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Daily Devotions - Entries tagged "Discipleship"

FriFridaySepSeptember2nd2011 Friday, September 2

Posted Friday, September 02 2011 @ 5 AM byJonathan Ziman Tagged Be One Make One Devotions Discipleship 0 comments Add comment

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” (Isa. 52:7, ESV)

The Kingdom grows as God’s people are sent out into their homes, their schoolyards, their offices, their playgrounds, their communities and our world. Jesus was constantly pushing the disciples into activities they were convinced they were not ready for.

A disciple who makes disciples who will then make other disciples is fueled by love, leading into action, and launching new disciples into God’s mission “to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). New disciples grow and mature, participating in God’s mission to save a broken world, sharing Jesus with others who then grow and mature, participating in God’s mission, drawing new disciples into the Kingdom and launching them to do the same.

Someone once noted that if you want to see a moving train, you have to be standing by the tracks. It sounds obvious, but if you want to see God moving in powerful ways, you’ve got to get involved in what he’s doing.

The Kingdom is expanding and God is doing some amazing, exciting and frequently unexpected things. So if you want to see God change the world, start loving, start leading and start launching.

Father,
I see the lost all around me but sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. Guide me as I take the first faltering steps in obedience to your call to make disciples.
Amen

ThuThursdaySepSeptember1st2011 Thursday, September 1

Posted Thursday, September 01 2011 @ 5 AM byJonathan Ziman Tagged Be One Make One Devotions Discipleship 0 comments Add comment

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world.

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Rom. 10:14-15, ESV).

The final key to making disciples is launching. As you have heard in our church on numerous occasions, our church (and your community group) is not a holding tank but a launching pad. A mature, growing disciple is not just moving out into the world as an individual, but launching others to do the same.

We may not feel ready, the people we are leading may not seem ready, but the time is short and the world is slipping away and we have to get moving. Our definition of a disciple is someone who is a student or follower of Jesus, a person who is modeling their life on Jesus. And one of the most foundational characteristics of Jesus is that he was “sent” (Phil. 2:1-11).

Jesus himself makes this clear to the disciples after the resurrection, when he says, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). God the father launched his Son into the world to save us from sin. The Son sends the Spirit. And now the Spirit sends us.

A disciple who makes disciples who then make other disciples is going out into the world and launching others on a similar trajectory. Our part in God’s mission depends on this.

Dear Father,
If I am honest, this idea of being sent is both scary and exciting. I want to be a part of something big, to be actively involved in the Kingdom you are growing, but at the same time it makes me a little nervous. Please give me courage to step out in faith.
Amen

WedWednesdayAugAugust31st2011 Wednesday, August 31

Posted Wednesday, August 31 2011 @ 5 AM byJonathan Ziman Tagged Be One Make One Devotions Discipleship 0 comments Add comment

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world.

"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:27, ESV).

The second key is leading. A disciple is someone who is not just learning about God, but putting it into practice. In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he encouraged them, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice” (Phil. 4:9). James, the brother of Jesus, would later say basically the same thing, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

Now, we have all different kinds of leadership in our lives as disciples. Clearly Jesus is the primary leader—He is our Lord, our King, and we are his servants. We are seeking to obey his commands and serve under his rule. So first and foremost, a disciple is someone who is being led by Jesus and is obedient to his commands.

But a disciple also places themselves under the leadership of a local church, submitting to the authority of the Bible and Gospel-centered teachers, and committing to participate actively and grow consistently.

Within this context we have all been called to work together with the Holy Spirit to lead others one step closer to Jesus. God is at work changing people’s hearts, but he wants us involved in bearing witness for him as well, leading others to the living water we ourselves enjoy. Following Jesus means doing what he did and that means we are called to make disciples who then go make other disciples.

Where are some areas that God might be calling you to engage or lead others to take one step closer to Jesus?

Father,
This task of making disciples and leading other to Christ sometimes feels completely overwhelming. Please guard my heart and help me not to get discouraged or give up.
Amen

TueTuesdayAugAugust30th2011 Tuesday, August 30

Posted Tuesday, August 30 2011 @ 5 AM byJonathan Ziman Tagged Be One Make One Devotions Discipleship 0 comments Add comment

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God (1 Peter 1:22-23, NIV 1984).

The first step in this work of making disciples who make disciples is love. Love is the Foundation. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall the love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37).

It goes without saying that making disciples begins with a passionate, all-consuming love for God. Being a disciple means pursuing the life of Christ, seeking to grow in our faith and maturing as a believer. That all starts with a love for God.

But Jesus also said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). Jesus is clear—love for other believers is also a vital part of what it means to be a disciple.

Christianity is not a go-it-alone religion; we are adopted into a family, made part of a community, called to work together as different parts of one body. Ours is a communal faith, and that only works when we are loving each other.

While loving and caring for other members of the body is important, Jesus calls us to so much more. Although the first and greatest commandment is to love God, “a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39).

“Loving our neighbor” can encompass many different things, but it starts with literally reaching out to those who are physically closest to us. Maybe that’s a neighbor on our street, maybe it’s someone we see everyday at the gym, or in the carpool lane, or on the train, or at work.

Who is the Spirit calling you to reach out to today?

Dear Father,
Guide me by your Spirit to really see the people you have placed in my life. Fill me with a deep and passionate love for them and give me courage to open my heart and my mouth to engage them in conversation.
Amen

MonMondayAugAugust29th2011 Monday, August 29

Posted Monday, August 29 2011 @ 5 AM byWheaton Bible Tagged Be One Make One Devotions Discipleship Mark 4 0 comments Add comment

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world.

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade” (Mark 4:26-32, ESV).

The prevailing image throughout most of Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God is growth. Just as a tiny mustard seed is transformed into an enormous tree, we come from insignificant beginnings but God is constantly at work, bringing forth amazing results in those who have placed their trust in him.

From the first faltering attempts of a few disciples in Jerusalem God has brought forth a movement that has changed the world. Having talked about what a disciple is, we now turn to the important question of how we make disciples who then make other disciples. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the details of this process, but to keep things simple, we’ve broken this down into three key parts: Love, Lead, Launch.

God calls us first and foremost to Love Himself and to love others. It’s a dual command that governs everything we do. Secondly we are to Lead people to Jesus, helping them take that next step forward in their faith journey. Finally, we are to be a multiplying people, Launching others to replicate their discipleship experience in the lives of others. Throughout this week we’ll explore each of these areas in more detail.

Dear Father,

I want to grow myself and I want to see growth in others, but I struggle against apathy and busyness and a thousand other sinful excuses. Please help me to reign in the distractions of this world in order to serve you more fully.

Amen.