Continued to page 2

· In the Church there are so many   distant followers of Jesus Christ and so few real disciples.

 

Luke 14: 25-33 - Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—  lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,  saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise,  whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

· Discipleship is being a learner who has bonded with his or her teacher and wants a relationship with him more than anything else.

Luke 6: 12-18 - Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the  mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and     Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and  Bartholomew;  Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot;  Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also   became a traitor.  And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their   diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed.

 

Mark 1: 17-18 - Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

 

· Today, there is a spiritual demand to follow Christ