Bread of Life Voice

Introduction:

In seminar one, we were reassured about the magnificent love of God that never fades.
If he can give his greatest assets, there is nothing he cannot do for us.
In seminar two, we were reminded of our salvation and freedom in Christ Jesus. We were not only saved from eternal damnation, but also freed from every dominion of darkness. In seminar three, we were invited to the Lordship of Jesus Christ to be our Lord and personal saviour. Jesus is delighted to be our Lord because everything that comes from the devil is wickedness.

Today, we want to talk about the topic: “You are called to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.”
Today’s message is about a call and a response. Everybody is qualified and entitled to be called, none is exempted. Do not disqualify yourself.

WHAT ARE WE CALLED INTO?

We are called into discipleship.

WHAT IS DISCIPLESHIP?

1. It is a form of apprenticeship. (Mark 3:13-15) Jesus first called the disciple to teach them. Before any assignment, the first thing is to be trained. That is a process, there is a learning that one needs to undergo before you are made what you want to be.

2. Discipleship is a learning process (Matthew 11:28-30). There are two kinds of rest from this Bible reference – the first is the one we get when we gave our life to Christ, the salvation and healing you get when you come to Jesus. The second is the one you get when you learn from from Jesus (Discipleship). The teacher himself is Jesus.
What are we learning? We are learning how to become like the master himself (Jesus Christ), so that our life, actions and attitude reflect Jesus.

3. It is a process that helps one to grow from being a baby Christian to an adult Christian. The growth process of a man combines both the physical and spiritual growth.
The first stage encompasses baby hood stage where the child seeks baby food which the Bible calls spiritual milk (1Peter 2:2-3)
The second stage is the childhood Christians (Ephesians 4:13-14; Hebrews 5:11-14). We may have stayed five, ten or twenty years in the renewal but still live a childhood Christianity. We tend not to accept the raw teachings of Christ. The people in this category are confused, curious and not ready to accept responsibility. This people lack the basic word of God, but, it is important you understand that you can’t grow to the highest spiritual level without the word of God. This people are talkertives (Proverbs 10:19, Ecclesiastes 5:3), they engage in all manner of arguments just to prove a point, hence, their spiritual energy is drained.

The third stage is the adulthood Christians (Hebrews 11:24-26). One of the basic characteristics of mature Christians is that God comes first in anything they do. They consider their faith first. Another feature of this people is that they are dead to self, dead to sin. Sin no longer rule in their lives.

WHAT IS THE GOAL OF DISCIPLESHIP?

The goal of discipleship is to become like Jesus (Hebrews 2:11, 1John 2:6, 1 Peter 2:21-24). The goal is to respond to everything about Jesus.

THE COST OF BEING A DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST.

(Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 10:37-39). If any man wants to follow Christ, he must deny himself, carry his cross and then follow him.
The three enemies of a man is the devil, the world system/pattern (1John 2:15-16) and then the Self/Human nature (Ephesians 4:22).
The first cost is that we must deny the devil, the world system and throw away our old self (denial) and put on the nature of Christ by allowing the Spirit of God to take possession of our lives (Galatians 5:16).
Another cost of discipleship is your “Time” (Exodus 33:7-10; Luke 10:38-42), this time is termed time redemption value. It must be utilized and not wasted.

AMEN!

SHALOM!