HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM THIS STUDY
God has done some amazing things in 40 days! Noah was instructed to build an ark to preserve the human race prior to God flooding the earth with rain for 40 days. Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai. The Israelite spies took 40 days to spy out Canaan. Goliath taunted King Saul’s army for 40 days before David arrived to slay him. Elijah traveled for 40 days when he fled to Mount Horeb from Jezebel. Jesus’ public ministry began with 40 days of prayer and fasting while He was tempted by Satan in the Judean wilderness. Jesus’ public ministry ended with 40 days of encouraging and commissioning His disciples from the time of His Resurrection to the Ascension. What could these next 40 days hold in store for you?
(click to continue reading)
The 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal is a resource for small groups or individuals who have a desire to study the life of Christ and go deeper in understanding what it means to BE a disciple who makes disciples. This resource has been developed as a 6 week / 40 day study, but can be adapted to a longer time frame, depending on the needs and interests of the group.
The 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal is designed as a companion resource to Sonlife’s 4 Chair Discipling Seminar and 4 Chair Discipling book so that churches or youth groups can use these resources together for a comprehensive ministry-wide disciple-making journey through large group teaching, small group discussion and personal study.
Each week of this study begins with an introductory overview of that week’s emphasis. Each day of the study will take approximately 20 minutes to complete and includes an Apart from Him prayer prompt and a Walking As Jesus disciple-making application. And remember, this is a journal. Use your pen freely. Fill the pages with your own thoughts, words, insights and questions.
The 4 Chair Discipling Inventory is a tool designed to help you discover which Chair you’re at in the disciple-making process and what your next steps might be to move to the next Chair. The Inventory is included in this Journal and can be taken at the beginning of your study to help you understand your starting point on this journey. It can also be taken at the end of your study to help you see the progress you’ve made in your disciple-making journey.
For over 40 years, we have been studying the life of Christ, encouraging and equipping others to walk as Jesus walked and make disciples as Jesus did. Our prayer is that you will take a fresh look at Jesus as our model for how God intended us to live life. Hebrews 3:1 in The Message version of the Bible challenges us:
Take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe.”
So let’s do just that! Together, let’s embark on a disciple-making journey with Jesus as our guide.
NOTE:
How can you best use the eBook version of this resource?
1. Read each day’s eBook journal entry with your Bible, a journal notebook and a pen in hand.
2. When you come to a question in the eBook, write down the question with your response in your journal, along with the Scripture reference if you’re journaling about a particular verse.
3. At the end of each day’s journal entry, be sure to write out your disciple-making plan for that day. At the end of the day, you can look back and write down what you saw God do that day.”
(click to continue reading)
The 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal is a resource for small groups or individuals who have a desire to study the life of Christ and go deeper in understanding what it means to BE a disciple who makes disciples. This resource has been developed as a 6 week / 40 day study, but can be adapted to a longer time frame, depending on the needs and interests of the group.
The 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal is designed as a companion resource to Sonlife’s 4 Chair Discipling Seminar and 4 Chair Discipling book so that churches or youth groups can use these resources together for a comprehensive ministry-wide disciple-making journey through large group teaching, small group discussion and personal study.
Each week of this study begins with an introductory overview of that week’s emphasis. Each day of the study will take approximately 20 minutes to complete and includes an Apart from Him prayer prompt and a Walking As Jesus disciple-making application. And remember, this is a journal. Use your pen freely. Fill the pages with your own thoughts, words, insights and questions.
The 4 Chair Discipling Inventory is a tool designed to help you discover which Chair you’re at in the disciple-making process and what your next steps might be to move to the next Chair. The Inventory is included in this Journal and can be taken at the beginning of your study to help you understand your starting point on this journey. It can also be taken at the end of your study to help you see the progress you’ve made in your disciple-making journey.
For over 40 years, we have been studying the life of Christ, encouraging and equipping others to walk as Jesus walked and make disciples as Jesus did. Our prayer is that you will take a fresh look at Jesus as our model for how God intended us to live life. Hebrews 3:1 in The Message version of the Bible challenges us:
Take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe.”
So let’s do just that! Together, let’s embark on a disciple-making journey with Jesus as our guide.
NOTE:
How can you best use the eBook version of this resource?
1. Read each day’s eBook journal entry with your Bible, a journal notebook and a pen in hand.
2. When you come to a question in the eBook, write down the question with your response in your journal, along with the Scripture reference if you’re journaling about a particular verse.
3. At the end of each day’s journal entry, be sure to write out your disciple-making plan for that day. At the end of the day, you can look back and write down what you saw God do that day.”
