Before Jesus left for heaven, He gave the following instructions to His disciples: He told them to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). He then briefly outlined how to do that. He said, “…make disciples…, [by] baptizing them… and [by] teaching them to observe [obey] all that I have commanded you.” This simple instruction summarizes God’s purpose for leaving His children on the earth. We are here to continue the disciple-making ministry of Jesus Christ.

We make disciples by taking spiritual responsibility for others

We make disciples by taking spiritual responsibility for another person. That is why we have identified discipleship as a one-on-one ministry. Disciple-makers invest the truth of God into the heart and mind of an individual. Jesus didn’t come to start an organization, but to make disciples, and we need to follow that example. Who do you know that you would honestly describe as a disciple-maker? Often I get a blank stare when I ask this question of ordinary church people. Other than church staff; who do you know who is baptizing people and teaching them to observe Jesus’ commands?

If you know someone who is actually making disciples, then follow them as they follow Christ. If you don’t know who to follow in this endeavor of making disciples, then join us and our quest to continue Jesus’ ministry of disciple-making based on a famous doctrine of Scripture, called the “Priesthood of every believer.”

When we look around, are people following?

How should we do this and where do we begin?

Jesus told us to begin with baptism. In order to baptize someone they have to come to profess Christ as their Lord and Savior. Therefore, in order to follow Christ in making disciples we need to know how to share our faith and be doing it on a regular basis.

After we have the joy of seeing someone come into God’s family and baptized, then we need to teach that new convert to observe (obey) all of Jesus’ commands. To teach others to observe the commandments demands that we first know the commandments ourselves. Then it demands that we learn how to fulfill them as we walk with God on a day to day basis. This process is illustrated in our natural lives. Just as we are born physically, so we are born spiritually. Baptism is simply the outward expression of the born again experience. Teaching a new believer to walk in obedience to Christ is the growth process, and it occurs as we learn how to manage life experience in a mature and Biblical way.

Disciple-makers are like parents who are not only involved in the birth process but the caring of their children in order to produce mature grown up children ready to reproduce themselves. That is the ministry of disciple making that Jesus has called us to do.

Let's do this together. Let us know how we can help.