i am a disciple

I A M A

DISCIPLE

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

MATTHEW 4:18-20

W E E K 0 1

I FOLLOW JESUS“Come, follow me”

THE CALL TO DISCIPLESHIPJesus’ call to discipleship started with a simple invitation. It speaks to our acceptance of Jesus at a head level - we believe he is the way to God - so we will follow him. We don’t yet understand all the implications of what it means to follow him, or the depth of who Jesus is. But he calls; we respond.

Jesus said, “Follow me.” A disciple of Jesus must follow Jesus.It’s that simple. Jesus leads. We follow.

Following means that we recognize and accept who Jesus is as Lord, Leader, and Master of our lives. He’s the one who initiates and guides, we listen and obediently follow. Following Jesus is an acknowledgment that HE is great than I. Jesus loves us more than we can love ourselves, and the best possible way to live is in faithful obedience to our Shepherd. John 10:27 lays out the process like this: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Initially we think, or perhaps were told, that if we follow Jesus he will fulfill all of our wishes and plans for our lives. But this is simply not true. When Jesus called Peter and Andrew, the Bible says that they “left their nets.” They had chosen the life of fishermen; but Jesus had different plans for their lives. A disciple is someone who knows Jesus (who he is and what he is like) and follows him. We used to be self-ruled, but now we are Christ-ruled.

Jesus connects this obedience with our love and affection for him. You cannot separate love for Jesus from your obedience to him. In John 14:23 he says “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” A willingness to follow Jesus is evidence of our love for him, and though our obedience to Jesus may not be perfect it should be evident and growing. Followers of Jesus are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and lose our lives in the process of gaining our life in Jesus.

Yet as difficult as the journey may be, people who follow Jesus are also given important promises. Jesus promises that those who follow him will never be abandoned. He tells us that he will always be with us, even to the very end of the age (Matt. 28: 20).

Though the notion of obeying Jesus is connected to our hearts on a deep level, this first attribute of a disciple is primarily a cognitive acceptance of Jesus, understanding that he is now the one in charge of our lives. He is the Boss, our Leader. The invitation to follow him speaks to us at the head level. When people make a decision to follow Jesus, at some level they must first know and accept who he is, even if they don’t fully grasp all that will be required of them as a disciple.

To be a disciple is to allow Jesus to lovingly rules our lives. As he does this, he replaces the lies we were handed from the world with the his never ending Truth. He is a light that illuminates our thinking, and we move from foolishness to wisdom as we spend time with him and his Word, the source of Truth and wisdom. The invitation to follow means learning about and believing in Jesus; then courageously following our Savior, our King, our Jesus.

SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

Am I listening to Jesus voice in my life? If yes, what ways do I give him room to speak? If no, what do I need to do in order to hear him?

When was the last time you experienced the voice of Jesus in your life? How did you respond?

Are there areas that Jesus is calling you to follow him that you are not being obedient in? How will you change that?

1. GET TO KNOW HIMSpend time reading the Bible. Read stories about him. Read what other authors who love Jesus have said about him. If you aren’t in the Word, then you aren’t allowing his voice in your life.

2. LISTEN FOR HIS VOICESpend time intentionally asking Jesus to speak to you. Jesus said he would send the Helper, who is the Holy Spirit, so that we can hear Jesus’ voice in our life. Spend serious time in prayer, asking him to speak to you.

3. LIMIT THE NOISEOften it’s all the extra noise that drowns out the voice of God in our lives. We spend more time in front of screens than in front of the creator of the universe. We find time to binge watch every season of our favorite shows, but can’t find time to read The Gospels. Maybe it’s time to limit the noise in our lives in order to hear the still, small voice of God (1 Kings 19:12)

5 WAYS TO ALLOW JESUS’ VOICE TO LEAD YOUR LIFE

4. STOP LETTING EXCUSES RULE YOUOften times we hear Jesus voice give us an opportunity to obey but we counter with an excuse. Peter and Andrew dropped their nets. They didn’t offer excuses by listing off all the important things they had to do. Often you must say no to lesser things, in order to do the ultimate things.

5. JOURNEY WITH OTHERSShare with your City Group how Jesus has been speaking to you. It’s amazing how verbalizing can help propel us forward in our calling. We cannot follow Jesus alone, that is why he gave us the people of the local church to walk alongside us, encourage us, and challenge us in our journey to follow him.

