Sep. 11, 2026

The Great Commission - Making Disciples

The Great Commission - Relational Discipleship

Disciples having coffee in the Old City of Jerusalem

Craig, Michael, Flint and Luke

We all have that experience of realizing the reality of a Creator God and entering into a personal relationship with Him. Many of us can recall that time when suddenly the sky was bluer and tree greener, feeling the sudden nudges of the Holy Spirit inside us, realizing that decisions are important, so now life became more dramatic, and finding ourselves content spending alone time with the Lord.

These are some of the things I have heard from my friends and experienced myself in those early days when Jesus became my Savior and Lord. As I read the Bible, I discovered a new way of thinking, and a new worldview taking hold of my soul. Priorities became different and old pleasures began to lose their appeal while internal changes began to take hold.

As Disciples of Jesus, we have come to understand many facets of being a disciple, what the walk of a disciple looks like, what disciplines we are to develop, and what the culture of the Kingdom is that we are a part of.

But what do Disciples actually do?

Besides enjoying God and spending Eternity with Him, what should be our objectives in this life?

That was my question in the spring of 1982 as I became part of the Hope Chapel community on Maui. I was going to the church services on Sunday, and helping out with the chair set up ministry, along with handing out the church bulletins at the door. I became part of a small group that met at Diane Daniel’s home on Wednesday night. I started putting money in the offering. But what was the bigger picture of the role of a Disciple?

That’s when I came across this portion of Scripture found at the end of the book of Matthew.

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

This is a passage of Scripture that is often called the “Great Commission”.

It is where missionaries have traditionally gotten their marching orders to go to other countries and evangelize unreached people.

As a new follower of Jesus, I first heard this Great Commission message at a video concert at the Lahaina Civic Center on Maui by a famous Christian singer, Keith Green, who’s latest album was titled “Jesus Commands Us To Go!”. There were many missionaries at the concert sponsored by Youth With A Mission that afterward showed me numerous opportunities to 'go into the world and make disciples of all the nations.'

Michael with Kean Salzer in front of 'What's The Scoop' at the Poineer Inn in Lahiana Maui.

I was so excited the next day I told my cousin Kean Salzer that I was ready to become a missionary and go to any place on Earth and tell the people about Jesus. Kean was my mentor at the time and a principal source of information of what the Christian life was to be. I had known him most of my life and was very close to him and his wife Shelly. They were the ones responsible for inviting me to Hope Chapel, and a big part of my process where I received Jesus as my Lord in the fall of 1981.

When I told Kean how excited I was be become a missionary, he looked at me and with a smile asked me: “How would you like to go to an island in the Pacific where less than five percent of the people attend church on Sunday?”

I responded excitedly: “Let’s go!”.

He calmly said: “You are standing on it!”

In the early 1980’s, church attendance on Maui was incredibly low. It took a moment, but I got the message. Maui was a good place to share the Good News.

I didn’t have to “go”. I was already “there”.

Criag & Kathy Englert, the Founders of Hope Chapel Maui

With Laura and Michael on the dock of the Rio Coco Cafe on Utila Honduras.

Keith Green proclaimed in that convert that ‘Jesus commands us to go!” I wanted to go, but realized that I was already in a place that needed evangelistic efforts. Should I leave the island to travel to a foreign country or should I stay on Maui and get involved in making disciples there?

It was a few years later in my studies that I understood why the Great Commission is often misunderstood as a command to pack your bags, leave your home, and go work in a foreign culture. When you read the Greek text in English, it may appear to be just that, especially with that command to ‘go’. Fortunately, I have access to a few good Greek- English dictionaries that helped me understand the essence of the Great Commission. There are a few words in the famous passage that should be understood in their original context.

Go: poreúomai; aorist participle; To transport oneself, to go from one place to another; To proceed on a journey; To live in a certain way.

Make Disciples: mathēteuō; aorist imperative tense; to be a disciple of one, to follow his precepts and instructions; To make a disciple (with forceor coercion) ; to teach, instruct.

Baptizing: baptízō; future tense participle; to dip. Immerse, submerge for a religious purpose, to overwhelm, saturate, baptize.

Teaching: didáskō; future tense participle; to know or teach; instruct by word of mouth

These are the four verbs in the Great Commission: Go, Make, Teach and Baptize.

Which of those four is the central command?

‘Go’ is an aorist participle: simple action verbal adjective that modifies another action. ‘Baptizing’ and ‘Teaching’ are continuous future action verbs. ‘Make Disciples’ is the aorist imperative, which is a command for doing something in the future that is a simple action, and the only command form verb in the Great Commission.The other three verbs are in the “ future continuous action” form.

The final significant word, often translated “Nations” is Ethnos: a race, nation, people group. Putting all these concepts together, and understanding the grammar, we hear Jesus literally saying:

“All Authority in the Universe has been given to me. Since these things are so, proceed on the journey that you began with me and take yourself to the places I direct you and make disciples of the races and ethnic people groups that you find yourself with, baptizing them in my Fathers, in Mine and in the Holy Spirit’s name, teaching them all the things I told you. Remember, I will be with you always as you do this.”

Principle: The Great Commission is for all Followers of Jesus.

Principle: We are to focus on making disciples wherever we are- at home or abroad.

Principle: Jesus will be with us always as we make, baptize and teach disciples.

Wherever in the world that we happen to be going, Jesus commands us to be about the business of making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them the Word of God. It is that direct, and that simple.

Sunrise on the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias Israel

Jesus gave an additional command after his Resurrection that gave a starting and ending point to this Great Commission as well as the means by which this Commission would be carried out. Here is how Luke recorded it.

Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
⁶ So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

⁸ but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:1-8

In addition to making disciples of all the nations, the Jesus’ disciples were commanded:

1) not to do anything until they receive the power of the Holy Spirit, which would shortly happen, and

2) that they should begin making disciples in Jerusalem, expand into Judea and Samaria and eventually goi to even the most remote corners of the Earth.

Imagine we are in the room hearing this. What would we think?

”Jesus, do you mean that us disciples in this remote corner of the Roman Empire are going to receive some sort of power from the Holy Spirit and then go through our neighborhoods here in Jerusalem, and then Judea and Samaria and then on to all parts of the Roman Empire and then even to places we have never heard about and tell people about you and baptizing them? Really?”

We all look at each other, knowing that our resources are meager, that we have demonstrated fearfulness and hardheadedness, and most of us have never traveled outside of our native country. It seems like Jesus is taking a great risk to count on us to do this.

It's a big roll of the dice!

Yet we now know from history that this small group of men and women did have an extraordinary experience with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and became very effective witnesses to the Lordship of Jesus, and made disciples who made disciples so that by the middle of the Fourth Century there were, according to Rodney Stark’s study published in The Rise of Christianity, over 33,000,000 Christians in the Roman Empire, constituting over 53% of the population.

How did they do it?

How will we accomplish our portion of the Great Commission?

These are the questions we will explore as we face the challenge in our generation of reaching a world very much morally and culturally like the ancient Roman world.

A Personal Note:

I never intended to be a missionary but volunteered in 1984 to go on a ‘two-week trip’ to help an indigenous group call the Miskitos, who lived in the most remote corner of Central America and were refugees from the Sandinista-Contra war in Nicaragua. I found myself with a people group along the Coco River who first heard about Jesus from a Moravian pastor Riker Watson who founded the first school and Christian Church on the river in Wasla in 1928. It took just under 2000 years for the Gospel to get to this ‘remotest part of the Earth.’

It took us more than six months to get our container of clothes, shoes, medicines, and seeds to the refugee communities along the Kruta and Coco Rivers. It was during those six months that a refugee teacher named Augusto Vicente asked us for help in starting a school in Sawa. The children had not had school since the Sandinista Revolution in 1979. We bought plywood, blackboard paint, chalk, pencils and notebooks and Augusto began teaching First Grade in 1985.

Soon more communities were asking us to help them with schools, and this unplanned effort eventually expanded to 16 communities with an annual enrollment of over 1600 students that lasted 37 years, along with a high school and annual pastor training conferences.

Augusto, Michael and Truman speaking at the school in Sih, Honduras, 1987, during the war years.

Kiwastara School, Honduras 1987, During the War Years.

This experience has helped Laura and I to have a more ‘comprehensive’ view of the Great Commission, which includes our local communities in Florida and Maui as well as sending witnesses to the many unreached people groups throughout the world. Many in Europe and North America are an ‘unreached’ people who have experienced the fruits of a Biblical worldview culture without comprehending the basics of the Gospel message because of progressive churches who have abandoned the Biblical Gospel. This is the focus of our Rio Coco Café ministry Florida and Utila Honduras.

Laura with our students in Kiwastara.

She is one of the few outsiders who speak the Miskito language.

The Rio Coco Cafe is located on the western Caribbean island of Utila, 18 miles off the north coast of Honduras, near La Ceiba. Travellers come here from all corners of the earth for scuba and free diving. We are located in the middle of five diving schools.

The Rio Coco Cafe serves coffee, food and hopsitality to travellers from every country in Europe, North America, Israel, Australia, and the United Kingdom who come to this island for scuba and free diving.

Shabot Dinner at the Rio Coco Cafe Utila, Bay Islands Honduras March 2026

The Two-Part Principle of Discipleship

Many Christians understand the need to BE a disciple without grasping the necessity of BEING a disciple maker. John records a scene at the end of his Gospel that brings both aspects into perspective. After Jesus’ resurrection, Peter, feeling the shame of denying that he knew Jesus three times at Caiaphas’ house, decides that he is returning to his profession of fishing.

Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” John 21:2-3

‘Going fishing’ is in the Greek Present Infinitive verb form, meaning ‘continuous action’. It appears that Peter has decided to return to his profession as a fisherman, abandoning the calling of Jesus to ministry as recorded in Luke 5:10.

The other disciples decide to travel to Galilee and join him. They fish all night and catch nothing, and at dawn they see a man on the shore who tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat.

So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.” And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. John 21:5-6

Their net fills with 153 fish, a scene reminiscent of Peter’s original miracle catch a few years earlier (Luke 5), where Jesus call him to become a ‘fisher of men’ with Him. Peter realizes that it is Jesus and jumps out of the boat and heads to shore.

So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.” Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. ¹⁴ This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead. John 21:9-14

Remember that in Biblical culture, you only eat with your friends. Jesus is sending a message to Peter: ‘Even though you denied knowing me, we are still friends.’

Now Jesus is going to remind Peter the two-part principle of Discipleship.

It is important to note two words that are being used for ‘love’ in the following discussion:

agapaō: take pleasure in, to love based on its regarded value ((Dictionary of Biblical Languages). Love, indicating a direction of the will and finding one's joy in something or someone. (Complete Word Study Bible)

phileō: love, a primary love, not unlike ἀγαπάω (agapaō), et.al., yet semantically favors an affection based in interpersonal association (Dictionary of Biblical Languages). Generally to have affection for someone (Complete Word Study Bible)

¹⁵ So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love (agapaō) Me more than these?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love (phileō) You.”