WEEK ONE
Jesus As Our Model
Week 1 Introduction:
Our study will begin by looking at the person of Jesus. Our understanding of Him is crucial to our understanding of what it means to be and make disciples. Misconceptions about the person of Jesus can lead us down the wrong path in our disciple-making journey or leave us feeling inadequate for the challenge ahead.
(click to continue reading)
The Trinity
The Incarnation
The Gospels
Our study will begin by looking at the person of Jesus. Our understanding of Him is crucial to our understanding of what it means to be and make disciples. Misconceptions about the person of Jesus can lead us down the wrong path in our disciple-making journey or leave us feeling inadequate for the challenge ahead.
(click to continue reading)
The Trinity
Jesus is a member of the Trinity. God is three Persons, yet One. God the Father. God the Son. God the Holy Spirit. All three equally God, yet all three distinct. It’s a mystery we see reflected from the very beginning of the Bible when God says, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” all the way through to the Gospels when Jesus told His disciples to “baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The Incarnation
Jesus was both fully God and fully man. He was not merely God in a human body, nor a man with God-like qualities. He was fully God, fully man. God the Son becoming man in the person of Jesus is what we call the incarnation. As a man, Jesus had a body, mind, emotions and will just like you and me, and yet He was at the same time fully God. This is a mystery too big for our minds to grasp.
The Gospels
The Gospels aren’t merely stories with a moral, they are in fact history… His Story! Jesus was a real person who lived in a real time and a real place with real people. Each of the Gospel writers tells the story of Jesus from their unique vantage point, writing to a unique audience. It is generally accepted that the four Gospels were written in the order we read them in our Bible.
The Gospel of Matthew was written by the tax collector turned disciple and eventual apostle, Matthew.
The Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark, though many believe he was merely the scribe and the Apostle Peter was the author.
The Gospel of Luke was written by first century physician and historian, Luke. As a historian, he set out to write ‘an orderly account’ and thus helps form our chronology for the Life of Christ. The Gospel of Luke is the life of Jesus through the eyes of many eyewitnesses, including Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The Gospel of John was written by the youngest of the twelve apostles, John, who outlived all the others. John’s Gospel is our most intimate look at Jesus through the eyes of his closest friend.The Person of Jesus
Jesus was the promised Messiah of the Jewish people. He was born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, of the tribe of Judah and the line of David. Jesus lived under the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire, which created a “longing and an expectation for a savior, the Messiah, to deliver his people from their enemies. Jesus was not the conquering hero the people of Israel had expected, but instead came as a suffering servant to model a new way of thinking and living. Jesus’ model, mission, motive and message was centered on the kingdom of God.
Used with permission of Sonlife Ministries. To download the full version of the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal, visit: Sonlife.com.
WEEK TWO
Winning The Lost // Chair 1
Week 2 Introduction:
The names we use to describe people who have yet to put their faith in Christ for salvation and eternal life can be unflattering, even offensive, especially if you’re the person who has yet to put your faith in Christ. Calling someone a heathen, pagan, reprobate or damned is no way to win friends and influence people. A little less offensive, but still not flattering are words like unchristian, non-believer and spiritually lost. Perhaps the most positive term we could use for those who have yet to put their faith in Christ is to call them a spiritual seeker. However, not all spiritually lost people would consider themselves spiritual seekers.
(click to continue reading)
Most of these terms find their origin in the Bible and accurately describe the person without Christ. Many of them are in the “red letters” sections of the Bible, coming from the lips of Jesus Himself. And of all of the terms we could use, the one Jesus Himself used the most was “lost.” He came to “seek and to save the lost” and devoted three successive parables in Luke 15 to the joy He finds in rescuing those who are spiritually lost.
The Lost Sheep
The Lost Coin
Used with permission of Sonlife Ministries. To download the full version of the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal, visit: Sonlife.com.
The names we use to describe people who have yet to put their faith in Christ for salvation and eternal life can be unflattering, even offensive, especially if you’re the person who has yet to put your faith in Christ. Calling someone a heathen, pagan, reprobate or damned is no way to win friends and influence people. A little less offensive, but still not flattering are words like unchristian, non-believer and spiritually lost. Perhaps the most positive term we could use for those who have yet to put their faith in Christ is to call them a spiritual seeker. However, not all spiritually lost people would consider themselves spiritual seekers.
