Discipleship Essentials Quotes

“The road to Easter goes through Good Friday. The road to new life goes through the death of the old. The road to resurrection goes through crucifixion. Jesus calls us to walk that road, the road he walked.”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“Satan causes us to wallow in unnamed guilt, but God’s conviction is focused and meant to lead us to restoration.”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“Memory Verse Study Guide Jesus’ mission statement for the church is to make disciples. These pivotal verses (Matthew 28:18-20) are commonly referred to as the Great Commission. Putting it in context: Read Matthew 28. What key events precede Jesus’ giving the Great Commission, and how would this have affected the disciples? The memory verses are Matthew 28:18-20. Copy these verses verbatim. What do these verses teach us about Jesus? Why does Jesus stress his authority (v. 18) as a backdrop to his command to “make disciples”? How is disciplemaking to be carried out? When is a disciple made? How have these verses spoken to you this week?”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“Inductive Bible Study Guide Jesus always lived with a view to the end of his earthly ministry. The preparation of a few who would carry on his ministry after he ascended to the Father was ever before him. This Bible study focuses on the training and transference of ministry to his selected disciples. Read Luke 6:12-16; 9:1-6, 10. What do you suppose Jesus included in his all-night prayer? (See the reading on page 20 for some ideas.) What can you learn about Jesus’ strategic purpose for the selection of the Twelve from 9:1-6? What power and authority was given to the disciples? What power and authority can we expect to receive from Jesus today? What was Jesus’ role with the disciples after their return (9:10)? What questions do these passages raise for you? What verse or verses have particularly impacted you? Rewrite key verses in your own words. Reading: A Biblical”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“Inductive Bible Study Guide Jesus always lived with a view to the end of his earthly ministry. The preparation of a few who would carry on his ministry after he ascended to the Father was ever before him. This Bible study focuses on the training and transference of ministry to his selected disciples. Read Luke 6:12-16; 9:1-6, 10. What do you suppose Jesus included in his all-night prayer? (See the reading on page 20 for some ideas.) What can you learn about Jesus’ strategic purpose for the selection of the Twelve from 9:1-6? What power and authority was given to the disciples? What power and authority can we expect to receive from Jesus today? What was Jesus’ role with the disciples after their return (9:10)? What questions do these passages raise for you? What verse or verses have particularly impacted you? Rewrite key verses in your own words.”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“Jim Elliot summarized it well: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“Jesus had enough vision to think small. Focusing did not limit his influence — it expanded it. When Jesus ascended to the Father, he knew that there were at least eleven who could minister under the authority of his name, an elevenfold multiplication of his ministry. Robert Coleman captures the heart of Jesus’ methodology when he writes, “[Jesus’] concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes but with men the multitudes would follow.”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“Eugene Peterson puts this truth cleverly: “Jesus, it must be remembered, restricted nine-tenths of His ministry to twelve Jews, because it was the only way to reach all Americans.”2”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“A. B. Bruce summarizes this point: “The careful, painstaking education of the disciples secured that the Teacher’s influence on the world should be permanent, that His Kingdom should be founded on deep and indestructible convictions in the minds of a few, not on the shifting sands of superficial impressions on the minds of many.”1”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“Heading the list is the definitive quality that shines through Jesus and is to mark his followers. Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). To love your enemies and forgive those who intend your destruction is a love that comes from above.”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“little girl and her mother were talking as they walked out of church. The mother asked her daughter how she liked church that day. The girl replied that she thought it was good, but she was a little confused. She said, “The pastor said that God was bigger than we are. Is that true?” Her mother responded that it was true. “He also said that God lives inside us. Is that true, Mommy?” “Yes.” “Well then,” said the girl, “if God is bigger than we are, and if he lives inside us, then shouldn’t some of him show through?”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ

“Galatians 5:16-23 reminds us of Jesus’ description of our relationship to him as branches connected to a vine (John 15:1-11).”
― Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