Who is a disciple?

The Great Commission
"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)

The English word, disciple, is derived from the Latin, discipulus, meaning “a learner or pupil; one who accepts and follows a given doctrine or teacher”. A disciple of Jesus Christ, therefore, is a person (male or female) who accepts and follows his teachings. All who are baptized in the name of the Triune God and accept that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Lord are Christians and, by definition, disciples.

Here is some further help answering the question “Who is a disciple?” A disciple is a person who has faith in Christ and their faith bears fruit through keeping the rules of "Love God and Love one another": doing no harm by avoiding evil, doing good to all as often as possible, and practicing the means of gaining the grace of God through prayer, worship, taking part in the Lord’s Supper, reading and hearing Scripture, and performing acts of fasting and abstinence. Christian faith is exhibited by a life that strives toward holiness of heart and life (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13; Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 4:1-3; Philippians 2:12-13); perfection (maturity/ wholeness/ completeness) in love (Matthew 5:48; 1 John 2:3-6); “having the mind of Christ” (Philippians 2:5). A disciple is one whose life in the world is “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). A disciple’s life seeks wholehearted love for God through loving service in the world, especially with the poor, those who are sick, prisoners, lonely, tired, and lost (see Matthew 22:37-39; 25:31-46).


These are general rules for all Christians, regardless of denomination. They are simple, general, guides for living in the world as followers and friends of Jesus Christ. They are rules of life intended to help Christians to be mindful of the basics of loving God, loving neighbors and loving one another. They help disciples to attend to all of the teachings of Jesus and not only those that suit their temperament. A disciple, therefore, is a Christian who does his or her best to follow Jesus’ teachings every day of the week.

Peace and love,

Sue



"Be still and know that I am God"(Psalm 46:10)


Jesus of Nazareth

Let there be Peace!

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27).


The power "Peace On Earth" lies in our capacity to bring people of various cultures, faith traditions and political ideals together as one united global heart and mind. The Message of Jesus allows us to sincerely focus on our mutual desire to serve, create and manifest true peace on earth while transcending our differences and celebrating our common humanity.
This does not only include humankind but 'Life in all Realms of Creation'. When we speak the words, "Peace be with you", we should imagine that the frequency and energy field of Love, Peace and Harmony reaches throughout humanity and also throughout all of God's Creation.
Each of us must move to inspire, and re-awaken the inherit consciousness of love, peace and harmony which exists in everyone through Jesus. Jesus words of "Peace be with you", should direct our minds and hearts to bring inner peace of mind and consequently to foster peace in God's world at large.

Peace be with you,

Sue


"Be still and know that I am God"(Psalm 46:10)

The empty tomb - Was it really empty?

The empty tomb was a subject especially noted by the Apostle John. In the 20th chapter of his account, John describes himself as the "other disciple" who ran ahead of Peter and reached the tomb first. Looking in, John saw "the strips of linen lying there" which had been the wrappings of Jesus' dead body (verse 6). He describes, also, that the burial cloth which had been around Jesus' head was "folded up by itself, separate from the linen" (verse 7).

John's description of the empty tomb gives details that are evidence of an eyewitness account. These were details that convinced John, himself, because he explains that "He saw and believed" (verse 8). The small detail of the face cloth lying separate and folded implies the recognition of a deliberate, careful action. Inasmuch as Christ's body received life, He awoke and deliberately removed the cloth, folded it, and set it aside. John, the beloved disciple, recognized the simple details and thought them worthy of specific report.

Was the tomb entirely empty? No! Evidence remained of a living Christ, a risen Lord. The significance extends further, yet. Because the tomb was empty and Christ was raised to life in the body, believers count on the promise of a like glorious body. "Who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body" (Philippians 3:21).

A body that defeats death and the curse of death is the inheritance of every believer. "And if the Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who lives in you" (Romans 8:11). The completion of salvation through Jesus Christ is to be saved entirely, so that even the body is immortal through "the power of an indestructible life" (Hebrews 7:16, 25). Even now, "we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:23).