(click to continue reading)
Most of these terms find their origin in the Bible and accurately describe the person without Christ. Many of them are in the “red letters” sections of the Bible, coming from the lips of Jesus Himself. And of all of the terms we could use, the one Jesus Himself used the most was “lost.” He came to “seek and to save the lost” and devoted three successive parables in Luke 15 to the joy He finds in rescuing those who are spiritually lost.
The Lost Sheep
“When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” Luke 15:6-7
The Lost Coin
And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In “the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” Luke 15:9-10The Lost Son
“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.” Luke 15:22-24
By telling three successive stories, Jesus is putting a triple exclamation point at the end of His statement. A few simple observations from these three stories. Something or someone is LOST… we are to take notice of that which is lost. What is lost is of great VALUE… the value of that which is lost should motivate us to pursue with an all out search “until the lost are found.
Recovering the lost brings GREAT JOY… God throws a party in heaven when those who are spiritually lost become found. There are few greater joys we can experience in the Christian life than seeing a spiritually lost person place their faith in Christ.
Lost people matter to God!!!
Used with permission of Sonlife Ministries. To download the full version of the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal, visit: Sonlife.com.
WEEK THREE
Building the Believer // Chair 2
Week 3 Introduction:
When a person puts their faith in Christ, they become a child of God. They are now a spiritual infant. From a natural point of view, what do infants need us to do for them? Everything, right? An infant needs their parent to care for them. An infant can’t yet walk, getting to where they need to go. They need to be carried or pushed in a stroller. An infant can’t talk. They will need to learn to formulate words and communicate. An infant can’t feed themselves. They need to be breast fed, or bottle fed. An infant can’t clean themselves. They make messes. Dirty diapers, slobber-covered clothes and crusty noses all have to be cleaned. A good, loving parent will gladly do all of this and more for their child, but they don’t plan on doing it forever. The hope, the goal even, is to teach your child how to care for themselves so they can grow to be happy and healthy. A good parent teaches their child how to clothe themselves, clean themselves and feed themselves.
(click to continue reading)
Every new Christian, as a spiritual infant, must learn several basic things in order to be healthy and grow spiritually. We use the acronym, IWTFC, or I Want To Follow Christ, to outline five of these essentials for growing as a believer.
Identity
Walk
As each of these essentials are established in a new believer’s life, they will grow to become more like Jesus.
Recovering the lost brings GREAT JOY… God throws a party in heaven when those who are spiritually lost become found. There are few greater joys we can experience in the Christian life than seeing a spiritually lost person place their faith in Christ.
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7
Used with permission of Sonlife Ministries. To download the full version of the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal, visit: Sonlife.com.
When a person puts their faith in Christ, they become a child of God. They are now a spiritual infant. From a natural point of view, what do infants need us to do for them? Everything, right? An infant needs their parent to care for them. An infant can’t yet walk, getting to where they need to go. They need to be carried or pushed in a stroller. An infant can’t talk. They will need to learn to formulate words and communicate. An infant can’t feed themselves. They need to be breast fed, or bottle fed. An infant can’t clean themselves. They make messes. Dirty diapers, slobber-covered clothes and crusty noses all have to be cleaned. A good, loving parent will gladly do all of this and more for their child, but they don’t plan on doing it forever. The hope, the goal even, is to teach your child how to care for themselves so they can grow to be happy and healthy. A good parent teaches their child how to clothe themselves, clean themselves and feed themselves.
(click to continue reading)
Every new Christian, as a spiritual infant, must learn several basic things in order to be healthy and grow spiritually. We use the acronym, IWTFC, or I Want To Follow Christ, to outline five of these essentials for growing as a believer.
Identity
Every believer must know whose they are, that they now belong to the family of God. They must also know who they are in Christ. They must understand their new spiritual identity.
Walk
Every believer must learn how to walk with Christ. They must learn how to walk in the Spirit, walk in obedience and walk in love.Talk
Every believer must learn how to talk to God in prayer. They must also learn how to talk to other believers, encouraging and building them up. They must also learn how to talk to their spiritually lost friends, sharing their faith story in a simple, clear way.Feed
Every believer must learn how to feed on God’s Word. They must learn how to read God’s Word, study God’s Word, memorize God’s Word, meditate on God’s Word and apply God’s Word to their everyday life.Clean
Every believer must learn how to confess their sin and be restored to fellowship with God. We all make mistakes. We all sin. We must learn how to come clean with God and ultimately have victory over sin and temptation.
As each of these essentials are established in a new believer’s life, they will grow to become more like Jesus.
Recovering the lost brings GREAT JOY… God throws a party in heaven when those who are spiritually lost become found. There are few greater joys we can experience in the Christian life than seeing a spiritually lost person place their faith in Christ.
