Called to Discipleship: Understanding God's Call and Becoming a Disciple

This study material from Desklib discusses God's call to discipleship and how to become a disciple. It covers the meaning of disciple, how Jesus called his disciples, and the reasons why God calls people. It also includes a personal letter on why God calls people and ways to become a disciple.

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Called to Discipleship
Name
Professor
Course
Institution
Date

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Task one
A description of how I came to faith
God uses faith as an instrument of bringing faith and salvation to His people. It is because
of his mercy and grace that he gives it to His people. This is a show that God loves humanity.
Faith is one of the gifts that God gives to us (Ephesians 2:8). As the Bible emphasizes, God gives
humanity His gift of Faith because He deserves glory from Humanity. In most of the cases, faith
comes from the word of God. As for my case, I came to faith through hearing the word odf God.
I had attended a church service in our church when our pastor preached about Faith as a gift from
God. The pastor went ahead and even told us to read the bible a lot if we wanted to get faith. I
exactly followed his advice and as I continued reading the Bible, I realized that my faith was
growing day in day out.
Meaning of the term disciple?
The term disciple means someone who adheres to someone else’s teachings (Parnell,
2014). It refers to a learner or a follower (College, 2017, p. 2.3). A disciple can also be someone
who adapts and follows the ways of living of another. He or she is someone who learns from
another person on how to live exactly like him or her. For example, the disciples of Jesus learned
how to live and behave just like him. It is someone’s who conforms his or her ways of living to
fit those of their master.
Calling of Esther and how she reacted
When Israel was in captivity as a result of their disobedience, Esther was born. She was
adopted by Mordecai as her own daughter when her parents were killed (Stoppe, 2018). She was

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among the minority group in the foreign land that was adversely affected by race. This reduced
her self-esteem (Esther 2:10). She never heard any voice from God during her call but she knew
what was expected of her (College, 2017, p. 5.12). She had a task of approaching the king so that
she could save her people. This forced her to have courage. She asked people to fast and pray to
God.
How Jesus called His disciples and what they did
Jesus chose his disciples and anointed them for them to go and preach the gospel about
God the creator on behalf of him. “I chose you so that you can bear fruits and abide by their
fruits so that what they ask from God could be given to them. (John 15:16). In the bible, some of
John the Baptist disciples started following Jesus (John 1: 37). This was apparently Andrew.
According to (John 1:40) one of John's disciples who heard and followed Jesus was Andrew
(John 1:40). Jesus went to where they were looking for their daily bread. By then Jesus was
walking along the Sea of Galilee where he saw the Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net
into the sea in an attempt to catch some fish. Jesus told them to follow him and he was to make
them fishers of men (Cook, 2014, p. 2). They reacted by leaving their nets and followed him
(College, 2017, p. 5.13). As he continued walking along, he saw James and John the sons of
Zebedee in a boat with their father. They were repairing their nets. When he called them, they
reacted by leaving their nets together with their father and followed him (Jesus) (Mathew 4: 18-
22)
On the following day, Jesus made a resolution of going to the land of Galilee. It is at this
place that he found Philip. He ordered Philip to follow him. When Philip found Nathanael, he

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spoke to him that he had found whom who Moses in the law as well as other prophets had
written about (John 1: 43-45).
Some of the reasons that God call people
In Mathew 9: 12-13, Jesus said that it is not those who are whole who need a physician
but those who are sick. In this teaching, it is clear that God calls boys, girls, women, and men
each and every day. He knocks on everyone's heart regardless of their situation with a purpose of
saving them. God calls people for repentance so that they may not end up into eternal suffering
(Newbell, 2014, p. Online). He says that there is no way that one can be saved without
repentance.
Secondly, God calls people into the service (College, 2017, p. 7.6). In 1st Corinthians
7:22, “for he who is called in the lord being a servant, is the Lord's freeman". God calls people to
his service. Jesus himself said that he was not here in the world to please man but only to serve
God. In some incidences, God calls people to grow (College, 2017, p. 8.1).
Servant
Being a servant means that one is able to serve others (Coetzer, et al., 2017, p. 2). It
simply means that one is able to perform duties at a home or for someone (College, 2017, p. 7.5).
For example, Jesus himself came as a servant of his Father as shown in Mathew 20:28. On
another occasion, he washed his disciples' feet as a show that he came to be a servant.
Different ways in which one can build up