He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” ¹⁶

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love (agapaō) Me?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love (phileō) You.”

He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”

¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love (phileō) Me?”

Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love (phileō) You.”

Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.

¹⁸ Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”

¹⁹ Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

²⁰ Peter, turning around, *saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” ²¹ So Peter seeing him *said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”

²² Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?

You follow Me!” John 21:15-22

Follow: akoloutheo: attendant, follower; To accompany or go with a teacher.

Here Jesus gave Peter his marching orders for the rest of his life:

“Take care of my sheep that I entrust to you, and continue following my lead in your life.”

These are our marching orders as well!

Principle: Jesus has called us to follow Him and shepherd the disciples that He brings us.

Jesus also told Peter how he will make disciples of those whom Jesus brings to him- he will be a shepherd to them. This is a radicle change in Peter’s job description. As a fisherman, he throws out his net, hauls in the fish, unloads them into baskets and take them to the market to sell them. He’s done with these fish and goes out the next night to net some more.

Shepherding is different. He must now care for the sheep. He must be in relationship with the disciples that Jesus brings him, spend quality time with them, help them understand the culture of the Kingdom, pray with them that they will stay on the path of obedience to the King, help them work out their issues, and lead them by modeling the Christian life.

Principle: Fishing and Shepherding are two very different professions. Fishermen have no relationship with the fish. Shepherds know their sheep and they sheep know the voice of the shepherd.

A flock of sheep near the Valley of Elah

One day in 1997 we were standing in a field north of Bethlehem when we met a shepherd who was walking with his flock of sheep. Our three Miskito leaders were with us, along with Kathy and Craig Englert. It was the cousin of Mahmoud, a shepherd that our teacher Randy Smith spent three weeks with a few years before wandering the hills around Bethlehem with Mahmoud to understand how a shepherd cares for his sheep.

After a short conversation with Mahmoud’s cousin, Randy reminded us about the line from Psalm 23:

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; Psalms 23:1-3

If Mahmoud wants to get his sheep lying down at night, he would take a cloth and wipe the nostrils of each sheep to get rid of the burrs that were stuck there from grazing that day. He also had to wipe the gnats out of the eyes of each sheep and rub oil on the bald spot on their forehead that gets sunburned. If he did that, the sheep would sleep and Mahmoud would also get some sleep.

He would also have to find a stream and take his staff and make a small canal from the stream to a flat area, where the sheep could drink from water that was not moving. Bethlehem sheep have thick wool on their chest and very weak forelegs. If their chest wool gets wet and heavy, they might be dragged into the moving water of which they were very afraid.

Sheep grazing near the Heridian east of Bethlehem.

Principle: Fishing and Shepherding are two very different professions. Fishermen have no relationship with the fish. Shepherds know their sheep and they sheep know the voice of the shepherd.

Peter understood the difference as we can see from his letter to his fellow shepherds:

Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, ² shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; ³ nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. 1 Peter 5:1-3

Miskito Indian & Hawaiian Disciples on the Sea of Galilee, 1997

The First stage in Discipleship is Being a Disciple of Jesus.

Now the second stage is the natural progression of every true disciple: Making Disciples.

Paul communicated a similar message to his disciple Timothy.

You have heard me teach many things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Teach these great truths to trustworthy people who are able to pass them on to others. 2 Timothy 2:2 NLT

There are many modern formulas for discipleship in our modern churches. One Formula that is often told contains two elements:

Go to church once or twice a week and
Read your Bible daily.

These disciplines are very helpful in the life of a new believer, but there is more…..

With a smile on our faces, my missionary friends and I facetiously add a third element to this formula for ‘true spiritual growth:’

“Go on a mission trip and support the missionaries.”

Missionaries on the Coco River Nicaragua/Honduras

Some discipleship programs involve heavy-handed authoritarian oversight of new converts, while others focus on simply numbers of personal commitments to Christ with follow up church attendance. These programs often set aside time in the week for “disciple-making activities” that will bring people into the church for teaching on a focused, systematic manner of ‘Christian behavior’, with an emphasis if we are ‘good’ and do the things that God requires of us, then we will receive the blessing that we deserve.

Building the Kingdom becomes a “program” that if we put in our time, and follow the formulas, that will bring “great numbers” into our local churches.

The Biblical record suggests another manner: Relational Discipleship.

We see it in the life of Jesus, and in the lives of the brothers and sisters of the Early Church. Some of my most significant learning experiences in life have followed their model of relational discipleship.

A-6 Intruders over Deception Pass, Whidbey Island Washington

Photo by LCDR Fred House, one of my instructors in VA-128, whom I purchased this photo from.

When I was in flight training in the Navy, one valuable skill that we had to acquire was flying in formation with other airplanes– we’re talking “Blue Angels” tight formations. My first attempt at flying six feet from the wingtip of the lead aircraft resulted in wild, dangerous gyrations, until my instructor took over and showed me how it was done– with gentle movements of the stick and throttle.

Then he told me to place my right hand on the stick and left hand on the throttle so that I could feel his smooth movements. Soon he told me that I was to control the jet, with his hands monitoring my movements. After many minutes of this, he told me look back in the mirrors. I did, and to my surprise, he was holding his hands high over his head, off the controls. I had been was flying six feet from the lead aircraft all by myself!

Attack Squadron 52 with CDR Daryl Kerr flying Lead and LTJG Michael Bagby at #2

Think back on how you have acquired a skill or knowledge by working with another person. It’s a process that here on Earth usually involves four steps, in this order:

1) I do it;

2) I do it with You;

3) You do it with Me;

4) You do it.

