Please know that while John and Marti are laid up with Covid, the Catch continues to operate without a hitch. If you should need anything, please feel free to contact any of the following:

Wayne Bridegroom: Associate Pastor, bridegroom@gmail.com

John Shirk: Minister of Discipleship, johnshirk@fgbc.org

Cynthia Cody Vera: Prayer Ministry Pastor, cynthiacody@rocketmail.com

Dave Kelley: Vanguard Representative, tornveil2@gmail.com

Our Catch today comes by way of Pastor John Shirk.

by John Shirk

When Jesus told the Twelve to make disciples of all nations, they knew exactly what He meant. They had just spent 3 years with Jesus watching Him make disciples of them. Three years of meals together. Three years of walking from town to town through the Judean countryside. Three years of listening to Jesus speak in parables and quote the Scriptures. Three years of  watching the power of God at work in the Son of God.

The disciples followed Jesus for three years. Then He went to heaven where they could not follow. But He left them the Holy Spirit, and they continued to follow His example.

Jesus said, “Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like their teacher.” (Luke 6:40 NLT). The disciples were Jesus’ students. I suspect they discipled like Jesus, not merely in classrooms but in relationships. I suspect they ate a lot of meals with their disciples, traveled with them, taught them the parables of Jesus and quoted the Scriptures to them. I suspect their disciples were impacted as they saw the power of God at work in the children of God.

And slowly the good news of Jesus spread across the globe.

What about today? I am called to make disciples, but what does that mean? Is discipleship a curriculum that is studied in a classroom? Is it a Scripture memory program? Is it a method of behavior modification to get rid of wrong habits and learn right ones? Those are all noble goals. I want my disciples to learn the teachings of Jesus, memorize Scripture and change the way they live. But discipleship is more than that. If I want to make disciples like Jesus I should expect to eat meals with them, travel through life with them, teach them the parables of Jesus and the Scriptures, and let them watch the power of God displayed in my life through good times and bad, when I’m doing well as well as when I’m doing poorly.

But it isn’t just about people spending time with me. Spending time with me will make them like me. In Acts it says, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13 NIV).

Peter and John were transformed by being with Jesus. Here’s the real question. Am I so close to Jesus that when people spend time with me they are spending time with Him? When I eat a meal with someone do they break bread with Jesus? When they travel with me, do they walk with Jesus? When they learn from me is it the teaching of Jesus? Does my life reveal Jesus through the power of God?

So will my disciples be like me or be like Jesus? The answer should be “Yes.”