Day 3 – Principles of Discipleship – a call to

fellowship with Him

The Scope of Jesus Mission – THINK BIG

1 John 4 v 14

We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the
Son to be the Savior of the world.

John 3 v 16

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only

begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not
perish, but have eternal life.

Matthew 15 v 24
But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel."

Isaiah 49 v 5
He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My
Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore
the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a
light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to
the end of the earth."
 Jesus mandate is a global one - to save those that
would believe in Him in all the earth

 The strategy to fulfilling this was first to call 12

men to himself so that they could be WITH him

 Jesus called His disciples so that they “might be

with Him.“ Jesus knew that discipleship requires an
open relationship.

 That is why Jesus invested in such a small number

of people. He could have reached more people
during His mission, but He chose to concentrate
the largest part of His ministry on the 12 apostles.
Jesus could have established a University and held
discipleship classes everyday. Jesus preached
before large crowds and many accepted Him
through this public ministry. But Jesus knew very
well that his public sermons would not be enough.

 It was clear to Him that true discipleship requires

fellowship in the context of deep, transparent
relationships. That’s why Jesus invested a lot of
time and energy into His relationships with His
 disciples.

BUILD DEEP

 Jesus had a very open relationship with His

disciples. He encouraged them to speak with Him
about their questions and quarrels, sometimes even
bringing them up first. Jesus’ relationship with His
disciples was influenced by openness, mutual
responsibility, and accountability.

 A call to discipleship is a call to close fellowship

with Christ. Christ calls His Disciples to be with
Him so that we may know Him and enjoy Him!

 Christ invested Time, Talent, Treasure and

Touch INTO THE DISCIPLES

John 17 v 1 -25

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to

heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has
come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify
You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh,
that to [a]all whom You have given Him, He may give
eternal life. 3 This is eternal life, that they may
know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom You have sent. 4 I glorified You on the
earth, [b]having accomplished the work which You
have given Me to do.5 Now, Father, glorify Me
together with Yourself, with the glory which I
had with You before the world was.
6
“I have manifested Your name to the men
whom You gave Me out of the world; they
were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they
have kept Your word. 7 Now they have come to know
that everything You have given Me is from
You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have
given to them; and they received them and truly
understood that I came forth from You, and they
believed that You sent Me. 9 I ask on their
behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of
those whom You have given Me; for they are
Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and
Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in
them. 11 I am no longer in the world; and yet they
themselves are in the world, and I come to
You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the
name which You have given Me, that they may be
one even as We are.12 While I was with them, I was
keeping them in Your name which You have given Me;
and I guarded them and not one of them perished
but the [c]son of perdition, so that the Scripture
would be fulfilled.13 But now I come to You;
and these things I speak in the world so that they
may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 I have
given them Your word; and the world has hated
them, because they are not of the world, even as I
am not of the world. 15 I do not ask You to take
them out of the world, but to keep
them [d]from [e]the evil one. 16 They are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify
them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As You
sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into
the world. 19 For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that
they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
20
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for
those also who believe in Me through their
word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You,
Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may
be in Us, so that the world may [f]believe that You
sent Me.
22
The glory which You have given Me I have given to
them, that they may be one, just as We are
one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be
perfected [g]in unity, so that the world may [h]know
that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You
have loved Me. 24 Father, I desire that they also,
whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am,
so that they may see My glory which You have given
Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the
world.
25
“O righteous Father, [i]although the world has not
known You, yet I have known You; and these have
known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your
name known to them, and will make it known, so
that the love with which You loved Me may be in
them, and I in them.”

WITH

 For three years and a half the disciples were

under the instruction of the greatest Teacher
the world has ever known. By personal contact
and association, Christ trained them for His
service.
  He Spent His TIME with them! He travelled,
worked, slept, walked , talked WITH them!

 Christ’s strategy for establishing the Kingdom on

earth was to pour Himself out to 12 men by
associating with personally.

 We become like the people we associate with and

by associating with Christ His disciples become
like Him.

 Discipleship is an identity issue we become

identified by who and what we associate with.

Luke 22v 54-62

Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought
Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was
following at a distance. 55 After they had kindled a fire
in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down
together, Peter was sitting among them. 56 And a
servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and
looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him
too.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know
Him.” 58 A little later, another saw him and said, “You
are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am
not!” 59 After about an hour had passed, another
man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also
was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.” 60 But Peter
said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.”
Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster
crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And
Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had
told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny
Me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

 Being WITH Jesus identified Peter with Jesus –

When we look closely at you , can we tell you have
been WITH Jesus?

