Discipleship Essentials*
Monday, October 18, 2004
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, Thank You for being a God of life and love! Thank You for saving me from sin and death through Your Son, Jesus! I praise You, O God for Your gracious and watchful care in my life even though I often turn away from You and fall short of Your plans for me. Forgive me for all the times each day when I block Your work in my life, because I sin. Restore me to a deep and abiding relationship with You, that I may be both Your child and Your disciple, and that I may make disciples as Jesus commands! This I pray in His name Amen.
God’s Word Today
Luke 6:12-16; 9:1-6, 10
12One day soon afterward Jesus went to a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
14Simon (he also called him Peter), Andrew (Peter’s brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot), 16Judas (son of James), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).
1One day Jesus called together his twelve apostles and gave them power and authority to cast out demons and to heal all diseases. 2Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the coming of the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3“Don’t even take along a walking stick,” he instructed them, “nor a traveler’s bag, nor food, nor money. Not even an extra coat. 4When you enter each village, be a guest in only one home. 5If the people of the village won’t receive your message when you enter it, shake off its dust from your feet as you leave. It is a sign that you have abandoned that village to its fate.” 6So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick….10When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida
Background on the Text – Who Wrote It? Why Was It Written? Who Was the Audience?
Luke is the only one of the four Gospel writers who tells us at the outset of his work exactly why he wrote it. As we read in Luke 1:1-4: 1Most honorable Theophilus: Many people have written accounts about the events that took place among us. 2They used as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses of what God has done in fulfillment of his promises. 3Having carefully investigated all of these accounts from the beginning, I have decided to write a careful summary for you, 4to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.” So we see that Luke wrote to assure his readers that the accounts of Jesus being the Messiah were true!
Observation – What Does the Text Say?
Interpretation – What Does the Text Mean?
Application – How Can I Respond to the Text’s Insights and Teachings?
Each Week’s Check List.
After reading and studying this text, reflect on the following discipleship growth points:
Growth Point |
How |
Encouraged and strengthened me by |
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Fallen short areas |
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What will I do with these insights? |
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What did God say to me today? |
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Share insights and growth points |
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Changed/transformed how? |
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Thoughts...A Motley Crew, too!
Back in August, as we were closing out our study on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we invested two weeks in looking at some of the characters to whom Paul addressed his closing greetings. We said at the time that they were a “motley” crew. Without a doubt they were no less motley than the crew that Jesus assembled to be His twelve disciples. As read the twelve names, which may well be quite familiar to us, we realize that these were no celebrities, stars, or members of “Who’s Who in Israelite History”! While several of the disciples eventually distinguished themselves by writing what became books of the Bible, none of them started out as distinguished. They were fishermen by trade, and a tax collector (who would have been considered a traitor by the rest of the group), along with a zealot—a religious extremist who advocated the violent overthrow of the Roman government. (One wonders how Jesus managed to get Matthew and Simon the Zealot to be in the same room together!) In any case, Jesus cast of disciples ought to give us great hope, because if He could use them, He can also use us! After all, Jesus doesn’t select His disciples based on their abilities, but on their willingness to follow Him. Jesus is the one who makes the difference in us, so that we can then go out and make a difference in others here, there, and to the ends of the earth! That’s His plan, and thankfully He included us in it!