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Disciplemaking - Lesson 14

Being a Disciple who Makes Disciples

In this video, Joe Handley and Mary Jo Wilson discuss the transition from becoming a disciple to being a disciple who makes disciples. They share personal stories about how they have been able to witness the light of Christ and draw others to Him through their actions and interactions with their neighbors. They emphasize the importance of being a witness to the love and compassion of Christ in our daily lives, and how this can lead to fruitfulness in our communities. The discussion highlights the significance of moving from abiding in Christ to the outflow of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those around us.
Taught by a Team
Taught by a Team
Disciplemaking
Lesson 14
Watching Now
Being a Disciple who Makes Disciples

I. Transitioning from Becoming a Disciple to Being a Disciple and Reproducing Disciples

A. Resting in Christ

B. Moving from Abiding Increase to Actual Fruitfulness in Christ

C. Operating Like a Disciple of Christ

D. Sharing Stories of Overflow in Christ

II. Layers of Witness

A. Witnessing the Light of Christ

B. Observing the Life of a Disciple

C. Connecting with Christian Communities

D. Practicing Care, Compassion, and Kindness

III. God's Use of Disciples in the Lives of Others

A. Reproducing Disciples through Disciple Making

B. A Spouses' Example of Reaching Out to Neighbors


Lessons
About
Transcript
  • Mary Jo Wilson and Joe Handley introduce themselves and express their excitement about the upcoming discipleship course, which aims to enhance participants' relationship with God and their work in the world, and encourage them to bring transformative change to their church and ministry.
  • Joe Handley outlines the elements that they will be covered in the Disciplemaking course: what is a disciple, the great commandment, becoming a disciple, being a disciple, fruitfulness, and multiplying disciples.
  • The lesson discusses the approach to discipleship, which is focused on the four gospels and building obedient disciples through the seven obedience; it emphasizes a holistic approach to following Jesus and the informed imagination, and the course will focus on the gospels of John, Matthew, Luke, and Mark.
  • Mary Jo Wilson emphasizes the importance of understanding the role of suffering and persecution in discipleship, as it is a recurring theme in the Gospels and is also a part of the early church experience, and discusses how enduring such hardships can be a formative experience for Christians.
  • The lesson discusses the importance of abiding in Christ as the key to joy in life, bearing fruit in one's life, and becoming a disciple of Jesus through a deep and communal relationship with Him.
  • Discipleship is not a program but a relationship. Abiding in Christ is the key to joy in life and bearing much fruit and is achieved through having a deep communal walk with Jesus and allowing Him to prune us to make us stronger.
  • Mary Jo Wilson discusses the importance of a posture of repentance and dependence on the Holy Spirit in the discipleship process, and highlights the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting of sin, guiding in decision making, and forming believers into Christ.
  • The instructors and students discuss their thoughts and experiences on what it means to be a disciple, including the importance of maintaining a growing relationship with God, the internal aspects of discipleship, abiding in God, the role of inviting God into everyday life, and the significance of pruning.
  • This session discusses the importance of becoming a disciple of Jesus and our identity in Christ, illustrated through the example of churches in Japan becoming centers for relief goods after the 2011 disasters and being seen as representatives of Christ by the community.
  • By taking this lesson, you will gain knowledge and insight into the relationship between the Sermon on the Mount and the Kingdom of God, including the importance of Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and how they relate to the mission of the church and the call to discipleship.
  • The lesson discusses the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, where Jesus describes the Kingdom of God and how his followers are to live as salt and light in the world, raising the bar on the interpretation of the Old Testament law and calling for inner righteousness, forgiveness, and love for enemies.
  • This lesson reviews the importance of becoming like Jesus and displaying his characteristics, such as humility and generosity, to become authentic Christ-centered people in our communities, and emphasizes the need for communal support to grow in our faith.
  • In this group discussion about discipleship and the Sermon on the Mount, the students and instructors reflect on the Beatitudes and how they challenge and contrast with the values of the world, and discuss how Jesus lifted up marginalized people and called all his followers to be salt and light in the world.
  • In this lesson Mary Jo Wilson and Joe Handley discuss transitioning from becoming a disciple to being a disciple who makes disciples, with a focus on the overflow of abiding in Christ into the lives of others.
  • Mary Jo Wilson discusses the importance of spiritual conversations and how to approach them in our daily lives through the example of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4.
  • Joe Handley discusses the idea of being a disciple of Jesus and how to share one's story and witness through different tools, including prayer, social media, and engaging with others through layering of interactions.
  • The class discusses the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, highlighting how Jesus approached the woman with humility and respect, treating her like a real person and engaging in a conversation with her, despite social and cultural barriers. They also discuss how Jesus challenged his disciples to adopt a Kingdom way that breaks down barriers and recognizes the value and dignity of all people.
  • This session focuses on the importance of reproducibility and sustainability in disciple-making, drawing on examples from the book of Acts and personal anecdotes.
  • Joe Handley discusses the importance of a reproducible culture of discipleship in the Kingdom of God, drawing on the idea of the mustard seed and how small actions can have a big impact, and provides examples of how this can be implemented in different contexts such as micro churches.
  • This lesson provides information on small groups in discipleship, including their definition, anatomy, purpose, characteristics, steps for starting one, the role of the leader, the discipleship process in small groups, and their importance in discipleship in general.
  • Instructors Joe Handley and Mary Jo Wilson discuss with students their visions of the Kingdom of God, with one sharing their goal of sharing their story to help others understand the word of God, while another likens the planting of seeds to the growth of faith, stressing the importance of patience and trust in the process of nurturing them.
  • Joe Handley and Mary Jo Wilson discuss the importance of creating a practical plan for discipleship and ministry, encouraging listeners to reflect on what they've learned, and write a strategic personal plan for following through on their learning.
  • This lesson teaches how to pull together the different sections of a discipleship plan using the model of vision, intent and means, and suggests including a vision, introduction, conclusion and rule of life, while encouraging reflection and sharing with others.
  • Joe Handley discusses the importance of creating a "rule of life" as part of a personal discipleship plan, which helps to balance and organize different areas of life, including spiritual, social, intellectual, and physical aspects.
  • Joe Handley and Mary Jo Wilson close their discipleship course by expressing gratitude for the opportunity to learn and grow together, and offer a prayer of blessing for their students to continue on their lifelong journey as faithful followers of Jesus.