This is the basic process where you personally pass on skill to another person through a working relationship. My experience learning to fly in formation followed these basic steps.

My pastor on Maui, Craig Englert, first articulated this process to me in 1982, after we had been spending time together. Craig is the master of relational discipleship. He first invited me to a Bible study. Once he discovered that I could play guitar, he asked me to “help him lead worship”. After a few weeks, he asked me to pick out the songs and he would help me. Finally, one night he announced that now I would lead worship myself. The four-step process was complete!

Since I was taking Craig’s Discipleship class, he asked me to teach one of the Wednesday night studies. A few weeks later he asked me to teach again. Then the following week he assigned me another topic to teach on. It was after that evening study ended that Craig announced that he was starting another group in another home the following week and now I was responsible for this group.

The discipleship process was complete.

Michael & Craig on Mt Arbel Israel, 2006

If Making Disciples is our mission, then how do we become “instinctive” disciple makers?

What is the lifestyle of the Christian Discipleship to be?

Where do we turn to discover the ”how” of discipleship?

Obviously the first place to go is the life of Jesus. He gives us the ultimate example of a lifestyle of discipleship.

· What were His “methods” of bringing people into the Kingdom?

· How did He reach the crowds, and work with individuals?

· What did the First Century church community do?

· What did they learn from living with Jesus?

· What did they think was important?

The Gospels give us a complete picture of Jesus' style of making disciples. We find one instructional section on Making Disciples in the Book of Acts, and another in Paul’s first letter to his friends in Thessalonica.

First, let’s look at The Master of Making Disciples.

Jesus once gave his disciples a very culturally significant illustration of how to begin making disciples when He told them:

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

You are the light of the world—like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. Matthew 5:13-16 NLT

Salt of the Earth. Light of the World.

Naturally we receive these images through the grid of our own cultural eyes. In North American culture, we use salt to flavor our food. Therefore, Jesus must mean that we are to be the “flavor enhancers” of our society, which is true. We bring the Kingdom flavors into our culture.

My Miskito friends along the Coco River in Nicaragua use salt to keep their fish and meat from spoiling. They would take this to mean that Christians on the Rio Coco should be the “preservatives of Christian values”, which indeed we are.

Although these understandings of the meaning of salt make sense to the modern person, the message for the First Century audience carried a more focused and specific meaning. Let’s step back and become part of the audience to Jesus and His Sermon on the Mount. What did they think He meant when He told them they were to be the ‘Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World?’

Looking at this passage through the eyes of those First Century disciples gives us a cultural understanding, and clue to truly effective discipleship.

Salt had a special significance to Biblical people. It was in abundant supply around the Dead Sea, where evaporation in the world’s lowest point made it the valuable commodity in the region. In the photo, Mikaela and Lukas are seen gathering chunks of salt crusted with dirt that were lying along the shore near En Gedi.

As in our cultures, this Dead Sea salt was used for flavoring food, and for ‘salting’ fish and other meats to prolong their shelf life. If you go into a Bedouin tent today in the Negev Desert as we have on our camel trips through the Wilderness of Zinn, you will find a bowl with salt (often clumped together with dirt) on the table, the same as in ancient times. You reach with your hand, crumble the salt, and then sprinkle it over your food.

When there becomes more dirt in the bowl than salt, the woman of the tent comes over, takes the bowl and throws the contents out of the tent. Then she brings a fresh clump of salt to the table. Archeologists can often identify the streets of ancient communities by the salt content of the soil.

Camel Trip through the Wilderness of Zinn, 2006

Salt dissolved into water can later be evaporated and will return to its original state- square solid crystals. You can try to burn salt, but it does not burn.

Salt has a deep and specific meaning to Middle Eastern people.

To ancient and modern Hebrews, salt is a symbol of an eternal relationship or agreement with God.

In the book of Numbers, God make a ‘salt covenant’ with Aaron and his descendants (the priestly order) and declares:

All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD to you and your descendants with you.” Numbers 18:19

The writer of Chronicles records that God made a salt covenant with David that his descendants would rule over Israel forever:

“Do you not know thatthe Lord God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? 2 Chronicles 13:4

When God gives instruction about the portion grain offering in Leviticus 2, the priests are told to sprinkle salt on the offerings as a reminder of the salt covenant.

Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. Leviticus 2:13

In a modern Bedouin marriage ceremony, salt is placed between the hands of the bride and groom as they are pronounced husband and wife. On Friday nights, Jews dip the Sabbath bread in salt. The bread is the gift from God and salt preserves the covenant between Mankind and God.

To the Biblical person as well as the modern Middle Eastern, salt has the significance of loyalty and fidelity, because its essence never changes.

If I want to express friendship to a Middle Easterner, I could say “There is salt between us.” Salt seals a covenant in this culture. It is immutable, indisputable and unchangable. A Salt Relationship is forever.

Jesus applied this meaning in a very specific relational sense:

Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.” Mark 9:50 NLT

Jesus was instructing his disciples to be known by their loyalty to their friends and family. This is consistent to other Biblical teaching about relationships, gossip, and disunity.

Paul further instructed the believers in Colossae to:

Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Colossians 4:6

Paul says to “respond to friends and strangers with kindness and grace, regardless of what they may say or do, and in this manner you will be faithful witnesses of the grace of God in your lives.”

Leonardo Da Vinci used this immage of Salt & loyality in his famous painting 'The Last Supper.' Jesus has just announced to his disciples that one of them will betray Him.

