For the past two Sundays we have looked at what a win is and what a disciple is. Jesus defines winning as making disciples who make disciples. We also saw Jesus' definition of a disciple from Matthew 4:19:
- Know - to follow Jesus ("Follow me")
- Grow - to become like Jesus ("I will make you")
- Go - call others to do the same ("fishers of men")
This leads us to another question. How did Jesus make disciples? I have learned/been convicted in my studies about discipleship that "you cannot separate the results of Jesus from the methods of Jesus." We cannot expect to make disciples, the result of Jesus' work in John 17:4, unless we use the same methods He used. This will be the heart of the question we will ask on Sunday. Are we using the same method Jesus used to make disciples? We will be looking at the story of Zacchaeus from Luke 19:1-10. This is just one example of how Jesus made a disciple, and the Gospels are filled with others we could use. I hope you will take time to read this passage before Sunday and ask yourself three questions. Where is the classroom? What curriculum did Jesus use? How did He make Zacchaeus a disciple? Another way to ask the last question is, what was the method of Jesus to make disciples? For the final question, it might help to think through the entire scope of the Gospels. Here is a bonus question. Am I making disciples the way Jesus did?
In Christ,
Mark Smith, Pastor of FBC Jacksonville, AR
