July 13, 2019 -- Acts 20:1-4 -- You--make disciples for Jesus

After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.

Acts 20 English Standard Version

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ final words were the Great Commission. Jesus commanded His followers to make disciples of all nations. What I so appreciate about Luke’s record of Paul’s ministry is that Paul is always making disciples. He is always teaching others the way of the Master. Such disciples accompany him on his trips. They receive encouraging letters. They pray with him. They join him in his ministry efforts. In all his life and work, he is always bringing people with him who see the reality of his faith and his passion for Jesus.

While reading a back-issue of Christian Renewal I came across this awesome, penetrating quotation:

I find that every church I go to is talking discipleship and disciple-making

as a core value - but I somehow don’t see it. It is what I call a preferred value

rather than an actual value, much like evangelism is in many church

situations. It’s what we are supposed to do - rather than what we do, and I

guess it is because our culture of individualism sees it as a program rather

then a lifestyle of sacrifice and inconvenience.

Christian Renewal April 19, 2019 “Talking a Good Game”, page 5

We are ALWAYS making disciples in one way or another. We are either discipling others in sin and rebellion against God or we are teaching them the joy of obedience. In our rebelliousness we talk about movies, we speak of sports, we analyze our fav TV show endlessly and talk politics and economics, we recruit for our clubs—but we studiously do not talk about Jesus. Not wanting to be offensive to the people in our world we offend the King of Glory. In our work and play, in our social times and school times, do we talk about Jesus? If not, we are discipling for evil, rather than good. All of our life is sacred, it is to be consciously lived in the presence of Christ our Saviour.

Do not embark on a program of disciple-making—let it be how you live. In all your life, work and play, social times and structured times, in sickness and in health, retirement and school times live as a disciple-maker. Here are some suggestions to carry this out:

Ask God: Who have You placed in my life as a potential disciple? I recall a woman who was diagnosed with cancer. She committed this to God and said: “Because of this cancer I’ll meet people I wouldn’t normally meet, help me to witness for You.” As a result, in the oncologist’s waiting room, she invited a couple to church (and they came). She witnessed to her doctor, who was so surprised that she was calm in the face of death—because, she testified, Jesus has defeated the power of the grave!

Commit to God that you will continue your activities with that person (golf, running, coffee visits, meals, whatever it is) and you will speak of God in very conversation. You will shine the light of Christ always.

Expect God will bring into your life someone to disciple and teach. We live in a culture of lonely people—we have cell phones and instagram, Facebook and Zoom, you name it, there are hundreds of ways to connect, and many, many people in our lives are hungry for real friends who talk about things that matter. Be that friend. Intentionally involve that person in various aspects of your life and meet regularly.

Be prepared to be surprised in this wonderful way—the more you share your faith in God and the joy of serving Him, the more you’ll delight in your faith in God and the deeper will be your joy in serving Him.

Sovereign LORD of Heaven and Earth—thank You for choosing me to be Your child by the blood and grace of Jesus Christ. Send Your Spirit to me so that disciple-making will be for me a way of life; send Your Spirit ahead of me so that the person, or people, You intend for me to disciple will be obvious to me. As I pray this, I may feel too old, or too young, too inexperienced or too shy or in some other way unusable as a disciple-maker—but I know this: You chose the foolish things of this world, the weak ones so that no one will boast in their own strength but will boast in Jesus Christ alone whenever and wherever there is victory. Therefore I know this: You chose me to be Your witness and a disciple-maker. In my life, King Jesus, reap the reward of Your suffering all to the glory of our Father in heaven. Amen.