Page 18 - Principles for Discipling Others-Student textbook

Study Section 4: Let’s Learn how to disciple new believers in their faith….

4.1 Connect.

If you visited my house, you would see that I have a very nice lawn. I planted it years ago
from seeds in the back yard and put sawed down the front yard. In planting sawed, you lay
down a strip of grass already fully grown which has been cut with some dirt beneath it. It
comes in .33 meter by .66 meter strips. So when you are done laying it out on your yard, it
looks like the grass has been there for years. Presto! Instant yard of grass! However, if you
want it to continue to grow and look nice, you have to provide three things: water, sunlight,
and fertilizer (food). If you don’t give the grass these three things, it will turn brown and die.

Today we will see that for a Christian to grow in Christ, He must also continue in his faith by committing
himself to several spiritual activities or he will not grow. Let’s examine what he must do….

4.2 Objectives:

1. We will use the “wheel” illustration to help the student better understand what is necessary
in a believer’s life to grow.

2. We will concentrate this lesson on the hub of the wheel, which is Jesus Christ.

4.3 Let’s Learn how to disciple new believers in their faith…

Illustration of Grass

Grass either grows or it doesn’t! Many a man has desired to
have a beautiful lawn. He labors over it, doing everything he
knows to make it flourish. He finally gives up and pays big
money to a landscaper to come in and do it for him. The
landscaper comes in and combines with the right fertilizer with the right
amount of water and lets the sun and climate do the rest. Success! What
happened? All living things grow when they receive what is needed for
life. This is true about spiritually living things as well as with physical living
things.

The apostle Peter taught us the key to a flourishing spiritual life: GROW! Grow in grace and grow in the
knowledge of Jesus Christ! “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” II
Peter 3:18. This not just a suggestion….it is a charge! A directive! So that the “babe” in Christ may
become a mature “adult” in Christ.

Sadly the writer of the book of Hebrews found himself writing “by this time you ought to be teachers”
(Heb. 5:12-14) …and paraphrasing the rest of these verses…but you are not and it has even become
necessary for someone to teach you the elementary principles of knowing God. So, if spiritual growth is
so important, what are some of the spiritual ingredients needed to grow in Christ, and how can these be
taught?

17