Disciple ! Online Study

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Lesson 6  

Disciples are empowered.

Consider again the last, climactic words of Matthew’s gospel, paying special attention to how they crescendo at the last sentence:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:16-20)

Isn’t it Ironic?

Ironically, Jesus spoke those words just before disappearing from their sight. Why would he say, "I am with you always" as he was apparently leaving them?

Some days before, Jesus had explained that he was going away, but would send his Spirit to be with the disciples, and not only with them, but also in them.

His Spirit would do many things for them: teach them, guide them, encourage them, unify them, convict them when they had done wrong, assure them they were God’s beloved children, activate special spiritual gifts in them, give them boldness, transform them into increasingly Christ-like people, energize them, empower them.

I Can’t Do This By Myself

That’s essential for disciples to understand and believe. Our mission of being disciples and making disciples can not be done in our own human strength. We need the strength of Christ’s own Spirit alive in us to help us be disciples and to empower us to help others become disciples too.

In other words, apart from the Spirit of Christ, we can do nothing. But with Christ’s Spirit filling us, we can do anything God wants us to do.

The Holy Spirit

One of the names for the Spirit of Christ is Holy Spirit. That means that when God’s Spirit enters our lives, we are filled with an urge towards being holy – pure – clean – good – godly.

We all know there are plenty of other urges in us – urges toward lust, greed, anger, laziness, pride. Growing as disciples means learning to surrender to the Holy Spirit, not those other darker urges.

A Great Mystery

The Holy Spirit is also called "the Spirit of God." This brings us to the edge of a great mystery which theologians call the Trinity—that the one true and living God exists as a community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This mystery is not an explanation of God; rather, it is an admission that God’s being lies beyond our full comprehension. It means that in the one true and living God, there is love, communication, fellowship, and dynamic unity.

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God … is God as we experience God in our lives today. When Jesus says, "I will be with you always," he is saying, "My Spirit is with you; my Spirit is in you."

That’s encouraging to know, because often it is very hard being a disciple. Sometimes we are very tempted to give up. But Jesus promised us that we are never alone.

Now That’s Empowerment

Being a disciple means being a person in whom Christ’s Spirit is alive and active. Are you empowered by God’s Spirit?

A good analogy can be made to breathing. God’s Spirit is like breath: air is all around us, but we also need air inside us. How do we get air inside us? By breathing—by opening up and taking it in. Similarly, disciples develop practices that help them keep their lives filled with the fresh wind of God’s Spirit.

Important Practices

Those practices include prayer, fasting, worship, contemplation, journaling, and accountability. These practices aren’t just ends in themselves; they are ways for us to stay full of the Spirit of Christ, who is with us always.

Maybe you have imagined what it would be like to have lived in Jesus’ day and to be one of the twelve original disciples, like Peter, James, or John. The fact is, Jesus is every bit as real and present to you as he was to them, because his Spirit – though invisible like the air we breathe or the wind that fills a sailboat’s sails – is with us even now.

Write a prayer asking God to help you more fully experience the reality of the risen Christ, with you in his Spirit.

Lesson 6 Review

Disciples are empowered.

Used with permission of Brian McLaren and Cedar Ridge Community Church and adapted by Eric Flood