Notice the third man on Jesus’ right. It is Judas, clutching the money bag, who has just knocked over the container of salt with his right wrist, spilling it out on the table.

There is no more salt or loyalty between Judas and Jesus!

Light has many usages in Biblical imagery, but the one referred to here is identified by Jesus as the graceful attitudes toward others, good deeds and random acts of kindness toward the people around us that will cause others to see God in us.

In addition to this idea of service to others, Paul echoes another concept of ‘Light’ in his letter to his friends in Ephesus:

For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; ⁸ for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Ephesians 5:6-10

Living as “Salt & Light”, through loyal friendships and sanctified lives with giving hearts is the model for building relationships for the Kingdom. It is the “Love God, Love Your Neighbor” commandment that Jesus says sums up the entire Hebrew Scriptures (Torah and the Prophets).

Principle: Being Salt and Light to the people around you is the first step in introducing them to Our Lord.

It is at the heart of the Christian Lifestyle of Making Disciples.

Disciples studying with Dr Randy Smith on the Mount of Beatitudes, 2000

While modern methods of evangelism and discipleship may focus on tracts, response to sermons, Bible classes and Discipleship programs, Jesus gave us a model of “relational discipleship”.

What was the “Jesus Method”?

Traditionally, we think that the disciples saw Jesus, heard his call, and dropped everything to follow Him. We get this idea when we read Matthew’s account of Peter’s call:

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. Jesus called out to them, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and went with him A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. Matthew 4:18-22 NLT

Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee

It helps to understand the objectives of the writer of the Gospel to draw out the eternal principles. Matthew’s purpose was to tell us Jesus’ words. His gospel is really five sermons that Jesus gave, with selected information that connects it all together. Luke, on the other hand, had a very specific objective in writing his account of Jesus’ life.

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. Luke 1:1-4

Luke, with his logical Greek mind, was all about putting things in order. Let’s take a look at the chronological order of Jesus’ relationship with His Disciples. We see the following:

4:31: Jesus enters Capernaum;

4:31-37 Teaching, Healing, Demonic Cleansing;

4:38-39 Heals Peter’s mother-in-law, then eats with them;

5:2 Borrows Peter’s boat for teaching;

5:4-7 Sends out Peter’s boats for the “Big Catch”

5:8-9 Peter’s confession

5:10-11 The Call of Peter, James & John

Jesus met Peter when He arrived in Capernaum from Nazareth. Undoubtedly Peter heard Jesus teaching at the synagogue that was within a stone’s throw from his own home. He saw Jesus healing sick people and confronting demonic forces. He probably was the one who asked Jesus to come to his home and restore his sick mother-in-law, who was healed immediately in front of his eyes. She invited Jesus to sit and share a meal. It would seem likely that this was the first of many meals together. Jesus and Peter were now becoming friends.

The Church built over the 'Fisherman's House in Capernaum

Luke tells us that some days later, Jesus was teaching along the shore and saw Peter and his fishing crew and very naturally asked him to stand in his boat so that he could see more of the crowd which has gathered around him. Peter was a captive audience. What did Jesus say in that teaching? Obviously, something that touched Peter.

When finished with the crowd Peter turned to Peter and asked him how the fishing was.

“Terrible” replied Peter. “We didn’t catch anything”.

It was then that Jesus asked his friend to take the boat out again.

Peter protested, since he knew well that fishing was not particularly good in the middle of the day. But since his friend Jesus asked, he gathered his crew and set out.

They dropped their nets and surprise surprise!!! Their nets filled with fish- so many that they began to break under the weight. Peter had to call his business partners, the Zebedee & Son’s Fishing Company, to come help, but the catch was so big that both boats began to sink.

It was then that amazement seized the fishermen. Peter had an epiphany, and realized what was happening.

“Jesus”, he said, “You don’t want me on your team. I am a sinful man!”

Jesus replied: “Yes I do! Your two friends James and John too! Relax! Be Cool! You will be with me from now on, and together we will be catching many men for the Kingdom.”

It was only after Jesus had built a strong personal relationship with Jesus that he called Peter to join His team.

An ancient fishing boat discovered in the mud near Ginosar during a draught when the Sea of Galilee was very low.

Here is how Luke wrote it:

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

⁶ When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; ⁷ so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

⁹ For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. Luke 5:4-11

The First Century Synagogue in Capernaum

There is a pattern that Jesus has when it comes to evangelism and discipleship.

First He “notices” (Matthew 9:9 & Mark 2:14) a person or group.

Then we see Jesus “hanging out” (Matthew 9:10 & Mark 2:15) with this person or small group.

A good example of this willingness to ‘hang’ with strangers is Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in Sychar. Let’s read it to understand this “relational discipleship”.

Normally Jews and Samaritans didn’t interact, especially women and men. This meeting took place in the middle of a probably very warm travel day. Jesus was in need of a drink from the well, but He knew that the woman was in need of a drink of His Living Water. The fact that she was at the well at the middle of the day rather than the customary early morning time when most of the other women from the village came for their household water indicates that this woman was not part of the village social network, which was later confirmed by Jesus’ prophetic words to her.

Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” ⁸He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

⁹The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”

¹⁰Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

¹¹“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this is a very deep well. Where would you get this living water? ¹²And besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his cattle enjoyed?”

¹³Jesus replied, “People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water. ¹⁴But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

¹⁵“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me some of that water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to haul water.”

¹⁶“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.

¹⁷“I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.

Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now.”