John 5 v 17-20

But He answered them, “My Father is working until

now, and I Myself am working.”For this reason
therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill
Him, because He not only was breaking the
Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father,
making Himself equal with God.Therefore Jesus
answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I
say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself,
unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for
whatever the Father does, these things the Son
also does in like manner. 20“For the Father loves
the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself
is doing; and the Father will show Him greater
works than these, so that you will marvel.

 We are with Him to be trained by Him so we can

ACT, Behave and Do like Him – I only do that
which I see my father do!

 Jesus showed them and invested His TALENT in

them!

 We are with him so we can see what He does and

imitate Him - Do as He does

 We are WITH Him so we can SEE & DO, so

we can IMITATE him

KNOW

 When we are WITH someone and spend TIME

with them we get to KNOW them

 Jesus opened up His life to the Disciples, They

saw Him , laugh, cry, weep, angry, in anguish, sad
etc

 James, John and Peter drew closer to Jesus

than the other 9 disciples – He called them to be
WITH him in the garden of Getseneme in His
 darkest Hour, John was the one who was closest
and would lay his head on Jesus Chest – Its no
coincidence, He wrote 4 books in the New
testament including revelations.

 He is the one that wrote about community and

the revelation that God is Love in His epistles,
He was there with Jesus at the foot of the
cross when the other disciples had Left – Jesus
entrusted His mother Mary to Him and He was
not as fearful as Peter when Peter denied Jesus.
– Perfect Love drives out fear

 He wants us to KNOW Him so we can be Like

Him

 He revealed his hopes, aspirations, pain, purpose

to the disciples and He does that still today for
His disciples

 He reveals and share with us His TREASURE – a

revelation of His Father & His KINGDOM

Luke 8 v 9

His disciples began questioning Him as to what this

parable meant. 10 And He said, “To you it has been
granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God,
but to the rest it is in parables,

 We Know Him so we can Behold Him – We

become what we behold. We become Christlike,
Like Him – Purifified by Him – this is so we see
ourselves as He sees us!

2 Corinthians 3v 13-18
Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness
in our speech, 13 and are not like Moses, who used to put
a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not
look intently at the end of what was fading away. 14 But
their minds were hardened; for until this very day at
the reading of the old covenant the same veil [e]remains
unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 15 But to this
day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their
heart; 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the
veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But
we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the
same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord,
the Spirit.
  He wants us to know Him in His glory

 Our Glory or boast comes from Knowing Him

Jeremiah 9 v 23-24

 As we know Him we are transformed into the

same image as Him = Christlike. Couple begin to
look like each other

 Part of knowing is knowing How He sees us – Like

How he saw Peter and the other disciples in a
way they didn’t see themselves

 As we KNOW him and behold Him like looking

into a mirror He purifies us the image reflected
back in the mirror is His image as we become like
Him

 Once we KNOW Him we can enjoy Him, our lives

become intertwined with Him – We have intimacy
with Him!

Enjoy

 We were created to enjoy fellowshipping with

Him and his presence, in the same way He enjoys
ours – Right from the garden God would come out
to hang out with Adam in cool of the day – They
would enjoy sun downers together!
  In the same way Jesus had communion with His
disciples, ate and fellowshipped with them

 The highest level of intimacy is KNOW and Be

Known

 We are intimate with Him so we are ONE with

Him – we are united in Spirit with Him – The 2
are ONE prayer, communion, worship unites us
with Christ and is enjoyed by Him and us!

Isaiah 40 v 30

 To wait on the Lord is to become intertwined with

Him!

Rope illustration

 Just like in the flesh physical intimacy is enjoyed

by Both and unites the 2 as 1 so it is in the Spirit

 Jesus TOUCHED the disciples lives in a very

special way, they followed Him every where ,
they loved Him and He loved them – They
enjoyed each others company.

 Prayer produces intimacy

 It is critical to have a devotional life as a

 disciple

 Day by day they walked and talked with Him,

hearing His words of cheer to the weary and
heavy-laden, and seeing the manifestation of His
power in behalf of the sick and the afflicted.
Sometimes He taught them, sitting among them
on the mountainside; sometimes beside the sea
or walking by the way, He revealed the mysteries
of the kingdom of God. Wherever hearts were
open to receive the diving message, He unfolded
the truths of the way of salvation. He did not
command the disciples to do this ort hat, but
said ’Follow Me.’ On His journeys through country
and cities, He took them with Him, that they
might see how He taught the people. They
traveled with Him from place to place. They
shared His frugal fare, and like Him were
sometimes hungry and often weary. On crowded
streets, by the lakeside, in the lonely desert,
they were with Him. They saw Him in every
phase of life

Act Small
I was sent only for the lost sheep of Israel
Matthew 15 v 24

"I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that
thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the
earth." (Isa.49:6)

Even though he came for the whole earth and gentiles

he was faithful to start with Israel – He had seen His
father select a people – not the greatest by any means,
not the mightiest – but a people he could make his own!

