New Testament<= /span> No buildings	Traditional churches<= /span> Buildings and costly maintenanc= e
Anyone can lead	Clergy lead, division between leaders and laymen
Intimacy	Superficial relations between m= ost members
Accountability to be disciple makers	Little if any accountability
Main goal =3D discipleship	Main goal =3D membership=
All share	Few share
Go ‘church’	Come “church building”
Visible, and invisible when circumstances favor secrecy	Very visible, subject to govern= ment control and persecution
Everyone has the same ministry focus	Not focused
Healing, signs and wonders are common	Little healing, few signs and wonders

= V= I. Basic Commands of Jesus

We model and teach Jesus’ commands out of our love for Him. See John14:15 and 15:14.

These seven commands are general = and elementary, they should receive first priority (compare them to Paul’s elementary principles of Christ Heb.5:12—6:1-2).

Go and Make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20, 2 Tim. 2:2) is one of the resurrection commands of Jesus after He rose from the dead. We use, do, and teach His seven basic commands as we fulfill this “Go” command.

Excuses are invalid reasons for neglect of duty. God’s servants must be available to Him for supernatural service, because the Gospel is a demonstration of Spirit and Power (Lu. 4:18, Ma= rk 16:15-18; 1 Cor. 2:4, 4:19-20).=

In traditional churches a few peo= ple do all the work. Pastors and elders do what God meant for the whole congregation to do. Discipleship sees the abilities of others and empowers them. Pastors and elders should be serving others so “the others̶= 1; can do the work of the ministry of Christ. Discipleship releases the resources in the body into usefulness and obedience to do Christ’s ministry. It is liberating, empowering, and not controlling.

Leaders must stop doing the churches ministry and start training the church to do the ministry.

= VII. Ch= oosing and making Disciples.

Who would you disciple? What are = the requirements to be a disciple? We are to judge by the Spirit not the flesh. What are some of the attributes that you would want in a disciple? Honesty? Integrity? Faithfulness? Loyalty?= Substantial edu= cation? Good work ethics? Should they have the attributes of an elder?’<= /o:p>

How do Jesus’ disciples fit= the requirements you have for a disciple?

· &nb= sp; Peter (Matt. 4:18-20, Mark 1:16-2= 0, Lk.5:1-9). Peter was not stable, nor was he honest nor did he remain loyal.=

· &nb= sp; John (Matt. 4:21-22, Mark1:19-20, Lk.5:10-11). John was one of the “sons of thunder.” He was the = only one that wrote saying, “he is God’s favorite”. He did not remain loyal. Peter and John are both shown to be uneducated men in the boo= k of Acts 4:13.

·= ; Nathaniel (John 1:44-51). Nathanial spoke poorly of Nazareth and said that nothing good could come from there—he was bigoted. Also he was lying under a fig tree during the work day—he was lazy. He also deserted Je= sus

·= ; Matthew (Matt. 9:9-11). Tax collector, thief, crook, sinner. Even with His experience Jesus did not give him the money to handle.

·= ; &nb= sp;Judas. The betrayer, J= esus knows this before He chose Him. Why would anybody choose someone who will betray them to be killed, to be a disciple? Judas was given the same power authority and commission as the other 11 were given. Why?=

When did Jesus pick His disciples? How and why did Jesus select His disciples? We must recognize that Jesus did only what the Father told Him to do. Jesus did not choose them, the Father = did. Jesus simply obeyed and trusted the Father.

Only God can show you whom to disciple. He has the plan and knows men’s hearts. He is looking for a= few God men. The Father knew what He wanted them to be before Jesus began (Jn.17:20-23).

What is the fruit of an orange tree? When is an orange tree truly fruitful, from a biblical viewpoint? The fruit with its seed is only a part= of the tree. The true fruit is another tree that grows from the seed. Anyone c= an count the seeds in an apple or orange, but only God can count the apples or oranges in a seed.

We eat the flesh and destroy the seed. If we let the flesh die = with the seed in it, in death the flesh will nourish the seed and produce real fruit, another tree or plant.

You cannot birth what you are not. Make disciples the way Jesus did, by helping them to know and be like Him, = to love Him enough to joyfully obey His commands before all else, doing the Father’s will. You must walk the path you want them to walk.

