASE ( COMMITMENT TO MATURITY) to THIRD BASE (COMMITMENT TO SERVICE) TO FOURTH BASE (COMMITMENT TO EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS) > Notice the word “observe” in the Great Commission. It means to say that we are not only going to teach all of God’s commands but we have to see to it that the disciple applies the principles in his life. If we did the teaching but there is no application then our teaching is not successful. We need to follow-up on our disciples. Or we need to change, enhance, improve our method of teaching. Sometimes, the journey will be rough and discouraging but we need to do everything to help the disciple to mature. Sometimes both the discipler and disciple will be lazy and bored. Ask God for His grace.
- 4. C) We cannot say that “I taught him already everything but it seems there is no result. It is up to him whether to obey or not.” Ezekiel 3:18 Teaching is not the same with teaching to observe Teaching to observe is TRAINING Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child the way he should go…” The verse did not say teach a child the way he should go but train up a child > This means that the discipler should keep reminding his disciples about what should be done. He has to encourage them, call them, send them encouraging messages, take care of them, pray for them until he sees result in his teaching no matter how long it will take . It is a process, not a crash course on Christianity. It is not the same as giving a lecture on a topic in a class in school. It is more like adopting the disciple as his own child. The discipler functions as a guardian, mentor, counselor, friend, parent, teacher, helper, guide, leader, intercessor, adviser, etc.
- 5. II) THE IMPORTANCE OF DISCIPLESHIP A) Everyone knows that the struggle to maintain a Bible reading schedule or prayer time is getting to be a tough one because of the rise of so many things to be busy with. People are busy with shopping, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube, Yahoo, Blogs, Online games like Farmville, Candy Crush, Mortal Combat, a lot of movies, TV series, Game shows, Flicker, Photoshop, Tumbler, etc. Many Christians also give priority on Sunday to occasions like birthdays, weddings, extra curricular activities in their jobs, travel and they do not feel any guilt or remorse for doing so. In return, the other members just treat it as not a very grave sin. The prophesy in Matthew 24:12 is being fulfilled by present day Christians: “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” B) When converts are not disicpled, they will not pass the faith to family and friends resulting in later generations turning away from God and the eventual death of the local church.
- 6. C) DISCIPLESHIP IS THE BEST WAY TO LEARN 1) Disadvantages of the Sunday School a) People listen passively, they do not take notes, they check their cell phones for updates. When the members are late they hear only ½ or ¼ of the message. When members are absent they totally miss the lesson. That is why even if members attend every Sunday, there is not much improvement because the learning is a wishy-washy kind of learning. There are gaps in the learning and the pastor and members are not very concerned about this. b) In the case of discipleship, the learning is active because they have to take a quiz afterwards. The disciple has to know by heart the doctrines being taught. He should be able to recognize false doctrines from the right ones. Some members of Baptist Churches, even though they were members of that church for years join the cults because they were not taught sound doctrine during discipleship lessons. Even if the disciple is late or absent, he has to make it up making the learning more complete. During Sunday School, people may ask questions but because of time constraints and shame, no one really asks questions. But during discipleship, the atmosphere is less formal and more personal so the students will feel free to ask questions. Also, the class can go at it’s own pace unlike in Sunday School that the teacher has to finish after an hour or the next.
- 7. III) WHAT IS A DISCIPLE A) The Greek word for discple is “mathētēs” (mathayetes) which means: student, pupil, learner, apprentice, follower. During Jesus’ time the disciples and their families left their profession and stayed with Jesus, and went with Jesus wherever he went. Jesus took care of their food and shelter. B) We will see in Bible accounts that Jesus spend much time in group Bible Study among his twelve disciples. They were involved in the ministries of Jesus like in the feeding of the four and five thousand. They were there during the performance of miracles and healing sessions. So they learned by helping Jesus in his ministries also. C) It is important that the discipler teaches by example and by demonstration. If the topic is soul winning then bring the disciple to an actual witnessing session. If the lesson is about prayer then the teacher should show his prayer journal, If the lesson is about Bible, he should be able t show his own Bible reading plan. He should be able to share testimonies of how he overcame obstacles, the blessing of giving,etc
- 8. IV) THE PURPOSE OF DISCIPLESHIP A) The goal is not to generate Bible scholars, evangelists, pastors, leaders, missionaries, etc. but to become like Christ: I Cor. 2:16 B) To fulfill the Great Commission and other commands: Matt. 28: 18-19, I Tim. 4:13 C) For the perfecting of the saints: Ephesians 4:12 D) So that mature Christians can replicate themselves: 2 Timothy 2:2 E) To develop people spiritually 2 Timothy 2:15 F) To equip the converts for service Acts 18: 24-26 > Although Apollos had knowledge, he still wanted to learn more from other Christians. We should be eager to learn new things for us to improve G) To maintain doctrinal purity and unity like the example of the Bereans: Acts 17: 11-13 H) To hasten the spirtual growth of members by having two sessions a week. V) THE GOAL OF DISCIPLESHIP 1) To help the members attain perfection or maturity at the fastest pace: Luke 6:40 2) If we do not have discipleship the church will be filled with immature Christians who cause a lot of problems in the church, so people leave the church because they are neglected or offended because immature Christians do not know how to take care of converts. 3) This program will benefit the disicpler also because He should be an example to his followers.