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I AM CHANGED“I will make you”

THE TRANSFORMATION OF A DISCIPLEThe next five words in Jesus call to discipleship speak to a process of transformation. Discipleship involves Jesus molding our hearts to become more like his. He invites us to follow him and says he will make us into something different than we were before. Jesus loves us enough to meet us as we are, but he loves us too much to leave us that way. He wants to make us more like him. A disciple of Jesus is changed by Jesus. Not only do we make a mental decision to follow Jesus; we must also be in a process of transformation; a work takes place in our hearts and affections.

A disciple of Jesus is changed by Jesus.

This is what the bible calls sanctification. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus transforms his disciples into something new, people who are different than they were before they began following him. We are being conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) as God is transforming us from one degree of glory to another in Jesus image (2 Corinthians 3:17–18).

It’s so important for us to remember that we are always a work-in-progress. We wrongly believe that we have to have it all together or completely clean up our lives before following Jesus. We then get discouraged once we have accepted the invitation because we often fail in many ways. We think that God gives us just enough grace for salvation and it’s somehow our job to take it from there in order to continue as Jesus’ disciple.

Take heart when looking at the first disciples. They were not spiritual giants; they were regular guys with the same selfish, sinful struggles we all have. They were chosen by Jesus because he had a clear vision of who they could become. But their willingness to drop everything and follow Jesus also meant allowing him to unmake them and then remake them into his image—as his disciples.

This process of transformation can be discouraging, depressing, and even painful at times. So much so that we are often tempted to give up and leave Jesus. We come to Jesus just as we are, so we want to be affirmed just as we are. But Jesus isn’t in the business of making broken people feel better about their brokenness; he wants to heal us. He doesn’t just want to call us righteous, he wants to actually make us righteous. And as we stumble along, we continue to grow and he does his work in us. Jesus is teaching us to love God and others. Jesus is shaping us to be more like him.

This second attribute of a disciple is a heart response to the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Christ makes his home in our hearts and our roots grow deep into God’s love, making us strong. He gives us the power to glimpse how wide, how long, how high and how deep his wonderful, transforming love is. It’s a love too great to understand cognitively; but real enough to experience in our everyday lives. It is in this process that we are being made complete, with all the fullness and power that comes from God. Discipleship involves transformation at the deepest levels of our understanding and affections. Through the Holy Spirit, through the Word, and in relationship with God and his people, this process of transformation becomes an eternal reality. To be a disciple is to be changed by Jesus.


How are you different now than when you first started following Jesus? This should be celebrated!

What are the primary things God uses in your life to bring about transformation? How would you describe the process to a new follower of Jesus?

What’s on the horizon in your transformation process? What are some specific areas of your life that need to be transformed by Jesus?

What is your biggest barrier to letting Jesus change you? What gets in the way?

5 WAYS TO ALLOW JESUS TO CHANGE YOU

1. UNDERSTAND THAT GOD VIEWS YOU AS RIGHTEOUSWhen God looks at you, he views the righteousness of his Son Jesus. All the love, adoration, and acceptance that He has for Jesus, he has for you! Once you understand the incredible power that comes with being declared righteous, you no longer have to feel defensive about all the change that God wants to bring about in you.

2. CONFESS YOUR BROKENNESSSince you are already declared righteous, you can confess your brokenness, knowing full well that the brokenness doesn’t affect how God views you! If we do not confess to specific ways we are broken, we cannot be healed and transformed from that brokenness.

3. IMMERSE YOURSELF IN SCRIPTURE, BOOKS AND PODCASTSIf we are going to allow Jesus to change us, the best thing we can do is allow him every opportunity possible. So immerse yourself in scripture, read it fervently and often. Give yourself over to real time listening to the voice of Jesus in prayer. Read books that point you to Jesus. Listen to podcast and sermons. Soak yourself in Jesus and you’ll find yourself stained by his scent, looking more and more like him with each passing day.

4. FIND SOMEONE FOLLOWING JESUS AND FOLLOW THEMOne of the early and most influential leaders of the church told his brothers and sisters “follow me as I follow Jesus.” Find someone who just drips with Jesus from every fiber of their being and spend as much time with them as possible. Watch them, learn from them, and imitate them. You’ll find incredibly practical ways to be more like Jesus just by being around them.

5. TAKE A SCARY STEP OF FAITHMost of the decisions we make are decisions we are comfortable with; things we know we can accomplish according to our particular experience and abilities. But when we take bold steps, we find ourselves weak and dependent on Jesus. It’s in those moments that the Holy Spirit fills us, transforming us to be more like Jesus. God tells us that his power is made perfect in the moments of our greatest weakness.