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7
Used with permission of Sonlife Ministries. To download the full version of the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal, visit: Sonlife.com.
WEEK FOUR
Equipping The Worker // Chair 3
Week 4 Introduction:
For the first 18-21 months of His public ministry, Jesus’ disciples were largely spectators. They had front row seats to hear amazing teaching and see the miraculous. There had never been anyone like Jesus. They had never met anyone who spoke like Jesus. They had never met anyone who could do the things that Jesus did. The front row was an amazing place to be. I’m sure they were both thrilled and honored to be invited along for the ride. They cheered for Jesus. They worshiped Him. He was their long-awaited Messiah.
(click to continue reading)
And then... then Jesus did the unthinkable! He invited them onto the field. He challenged them to be players, not just spectators. “Follow me... and I will teach you how to fish for people! Everything you’ve heard me say and seen me do, I will now train you to say and do.”
And then... then Jesus did the unthinkable! He invited them onto the field. He challenged them to be players, not just spectators. “Follow me... and I will teach you how to fish for people! Everything you’ve heard me say and seen me do, I will now train you to say and do.”
Our churches today are filled with spectators, and we’ve become very comfortable spectating. We like our seat in the stands. We like to cheer on Jesus. We’re content to sit in the stands and watch the professionals play the game, the pastors and youth pastors and ministry directors and elders and deacons.
Many who are sitting in the stands, spectating, don’t even realize that their destiny awaits them on the field. They have been created for a purpose, called to live on mission and custom-fitted with special equipment to make a contribution on the field that only they can make. The real spectators are the believers who have gone before us, watching on from heaven, cheering us on as we run the race that has been set before us.
When Jesus looked around and saw the vast spiritual need, He told His disciples that the harvest was great. There was great need, which meant that there was great opportunity. What He needed was more workers. He told His disciples He needed more workers. He asked the Father to send more workers.
The needs in our world today are great. Open your eyes. Look around you. The harvest is great, and Jesus needs more workers. But what is a harvest worker? Is it anyone who helps in any way with anything in the church? No. That would be a servant.
What is a harvest worker? A harvest worker is a disciple-maker. They lock arms with Jesus and help bring in the spiritual harvest. They share the gospel with spiritually lost people and help new believers to be established in their faith.
The person who is in Chair 3 is engaged in disciple-making by investing relationally in the person in Chair 1 and inviting them to place their faith in Christ.
The person who is in Chair 3 is engaged in disciple-making by investing relationally in the person in Chair 2 and inviting them to follow their model as they follow Christ.
Jesus delights in turning spectators into players, helping them to live lives filled with purpose and passion as they make disciples who make disciples.
Used with permission of Sonlife Ministries. To download the full version of the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal, visit: Sonlife.com.
For the first 18-21 months of His public ministry, Jesus’ disciples were largely spectators. They had front row seats to hear amazing teaching and see the miraculous. There had never been anyone like Jesus. They had never met anyone who spoke like Jesus. They had never met anyone who could do the things that Jesus did. The front row was an amazing place to be. I’m sure they were both thrilled and honored to be invited along for the ride. They cheered for Jesus. They worshiped Him. He was their long-awaited Messiah.
(click to continue reading)
And then... then Jesus did the unthinkable! He invited them onto the field. He challenged them to be players, not just spectators. “Follow me... and I will teach you how to fish for people! Everything you’ve heard me say and seen me do, I will now train you to say and do.”
And then... then Jesus did the unthinkable! He invited them onto the field. He challenged them to be players, not just spectators. “Follow me... and I will teach you how to fish for people! Everything you’ve heard me say and seen me do, I will now train you to say and do.”
Our churches today are filled with spectators, and we’ve become very comfortable spectating. We like our seat in the stands. We like to cheer on Jesus. We’re content to sit in the stands and watch the professionals play the game, the pastors and youth pastors and ministry directors and elders and deacons.
Many who are sitting in the stands, spectating, don’t even realize that their destiny awaits them on the field. They have been created for a purpose, called to live on mission and custom-fitted with special equipment to make a contribution on the field that only they can make. The real spectators are the believers who have gone before us, watching on from heaven, cheering us on as we run the race that has been set before us.
When Jesus looked around and saw the vast spiritual need, He told His disciples that the harvest was great. There was great need, which meant that there was great opportunity. What He needed was more workers. He told His disciples He needed more workers. He asked the Father to send more workers.
The needs in our world today are great. Open your eyes. Look around you. The harvest is great, and Jesus needs more workers. But what is a harvest worker? Is it anyone who helps in any way with anything in the church? No. That would be a servant.
