WHAT IS A DISCIPLE?

​What is a disciple? And how do you make one?
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How do you take someone who has lived their life as a captive of the world and equip them to become a citizen of God’s kingdom?

​How do you teach a follower of Jesus to obey all of His commands?

The meaning of the word disciple is a follower. So a disciple is a follower of God.
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Jesus said - All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me.

So in God’s kingdom, Jesus is our King. We are His citizens, subjects of His will. His desires, purposes, intentions, priorities and values are the highest and best.

His Word is the law. So what is the law of the kingdom? What does Jesus tell His citizens to do?

Jesus said -- Love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. Jesus said -- Love your neighbour as yourself.

Jesus said that God’s commands from the Old Testament -- all the law and the prophets – can be summarized in these two things -- Love God and Love People.

Jesus said -- Make disciples.

Jesus said -- Teach them to obey all that I’ve commanded.

Since making disciples includes teaching them all that Jesus commanded -- the New Testament can be summarized in this one thing -- Make Disciples who Multiply.

A disciple is a follower of Jesus who Loves God, Loves People and Makes Disciples who Multiply.

So what is a church?

You may be used to thinking of the church as a building - a place where you go. But God’s Word talks about the church as a gathering - a people you belong to.
The word “church” is used in the Bible in three different ways:

• the universal church -- all the people who were, are and will ever be followers of Jesus.
• the city or regional church -- all the people who follow Jesus and live in or around a certain area of the world.
• the church at home -- all the people who follow Jesus and meet where one or more of them live.

A spiritual family - followers of Jesus who Love God, Love People and Make Disciples and who meet together locally make up this last kind of church - the church at home or the simple church.
When groups of these simple churches connect to do something bigger, together, they can form a city or regional church.
All of those simple churches networked into regions and stretched across history make up the universal church.

THAT’S CHURCH WITH A CAPITAL “C”
Simple churches are spiritual families with Jesus as their centre and their King.

Simple churches are spiritual families who Love God, Love Others and Make Disciples who Multiply.

Some churches have Buildings and Programs and Budgets and Staff…

But simple churches don’t need any of these things to Love God, Love Others and Make Disciples who Multiply.
And since anything extra makes a church more complicated and harder to multiply, discipleship training leaves things like Buildings and Programs and Budgets and Staff to the city or regional church built from multiplying simple churches.

In Matthew 13 and Luke 13 Jesus describes the kingdom of God as leaven or yeast -- a simple, single-cell organism that reproduces quickly.

With discipleship training – we aim to be like that yeast - simple and multiplying.
How would you answer these questions?

• When you think of a church, what comes to mind?
  
  
• What's the difference between that picture and what's described in this post as a "Simple Church"?
  
  
• Which one do you think would be easier to multiply and why?

Leave your answers in the comments below.

​If you are interested in discipleship training, give the office a call or send an email and we will get back to you with details. Contact information