¹⁹“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet!” John 4:7-19 NLT Notice how Jesus reaches out with courtesy to this woman, and how He brings the conversation to a spiritual level. He sparks her interest and she responds. He kindly commends her, and He then gives her a “Word of Knowledge” (1 Cor 12:8) that touches her spirit. Now the conversation reveals a deep need in the heart of the woman- she is awaiting the arrival of the Messiah!

²⁰ So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”
²¹ Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.

²³ But the time is coming and it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. ²⁴ For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
²⁵ The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
²⁶ Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!”
²⁷ Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”

²⁸ The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, ²⁹ “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” ³⁰ So the people came streaming from the village to see him. John 4:20-30

She is convinced that He is indeed the Messiah. She and Jesus have become friends.

³⁹Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” ⁴⁰When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay at their village. So he stayed for two days, ⁴¹long enough for many of them to hear his message and believe. John 4:39-41 NLT

Jesus knew that this woman had a deep spiritual need and a desire to know God intimately. He met her where she was at, in an honoring and loving manner.. She became an immediate evangelist!

Jesus was willing to interact with total strangers in hope that He would have opportunity to give them the message of restored relationship with God. He trusted in His divine ability to speak truth in their lives. He knew that strangers responded to kindness and attentiveness. In these encounters, he often stepped across cultural barriers and shared his meals with the unsaved.

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such despicable people—even eating with them! Luke 15:1-2 NLT

According to the traditions of the religious sects, physical contact with non-Jews and lower class “unclean” people made you “unclean”. They would never allow such sinful people to touch them, or share food with them. Jesus was not constrained by these artificial religious barriers. He was willing to spend time with any potential disciple.

Here is one good example recorded in the book of Luke.

Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was one of the most influential Jews in the Roman tax-collecting business, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowds. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree beside the road, so he could watch from there.

Lukas Bagby and the oldest city on Earth, Jericho, 2018

When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! For I must be a guest in your home today.”

Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.

But the crowds were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.

Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”

Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a son of Abraham. Luke 19:1-9 NLT

Lukas and Mikaela at the ancient tell of Jericho. Jesus shared many meals with his disciples as well as strangers. Remember, in the mind of the Middle Easterner, you only eat with your friends. Jesus, through cultural language, was extending his friendship to these outcasts from Jewish society like Zacchaeus. Sharing meals together causes relationships to grow, and God uses those moments for His own purposes to touch and bring into His Family.

Some of the ancient walls of Jericho

Our favorite restaurant in Jericho

We also see Jesus teaching to large crowds, and to his “small group”.

He used the “crowd” setting to say things that would draw many to more intimate encounters with him and his disciples. He understood the value of having a small group that He could not only share words, but also His lifestyle.

Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. There was such a large crowd along the shore that he got into a boat and sat down and spoke from there. ² He began to teach the people by telling many stories such as this one:

³ “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. ⁴ As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. ⁵ Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The plant sprang up quickly, ⁶ but it soon wilted beneath the hot sun and died because the roots had no nourishment in the shallow soil. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns that shot up and choked out the tender blades so that it produced no grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted.” Then he said, ⁹ “Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!”

¹⁰ Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him, “What do your stories mean?”

¹¹ He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret about the Kingdom of God. But I am using these stories to conceal everything about it from outsiders, ¹² so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. Mark 4:1-11 NLT

Mark goes on to explain this interaction with the crowd and small group:

He used many such stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they were able to understand. ³⁴ In fact, in his public teaching he taught only with parables, but afterward when he was alone with his disciples, he explained the meaning to them. Mark 4:33 NLT

In addition to building relationships through hanging out, sharing meals, teaching moments, Jesus was also willing to be interrupted in his teaching and discipling ministry.

One example is the account of a day (Luke 8) that included interruptions from a demonized man, a leader of the synagogue in Capernaum, and a woman in the crowd. Luke records a typical “interruption” later in chapter 18.

As they approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. ³⁶ When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. ³⁷ They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was going by. ³⁸ So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ The crowds ahead of Jesus tried to hush the man, but he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰ When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. ⁴¹ Then Jesus asked the man, “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord,” he pleaded, “I want to see!”

⁴² And Jesus said, “All right, you can see! Your faith has healed you.” Luke 18:35-42 NLT

Regarding Interruptions, lets remember The Lord’s Prayer:

          ‘Our Father who is in heaven,
           Hallowed be Your name.
          ‘Your kingdom come.
           Your will be done,
           On earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10

By praying this we give God permission to guide our day. We may have our plans for that day, but now God will interrupt us with His plans. As the writer of Proverbs says:

The mind of Michael plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Be prepared for interruptions, as Jesus was. Let us stop, as He did, to look around and see what God wants to do. It will probably be the highlight of our day.

Finally, Jesus performed many miracles, cast out demons, healed many, feed five thousand with two fish and five loaves, walked on water, raised a few paralytics, opened the eyes of a man born blind, as well as taught the Hebrew Scriptures in a manner that no one did before him.

He entered the synagogue and began to teach. They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, ²⁴ saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” ²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.

²⁷ They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee. Mark 1:21-28

When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. ³³ And the whole city had gathered at the door. ³⁴ And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. Mark 1:32-34

¹ When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them.

³ And they *came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. ⁴ Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵ And Jesus seeing their faith *said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸ Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralytic, ¹¹ “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.”

¹² And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.” Mark 2:1-12

Jesus amazed the people with his supernatural empowerments that came when the Holy Spirit descended on Him at his baptism.

He gave authority to his disciples to do the same.

And He *summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; ⁸ and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belt— ⁹ but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.”

