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HELPING YOU AND YOUR MINISTRY

Build a Disciple-Making Culture from the life of Christ.

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WATCH THE REAL JESUS

Jesus modeled for us in scripture life and ministry! He showed us the mission, He was the model, and He gave us the methods on how to make disciples in John 17.

Why Jesus
is Our Model

Dr. Dann Spader
Author & Disciplemaker

It almost seems strange to have to address the issue of Jesus being our model. But unfortunately, it has been my experience that so many people think of Jesus as Super Human.

He may look human on the outside, but like Clark Kent, when He goes into a phone booth He comes out as Super Man. This view of Jesus is heresy and was shot down at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. as a faulty view of Jesus. 

Jesus was not Super Human… he was fully human. And that difference has major implications for us as Christ followers, especially as we think about what it means to “walk as He walked” (I John 2:6) and “do what He did” (John 14:12).

The Scriptures are clear; Jesus was fully God (Col 2:9). He claimed to be God (John 8:58, Phil 2:6) and received worship as God (Matt 28:17). Equally clear was His humanity. He possessed all the qualities of humanness except sin (I Peter 2:22, I John 3:5). He suffered, wept, got tired, hungered, was born and learned. He shared in our humanity and had to be made like us in every way (Hebrews 2:14,17). The implications of this are profound, especially as we seek to walk, live and disciple Like Jesus.

Never less than God, Jesus chose to live His life never more than man. His deity was unexpressed, so that His humanity could be fully expressed.

BRUCE WARE

THEOLOGY PROFESSOR AT SOUTHERN SEMINARY

A Few Implications

OUR MISSION + MOTIVE

The Motive Must Never Be Separated From the Mission

Christ’s Great Commandment passion resulted in Great Commission priorities. His heart of love shaped how His hands ministered to people and how He ordered His everyday lifestyle. In the same way, our Great Commandment heart is what helps us maintain our Great Commission passion. It is the heart behind the hands, the motive behind the mission, the passion behind the priorities. 

Our Mission + Motive Can Be Summarized in Six Simple Words: "Love God. Love People. Make Disciples."

We cannot say our mission is to just love God. Nor can we say our mission is to just love God and love people. It must include all aspects of the Great Commission and Great Commandment… loving God, loving people and making disciples. 

Pathways:
Assimilation vs. Disciple-making

Josh Jeffrey
Pastor & Disciplemaker

Most churches have an assimilation pathway but lack a disciple-making pathway.

A disciple-making pathway shows your people where they are and where they are going on their spiritual formation journey.  A true disciple-making pathway creates a clear picture to foster spiritual growth in their relationship with Christ and making disciples.

For most churches today, their main (or only) pathway is one of assimilation.  On an assimilation pathway, a person typically attends a new members class, finds an area to serve in the church, continues serving and attending, and hopefully grows spiritually. This assimilation pathway isn’t bad, but we can’t stop there. We must clearly define a disciple-making pathway and lead people through it.

In our Mission module (4 Chair Discipling) we look at the mission and pathway Jesus showed us in the New Testament, how to be a disciple and make disciples:

Seeker —>  Believer —> Worker —> Disciple-maker

A Disciple-making pathway casts vision and guides each person from learning how to grow in their faith from learning to repent, pray for the lost, share the Good News of Jesus, and reproduce the life of Christ in new disciples. Jesus commanded all of us to do this in the Great Commission and our ministries and churches can build movements of multiplication.

Access the Free 3-part Disciple-Making Webinar

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Questions? Schedule a Call

Dr. Dann Spader,
Author + Disciplemaker

LIKE JESUS AUTHOR

Dr. Dann Spader is the founder of Sonlife Ministries and Concentric Global (GYI). He has dedicated his life to disciple-making, and more than 1 million people in over 100 countries have been trained to make disciples through organizations he has led. Dann is the author of 4 Chair Discipling, Walk Like Jesus and Live Like Jesus.