by Joanne Kraft:

“Discipleship”

Have you heard this word buzzing around lately?

Do you know someone who’s in a discipleship relationship?

If so, you’ve more than likely nodded your head up and down as your girlfriend droned on and on about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

But, you still have no clue what she’s talking about?

You wonder, What is she so excited about and why won’t she stop talking about it?

You’re trying to keep up, but you’re way too deep into the conversation now. You’ve passed the point of asking.

I promise, you don’t have to be fluent in Christian-speak to make sense of a two thousand year old word. 

What does discipleship even mean?

Disciple, Disciples and even the word Discipleship is being batted around conversations these days like a grad party beach ball. So, what does it mean, anyway?

Let’s start at the very beginning. The word DISCIPLE occurs 32 times in the Bible, while the word DISCIPLES (plural) shows up in God’s Word a whopping 267 times.

The Greek word for disciple is math?t?s (math-ay-tase) and it means to be a learner or a pupil and also the following:

to increase one’s knowledge
to hear, be informed
to learn by use and practice

As a new Christian, we need others to come alongside us and help us understand how to walk this road. God wired us for relationship and to need one another. Trusting and following Jesus is an intimate relationship that takes time. We are spiritual babies in need of help to grow up in our faith.

John MacArthur has this to say about our growth in Christ, “We are born spiritually just as we were born physically, with everything complete and intact. We do not add arms or legs or organs as we mature physically. These grow and develop but they are not added. Likewise when we are born spiritually, we are undeveloped but complete. We need spiritual food and exercise in order to grow, but we do not need and we will not be given additional spiritual parts.

This blog is from our partner Discipleship for Women. Download for free their 42 Scripture Memory Cards here.

Jesus cared about the spiritual growth of his apostles, so he modeled this relationship by inviting the apostles to come and follow Him.

They walked with Jesus for three years.

Our spiritual transformation is immediate and unseen by the naked eye–but the Lord sees. He knows the second we’re born into a new life in His son. From this point on, we’re babies of the faith. We need others to come alongside us and show us how to live out what the Lord’s gently placed in each of us–His spirit.

Paul reminds us in his letter to the Corinthians, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

But, what does that even mean? How do we follow Paul and what does that look like on a daily basis?

A Road Map to Women’s Discipleship

I believe a simple road map of discipleship exists in Acts 2:41-42.

Salvation

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:41-42

That moment God’s word walks into your heart and pulls up a chair. What you decide to do with what you know about Jesus will change the course of your physical and eternal life forever. Baptism and belief work hand in hand. If Jesus thought baptism was important, than we should, too. Once you’re saved, sanctification is next.

God’s Word

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:41-42

The gospel was taught by the apostles and thousands were saved. Once these people believed, they continued unwavering in and through the truth of the scriptures. They took sound doctrine seriously and remained faithful to it each and every day. They believed Jesus was the full Word of God. (John 1:1-4)

If Jesus said it, they believed it. End of story.

Fellowship

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:41-42

This is where encouragement takes its rightful place. The word used here for fellowship is koin?nia which is the Greek word for an intimate and soul-deep relationship. Your words will never be loud in a woman’s ears if she doesn’t feel close to you first. That old adage fits quite nicely here: No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Fellowship is not your everyday women’s Bible study relationship. It’s much more than that. Just short of pledging allegiance to one another, people knew this group of men and women loved one another well and took each others needs seriously.

Hospitality

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:41-42

In the middle east, eating together is a sign of trust and friendship. The same can be said about us in today’s American culture. Over 70% of families eat everywhere except around the kitchen table. Making a meal and inviting someone to sit around our table for a meal would be a kind and vulnerable gesture of hospitality.

Prayer

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:41-42

Prayer is a key ingredient of a disciple’s life. It’s an area where the woman who is discipling needs to encourage growth. Often times, women have never prayed out loud. They need gentle encouragement to begin taking small steps to praying for themselves and others.

Helping women trust and follow Jesus is not a one-time Bible study. It’s not a women’s conference where a weekend together will do the trick. Women’s discipleship is a loving commitment from an older woman of faith to a younger woman of faith.

Daily steps of one part God’s Word, one part fellowship, one part hospitality, and one part prayer can make up a powerhouse of a women’s discipleship relationship.

The next time your girlfriend drones on and on about discipleship, you’ll know exactly what she’s talking about–and my prayer is, you’ll ask her how to find a woman who can disciple you, too.

Joanne Kraft is a nonfiction author and national speaker. Her passion is for women to catch the Titus 2 vision of discipleship.  Author of The Mean Mom’s Guide to Raising Great Kids and Just too Busy — Taking Your Family on a Radical Sabbatical, she’s a frequent guest on Focus on the Family, Family Life Today and CBN. Her articles have appeared in ParentLife, Today’s Christian Woman, In Touch, P31 Woman and more. Her podcast Discipleship for Women is coming June 2019. 