· &nb= sp; Jesus started with calling them to follow him (surrender and obey), Matt. 4:1= 9

· &nb= sp; Jesus had His disciples do what t= hey knew. Jn. 4:1-2

· &nb= sp; He empowered them, Mark 3:13.

· &nb= sp; He asked them questions that touc= hed their hearts, and then answered the questions in their hearts. Mark 9:33.

· &nb= sp; He provoked them to ask questions about things. He healed when they could not and then answered their questio= ns as to why, Mark.9:28, Luke 8:9.

· &nb= sp; He let them experience the miracu= lous and did miracles with them, Matt.14:13-21. Jesus only blessed the bread, the disciples saw it multiply in their hands an= d were able to feed the multitudes.

· &nb= sp; He sent them out, without accompanying them, to use what He had empowered them to do, Luke 9:1-2. Aft= er they worked with him for a while, then he let them work by themselves for a short period.

· &nb= sp; He empowered the ones whom they w= ere discipling. Luke10:1. The 70 whom Jesus sent out never had any intimate time with Jesus that is recorded, the disciples had to be sharing with them, whi= le Jesus slept or was doing other things. Either that, or they were new discip= les and He gave them power at the beginning, trusting them with no intimate training to do what the twelve close disciples had been trained to do.=

· &nb= sp; Finally, Jesus left His disciples physically, Luke 24:51. He gave them the responsibility to complete what He= had begun. The disciples had all failed Him, left Him and abandoned what they h= ad learned. Jesus went, found them and gave them the Kingdom. He did not start over with new people nor did He force them out of His church because of the= ir failures. He empowered them again and let them take over the leadership of = the movement that He started. They were not cast out or stripped of their autho= rity like we would have done if someone deserted us.

Jesus’ discipleship brought= the disciples to a new place in their relationship with Him. “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” John15:15

Jesus brought His disciples to a place of oneness (Jn.17:20-23).’ The discipleship process became one = of interaction among friends, and was no longer that of a master over servants= . He made them into family!

· &nb= sp; Take time to follow Jesus through Scripture as He called his disciples and led them.

· &nb= sp; Look at what the disciples did.

· &nb= sp; Look at Jesus’ attitude and goals for them, and how He continually exhorted them to be like Him.

·= ; &nb= sp; See how discipline and the need of obedience were brought into their lives, not by control, but as they walked= and did things with Jesus.

· &nb= sp; Find out how Jesus made disciples= who desired to obey and walk with Him even in trials.

= &n= bsp;

MODEL

Your life must model hearing from God, praying, sharing and serving others. You must live what you want them = to become. You must be partaking in the naturally supernatural life of Christ.=

ASSIST

You must empower your disciples t= o be naturally supernatural, be supportive of their vision or heart desire, then lead them to a place where the can experience the fulfillment of their desi= re to be needed, used, and rewarded by the Lord. You must help or assist them = in hearing and obeying the Lord. Make a place for them to see the Lord move through them. Don’t protect the people from their mistakes or them. U= se the mistakes or failures to teach and empower them further.

= &n= bsp;

WATCH

Get them doing “the Ministr= y of the Lord” and walking in power then send them by themselves to do ministry. Use short trips that will show them who they are and that the Lord will anoint and use them, trips that will stretch them but, where they will find confidence in the Lord being with them.

LEAVE=

Don’t send them away, you go away, in the sense that you are showing confidence in them to take over what you have started, they will be the ones responsi= ble to complete the ministry of Christ. Leave physically but never quite speaking = to them and listening to their needs.. you must always be available to listen even though you are not with them physically.

A good disciple-maker is one who = does not teach his students what they can learn for themselves. Trainees learn m= ore when they think that they discover answers by their own efforts.=

What are you really teaching your disciples? What they do is really w= hat you have taught them, no matter what you have said. If believers are simply sitting, it is because we have taught in some way that being idle is acceptable. About 85% of all Christian believers are sitting, not serving. = If this is the case in your church, with those you have taught, you must truthfully confess that the believers are idle because that is what you have taught them, in spite of what you may have spoken with your lips.

Discover Jesus’ and Paul’s model for discipling in these passages:<= /span>

·= ; &nb= sp; Luke 10.