What is a harvest worker? A harvest worker is a disciple-maker. They lock arms with Jesus and help bring in the spiritual harvest. They share the gospel with spiritually lost people and help new believers to be established in their faith.
The person who is in Chair 3 is engaged in disciple-making by investing relationally in the person in Chair 1 and inviting them to place their faith in Christ.
The person who is in Chair 3 is engaged in disciple-making by investing relationally in the person in Chair 2 and inviting them to follow their model as they follow Christ.
Jesus delights in turning spectators into players, helping them to live lives filled with purpose and passion as they make disciples who make disciples.
Used with permission of Sonlife Ministries. To download the full version of the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal, visit: Sonlife.com.
WEEK FIVE
Multiplying Disciple-Makers // Chair 4
Week 5 Introduction:
As a person moves along the disciple-making pathway from seeker to believer to worker, how do they know when they have arrived at the fourth Chair as a disciple-maker? In Luke 6:40, we see Jesus say this to His disciples. “Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.”
(click to continue reading)
Student is another word for disciple. “The disciples who is fully trained will become like the person who discipled them.”
If a disciple is going to be like their teacher, they have to know what the teacher knows so they can say what the teacher says and do what the teacher does.
If a disciple is going to be like their teacher, the character and priorities of the teacher must be reflected in the way the disciple lives.
If a disciple is going to be like their teacher, and their teacher discipled them, then the only way they can truly be like their teacher is to disciple someone else.
Built right into the DNA of being a disciple is the priority of making disciples!
So again, as a person moves along the disciple-making pathway from seeker to believer to worker, how do they know when they have arrived at the fourth Chair as a disciple-maker?
The only way you can know if you are a disciple-maker is to look around you and see if you have actually made any disciples. Have you helped someone move from seeker to believer to worker, and now they are helping someone else move from seeker to believer and eventually worker? If so, then you have a disciple who is doing what you have done with them. You have a disciple who is making disciples. If you have a disciple who is beginning to make disciples, then, and only then, do you know that you are in the fourth Chair as a disciple-maker.
This has been Jesus’ plan from the beginning. He chooses to use ordinary, unschooled men and women just like you and me to carry out His plan to take the gospel from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth. He chooses to use ordinary, unschooled men, women, children and students to reach this world one block at a time... one school at a time... one workplace at a time... one city at a time... one state at a time... one nation at a time. Ordinary me. Ordinary you. We have always been God’s plan!
“So, we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”” 2 Corinthians 5:20
Used with permission of Sonlife Ministries. To download the full version of the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal, visit: Sonlife.com.
As a person moves along the disciple-making pathway from seeker to believer to worker, how do they know when they have arrived at the fourth Chair as a disciple-maker? In Luke 6:40, we see Jesus say this to His disciples. “Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.”
(click to continue reading)
Student is another word for disciple. “The disciples who is fully trained will become like the person who discipled them.”
If a disciple is going to be like their teacher, they have to know what the teacher knows so they can say what the teacher says and do what the teacher does.
If a disciple is going to be like their teacher, the character and priorities of the teacher must be reflected in the way the disciple lives.
If a disciple is going to be like their teacher, and their teacher discipled them, then the only way they can truly be like their teacher is to disciple someone else.
Built right into the DNA of being a disciple is the priority of making disciples!
So again, as a person moves along the disciple-making pathway from seeker to believer to worker, how do they know when they have arrived at the fourth Chair as a disciple-maker?
The only way you can know if you are a disciple-maker is to look around you and see if you have actually made any disciples. Have you helped someone move from seeker to believer to worker, and now they are helping someone else move from seeker to believer and eventually worker? If so, then you have a disciple who is doing what you have done with them. You have a disciple who is making disciples. If you have a disciple who is beginning to make disciples, then, and only then, do you know that you are in the fourth Chair as a disciple-maker.
This has been Jesus’ plan from the beginning. He chooses to use ordinary, unschooled men and women just like you and me to carry out His plan to take the gospel from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth. He chooses to use ordinary, unschooled men, women, children and students to reach this world one block at a time... one school at a time... one workplace at a time... one city at a time... one state at a time... one nation at a time. Ordinary me. Ordinary you. We have always been God’s plan!
“So, we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”” 2 Corinthians 5:20
Used with permission of Sonlife Ministries. To download the full version of the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal, visit: Sonlife.com.
WEEK 6
Sticking Points And Next Steps
Used with permission of Sonlife Ministries. To download the full version of the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal, visit: Sonlife.com.
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