Originally published on Discipleship for Women. Used by permission.

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Source: What Is Discipleship?

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Source: Vlog: How to do Baptisms in a Portable Church

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by Rich Birch: Baptism is a vitally important part of discipleship process for the people at your church. It’s also an amazing time in the life of your church. Make sure that you are leveraging this opportunity in the life of your church to communicate about all the life change that is taking place. We’ve pulled together some fantastic graphics that you can use and edit in the life of your ministry to help communicate about this exciting day!

Click here to download now!

We’ve also provided the “source files” so a designer can modify the graphics to fit your church’s needs. For example, you can add a specific date and your church’s logo. Of course, you could also use Design Pickle’s flat rate, unlimited revision service to modify these designs.

window.addEventListener(‘LPLeadboxesReady’,function(){LPLeadboxes.addDelayedLeadbox(‘146aa6ff3f72a2:14a18a402b46dc’,{delay:’20s’,views:0,dontShowFor:’0d’});});

Source: 20+ Downloadable Graphics Your Church Can Use to Promote Baptisms

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by Bobby Harrington:

We gathered in a small group and a lady in the group, who is a new friend of ours, stated her desire to be baptized. I was excited! The grace of Jesus had captured her, and our group was happy. This was a wonderfully momentous decision for her.

Then, as the group meeting progressed, we had to look at a few hard teachings from the Bible. These teachings are particularly challenging for our Western Culture, because it has convinced most of us of a different point of view than the one taught in the Bible.

“It just seems unloving to not accept these behaviors,” she said. “I have a real problem with this other teaching. I have a lot of friends who live contrary to these things, and they are great people.”

By the end of our discussion, she had decided to delay her baptism.

“I need to think more about my baptism in light of these teachings,” she said, and I was happy for her.

The Lordship of Jesus

“Jesus is Lord,” is the core statement of faith in the New Testament (Acts 2:36; Romans 10:9). When I say that “Jesus is my Lord,” I am saying a great deal, including my decision to surrender to Jesus as my Sovereign ruler and leader—and that I will follow him, as his submissive servant, in all of life (2 Corinthians 4:5; Mark 8:34-35).

It is easy to say ‘Jesus is Lord’ and not really mean it. That is why Jesus himself said, “Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). If we want to authentically call Jesus ‘Lord’, we must plan to follow him in everything he teaches. If not, we shouldn’t say ‘Jesus is Lord.’

Saying It Today

We live in a unique time. The non-Jesus culture of the West is getting stronger all the time. Truth is blurry, interpretations are flexible, alternative opinions are rampant. We can easily pick the parts of the Bible we like and reject parts we do not like. After all, why be rigid and intolerant?

When we accept the Lordship of Jesus, we are affirming that Jesus…

Created the universe,
Created the laws of physics,
Created the laws of right and wrong,
Created you, me, and everything,
Is the definer of all, and
He gives value and definition to life in the Bible and his Word.

Jesus is Lord and we are created subjects, derived from him. He defines human life; we do not.

We can either learn to live in submission to our creator and redeemer—or we can try to live in submission to the ideals of our human-made culture. If we follow Jesus’ teaching in the Bible, we will live in submission. If we prefer the ideals of our human-made culture, we will live in rebellion. It is that simple.

Either Jesus is Lord—or he is not.

I am glad that my friend delayed her decision to be baptized. She needs to understand what the Bible really teaches and what it means when we say ‘Jesus is Lord.’ Then she must decide whether or not she truly and genuinely wants to make Jesus the ‘Lord’ of her life.

It is the defining decision of a biblical disciple. It’s the biggest decision she—and we—will ever make.

Bobby Harrington is the executive director of Discipleship.org, a national forum and ministry that advocates for Jesus’ style of disciple making. He loves his wife, history, hockey, humus, movies, football, and the Bible (but not necessarily in that order). He has led many trips to Israel, one of his passions because it helps him to better trust and follow Jesus. He is the founding and lead pastor of Harpeth Christian Church (by the Harpeth River, just outside of Nashville, TN). He is a Bible scholar, an experienced church planter, a coach of church leaders, and the author of several books on discipleship. Bobby has studied at such places as the University of Calgary & Regent College (in Canada), Asbury Seminary, Harding School of Theology, and Princeton Theological Seminary. He has a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife Cindy treasure spending time with their grown children, their spouses, and their grandchild. Contact Bobby at bobby@discipleship.org.

Image credit: Unsplash.com

Source: Saying ‘Jesus is Lord’ Today

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