In this class, you will explore the foundations, methods, and models of disciplemaking, drawing from biblical principles, historical perspectives, and theological insights. You will examine the disciplemaking approaches of Jesus and Paul, as well as modern examples and strategies. Additionally, you will learn how to develop a personal disciplemaking plan through the assessment of spiritual gifts and identification of ministry opportunities. Finally, you will delve into disciplemaking in the local church and beyond, including church-based strategies, cross-cultural disciplemaking, and equipping and multiplying disciplemakers.

Joe Handley and Mary Jo Wilson
Disciplemaking
EM520-14
Being a Disciple Who Makes Disciples
Lesson Transcript

Joe Handley [00:00:01] Wow, what a course we've been having so far. This has been a lot of fun, and I've been learning a lot, too. Just participating with Mary Jo. Hearing one another's stories about discipleship is really rich. And right now, during this new section, we're going to transition from becoming a disciple to being a disciple and one that reproduces our disciple making. So this is going to be a good time as we lean into this new section. In essence, we're going to talk about what it means to operate like a disciple, someone that follows Christ. And we're going to move from kind of the story or flow from abiding increase to actual fruitfulness in Christ. So again, that idea of resting in him and then the overflow leaning into the others around us. So we're going to we're going to start sharing a few stories about what it means to kind of have that overflow in Christ.

Mary Jo Wilson [00:01:09] Right. I think of the light we talk about being a light, salt in light, but that idea of being a light when we lived in Japan, we most of our married lives in Japan, we in whatever neighborhood we were living in, we saw one person, family or more families come to Christ. And I think that the significant thing was that they were witnessing the light that we had and it stood out to them. Yeah, and not just because their face was different, but it stood out to them and they were drawn to that. And then we were able to connect with Christian communities. So it wasn't just us leading them to Christ, but they were able to connect with Christian community. And this really through the thing you're going to talk about layers of witness, and that's a really exciting topic as well. But it's cool to see just how being with people, them observing your life for better or worse, that not perfect. This is our neighborhood you talking about, but that in that they see the light of Christ and they're drawn to that. And I know that's a work of the Holy Spirit. And even now where we live, where I live today, it's in my neighborhood. It's a place to as I walk my dog to try to be Jesus. And when we have trash cans knocked over, I will help when I'm able to help pick that up. We do have bears in our community and they pull out trash and what have you and I have known to put on my doggy my bag. Yeah. And cleaned up trash sometimes. And it's not a you know, let me be that person. But it's really just to show care and compassion no matter if someone sees that or not. And yeah, and kindness to people. And so I see actually a friend made a friend just in conversation, talked a little bit about her spiritual journey and mine and I see her drawing and saying, I like your spirituality. And so, you know, we're not there, but I think that God is working. I see God working in her life. And so that's exciting to see that God can use us in that way.

Joe Handley [00:03:14] That is really cool, Mary Jo. You know, it reminds me of a story that I want to brag a little bit about, and my wife Silk, she has embodied this same spirit of reaching your neighbors. And one time years ago, our church, we were new to this community, and our church had done this program for women in our community. And my wife joined the program. And in essence, they taught them how to do a Christmas tea for the neighborhood, to reach out to those around you. And so my wife's always the first to sign up for everything. You know, I'm the laggard, so I love brag on her. So she signs up. She goes to this deal and has this little party at our house for the for the neighborhood. And you know, it has tea and everything and invites a bunch of just neighbor friends that we had really literally just within four months had met. And it was pretty amazing. At least two of the ladies that came to that tea eventually became Christ followers. Now, they didn't cross the line of faith immediately or anything like that, but they really enjoyed the experience. And one of them is on fire today, like in a remarkable way. And that little tea ended up forming a Bible study that my wife led for several years. And in the context of that Bible study, one of these ladies crossed the line of faith. The other one did as well, but not as fervent as that one. And it's just an illustration of what you're talking about when you reach out to your neighbor. And really move from abiding in Christ to that outflow of Holy Spirit into the life of your community. And so in this section, we're going to be talking about what it means to move from becoming a disciple to truly being that disciple and letting that reproduce, amongst others.

Mary Jo Wilson [00:05:19] And this beautiful.