¹⁰ And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. ¹¹ Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” ¹² They went out and preached that men should repent. ¹³ And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them. Mark 6:7-13

Jesus gave his disciples three instructions:

1) Go with My authority;

2) Trust me to provide everything you need;

3) Build relationships with the people you meet.

From the Gospels we can see that:

1) Jesus taught the large crowds;

2) He spent quality time with many people, from the rich and politically powerful to the down and outcasts.

3) He lived with his disciples, sharing His life with them;

4) He was willing to stop anytime to interact with anyone who was a potential disciple.

5 He performed many miracles and gave his disciples the authority to do the same.

As we look at the “Jesus Method”, it would be good to consider some practical applications.

1) What is the power of loyal, faithful, giving relationships and living a truly sanctified life in our society?

2) Are we willing to be “interrupted” from our agenda and schedule and stop to serve a potential disciple?

3) How will our individual efforts combined with other Christians’ personal discipleship affect the world?

These are worthy points to ponder.

Our answers will determine our effectiveness in bringing others into the Kingdom.

Next, let’s look at the lifestyles of Jesus’ disciples as it is recorded in the book of Acts.

What did they get from the life of Jesus that affected their disciple-making?

Luke describes some powerful moments in the book of Acts that give us some answers to this question. After an incredible outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the “Second Pentecost”, Luke gives us a portrait of the daily lives of those early followers of Jesus.

The South Steps pf the Temple, Jerusalem

They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47 NLT

A group of Disciples studying on the South Steps of the Temple, 2018

This passage gives an accurate description of the lifestyle of many of the disciples of the First Century Church. Luke describes their devotion to:

1) Studying the Word. Guidance, Wisdom, Correction, and Knowing and Experiencing God, are just a few good reasons that our modern lifestyle should include a daily ration of God’s Word.

2) Fellowship. The Greek word here is “koinonia”, which is defined as “close mutual association”, and “participation”. There is a special dynamic when human beings filled with God’s Holy Spirit join together. This “close mutual association” is a fertile ground for spiritual growth. It is also a place of protection.

A-6 Intruders from Attack Squadron 52 flying by Mt Rainier, with LTJG Bagby flying #2

When we flew into combat situations in the Navy, we survived by a concept known as “Mutual Support”, where each aircraft had its assigned position in the formation, allowing us to keep an eye on our wingmen’s blind spots, as well as defend each other as we were in enemy territory. Our designated leaders could get us to the target, and together we could get the bombs on the target and stay alive for the next mission!

Flying into a hostile environment in the real world is very similar to our life as Christians in a hostile spiritual world. Mutual Support is vital to the health of the combat pilot as well as the Disciple and the body of Christ!

3) “Signs & Wonders - The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. God’s power and presence was made manifest through them, just as Jesus promised them in Acts 1, which has an incredible effect on the crowds who were there for the meals, teachings and prayers.

3) “Breaking Bread” - Communion - Intimate moments with God and each other. The Middle Eastern view is, “if I eat with a person, I am his friend!”. Sharing meals is a form of personal intimacy. You learn a lot about a person when you spend quality time with them. Christianity is not learning about God, but actually experiencing and enjoying our relationship with Him!

4) Prayer is communication that is essential for a healthy relationship with your Father.

The Disciples’ had a focused lifestyle of Loving God and Loving Each Other and Experiencing God.

Notice how their lifestyle included many practical expressions of their love for each other.

They:

· Met together constantly; i.e. They loved each other with their time;

· Shared their material goods; They Loved Each Other with their possessions;

· Worshiped together: They loved God Together;

· Shared meals together; They Loved each other with intimate moments;

· Praised the Lord All The Time; They maintained an attitude of Love toward God- all the time.

In all these times of sharing, worship, praising, and meeting together, there was a very real presence of God among them. This seems to be the key factor in any discipleship efforts – experiencing God through study of His Word, through prayers for one another and through exercising the spiritual empowerments of the Holy Spirit.

Paul wrote about these ‘Gifts of the Holy Spirit’ to his disciples in Corinth and Rome. These are key elements of our discipleship efforts and cannot be ignored. Let’s see how he describes them and how they may apply to our own efforts.

⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. ⁶ There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.

⁷ But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

⁸ For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

¹¹ But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

Laura at the Temple of Apollo, Corinth, 2001

What can we understand about these supernatural empowerments of the Holy Spirit?

Each Follower of Jesus has at least one spiritual gift, given by the Holy Spirit as He desires for use for the Christian community. When we exercise these supernatural empowerments with the people we are with, truly amazing things happen, and people see God move in very personal ways. This causes a real attraction to the person of Jesus. People who are touched by the Holy Spirit often become passionate Followers of Jesus.

Principle: We all are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do miraculous things that we could not do with our own natural abilities that will benefit those around us.

These supernatural abilities include :

· wisdom beyond our own experience,

· strategic knowledge of things that have occurred that we naturally know nothing of,

· faith for specific things to happen,

· the ability to pray for healing and see others get healed of sickness;

· performing acts outside the laws of nature,

· speaking God’s words for specific situations;

· discerning spiritual activity in the Heavenly realms;

· speaking languages that you don’t naturally know and

· suddenly understanding unknown languages.

Paul give another list of these supernatural empowerments in his letter to the Romans:

⁴ For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶ Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly:

if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; ⁷ if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:4-8

Randy & Dottie Smith & Laura with Caesar on horseback, Rome, 2007

Paul includes prophecy and six other spiritual gifts in this list:

· Prophecy: prophēteía; the foretelling of future events, including the declarations, exhortations, and warnings

· Service: diakonía; deacon, servant. Service, attendance, ministry.