Was the tomb really empty? No! It held the evidence of life from the dead - the hope of every believer. In that hope the Christian lives each day, though he may experience trials and hardship. Paul said, "We always carry about in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body" (2 Corinthians 4:10).

So have hope and believe in the Risen Christ. He has paved the way for us to someday experience our own empty tomb as we share the eternal life he promised to us.

Peace and Joy,

Sue



"Be still and know that I am God"(Psalm 46:10)

Why did Jesus come to Earth?

John 3:17 “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

John 6:38-40 “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

John 6:51 “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

John 9:39 “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

John 10:10 “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Jesus 12:31 "Now the prince of this world will be driven out."

John 12:46 “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”

Jesus 16:11: "The prince of this world now stands condemned."

John 18:37 Pilate said to Jesus, “You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

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* To many Christians, the word "ransom" sounds like sacrificial language, for we sometimes speak of Jesus as the ransom for our sins. But it almost certainly does not have this meaning in the two places that it is used in the Gospels. The Greek word translated as "ransom" (lutron) is used in the Bible not in the context of payment for sin, but to refer to payment made to liberate captives (often from captivity in war) or slaves (often from debt slavery). A lutron is a means of liberation from bondage.
Jesus came to liberate us from ourselves. Jesus came to demonstrate to us the way of living that will allow us to share into everlasting life of God.

Peace and Love,
Sue



"Be still and know that I am God"(Psalm 46:10)

Why did Jesus have to Die?

Jesus had an amazingly productive ministry, teaching and healing thousands. He attracted large crowds and had potential for much more. He could have healed thousands more by traveling to the Jews and gentiles who lived in other areas.
But Jesus allowed this work to come to a sudden end. He could have avoided arrest, but he chose to die instead of expanding his ministry. Although his teachings were important, he had come not just to teach, but also to die — and he accomplished more in his death than in his life.
Death was Jesus’ most important ministry. This is the way we remember him, through the cross as a symbol of Christianity or through the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. Our Savior is a Savior who died.
For the transgression of my people he was stricken.... Though he had done no violence ... it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer ... the Lord makes his life a guilt offering.... He will bear their iniquities.... He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (verses 4-12).
The Jewish leaders probably thought that Jesus’ disciples would give up after their leader was killed. And it happened just as they hoped — the crucifixion shattered the disciples’ hopes. They were dejected and said, “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21). But their hopes were dramatically restored when Jesus appeared to them after his resurrection, and at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled them with new conviction to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ. They had unshakable faith in the least likely hero: a crucified Messiah.
Peter told the Jewish leaders, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree” (Acts 5:30). By using the word tree, Peter reminded the leaders of the curse of crucifixion. But the shame was not on Jesus, he said—it was on the people who crucified him. God had blessed him because he did not deserve the curse he suffered. God had reversed the stigma.
Paul referred to the same curse in Galatians 3:13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’” Jesus became a curse on our behalf so we could escape the curse of the law. He became something he was not, so that we could become something we were not. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor¬inthians 5:21).
He became sin for us, so that we might be declared righteous through him. Because he suffered what we deserved, he redeemed us from the curse or penalty of the law. “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him.” Because he suffered the penalty, we can enjoy peace with God.
Some have said that Jesus died to pay the legal demands of his Father—but it can also be said that the Father himself is the one who paid the price, by sending his Son for this very purpose (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). In Christ God absorbed the penalty himself, so that we did not have to. “By the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).
Christianity is not a list of things to do—it is faith that Christ has done everything we need to be right with God—and he did it on the cross. “When we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10). God reconciled the universe through Christ, “making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20). If we are reconciled through him, all our sins are forgiven (verse 22)—reconciliation, forgiveness and justifica¬tion all mean the same thing: peace with God.
What looked like a shameful death for Jesus was actually a glorious triumph for God’s plan, because it is through the cross that Jesus won victory over enemy powers, including Satan, sin and death. Their claim on us has been fully satisfied in the death of the innocent victim. They cannot demand any more than what he has already paid. They have nothing further to threaten us with.
“By his death,” we are told, Jesus was able to “destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8). Victory was won on the cross.

Peace and love,
Sue

"Be still and know that I am God"(Psalm 46:10)