Matthew 28:18-20

What does it look like to be a disciple of Jesus?

1. Be a student of the words of Jesus (the whole bible)
   • To be a disciple means we need to do meditate and feed ourselves on scripture.
   • Meditating on scripture inspires creativity and imagination, it helps you recall truth in battle and it gives you peace of mind.
2. Imitate the ways of Jesus
   • Jesus tells his disciples to ‘follow me’, to imitate his ways.
   • Jesus called the disciples to be with him and it’s the same for us, being a disciple is our whole life not just something we do on Sundays.
3. Partner in the mission of Jesus
   • In Luke 4 Jesus is reading out what we’re called to do in partnership with him.
   • Jesus doesn’t just save us from something to something, he gives us a purpose and a plan to our lives and when we partner with Jesus there will be overflow around us.

How do we do discipleship?

1. Discipleship is fuelled by the Holy Spirit

3. • The Holy Spirit can help to refuel us and help us do those things that feel physically exhausting.
   • The early church were small on resources but big on Holy Spirit and Jesus’ final words in Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28 were to wait for the Holy Spirit

2. Discipleship is a process

3. • Jesus says ‘Go and make disciples’, when you make something it’s a process and it takes time.
   • Discipleship is not a destination but a process we walk and live through with Jesus.
   • In Matthew 28:17 it says some doubted and in discipleship doubting is a healthy part of the process.

3. Discipleship is rooted in community and relationship

3. • Discipleship is best done in the context of the local church.
   • Jesus spent a lot of time eating around a table and it’s in those time that Jesus was teaching and disciplining those around him.

4. Discipleship is measured by multiplication

3. • In 2 Timothy 2:2 Paul told Timothy to pass the message on, that’s how Christianity spread.
   • Multiplication is about surrendering to God and being obedient.
   • Jesus told us that the world will know we are his disciples if we love one another, if we love those around us we will see multiplication.

Two challenges:

• Jesus says to each one of us ‘come follow me’
• We’re all called to be disciple makers