- 9. V) HINDRANCES THAT DISCOURAGE DISCIPLESHIP A) PRIDE OR AMBITION: Matt. 18:1, Luke 9:46, luke 22:24 The disciples often asked Jesus who is the greatest in heaven. They sought status rather than servant hood. What Jesus did was to wrap a towel on his waist and washed the disciples’ feet. We should seek servant hood and not status. B) SELF PITY: Luke 18:28 > Sometime we pity ourselves because we almost have no enjoyment like the unsaved people. We cannot go to discos and dance, drink liquor, wear sexy clothes etc. We have to understand that when we followed Christ it is a decision to die to self and to live for Christ. We must think that we will have fellowship forever in heaven but we have to work hard on earth because whatever we do on earth is recorded in heaven. I Cor. 3;13. The glorious days are not here on earth, it is in heaven. All the apostles of Jesus did not have the good life but now they are in heaven enjoying the fruits of their labor on earth. Here on earth we have to be willing to sacrifice, to be a servant, postpone gratification. The Bible says that the people who suffered the most will reign with Him in heaven. Rev. 20:4
- 10. D) RICHES PLEASURE OF THIS LIFE Mark 4:19 > Sometimes even if Christians are in church their mind and hearts are still focused on their businesses, their costumers, their down lines, or up lines, their rebates, their commissions, etc. They do not want to surrender Satan’s strongholds in their lives. There is a sin that they are not willing to surrender to God: it may be their wallet, or their wardrobe, their forbidden relationship, unsaved friends or their vices, their extravagant lifestyle. They cannot concentrate on the Word which makes them unfruitful. E) CARES OF THIS LIFE: Mark 14:9 > When people come to church and they have problems, they still think about their problems. When we have our lessons, we must lay aside every weight and focus 100 percent on the lesson or else we will become unfruitful. God demands our best in everything we offer especially our attention. Lev. 22:20, Malachi 1:8 F) OUR HEARTS DO NOT HAVE GOOD GROUND: Matt. 13: 3-8 Matt. 13: 18-23 >TYPE A PERSON: never gets saved >TYPE B PERSON : Does not want to make a commitment
- 11. he like listening to the Word of God but when he sees that the Christian life involves sacrifice, he does not continue TYPE C PERSON: He comes to church regularly or occasionally but he does not make any progress because the things of God are not his priority. He is more concerned with his problems, worries, businesses, etc. TYPE D PERSON: He is teachable, moldable, obedient and gladly receives the Word and gets it into practice in his life. This person is the fruitful Christian. He is a blessing to others and he prospers also in his businesses, his profession, his social life, his career, his relationships with other people. And God. VI) THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP A) Love God more than anyone else Matt. 10:37 B) We must be willing to forsake everything we have for Christ: Luke 14:33 C) Bear your cross: Luke 14:27 D) Deny himself and follow Christ: Luke 9:23 E) Forsake worldly pleasure: I John 2:15 G) Lose your life: John 12:25 F) Although it costs to obey God, it costs more to disobey Him. Deut.28:15-68 H) Suffer persecution: John 15:18, 19
- 12. VII)THE RESULTS AND REWARDS OF DISCIPLESHIP A) Sweeter fellowship among brethren: Psalm 133:1 B) The burden and work is divided among members. it is not only the pastor and the pastor’s wife or faithful who are doing all the work Gal . 6:2 C) The rate evangelism will speed up. D) God will bless the members spiritually and financially E) There will be more members to get the work done F) There will be more funds for the church to use for its programs G) Members will have earthly rewards as well as heavenly rewards: Matt. 19: 29, Matt. 25:21, 23 H) God is glorified; I) God is pleased: Matt. 25:21 II) We will have a better testimony IV) We will be very busy making more disciples V) We will have the feeling of fulfillment VI) We will turn the world upside down for Jesus! Acts 17:6