In order to make disciples you have to first be a disciple. A disciple is one who learns the gospel, relates in the gospel, and communicates the gospel.

“When a man really gives up trying to make something out of himself—a saint, or converted sinner, or a churchman, a righteous or unrighteous man, . . . when in the fullness of tasks, questions, success or ill-hap, experiences and perplexities, a man throws himself into the arms of God . . . then he wakes with Christ...Jesus, alone, should take the center place in our lives, not our Bible reading, evangelism, character, or effort to be different or spiritual.”

You cannot change yourself. What I am not saying is "without God you cannot change yourself." Nothing about your salvation makes you able to be good after the fact. The very grace that saves and justifies you before a Holy God is the same grace that must fill you with God. You are changed when He lives in and through you. It's nothing you allow-it is something that happens to you. My challenge to you is to change the focus of your life. If you find yourself using words like "try harder", "do better, " "have more love, patience, joy, etc." you are focused on the wrong thing. Instead of praying for and focusing on trying to change yourself, begin praying each morning that God would reveal Himself to you in a whole new way today. That He would teach you something new about Himself and that He would fill you up inside with Himself. Any Christian focused on knowing and being full of God can not help but be changed. Stop focusing in all that you aren't and focus on all that God is.

Discussion about the videos.

It's interesting that the first command Jesus gives us as new believers is to be done in front of and as a part of a community of other Christians. The command to be baptized (which we will be studying next week) shows that you have made the commitment to being a disciple of Jesus Christ and He is now Lord of your life. In addition, baptism in front of a community of believers makes you open to encouragement and the protection and challenge of being in community. Being a disciple of Jesus is not an individual thing. Your relationships with other Christians will massively shape you and help you to grow as a disciple of Christ. Being part of a local church is where this happens and being associated with a group of people you come together with on a regular basis to pray, worship, and study doctrine together is very important. The New Testament has over 50 “one another” verses that refer to loving one another, serving one another, encouraging one another, and praying for one another. Each of these commands requires relationships with other Christians. Relationships with other Christians will cause you to have to relate in grace and to not only learn from others, but to begin to pass on what you have learned.

For believers who refuse to be in community as part of a local church-they isolate themselves which makes them more vulnerable to attack from the enemy and also to self-deception.

Another aspect of this relational aspect of discipleship is to find someone you can trust with your heart (or a couple someone's if need be). If God is truly at work in your heart you will want someone to run things by, someone to challenge your assumptions, someone to help guard and protect your heart, and someone to share their life with you as you begin your baby steps to maturity. Above all other considerations, my advice would be to choose someone who understands the grace of God in their own life. If you choose someone who looks super spiritual and is not consistently disclosing their own failures, be careful. They may be a glorified moralist instead of a true believer.

One of the differences between Christians and non-Christians is that as a disciple of Christ your life has deep meaning and purpose. Not only do you get to know the God of the universe, but He gives you the commission to be a bridge between Himself and the unbeliever as well as Himself and other believers. You don't have to be an expert, know the entire Bible, or be able to explain God-what you do need is assurance that you really believe what you say you believe and the ability to communicate your own story.

There are people out there who think that they are believers, but when you examine their Christian lives they will admit they aren't 100% convinced in their hearts that what they believe is real. I would suggest to you that if you are one of those believers it might be important to go to God to ask Him if you are truly saved. Remember that simply being able to point back to a time when your head said "I believe this to be true in my head" doesn't equal salvation. Just because you said a prayer once doesn't mean that is when you were saved. If you said a prayer and then you went on to live a life that included sin and you never felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit or had a niggling feeling that you were doing something wrong, chances are that you were not saved. When God saves a child of His, He has a relationship with them that is just as real as your relationships with your family. You know he is there, not just in an intellectual sense but your heart knows His presence. You are fully convinced in your heart (although you may not know the details) and when you do something you know to be sin He doesn't allow you to rationalize it-He comes for you, chases you down and pulls you back to Himself or allows life to drive you back to Himself.

If you have reservations about sharing God with those you love and with those around you it could very well be that you're not fully convinced that you have the truth. And no amount of learning or education is going to fix that. Ask questions. Study, by all means, study and learn. But above all that ask God to reveal Himself to you in a way that you will never recover from and that will convince you that He is real. Ask Him to confirm with you that you have an actual relationship with Him, not just a time you can point back to and say "well, I asked him to save me on x date." It is important to be sure yourself before you share with and disciple others.

More than you need to DO anything, you need Jesus. More than you need to study anything, you need Jesus. More than you need to have a more holy and pure life, you need Jesus.