Luke 15 – The lost chapter shows us heart and

operation of the Kingdom – the power and importance
of One!

Jesus was not too big to focus his operation on

reaching one person – the lost one

The one in the fold – “are you not with me? Everything
I have is yours??”

We cannot ask for a great harvest without first being

faithful with a small seed
Forgetting not the day of small beginning

Going after the lost coin, lost sheep, lost son

Even though God has the world in mind – you are not
too insignificant, If you were the only one left, he
would offer His son to build relationship with you . He
would still pour Himself out!

Even though he wants us to disciple the world – he

wants to act like the one person you reach the world
depends on them – becoz it does!

God is so secure in Himself – he is in no hurry like we

are , Time is not running out for Him for he is time. He
will not violate Himself for the fulfilment of a promise
– He is true to His word
We are made in His image and likeness – the pattern to
dominion on earth is the same – there are no short
cuts!

The father of short cuts is the devil – He offered

Jesus a short cut when he tempted him, when he
offered him natural food instead waiting on the Lord
spiritual, or tempting the Lord, or short cut to ruling
and saving the Lord in exchange for his soul by bowing
down to the devil

He tempted him with things that appeal to the senses,

that could be seen, touched, felt – kingdoms that could
be seen – yet the kingdom of God does not come by
observation – it comes in the hearts of man – Jesus is
after your heart – and he will go through the process
to win your heart.

Most of us have our priorities out of sync – we will pay

the price and go through the process of acquiring
stuff, material things, earthly education for our kids,
kingdoms that will remain on the earth but will not go
through he process of winning our children’s hearts, of
pouring the kingdom into their heart, we swap what
temporary for what is eternal – we succumb to the
temptation of process and purpose

We give our children things instead of ourselves and

heart, earthly education instead of eternal, earthly
kingdoms instead of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus –
we have got to acts small
No conversation with the devil is a good one no matter
how good the stuff that is before is! It can be
anything, a short cut, a moment of pleasure etc . His
KRA’s are steal, Kill, destroy – he wants you dead!

When Jesus came, he laid out the pattern to defeating

him – Do not forsake the process!

• Do not fall into the trap of “over night

success” This ministry is an over 40 year success so
far!

• Don’t fall into the trap of “on day it will get

better” Get better today. The day of recognition is
not the day of success – its reward. Champions are not
made in the ring they are recognized there!

• Don’t fall into the trap of “things will work

themselves out” – Work things out!

That’s why God is not as concerned about

circumstances as you and I are – He is interested in
the process and what you are becoming through your
response to the circumstance – Your response is the
Key to your destiny!

There is a dominion on earth that God wants to extend

through you – you are significant – the fact that you
are here speak of the ONE God will start with – the
mustard seed faith that will move mountain – each one
has been given a measure of faith

Mustard seed illustration

That Faith brings Joy – its enough to resist trial and

tribulation – therefore we can rejoice becoz these
bring out who were are in Him, they make us – that
tree, that oak of righteousness

Romans 5 v 2-5
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this
place of undeserved privilege where we now stand,
and we confidently and joyfully look forward to
sharing God’s glory.We can rejoice, too, when we
run into problems and trials, for we know that they
help us develop endurance. 4And endurance develops
strength of character, and character strengthens
our confident hope of salvation. 5And this hope will
not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly
God loves us, because he has given us the Holy
Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Luke 4 v 13
When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left
him until the next opportunity came.

The devil left Jesus for another opportune time –

circumstances will always be there!

BUT God is faithful

1 Corinthians 10 v 13
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common
to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be
tempted beyond your ability, but with the
temptation he will also provide the way of escape,
that you may be able to endure it.

U were made with the ingredients to overcome you

face – if fact the fact that you have faced it or are
facing proves God’s faithfulness that He made you an
overcomer. Just as Christ over came so shall you- How
will you respond ?

Every time you succumb to temptation, you become

weaker because , you are living below who you are –
every time you resist you become stronger!

What ever you resist get weaker, what ever you yield
to get stronger – Yield to God!

Slide 7
T - Think Big as God Does,
B - Build deep as Christ Does
A - Act small like the Holy Spirit

Slide 8
T – To God I have raised my hands
B – Be Like Christ
A – Advised by The Holy Spirit
