Page 3 - Discipleship Ministries Student E-Book

Discipleship Ministries
By Kris L. Bjorgen, Ed.D.

Study Section 1: A Call to Discipleship

“Jesus stands between us and God, and for that very reason he stands
between us and all other men and things. He is the Mediator, not only between

God and man, but between man and man, between man and reality.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

1.1 Connect.

Shortly after Jesus was baptized and began His earthly public ministry, He met Andrew,
Peter, Philip and Nathanael. They left Him and went back to fishing near the Sea of Galilee.
A few months later, Jesus met them near Capernaum and asked them to follow Him and
become His disciples. Without hesitation, they left their fishing trade and began to journey
with Jesus for the next almost four years. Jesus called them to be His disciples – His
representatives to the world. During this time, Jesus poured Himself into them and prepared
them for service and sacrifice. When He left them after His resurrection, His final words were, “while
you are going, I want you to make disciples…” Just as He had made them His disciples, they were
commanded to go and select others to become Disciples of Christ. That’s what today’s lesson is all
about!

1.2 Objectives:

1. The student should be able to describe what it means to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

2. The student should be able to explain why the church is failing in obeying this command of
Christ.

1.3 A Call to Discipleship – this section was written by Ben Radin, adjunct professor at AIU.

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
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them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
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observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of
the age.”

Shortly after giving this command to His disciples, Jesus ascended to the right hand of His Father in
Heaven. It was the last thought He left for His disciples to ponder. They were commanded to go and
make disciples of all nations. In the original Greek language, the phrase “make disciples” is the main

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