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I JOIN JESUS“Fishers of Men”

THE JOINING OF THE MISSIONWe follow Jesus. We are made more like Jesus. And finally, we join the mission of Jesus. Being a disciple of Jesus involves a response of action, a change in what we live for and in what we do. Discipleship starts with the head, extends to the heart, and leads to a change in what we do with our hands.

A disciple of Jesus is saved for a purpose. That purpose is joining Jesus on his mission to love and reach the people around us.

Peter and Andrew spent their entire lives being fishermen. Fishing was all they knew. Jesus, in his typical genius, used their old identities to propel them into their new purpose. From now on, they would be fishers of men. Their new purpose is found in helping God’s work to bring people to salvation in Jesus Christ. And that is your new purpose too.

That is how we are to respond to Jesus today. As we spend time with Jesus and the Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out, our passions change. The old passions and desires that used to drive us—love for possessions, fame, power, or prestige—just aren’t as important anymore. Though these desires may still linger, we have the Holy Spirit using the Word of God and the people of God to remind us of what really matters. We begin to seek his kingdom first and see the world from Jesus’ perspective. Our hearts become more like God’s heart and we care about the things that he cares about, especially his “lost sheep.”

Stop and read 2 Corinthians 5:15–20

Joining Jesus on a mission means acknowledging that we’re saved for God’s kingdom purposes. That mission is not simply fulfilled by attending church on Sunday, smiling at your fellow church goers, or growing fat on biblical knowledge. It’s not to sit back and watch your leaders carry out the mission of Jesus. It’s for every follower of Jesus, every disciple, to join in God’s mission to reconcile all things back to himself. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. Our role is to declare, display, and help others to experience the hope of the Gospel.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

You are a minister of the Gospel with God-given abilities to be used for God’s glory, the good of others, and your joy. Every part of who you are—passions, skills, dreams, experiences—can be used by God. Even your mistakes and flaws can be redeemed so that even in your failure, you reveal God’s mercy to people.

Jesus making us into “fishers of men” is a commissioning, a call to action. It speaks to us at the hands level: we use our abilities and what God has placed in our hands to serve Jesus. Putting all three attributes together, we see that a disciple is a person who:

1. is following Christ (head);2. is being changed by Christ (heart);3. is joining the mission of Christ (hands).


How has God wired you? What are your passions, skills, and experiences that most shape who you are?

How can the way God made you be used for his kingdom mission to restore all things? (Acts 3:19-21)

Who are three people who are far from God that you can begin to pray for, and actively pursue for Jesus? List them out.

1. IDENTIFY REAL PEOPLE IN YOUR REAL WORLDJesus cares about all people in all nations. Including your neighborhood, workplace, and the networks you find yourself in. That is your real world. Have you ever thought about the fact that God put you in those circles for the purpose of being his agent for the Gospel? Well he has. Those are real people, with names and stories, and they are in need of a real savior.

2. IDENTIFY HOW YOU ARE WIRED FOR MINISTRYGod made you exactly as you are for a reason. He not only wants to work in you, he wants to do a work through you. Identify how he has gifted you to play a role in his kingdom and start to press into that. You can take a helpful test at: rise.cc/shape

3. START SERVING AT YOUR CHURCH The mission of every Jesus following church is to make disciples. So join us on our mission to reach those far from God by serving at Rise. We have lots of areas we need help. Since Jesus was the ultimate servant, going so far as to die for his church, we are only like Jesus when we ourselves are serving. Use your gifts, talents and passions to help us make disciples! Learn about areas to serve: rise.cc/nextsteps/serve

5 WAYS TO JOIN THE MISSION OF JESUS

4. INVEST & INVITEOnce you’ve identified your list of three people who are far from God, start praying for them on a daily basis. Pray that the spirit would move in their hearts and prepare them for the Gospel. But don’t just leave it there. Spend time investing in their lives. Get to know them, spend time with them, build friendships, and learn to love them as Jesus loves them. And love them enough to invite them to a Sunday gathering at Rise or your weekly City Group.

5. REMIND YOURSELF OF YOUR NEW PURPOSE IN LIFEJesus wants you to be a fisher of men. He wants you to dedicate your life to helping the lost come to salvation in Jesus Christ. And you can’t do that by just being nice and hoping they might get saved because you smiled at them. You actually have to dedicate your life to the pursuit of the lost. You are called to declare the Gospel, display the new life of the Gospel, and help others to experience the transforming power of the Gospel. You are called to make disciples.

RISE CITY CHURCHwww.rise.cc

i am a disciple

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