LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Disciple Making in the Local Church
Submitted to Dr. David Early
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500-B04 LUO
Discipleship Ministries
By
Robin S. Grier
September 19, 2021
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Table Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
The Church in Disciple ……….....................................................................................................3.
The Pastor in Discipleship……….................................................................................................4
The Saints in Discipleship……......................................................................................................5
Spiritual Gifts in Discipleship……………………………………………………………............
Bibliography...................................................................................................................................7
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Introduction
Jesus said, ‘Go therefore and make disciples in Mat.28: 18-20, just before His ascension. “These
were marching orders for those of us in the trenches of ministry.” The local Church and Christian
community know the heart of God purpose for the believers “Making disciples is essence of the
Great Commission.1 The purpose of this paper is to give informative description of how disciples
are made in the context of the local church and a Christian community, moreover, discourse the
role and significance of local church, pastor, saints, and spiritual gifts in God’s plan for being and
making disciples. The Bible teaches us that whenever a Christin first accepts Christ, they are
born again (John 3:1-5). But they are spiritual babies (Heb5:13-14) who must “grow up” in all
aspect into Christlikeness (Eph. 4:14). Nonetheless, for that reason the church must be
intentional when it comes to focusing on equipping and empowering new believers to grow and
develop to their full potential for the King and kingdom.2
The Church in Disciple
In reference Dempsey, “the church must be in absolute middle of God’s global plan of making
disciples.”3 Mat. 28:19 “Go you therefore and teach all nations:” According to this command, it
is the job of every believer to make disciples; certainly, the church is supposed to equip its
people (every person) to be an army released on community. 4“Second, this command calls us to
make disciples and not converts, and there is a big difference. The discipleship process Jesus
modeled was essential to His plan to reach the world. In John 17:3-4 Jesus said, “This is eternal
life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, who you have sent. I have
1 Dave Earley, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion and
Confidence. (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013.), 38.
2 Ibid.,39.
3 Ibid., 39.
4 Jim Putman. Real-Life Discipleship: Building Churches That Make Disciples.
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“brought you glory to earth by completing the work you gave to me to do. But Jesus claims that
his work was done, however, He had not yet been to the cross and the cross is clearly central to
His mission, nonetheless, this passage reveals something else. Jesus is praying to the Father
before the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. As believers we know that His primary purpose for
coming to earth was to pay for the sins of the world and who accept His grace through faith. But
Jesus said he had completed something. Completed What? Putman believes, He was talking
about having completed the training of His twelve disciples. He was ready to release them into
the world to make disciples themselves. Jesus came not only to die, but also to give us a model
for disciple making that trains Christians so they can accurately represent Him and deliver His
message to the world. In closing, it is imperative that the church be an active community in
intentionally discipling new believers, by sharing, connecting, teaching, and ministering to the
spiritual babies, as Jesus’ trained his disciples.
The Pastor in Discipleship
Earley and Dempsey mentioned, Ephesians 4:11-16 Paul gives the role of the pastor clearly.
Pastor is to “train” or equip5 Pastor is to be responsible for organizational faithfulness, goal
setting, planning, and evaluation, to give oversight to support, guidance, and training the lay
leadership, equipping them to fulfil the ministry to which they are called. The pastor is to build
the body of Christ as a caring and giving community, helping to extending the ministry of Christ
to the world. “Making disciples is essence of the Great Commission, indeed, the pastor has a
great responsible in the work of making disciples, in fact, the pastor has to search out and
counsel men and women for ministry of deacons, elders, and others related ministries.
5 Dave Earley, and Rod Dempsey. 41.
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According, Putman & Harrington, “leaders need to be model for their churches.” “What it
means to stumbles (James 3:2) and yet remain faithful to the path; when we fall down (and we all
do), we get right back up on the road with Jesus’ help.”6 According, to Putman, the four main
roles of a disciple-making pastor 1. Authentic Disciple when leaders walk authentically with
God, it gives legitimacy to their teaching and leadership, 72. Discipleship-System builder is to
create a system in which people are taught how to be disciples, 3. Developer of leaders, a
pastoral leadership team should identify emerging, gifted leaders and help them grow, and 4.
Vision caster this means sharing the vision from the pulpit and at every opportunity he has with
the other leaders and the people in church. However, Putman mentioned “(1 Cor 4: 6) “You
can’t lead where don’t go, “and can’t teach what you do not know.8 “It begins with a leader living
the life himself as a disciple of Jesus Christ to understand the role of the Great Commission.
The Saints in Discipleship
6 Jim Putman and Harrington. 105.
7 Ibid,. 120.
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Spiritual Gifts in Discipleship
Rod Dempsey, as leaders as the Christians grow spiritually strong, the role of the leaders of the
church are to assist the individual to discover and develop his or her spiritual gift, certainly as
the individual uses their gift , in the proper manner, the body grows healthy.
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Bibliographies
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 4: Discipleship. Edited by Geffrey B.
Kelly, & John D. Godsey. Translated by Barbara Green, & Reinhard Krauss. Vol. 4.
Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003.
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013.
Putman, Jim, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman. DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.
Putman, Jim. Real- Life Discipleship: Building Churches That Make Disciples. Colorado
Springs, Co: NavPress, 2010.
Putman, Jim. Church is a Team Sport: A Championship Strategy for Doing Together. Grand
Rapids: Baker Publishing Group, 2008.
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