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Bodybuilding has become part of life for many people (College, 2017, p. 8.1). This helps
them to develop their bodies for them to be able to stay physically fit. This exposes them to
compete with other competitors a factor which can make them build their bodies even more. In
church, we also need to build up the body of Christ. This is achieved by acquiring the fruits that
God provides to us as shown in Romans 12:1. There is a need for proclaiming the spirit of the
body. The members who make the body of Christ need to be united and faithful to each teaching.
Places of work of the church as shown in chapter 9
People tend to assume that Gods call is only fulfilled in the church, on Sunday, and on
religious ways. The church is a global institution which has been instituted to work in different
places (College, 2017, p. 9.1). To begin with, the church has been called to work in the globe of
commerce and industries as well as other related fields. Secondly, it is required to work at home
and also in the community. School and the whole world of education are not left behind. Sport,
play, and leisure are also not left behind. The church was also commissioned to work in the
world of evil, sickness, and suffering. Lastly, the church is required to work on the world of all
the days of the week beginning from Monday to Sunday.
TASK TWO
2.1
Yes, it is true that this chapter speaks about God's grace. Gods call in the New Testament
shows that our acceptance of what has done for us is the Gods grace (Extension College, 2017, p.
5.1). The purpose of Christian ministry is well spoken about in this chapter. The writer says that

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Christian’s response to God’s grace is their mission. Yes, the word of God is spoken in this
chapter (College, 2017, p. 5.8). God leaves His people free to choose if or not they will adhere to
his given mission. Thus it is true this chapter talks about approaches to mission (Extension
College, 2017, p. 5.10).
2.2
The word baptism in chapter five is found in the Extension College’s (Extension College,
2017, p. 5.1) in the first paragraph. The word Moses is found in the Extension College’s
(Extension College, 2017, P. 5.11) second paragraph. Samuel is found in subsection 4.4 on
(Extension College, 2017, P. 5.12). The word Disciples of Jesus is found on (Extension College,
2017, p. 5.13). In the articles written by the Extension College, the word Hebrew is found on
(Extension College, 2017, p. 5.5). The word Paul is found on (College, 2017, p. 5.3) on the
second page.
2.3
God calls people using different ways. He also has different ways as to why he calls His
people. To begin with, in Romans 1:7, God calls his people simply because he loves them. He,
therefore, calls them to become his saints. Secondly, on His working, He calls us for our own
good. This is clearly shown in Romans 8: 28 which say that God works for the best of His
people. The call of God is irrevocable. He is a faithful God who makes us able to respond to His
calls. God calls people for His own reasons and grace; this is why He does not wait for one to be
perfect before calling them. It is through His grace that He decides to call his people. All these
passages show that He calls his people for a long lasting relationship with him irrespective of
their past. He is the giver of true life.

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2.4
A letter to my Friend on how and why God calls
Dear Friend,
It is my pleasure to write to you about why God calls his people. God calls people using
different ways. He also has different ways as to why he calls His people. To begin with, in
Romans 1:7, God calls his people simply because he loves them. He, therefore, calls them to
become his saints. He is such a merciful God such that he cannot be able to watch over His good
people be tempted and fall into the temptations of the devil. Secondly, on His working, He calls
us for our own good. This is clearly shown in Romans 8: 28 which say that God works for the
best of His people. God is the creator of the whole universe. He knows what is good for
everybody in the whole world. Therefore, that is why God calls everyone to different areas as he
knows what one can do best. The call of God is irrevocable. He is a faithful God who makes us
able to respond to His calls. This means that whenever God calls His people, no one has the
authority to reverse what He has already initiated. God is a God of mercy, he always provides
everybody with the eligibility of answering His calls.
God calls people for His own reasons and grace; this is why He does not wait for one to
be perfect before calling them. It is through His grace that He decides to call his people. He
knows everybody and all their deeds. He becomes astonished whenever someone decides to
desert Him after calling him through His grace. He always wishes that everybody remain
attached to His call after he calls them. All these passages show that He calls his people for a
long lasting relationship with him irrespective of their past. He is the giver of true life.
Task 3

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Introduction
A disciple is a person who grows in Christ. Through his or her life, he or she teaches the other
people the teachings of the bible, Christian’s way of life, how to worship as well as other
doctrines in line with Christianity (Dr. Krejcir, 2016, p. Online). Jesus himself had twelve
disciples with home he commanded to make more disciples upon his ascension to heaven. It is
therefore our call to become disciples. In this section, ways through which one can become a
disciple as well as how past disciples were called will be discussed.
God's call on lives is very critical. It is not easy to understand it on our own. It is beyond
our strengths (MacDonald, 2017, p. 2). Therefore, making a decision to follow Christ, there is
needed to call God for help so that He may talk to us about what we are expected of. God created
man and woman in his own image and likeliness. God, therefore, created humanity for there to
be a personal relationship between Him and Humanity. It is His plan Humanity remains
dependent and responsible for its actions.
Discipleship is a Journey. Some people accept Gods call to discipleship easily while others do
not (Iuliano, 2013, p. 5). This is why such people are always ready to take responsibility for their
actions since they know that they can seek help from God. Thus Jesus takes people a step by step
to becoming his disciples. He only wants us to make an initial commitment to him as he takes the
lead in showing us the way. Thus, discipleship is about how people live not what they say.
We receive the power of the Holy Spirit by accepting the new life that Jesus Christ offers
to us (Harrower, 2017, p. Online). It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to live as the disciples of
Jesus Christ. We are called to God by God through the Holy Spirit’s fruits. It the Holy Spirit
who empowers the ministries that God calls us for.