· Teaching: didáskō; to know or teach, instruct by word of mouth.

· Exhortation: parakaléō; to call; to aid, help, comfort, encourage, to admonish, beseech, and entreat,

· Giving: metadídōmi; to give. To share with someone, to impart, to give alms

· Leading: proistēmi ; to put before, to set over, to rule.

· Showing Mercy: eleéō; to show mercy, to show compassion, extend help for the consequence of sin.

Principle: Each disciple of Jesus has been given the supernatural ability to provide either care, guidance, sustenance, leadership, compassion, teaching, discernment, healing, miracles, wisdom, knowledge of events, communication in other languages, and God’s specific words for specific situations for other members of the Christian community.

Imagine being in a community where these supernatural giftings were flourishing and utilized for the common good. These would be ‘amazing’ events that would cause deep fundamental worldview changes, changed hearts and changed relationships in those present.

What was the result of this lifestyle described in Acts 2?

“And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.”

They were enjoying life, experiencing the presence and power of God, enjoying their relationships, and while all that was going on, many people were being brought into the Kingdom.

This is the effective lifestyle of evangelism and discipleship that we can emulate in our own cultural situations.

Principle: We should emulate the lifestyle of those First Century disciples if we want to see changed cultures in our communities and in those in the far corners of the world.

Principle: We must ask God which supernatural empowerment He has given us and actively use it for the good of those around us.

Imagine now how things would be in our community if each Christian exercised their spiritual giftings for the benefits of others. Would we naturally see “each day the Lord adding to our group those who were being saved.”

Now let’s fast forward a few decades to see what the next generation of disciples did in their efforts to bring people into the Kingdom. The famous missionary Paul wrote a letter to a group of his disciples in Greece about 20 years after the “Day of Pentecost”. In it, he reveals the manner in which his ministry team developed relationships, shared the Gospel, encouraged the believers, and made an effective group of disciples in the city of Thessaloniki, a commercial center in Macedonia on the Via Ignatia road to Rome.

The ancient agora in Thessaloniki

You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. ² You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, even though we were surrounded by many who opposed us.

³ So you can see that we were not preaching with any deceit or impure purposes or trickery.

⁴ For we speak as messengers who have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He is the one who examines the motives of our hearts.

⁵ Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you very well know. And God is our witness that we were not just pretending to be your friends so you would give us money!

⁶ As for praise, we have never asked for it from you or anyone else. ⁷ As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but we were as gentle among you as a mother feeding and caring for her own children.

⁸ We loved you so much that we gave you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.

⁹ Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you?

Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that our expenses would not be a burden to anyone there as we preached God’s Good News among you.

¹⁰ You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were pure and honest and faultless toward all of you believers.

¹¹ And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children.

¹² We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you into his Kingdom to share his glory.

¹³ And we will never stop thanking God that when we preached his message to you, you didn’t think of the words we spoke as being just our own. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it was. And this word continues to work in you who believe. 1 Thessalonians 2:1-13 NLT

The modern port of Thessaloniki

Here are a few principles that we derive from Paul’s experience and methods that he utilized in Thessaloniki.

1) His team proclaimed the Gospel in spite of opposition. We see that bold obedience in following the Lord leads to changed lives.

2) Paul and his team did not try to manipulate or deceive those they were with but trusted in God to do the work. With our security in knowing that “Jesus is with us”, we don’t have to bend the truth, use flattery or trickery. Our objectives are to see God’s purposes served, not our own gain or fame.

3) The Team pointed these new disciples to Christ, not themselves. They were not seeking fame or prestige and not trying to build a ministry based on their personalities.

4) They developed intimate, familial relationships with the disciples in Thessaloniki. They came to love them as family.

5) They worked hard among them, give freely of their time and resources. Effective ministry is all about complete servant hood. A lifestyle of consistent selfless acts loudly proclaims God’s love for His people. Doing what is best for others has profound impact for the Gospel.

6) They modeled Christiam morality and behavior to the Thessalonians, encouraging them in practical steps of Godly character building.

7) They exhorted them to live Godly lives. Exhortation and encouragement are effective in seeing lives change.

8) They prayed for their new disciples. Bringing God’s power and wisdom into the lives of new believers is critical for their spiritual growth.

9) God has a Divine Plan for each member of “His Family” which includes His Diving Power to change lives. Sticking to God’s Word and principles instead of our own words and feelings produces lasting fruit the lives of each disciple.

Our study tour group in front of the medieval church in downtown Thessaloniki, October 2001

Jesus and the disciples of the First Century Church practiced a “relational discipleship” method, which was based on the “Big Three” Commandments of the Christian Scriptures:

1) Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind,

2) Love your neighbor as yourself, and

3) Proceed and Disciple the Nations.

They did it with the Power of the Holy Spirit and the conviction that their lives were now not their own to decide what they would do in this life or where they would go.

They cultivated the Presence of God through their sanctified lifestyle and their hospitality and service to those around them.

They passed on the Gospel message and lifestyle to each generation which eventually reached each of us.

We are faced with similar First Century challenges of moral confusion, self-centered living, societal and government corruption, and widespread oppression with many Christians around the world suffering persecution and even death for the cause of the Gospel.

Will we rely on our church programs to solve societal ills and extend the invitation to eternal life to the many who are on the road to eternal separation for God.

Or will we emulate the lifestyle described in the Gospels and Book of Acts and see many come into the Kingdom in our time.

The choice is ours.