· &nb= sp; Mark chapters 5 & 6 shows Jesus’ example of not being worried about the outcome of obedience (J= esus went, miraculously healed the man who was tormented by the ‘Legion,’ was rejected, left, came back later and saw the harve= st. He did not fight or try to force the people to believe.)<= /a>

· &nb= sp; Matthew 28:18-20

· &nb= sp; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 1:5

Facts about good discipling:=

· &nb= sp; If= you have no passion, then neither will the people who follow you. Passion is contagious. God does exhibit emotions; so should= we.

· &nb= sp; Discipling requires that we listen more to the Spirit and to our disciples, before we teach.=

· &nb= sp; If= you are not doing what you teach, then neither w= ill your followers. Your teaching method and example will make them controllers= or liberators, tyrants or servants.

· &nb= sp; Training is designed for the disciple’s need, not to promote our plans. Our interests and schedule= of training should never be more important than their needs.=

· &nb= sp; New churches and leaders need different training from mature ones. Once people are walking the walk, then teaching can change and= we can use different formats, but discipleship can never stop!

· &nb= sp; Discipling is meant to reproduce. Start with simple methods of training so that those whom you train can reproduce it as they train others. This is not just learning with the mind = but doing the work. Emphasize intimacy with Christ, doing the work with Him.

= Nuts and Bolts

Discipleship training or mentoring must be motivated by love, obedience-oriented and naturally-supernatural. It must…

· &nb= sp; Be= deliberate.

· &nb= sp; Be= empowering.

· &nb= sp; Set people free to follow Jesus, without restrictive, man-made rules

· &nb= sp; Be= oriented to the each person’s literacy lev= el.

· &nb= sp; Be= based on the examples of the New Testament.=

· &nb= sp; Be grounded in intima= te prayer, not superficial, religious words that sound like prayer.=

· &nb= sp; Reproduce after its own kind (ora= nge trees reproduce orange trees; good disciples reproduce good disciples).

· &nb= sp; Be= passionate and filled with love. Passion is cont= agious, and Love never fails.

How many of the people in your society or area died today with out hearing about Jesus?

= &n= bsp;

= VIII. C= hoices Create=

God is not the only one who creates—He gave us the power to make creative choices. Our choices create different futures.

God remains the same, creation continues to grow and change.

Fear of change is a fear of the future.

· &nb= sp; We= make choices and the choices we make produce cha= nge. They dictate and direct us to future choices.<= /p>

· &nb= sp; Our choices change our world and our options and opportunities. They can even change our eternal destination.

· &nb= sp; Has your church grown= or changed because of you changing or making new choices?

· &nb= sp; A<= span style=3D'font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:windowtext;text-decora= tion: none;text-underline:none'> sequel to the Acts of the Apostles is still being written because God’s apostles will continue His work until Jesus returns.

· &nb= sp; Our choices have to do with life—birth, growth, change, movement, reproduction and death.

= <= o:p>

All actions are the result of decisions or “non-decisions”—Choices!!=

If we fail to make a decision out= of lack of will, we willingly surrender our initiative and freedom, and make t= he choice to let others shape our future for us.<= /p>

= Death i= s a part of life. Things must die to let others grow. Leaves that die fertilize trees. There is a time and season for all things. At times we need to make = the choice to let some things die to produce life.=

As humans, all of our choices and actions are based on incomplete, sometimes inaccurate or even contradictory information. Risks must be taken. Risk is a vital part of making choices an= d of life. Risk is vital, to truly live as a disciple of Christ’s.

“Chance” is not a thr= eat, but an opportunity that we must be always ready to seize and follow through= on. Calling something a co-incidence is simply not recognizing God in our lives= .

= IX. Ris= k

= Without= risk we will go nowhere and do nothing.=

The definition of risk is; possibility of loss or danger, taking a chance, to expose to danger or chan= ge.

Here are some suggestions a= nd thoughts involving risk:

· &nb= sp; Risk thinks, then acts outside of= the box (not according to custom), “on the edge”.=

· &nb= sp; Risk dares to go into unmapped te= rritory, where no one has gone before.

· &nb= sp; Persecution will be normal when y= ou do discipling and church planting. Some persecution will come from traditio= nal churches and some from your own foolishness.