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We become Jesus’ Disciples at the point of baptism. For baptism to have its major
meaning, someone must be punished when he or she is old enough to make decisions and
commitments to follow Jesus Christ. This is because; baptism signifies the start of new life in
Christ.
Conclusion
Discipleship takes many forms. For example it can be as simple as inviting someone in
the field or a kitchen for fellowship purposes. However simple discipleship may look, it involves
scriptures, honesty and seeking advice. For one to be a true disciple, he or she must be willing to
follow all the above. Discipleship has various advantages to those who embrace it. To begin with
it builds humility among the believers. As we have witnessed in the past, those who have
embraced discipleship are always united.
3.2
A letter to my friend on ways of reaching the good news to people
Dear Friend,
I hope you are doing great and the Lord has been with you all through. On my side, I had
amazing and successful moments and I praise Yahweh for that. I have found this a great
opportunity to share with you several ways in how to spread the good news to the people. In
Ephesians 4: 11, Paul tells that Jesus gave some us the gifts of evangelism. These people are able
to communicate the good news of Jesus the Christ. Personal conviction of the word of God by
the evangelist determines their effectiveness. Therefore just because they have already received

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and understood it, does not mean that they are able to administer it well. Giving testimonies is a
good way of spreading the good news about Jesus. It should serve as a challenge to the listeners.
One should reach out to others as a way of spreading the good news. Putting one's culture into
consideration is a critical way through which people deliver good news about Christ to others.
This avoids the language barrier as well as the wrong use of gestures. For example, it is quite
unacceptable in some cultures for a male to hug a female who is not his companion. It is
therefore important to put into consideration people’s culture before reaching out to them.
Task four
4.1
To be called by God
To be called by God means laying down a foundation of personals life through doing
small and secret things (Chambers, 2018). When someone has been called, he or she enters into a
sort of economy with God where he or she has to do what brings Joy and Salvation to Him. To
be called to love the other people as we love ourselves. This makes Him happy.
4.2
In the Old Testament, Jonah was called by God to become a prophet (John 1: 1-2).
Unfortunately, Jonah rejected the call. He foolishly decided to flee God's presence by taking a
ship that he was to sail in it to foreign shores (Oancea, 2018, p. 2). This did not only bring
consequences to him but also to his shipmates. God sends a storm to them and it destroyed most
parts of the marine. Jonah decided to through himself into the sea. God prepared a great fish that

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swallowed him and vomited him into the dry land. God called him again and this time he heeded
God's call and did as he was advised.
4.3
In the New Testament, a young rich ruler went to Jesus to inquire how he could acquire
eternal life (Luke 18: 18-25). Jesus asked him if he had been obeying the Ten Commandments, a
thing that he accepted he had been doing. Jesus then asked him to sell all his property and give it
to the poor and for him to follow Jesus (Hub, 2018). The ruler became sorrowful as he knew that
he was very rich and was not ready to part with his property. He, therefore, went away very
sorrowful. He therefore never accepted God’s call.
4.4
a)
In (Genesis. 12: 1- ) God told Abraham to move from his country as well as his father’s
house to a land that He was to show him (Brown, 2017). He promised him that He was to make
his name great among all the nations. Abraham adhered to the call of God and he departed his
country with Lot by his side. He moved to the land of Canaan together with his family. God
appeared to him in the land of Canaanites and told him to build an altar for Him at the place.
b)
I was called by God when I was ten years of age. A strange light appeared to my room in
the midst of the night. Three shadows appeared from the light and I heard a voice speaking from
the shadows telling me to start praying for the sick. I did as the voice instructed me and
miraculously started healing the sick.

