Disciplemaking - Lesson 2

Joe Handley, PhD
Disciplemaking
EM520-02
Disciplemaking Course Outline
Lesson Transcript

Joe Handley [00:00:01] Well, hello again. We're excited to be a part of this class together. Mary Jo and I are really thrilled. This is our, I think, our second time teaching Mary Jo. So it's going to be pretty fun to do this again, except this time is a whole new course talking about discipleship. And what I want to do now is kind of walk you through the elements of the class. What are we going to be doing together over the next few days before I jump into that? So I want to talk a little bit about my own personal journey in disciple making and discipleship. You know, I grew up in a Christian home, so a lot of my discipleship comes from a family context, and that local church that I was a part of originally my father and my mother and my aunts and uncles, they all invested in me. And it is in that investment where I learned the original kind of stirrings of a life with Jesus. In that context, I was exposed to not only just my local church, but the fellowship of my friends. I happened to go to a public house, a public elementary school, and then a private Christian junior high and high school. And in that context, my discipleship started to grow. So not only did I have kind of the Sunday school version of Discipleship, but I started to grow a little bit more in depth through my junior high and high school years, ended up going to a school called Asia Pacific University. And there my eyes were opened to a whole new vantage points of what it means to be a disciple, particularly the outward dimensions. So those early days was very internal in many ways, except for some coaching and teaching by my father, perhaps. But as I leaned into the college years, I started participating in a life of mission. And it is in that that I started to experience more depth with Jesus and really walking with Him in a journey of mission. And that's led to a lifelong set of relationships. I've had many different mentors who have walked and journeyed with me. Some of them don't even know their mentors, people that have walked beside me, alongside me, above me, below me, kind of like Paul, Timothy and Barnabas. I've had those Paul's in my life that have been older and spoken into me. I've had those Barnabas type friends in my life that we kind of journey together. And then I've had Timothy's that I've invested my life in. And so a lot of this course is going to birth out of our own stories. And I think your journey of discipleship is going to be instrumental as you go forward. So what is this course going to be all about? What are we going to cover? Let me just give you a quick outline of what we're going to be walking through. We're going to start with the A section on what is a disciple. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? How do we journey with him in this journey of Christlike faith? How do we walk with Jesus? So that first section, this whole first venture we're in together, is outlining what does it mean to be a disciple? What does that look like from Scripture in life? So that's section one. Section two, we're going to talk about the great command. Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul and mind. And so we're going to unpack what does that mean as a disciple to really abide in Christ and love Christ and walk with God. And then the second part of the command. How do you journey with others? Love your neighbor as yourself. And so that'll be the second section we walk through together. So the third part of what we're going to do in this course is talking about becoming a disciple, not just the idea of the great command. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and not just the second aspect of that, a love your neighbor as yourself, but how do you actually become a Christ follower? How do you move into this as a disciple making lifestyle? What is that all about? How do you become a follower of Jesus? That'll be our third section. And then in our fourth section, we'll move from becoming a disciple to actually being a disciple. How do you go from becoming one to walking in the journey day by day, year by year, being a follower of Jesus, That is where that section will go, You know, moving from becoming to actually being a disciple. The next element is going from being a disciple. So you've become one. You're being one. That next part of fruitfulness. As you abide in Christ, you will bear much fruit. And so we're going to talk about multiplication. Multiplying disciples. How do you reproduce yourself? Part of disciple making isn't just for me to grow, but it's for me to pass on that which I have learned. As I mentioned earlier in my own journey, there are people who invested in me that got me to this place in my life and journey, and so multiplying disciples. And then we'll do a final wrap up together. And that kind of covers our first, you know, kind of overview of everything we're going to be doing. We have a few assignments for you that we want you to launch into as we start this class. And before you do anything, we want you to attempt to do these things. And so what are some of those things we want you to do? First off, overall, we're going to be having you write a personal plan for your life, a discipleship plan. So you're going to map out for yourself at the end of the class, actually. What is your personal plan to growing as a disciple in addition to that? Well, how will you then influence others? So you're a part of a community, you're a part of a congregation or a church, You're a part of your work fellowship life. So how do you go from not just your own plan for your own life and being a disciple, but how do you pass that on within the community and context with which you live? Because a big part of discipleship, as Mary Jo highlighted in our introduction, is the context in which we serve. The two of us had served in Asia for many years, together in ministry, and we've learned that disciple making is not just about our own personal walk, but it's in our about our walk with others. And so we want to talk about that context of disciple making in your church, in your workplace, in your home, etc.. Part of the journey we're going to emphasize this week is something we learned from Dallas Willard, They call it he calls it vim, which is vision, intent and means. What does that mean? You're thinking, what in the world are they talking about? For us, this idea that Dallas has passed along is very instrumental to actually seeing change in your life, having a vision for where you want to go, What is my purpose? What is my end goal? Where am I? Where am I heading as a disciple? That is the vision part of him. The second part is having an intention. So it's not just about where am I going out there, but how do I intend to get there? Having being very thoughtful about step one, Step two, Step three, what is my plan and do I intend to do it? It's really about intention is about motivation. How do I go from an idea, a vision, and a plan for my life to really being motivated to implement that plan? And then finally, the means that the really how to is that final part is getting the going from the gumption, the idea and the vision to the motivation of why I need to do this finally to that means of implementation in your life. And so a part of writing out those plans at the end of the whole course is so that you can implement this going forward. Vision, intent and means what do we want you to do before you start the course? We want you to write a few paragraphs on your expectations. What do you hope to accomplish the next few days together? What are you intending to come out of this with? Write down some questions for yourself. What? What hopes do you have for what this course will have for you? And then what hopes do you have for regarding discipleship? Overall, What do you hope to learn? What are your expectations? And by defining your own expectations, I think you'll get a lot more out of this course. It's really a part of that vision, intent and means. As you map out your expectations, you'll get a better sense of your vision, you'll get a better sense of your motivation, and you may even begin to think about how am I, what are my means of implementing this? So we're really thrilled to be on this journey together. I think you're going to enjoy the process which will unfold over the course of the next few days.