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LESSON 3: ARE YOU A REPRODUCING DISCIPLE?

Jesus had the twelve disciples. Paul had Timothy and Silas and Luke. Barnabas had Mark. The master had grasshopper, and Yoda had Luke Skywalker. Seriously though. Who are you pouring your life into? Are you passing along all that He commanded you?

When Jesus said, “teach them,” He did not, I think, have in mind a classroom setting, or a man standing in a pulpit. That was not His primary method after all. Jesus made disciples by walking with them, where they lived, teaching them lessons about the Kingdom based on their earthly life experiences. He set an example for them, ate with them, healed them, comforted them, laughed with them, mourned with them, prayed with them and for them, cried in front of them, gave them sound doctrine about this life and the next, called them friend, challenged them, and then laid down His life for them. A close examination of Paul’s disciple making and church planting ministry looked much the same. Barnabas as well.

LESSON 1: THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW – APPRAISAL IS THE KEY

Have you ever watched the “Antiques Roadshow?” I’ll admit I have paused, on a few occasions, to see what the fuss is all about. Personally I don’t get it. Paying lots of money for other peoples old stuff? What foolishness. Or is it? I look at these items and I see them and make a judgment…junk. However, someone skilled in appraising antiques looks at the same items and makes a very different judgment. I think there is a lesson for us here. Scripture tells us that the things of God, God’s Word, are foolishness to the “natural man” or the unbeliever. Does this mean that they can’t understand the words?

Does it look like Greek to them? I’ve heard complete heathens articulate the gospel message very clearly, so that cannot be what God meant. So what is it?

Download Teach, Lesson 1

SECTION 2: WHY BAPTIZE?

In beginning to discuss this very important topic, I should first recognize that there are several different views, held by good and godly Christians, regarding baptism, infant baptism, covenant baptism, etc. I will be teaching from the position practiced by Reston Bible Church, that is, that baptism is a symbolic sacrament to be participated in once by a professing believer in Christ. We commonly refer to this as believers baptism.

Thankfully there are many aspects of baptism on which most bible believing Christians can agree. For one, we all agree that believing Christians should be baptized. There is also general agreement about what baptism portrays. Let’s focus there.

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LESSON 3: MAY YOUR “LIFE SONG” RING TRUE

A couple of weeks ago we looked at what makes a good witness. One of those attributes was consistency. In a court of law the jury and judge will look at the witness and ask, “is this person credible?”, “does the life of this witness match their testimony, lend credibility, or not?”

To make matters worse, it is common for the opposing lawyer to pick apart the witness and undermine their testimony by trying to show that they are in fact unreliable and inconsistent. The opposing lawyer in our case is Satan himself. The accuser. Praise God that ultimately we stand on His promises and on His righteousness. Not our own. However, the accuser will seek to limit our effectiveness as witnesses to the gospel by magnifying the inconsistencies between our words and the lives we lead. The message is simple – “walk the talk!” Or as James 1:22 puts it, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

Download Go, Lesson 3