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c)
The comparison between my call and that of Abraham is that God Himself spoke to the
two of us. He instructed us to go and proclaim His mighty name to his people. As for my case,
He instructed me to do his work in my homeland. Unfortunately for Abraham, he was instructed
to leave his country and move to a foreign country where he was to do Gods work.
d)
When I realized that God had called me to do his work, I decided to be obedient to all his
teachings. I changed my ways of living and only started doing only what can make Him happy. I
realized that I had a goal to accomplish which was praying and healing the sick. I began
struggling to make sure that all the glory went to God rather than me. I asked God for the
courage to enable me to walk through all perspectives of life in a bid to exercise His talent. This
enabled me to even walk at night and pray for the sick.
Task five
Difference between called to ‘be’ and being called to ‘do’
Calling to be is the first calling that God makes to his people (Pack, 2018). Being called
to do apply to is applicable to Christians. Being called to do does not make one special. Some of
the people called to do even get killed. This is because those who are called to be are all the
people of God.
5.2

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The body of Christ has so many parts. Building it means bringing many people to Christ
who will increase the many parts of the body (Budiselic, 2012, p. 31). As each organ of a body
belongs to each other, building the body of the Christ includes spreading the gospel of God to all
those people for them to have a common direction that will make them united. Each one of the
members should be a staunch member of Christ as the many parts of the body belong to the
body.
5.3
a)
Different ministries in my church
Our church has several ministries. To begin with, the pastoral council that is a prayer
visioning body of the church. It has ten people. Our pastor leads the council. Secondly, we have
the finance council. Its primary function is to monitor the budget of the church. Thirdly, we have
the stewardship committee whose function is to promote sacrificial living. It encourages church
members to pay tithes in time. The church chairman is in charge of the two groups.
b)
My church works as the body of Christ. I can boldly say that it is a united body of Christ.
This is because of the various ministries which function towards fulfilling what the Christ
requires us to do. For instance, Jesus said that we are supposed to give tithes and offerings to our
father in heaven. The stewardship committee works towards encouraging every member of our
church towards giving tithes and offerings to God our Lord.

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5.4
A baptized member of a congregation is required to attend church services regularly
(Leeman, 2016). The scripture is not clear about this responsibility but it is a very fundamental
responsibility. When Christians come together in a church congregation, they promote love and
unity among each other. Members of the congregation are supposed to preserve the gospel. It is
therefore advisable for them to visit the church regularly. Affirmation and disaffirmation of
gospel citizens are supposed to be carried out by the members of the congregation. For instance
in the Bible (1 Cor. 5: 1-13), Paul addresses the church but not the church elders, this shows that
God speaks to the church more than he speaks to the people outside the congregation. It is
therefore important for one to go to the church (Extension College, 2017).

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References
Brown, G., 2017. Understanding God’s Call (Genesis 12:1–9). [Online]
Available at: https://bible.org/seriespage/1-understanding-god-s-call-genesis-121-9
[Accessed 6 September 2018].
Budiselic, E., 2012. Paul’s Understanding of the Church in the Epistle of Ephesians as a Model
for Today’s Church. KAIROS - Evangelical Journal of Theology, 5(1), pp. 23-47.
Chambers, O., 2018. Called By God. [Online]
Available at: https://utmost.org/called-by-god/
[Accessed 6 September 2018].
Coetzer, M. F., Bussin, M. H. & Geldenhuys, M., 2017. Servant leadership and work-related
well-being in a construction company. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 0nline( 2071-0763),
pp. 1-10.
College, E., 2017. God Call: the Christians. Called to Discipleship, p. 5.8.
College, E., 2017. Gods call- the Christians. Called to Discipleship, p. 5.10.
Cook, D. C., 2014. Redefining Discipleship After Epic Failure. Cheat Sheet: Jesus’s Twelve
Disciples – Names and Details, Issue 20160716, pp. 1-2.
Dr. Krejcir, R. J., 2016. What is a Disciple?. Discipleship Tools, p. Online.
Extension College, 2017. Called to Descipleship. s.l.:Extension College.
Harrower, S., 2017. MatthewLevering, Engaging the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids:
Baker Academic, 2016, 448pp. International Journal of Systematic Theology, p. Online.
Hub, B., 2018. Mathew 19:21. [Online]
Available at: https://biblehub.com/matthew/19-21.htm
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Iuliano, J., 2013. The Seven Core Values of a Disciple The Seven Core Values of a Disciple. The
Discipleship Journey, pp. 1-57.
Leeman, J., 2016. Your 7 Job Responsibilities as a Church Member. [Online]
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MacDonald, G., 2017. God's Calling Plan. Leadership Journal, pp. 1-11.

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Newbell, T., 2014. Three Benefits of Discipleship. Desiring God, p. Online.
Oancea, C., 2018. Imagery and Religious Conversion. The Symbolic Function of Jonah 1:13.
Faculty of Theology, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Issue 550179, pp. 1-9.
Pack, D. C., 2018. Are You Being Called?. [Online]
Available at: https://rcg.org/articles/aybc.html
[Accessed 6 September 2018].
Parnell, J., 2014. What Is a Disciple?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-a-disciple
[Accessed 23 July 2018].
Stoppe, R., 2018. Who Was Esther and Why Was She So Important?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/who-was-esther-and-why-was-she-so-
important.html
[Accessed 23 July 2018].