Making disciples 3

And Jesus came and said to them, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am
with you always, to the end of the age.”

JESUS BELIEVED
IN PETER AND
SAW HIS
POTENTIAL

We shall see the process of
discipleship through the life
of Peter. We start with the
early days of his ﬁrst
meetings with Jesus.

This was a time of great religious
interest—JTB had been preaching
and people had become
interested so that they went to
Judea to hear him preach.

- Andrew and another became
disciples of JTB. Then Jesus walked
by;

The next day John was there again with
two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus
passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of
God!” When the two disciples heard
him say this, they followed Jesus.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one
of the two who heard what John had
said and who had followed Jesus.

The ﬁrst thing Andrew did was to ﬁnd
his brother Simon and tell him, “We
have found the Messiah” (that is, the
Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.
(John 1:35-37,40-42)

Two disciples moved from JTB to Jesus.
Andrew went and found his brother—“We
have found the Messiah!” — brought him
to Jesus.
This is the ﬁrst time Jesus and Peter meet
face to face.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are
Simon son of John. You will be called
Cephas” (which, when translated, is
Peter). (John 1:42)
It means “a rock”.

What do you think Jesus meant by “a
rock”?
How do you think Peter felt when Jesus
called him this?
What do you think Andrew thought—he
brought Simon to Jesus?

One way to read this is that Jesus was
actually saying, “Peter, I can see what you
are going to be and I believe in you”.

FROM THE BEGINNING, JESUS SAW IN
THE GALILEAN FISHERMAN A
FOUNDATIONAL FIGURE IN THE NEW
COMMUNITY YET TO EMERGE. PETER’S
FIRST EXPERIENCE OF JESUS WAS A
GREETING WHICH WAS AFFIRMING
(SUPPORTING AND APPROVING) AND
SIGNIFICANT.

In discipling someone ask of yourself,
(you might also ask this of anyone who
disciples you)
- Do you believe in them?
- Do you see what they might be?

- Will they learn from you?
- Will you deal with them honestly, but
with love and encouragement?
- Will you stick with them through hard
times?
- Will you keep in touch and not give
up?

Timothy had the same kind of discipling
from Paul.
Can you think of other biblical examples
of discipling relationships like this?

Jesus believed in Peter, seeing what he
could be, this is vital in discipleship.
It was on that foundation that Jesus
showed Peter what it is like to live under
the anointing

The next day Jesus left for Galilee (John
1:43). As Jesus arrives...
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power
of the Spirit, and news about him
spread through the whole countryside.
(Luke 4:14)

In Galilee people could see that
something dramatic had happened to
Jesus while he was away. At his baptism
in the Jordan, he had been anointed
with the Holy Spirit and empowered for
mission.

Miracles began to happen, Jesus was
into his ministry.
[Read Luke 4 for the full story.]
Peter sees Jesus in ministry.

Peter is still involved in ﬁshing, maybe
full commitment has not been made?
On one occasion, while the crowd was
pressing in on him to hear the word of
God, he was standing by the lake of
Gennesaret…

2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but
the ﬁshermen had gone out of them and
were washing their nets. 3 Getting into
one of the boats, which was Simon's, he
asked him to put out a little from the
land. And he sat down and taught the
people from the boat.

4 And when he had ﬁnished speaking, he said
to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down
your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered,
“Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!
But at your word I will let down the nets.”
6 And when they had done this, they enclosed
a large number of ﬁsh, and their nets were
breaking.

7 They signaled to their partners in the other
boat to come and help them. And they came
and ﬁlled both the boats, so that they began
to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell
down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from
me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he
and all who were with him were astonished at
the catch of ﬁsh that they had taken (Luke
5:1-9)

Jesus is ﬁlled with the Holy Spirit—living
his life in the will of the Father.
Peter sees this—we might say that Jesus
is saying, “Peter, this is what it’s like, living
under the anointing of the Spirit”.

If I am discipling someone else, that’s a
challenge!
• Can they see in me what it’s like to be
living in the power of the Holy Spirit?
• Can they see the fruit of his presence
in my life?

However good our teaching, we are our
ministry and that is what we will
communicate.

YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS
AT THE CENTRE OF WHAT WE GIVE
TO OTHERS.
DISCIPLING OTHERS IS ABOUT
EXAMPLE NOT SIMPLY
INFORMATION.

It all comes down to a simple,
challenging question:

NOT who wants your car, house,
job etc. Real life isn’t about those
things.

This is based upon what you live
your life for, the example you
set, the call you follow.
We can only lead others
where we have been!

27 people walked with Paul:
• It meant travelling for months
• Accepting the risks of prison
• Getting caught up in one of his
beatings.

They did it because of the value they
placed upon his relationship with the
Lord and his experience of the Spirit in
life and ministry.

JESUS
PROPHESIED
OVER (INTO)
PETER’S LIFE

This is early in their relationship:
Following the catch of ﬁsh:
“Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be
afraid; from now on you will ﬁsh for
people”” (Luke 5:10b).
Early in their relationship Jesus has
heard God for Peter.

CONSIDER WHAT THAT MEANS;
TIME IN PRAYER, FELLOWSHIP
WITH THE FATHER, SPIRITUAL
ENERGY AND THOUGHT—ARE
YOU PREPARED TO DO THAT
FOR EACH DISCIPLE YOU
COMMIT TO HELPING?

Question: As you pray for your
disciples, how much should you tell
them, how much do you wait for them
to hear from themselves?

Jesus is helping Peter to identify his
gifting and encouraging him into his
future.
From these words what do you think
God’s purpose for Peter was?

• That he should be not only a rock
upon whom others would rely
• That he should be someone who
would see large numbers of people
coming into the kingdom.

• That he would be as successful in
proclaiming Jesus and calling men and
women to respond to his Lordship, as he
was (when Jesus got involved) at ﬁlling
the boat with ﬁsh that night.

• Part of Jesus’ input into Peter,
prompted by the Spirit, was to help him
hear God about the shape of things to
come.

Discipleship should help someone learn
how to connect with God’s voice and
purpose for their life.
As a disciple and servant it is important
for my growth that I know:

• Who I am
• Loving myself as I love my neighbour
• Am ﬁnding my place in the body of
Christ helps me in being fulﬁlled and
fruitful.

Eph 1:11 The Message: “It’s in Christ
that we ﬁnd out who we are and what
we are living for. Long before we ﬁrst
heard of Christ and got our hopes up,
he had his eye on us, had designs on
us for glorious living, part of the
overall purpose he is working out in
everything and everyone”.

Peter learns later that his place in the
kingdom was bound up with his fellow
disciples…in the fellowship, the church
community.

In the early days, Jesus spoke in order to
help Peter head in the right direction.
Peter responded positively to what he
heard and committed to it.

Making disciples 3

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Making disciples 3