· &nb= sp; Thinking is not acting. If there = is no action then there is no risk.

· &nb= sp; Risk failure, make your church a “going” church.

· &nb= sp; Let people make mistakes. You have! Risk your reputa= tion for them. Jesus did with you.

· &nb= sp; Teach the reasons for tithing and giving—not just for your need!

· &nb= sp; Stop building temples for men to = see, start building “the Church” (the body of believers).=

· &nb= sp; Be= driven by passion not reputation. It is amazing = what can be done when it does not matter if you get the credit or the disgrace gained from your actions or theirs.

· &nb= sp; Network with other ministries, be= the first to do something new. Explore. Initiate change.<= /span>

= Fear is= the most prevalent factor that stops most of what God wants us to do. A Risk ta= ker is not without fear but does not let the fear of people, failure or persecution of any kind stop them. In Jesus we have po= wer to resist fear. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and discipline (a sound mind) ( 2 Tim. 1:7).

= <= /span>

= What ar= e your fears; being vulnerable to others or their judgment, being exposed, disappointment or disappointing God or others, rejection of any kind-- by m= en or God, success, failure(loosing your position or status), embarrassing the Lord? These fears will keep us from intimacy with the Father and therefore = keep us from being free and effective in the Christian life and discipleship.

= <= /span>

= Which i= s the greater risk; to obey the commands in the New Testament (examples, Mt. 28:18-20; Mk.16:15-18; Lu. 24= :49 Jn. 20:21-23) or to ignore them?=

X. Leaders’ Purpose
Eph.4:11-16, 1Pet.5:1-4, Josh.18:= 3-4

The purpose of leading the body of Christ is to:

Ø= ; Equip people for ministry. (give them tools), Eph. 4:12.

Ø &nbs= p; Edify people for life in Christ a= nd in His body (build them up), Eph. 4:12 <= /p>

Ø Bring them to the unity of faith, knowledge of the Son, to a perfect man. Eph. 4:13.=

Ø Bring people to = the measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 3:13-21),

= - that they may grow up in all things, into Him, Christ.=

What is the fullness of Christ? W= hat does it look like? Find the answers in Matt. 20: 25-28; Luke 22: 24-26 and = John 13:13-17. (in actuality it is to be like Him, Jn 17:18, 20:21)

Leaders are to be like Jesus. Examples are David and Joseph. Honor, obedience and sacrifice are the main qualities needed to be true leaders in the Gospel

Compare the likenesses and differ= ences between the two great leaders, Moses and Jesus. What are the differences in obedience and what happened?

· &nb= sp; . Moses was told to take the lead= ers of the tribes out to be in the tabernacle with God but he did not.

· &nb= sp; Moses then had to do everything by himself and when he left to go and be with God, the people sinned. No leade= rs were left who had been in intimacy with God.

· &nb= sp; Jesus put His disciples to work <= span class=3DGramE>immediately, empowered them and brought them into inti= macy with the Father and Himself.

· &nb= sp; Jesus left His disciples to conti= nue the building of His church and they did so. They had known Jesus intimately= and thus obeyed Him fully and immediately, out of love for Him.

<= b>= <= /span>

XI. Allies and Enemies

Enemies<= /span>	Allies<= /span>
The flesh, Rom.8:5-7	Jesus Name, Acts 4.12; Phil.2:9-13
The world, James 4:4; 1 Jn.2:15-17	Testimony and blood, Rev.12:11
Satan, John.10:10	Authority, Luke 10:19-20; Mark 16:17-18
Your traditions, Matt. 15:1-9	Word of God, Heb.4:12; 2 Tim. 3:15-17
Small expectations, Matt. 14:31	Faith, Matt.19:26
Following man, Gal. 1:10	Following God, Matt. 4:19
Fear, 2 Tim. 1:7	Love, 1 Cor. 13:8
Pride, Prov.16:18	Humility, James 4:7
The tongue, James 3:1-12	God’s Word, Matt.12:36-37; Prov. 6:2; 12:6, 14
Gossip, James 4:11	Prayer, Eph. 6:18, James 5:16
Relying on our strength<= span style=3D'color:windowtext;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;text-un= derline: none'>, 2 Chr. 32:8	Holy Spirit’s power, John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13