Tools for Discipleship?

Today the message is entitled “Tools for Discipleship!”

We started this look at Discipleship three weeks ago when we discovered the “OIKOS Initiative”, going house to house sharing the Gospel message of Jesus. Two weeks ago, we looked at “Defining Discipleship,” finding out what the term meant and finding another term for it is “Follow-up.”
Last week we looked at how we disciple someone in their walk of faith in God.
Today we want to discover some tools for doing this work of discipleship.

Discipleship requires a disciple and action! If you come to a living relationship with Jesus and then sit down and do nothing, you will wilt and die spiritually.
Like any tree trying to grow, you need nourishment and testing to be strong.

This is the same when we are trying to help someone who is just starting to look at or grow in Jesus. We need to give them nourishment and testing to help them grow.

So how can we do that? What do we need to accomplish this growth in one another? I have heard the following terms used many times:
Gifts, Talents, Natural Abilities. They all stem from God as we are told to admonish one another using them.

Col 3:12-17 NIV
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Obedience is one of the tools we need to be able to disciple someone. How can we teach that person to follow God if we are not obedient to God ourselves?
Are we listening to God, doing what God asks us to do and living like God has told us too?

In chapter two in the book “Leading from your strengths,” by John Trent, we read: “Understanding your own God-given strengths. This is the key to growth, change, and finding your place on the team where God has placed you.”

Eph 4:11-13 NIV
11 It was He (Jesus) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

We will reach maturity in our knowledge of Jesus Christ as we use the gifts God has given us. Each time we stretch out for God, we learn and grow. When we disciple a person, we want them to stretch too, so we teach and show them how.

We all are similar but uniquely different. God designed each of us to be a part of the whole. Working together and teaching each other to grow is all part of God’s plan.

Rom 12: 4-8 NIV
4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith;
7 if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Using the gifts, talents and natural abilities that God has given you, allows you to be a part of the body of Christ, an important part of God’s family!

1 Cor 12: 27-30 NIV
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?

God has appointed your gifts! Your job is to realize what gifts you have and then use them.

In Rick Warren’s study “Daring Faith,” he urges us to “take an inventory of the gifts and abilities God has given you. How could they be used to serve others in your church and community?”

1 Cor 12: 4-11 NIV
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God at works all of them in all men.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[or languages] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[or languages] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

We do not choose our gifts – it is God’s choice. What we do choose is whether we use them or not. As we grow in our walk with God, we choose to learn our gifts and then use them to help others grow.

The title for today was “Tools for Discipleship.” My hope is that you leave with a little more desire to use your tools in your daily life. I am hoping that you see better how God has given you those tools to use and what your tools might be. I have only touched on this subject, there is so much more in God’s Word.
1 Tim 4:11-16; 2 Tim 2: 24; Titus 2: 1-8; 1 Pet 4: 7-11 are some more passages you should read. Ask a trusted Christian friend what they see in you for gifts.
Ask you friends and family to pray with you to see those gifts. Come talk to the Elders for assistance in discovering your “tools for discipleship.”

Let’s pray!