Teaching By Example

What changes do you need to make in order to live the truths that you will be teaching other people?









The things you’ve been thinking through in this session are not easy to address—there are no “quick fixes” here. End your time with this session by praying that God will give you the proper motivation to make disciples, increase your love for Him and the people around you, and empower you to live out the truths that He has called you to teach to others.

Teaching by Example

Would you say that your life is being transformed by the truth of God’s Word? Why or why not?

Love Comes First

In addition to praying fervently, what practical steps can you take to increase your love for people?

Love Comes First

Describe your love for the people God has placed in your life. What evidence can you point to that shows that you love the people around you?

Love Comes First

Up to this point, would you say that your desire to make disciples has been motivated by love? Why or why not?

Teaching is Danger

Read James 3:1–12 and meditate on James’s warning.

Controlling the Things We Say

3 My brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all make many mistakes. If people never said anything wrong, they would be perfect and able to control their entire selves, too. 3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can control their whole bodies. 4 Also a ship is very big, and it is pushed by strong winds. But a very small rudder controls that big ship, making it go wherever the pilot wants. 5 It is the same with the tongue. It is a small part of the body, but it brags about great things. A big forest fire can be started with only a little flame. 6 And the tongue is like a fire. It is a whole world of evil among the parts of our bodies. The tongue spreads its evil through the whole body. The tongue is set on fire by hell, and it starts a fire that influences all of life. 7 People can tame every kind of wild animal, bird, reptile, and fish, and they have tamed them, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is wild and evil and full of deadly poison. 9 We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people, whom God made like himself. 10 Praises and curses come from the same mouth! My brothers and sisters, this should not happen. 11 Do good and bad water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree make olives, or can a grapevine make figs? No! And a well full of salty water cannot give good water.

How do these powerful words affect you? How might you need to adjust your approach to making disciples?

The Heart of a Disciple Maker

Take a moment to examine your heart. In all honesty, why do you want to make disciples? Do you struggle with wanting your actions to be noticed by others?

Working Together to Make Disciples

Whom has God placed in your life for you to partner with in making disciples?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spend some time praying that God will make you into a committed and effective disciple maker. Confess any feelings of unpreparedness and insecurity. Ask Him to empower you for the ministry He is calling you to. Ask Him to lead you to the right people to partner with and the right people to begin discipling.

 

The Heart Of A Disciple Maker

Take a moment to examine your heart. In all honesty, why do you want to make disciples? Do you struggle with wanting your actions to be noticed by others?

Taking the First Step

Whom has God placed in your life right now that you can begin making into a disciple of Jesus Christ?

Equipped to do the Work of Ministry

What excuses tend to keep you from following Jesus’s command to make disciples? What do you need to do in order to move past these excuses?

More Than A Program

Would you say that you’re ready to commit yourself to studying the Scriptures and investing in the people around you? Why or why not?

More Than A Program

Have you identified yourself with Jesus through being baptized? If so, why do you think this was an important step for you to take? If not, what is holding you back from being baptized?

The Great Commission and the Church

Assess your church experience in light of Jesus’s command to make disciples. Would you say that your church is characterized by disciple making? Why or why not?

The Command to Make Disciples

Stop for a minute and read Matthew 28.

 

Matthew 28

New Century Version (NCV)

Jesus Rises from the Dead

28 The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary went to look at the tomb.

2 At that time there was a strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, went to the tomb, and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on the stone. 3 He was shining as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The soldiers guarding the tomb shook with fear because of the angel, and they became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified. 6 He is not here. He has risen from the dead as he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was. 7 And go quickly and tell his followers, ‘Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there.’” Then the angel said, “Now I have told you.”

8 The women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell Jesus’ followers what had happened. 9 Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings.” The women came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my followers to go on to Galilee, and they will see me there.”
The Soldiers Report to the Leaders

11 While the women went to tell Jesus’ followers, some of the soldiers who had been guarding the tomb went into the city to tell the leading priests everything that had happened. 12 Then the priests met with the elders and made a plan. They paid the soldiers a large amount of money 13 and said to them, “Tell the people that Jesus’ followers came during the night and stole the body while you were asleep. 14 If the governor hears about this, we will satisfy him and save you from trouble.” 15 So the soldiers kept the money and did as they were told. And that story is still spread among the people even today.
Jesus Talks to His Followers

16 The eleven followers went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 On the mountain they saw Jesus and worshiped him, but some of them did not believe it was really Jesus. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All power in heaven and on earth is given to me. 19 So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.”

 

Try to place yourself in the disciples’ shoes as they witnessed these things and heard these words from Jesus. How do you think you would have reacted?

Count the Cost

Ask God to work in your heart and prepare you for what is ahead. You don’t need to have all the answers or know specifically how God will use you. He simply calls you to follow wherever He might lead. As you pray, be honest about your doubts, hesitations, and fears. Ask Him to give you 
the strength to proceed and follow Him no matter what the cost. In other words, place your faith in Him.

Count the Cost

What might hold you back from following Jesus at this point? Are you willing to let go of these things if necessary?

Count the Cost

If you choose to obey Jesus’s call to follow, what might it cost you? (Avoid being vague. If following Jesus would cost you specific possessions, comforts, or relationships, list them below.)

It All Comes Down to Love

As you look at your life, how would you say that your love for God is shown in your actions? (If you’re having trouble coming up with an answer, take some time to think through some changes you may need to make in your lifestyle.)

The Lord of Grace

Evaluate your approach to following Jesus. Would you say that you view Jesus as your Lord, Master, and Owner? Why or why not?

How Do I Become a Disciple?

Read Ephesians 2 carefully and take some time to consider the truths it presents. 

Ephesians 2

New Century Version (NCV)

We Now Have Life

2 In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. Yes, in the past you lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. In the past all of us lived like them, trying to please our sinful selves and doing all the things our bodies and minds wanted. We should have suffered God’s anger because we were sinful by nature. We were the same as all other people.

 But God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much.  Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace. And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those in Christ Jesus  so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus. I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God.  It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it. God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.

One in Christ

You were not born Jewish. You are the people the Jews call “uncircumcised.” Those who call you “uncircumcised” call themselves “circumcised.” (Their circumcision is only something they themselves do on their bodies.) Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel, and you had no part in the agreements with the promise that God made to his people. You had no hope, and you did not know God. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away from God are brought near through the blood of Christ’s death. Christ himself is our peace. He made both Jewish people and those who are not Jews one people. They were separated as if there were a wall between them, but Christ broke down that wall of hate by giving his own body. The Jewish law had many commands and rules, but Christ ended that law. His purpose was to make the two groups of people become one new people in him and in this way make peace. It was also Christ’s purpose to end the hatred between the two groups, to make them into one body, and to bring them back to God. Christ did all this with his death on the cross. Christ came and preached peace to you who were far away from God, and to those who were near to God. Yes, it is through Christ we all have the right to come to the Father in one Spirit.

Now you who are not Jewish are not foreigners or strangers any longer, but are citizens together with God’s holy people. You belong to God’s family. You are like a building that was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone in that building, and that whole building is joined together in Christ. He makes it grow and become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Christ you, too, are being built together with the Jews into a place where God lives through the Spirit.


Do you trust in the death of Christ for your salvation?
Do you ever struggle with believing you need to do something to save yourself?

What is a disciple?

Up to this point in your life, would you call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ? Why do you say that? Do you see evidence of your faith as described in Luke 6:40?


Luke 6:40
English Standard Version (ESV)
A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.