Next Step Christian Church
Worship 2/14/26
      • Bible Trivia
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  • Devotion
  • I Will Follow
  • Build My Life
  • Let It Be A Hallelujah
  • People are watching you: how you live, love, speak, serve, how to be and how not to be. We “disciple” people by accident all the time, influencing who they are and what they do. Who are we discipling on purpose? There is a long history of the people of God led by the Spirit of God to choose disciples to be as they are and do as they do. Jesus prayed all night to choose 12 disciples for his special attention, and he chose from people in his family and local circles. Who are you discipling by accident? Who will you disciple on purpose? We should have names, names who don’t know Jesus, names who can learn to be as we be, do as we do.

    Somebody should probably do… something…

    We have had a project at work, scheduled for months, but kind of a background task with a far far-off due date of Feb 13th, 2026. That is obviously forever far away, right?
    It isn’t that no one did anything. A few people took a step, did a task here and there, there was some forward progress. But meeting after meeting, a group of a dozen people, looked at each other and thought… and said out loud… yup, that date is coming, we should do something about that.
    Any guesses how that went?
    Come this week, final days, we are looking at the work left and the time left and… uh oh! And nobody lined up to get it done.
    A goal without a plan, without a date, without a name is a thing that isn’t going to happen.
    Here is our real team plan as of yesterday. Our “TODO” list. Stuff on the left? Nobody has claimed yet. Stuff on the right, Done. Stuff in the middle, that is in progress, folks working on that.
    What’s the difference, what is different about that one on the left… besides that it is on the left? It doesn’t have a face on it… and that’s because it doesn’t have a name on it, nobody has claimed it.
    And if stays that way… I know it isn’t going to get done.
    So earlier this week I picked a name. Voluntold. Chris. He’s a rockstar. Knocked it out, got it done. Fantastic.
    Jesus. Creator of the Universe, King of Kings, Lord of my life… and maybe Lord of your life too… he has given us a Mission. His Mission.

    The Great Commission

    Matthew 28:19–20 ESV
    19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
    Go (and while you are going) make disciples.
    We have been walking through this trying to deeply understand it… so we can actually do it.
    We have looking at “Going”, going on purpose, that could be a mission trip to the Philippines… AND it could be going to the grocery store on purpose, eyes open to see what opportunities God is putting in your way.
    And we proclaim the gospel, the Kingdom is here, Jesus is Messiah, good news to the poor and broken. We plan seeds, we invite questions, we direct folks to Jesus.
    And last week we dug into the Ancient Model of discipleship, Following in the footsteps of the Rabbi, learning to be as Jesus is, to do as Jesus does…
    And when the Rabbi then tells his disciples to “make disciples”, the first understanding of that is for them to make their own disciples, disciples of them who will follow them in the Way, in the footsteps of Jesus. YES they are disciples of Jesus, but we commissioned to be a part of it, to show what it looks like to follow Jesus, to teach what Jesus taught.
    And we get to more of the “how.” Jesus has more to say about the “how” right here in the Great Commission.
    But today, I want to dive into the “Who.” Who are we supposed to disciple? Who were the disciples thinking about, called to, expecting to disciple.
    Because if we all look at the Commission and think: “that’s a good idea, that’s a cool plan, Jesus… someone should do something!” What’s going to happen? We aren’t going to do it, are we?
    Or at least not much? And not on purpose. It happens despite us, it happens on accident, when we aren’t looking, praise God, it happens.
    But what if it could be calendar real, an address in the GPS. What if it had a name on it?
    So, what does that look like in the Bible?

    Disciple Making in the Bible

    We see this throughout the Bible, sometimes in the family, passing from Father to Son, Abraham to Isaac, to Jacob to “The Boys.”
    And we see it in kind of mentor-mentee relationships in leadership, in prophecy.
    I want to get us oriented so we can see this pattern before and after Jesus and then again after.
    Moses “chooses” Joshua, by the leading of the Spirit. Lays hands on him, prays over him, gives him authority… and walks with him in leadership for decades.
    Elijah “choosing” Elisha (by the leading of the Spirit)? I love this one, so I’ll read it:
    1 Kings 19:19–21 ESV
    19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him… 21 And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
    There’s a model for starting discipleship relationships. Throw your jacket at people and eat some steak! Straight from the Bible!
    One more, famous one, to get us oriented to the way this could look. Paul is on mission, traveling through the world, and makes a new connection. This promising young man, Timothy. And he taps him on the shoulder, invites him on the trip. And they travel from city to city for awhile… and then Paul sends him to Ephesus to lead the church he planted. And here is Paul writing to Timothy to reflect on
    2 Timothy 1:5–6 ESV
    5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,
    Who was Timothy discipled by? First by Lois and Eunice… then by Paul.
    That’s certainly not all of them, but just to get the big picture, this idea, this model is happening all over the place. We can give it a lot of names: mentorship, mantle, counseling, leading…
    but the word Jesus uses, and the practice He commands to us is called “Discipling.” Make Disciples. So let’s look at Jesus choosing his disciples.

    Jesus Choosing His Disciples

    Matthew 4:18–22 ESV
    18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
    “Follow Me” is a first step of discipleship. Follow Jesus. They don’t know much at all, maybe they have heard Jesus teach or speak, maybe they know a bit about him (more about that later)… but they don’t much.
    And this is just a start. They aren’t some of the “Chosen 12” yet… but they know what it means when a Rabbi says “Follow Me.” He isn’t playing tag, he is inviting you into a new life… a life of learning, to be like the Rabbi is, do like the Rabbi does.
    Jesus chooses these folks to follow him, there is ALREADY a level of choosing going on. He wasn’t walking around saying this to everyone at this point in his ministry. These are called out, personally.
    As Jesus’ ministry progresses at times thousands of people are following him, but there are many folks who consider themselves his disciples. After all, he has “72” disciples later to send here in a few chapters, so we can picture more people than are in this room regularly following Jesus around.
    And among those, Jesus is going to select some for special attention.
    Luke 6:12–16 ESV
    12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
    You have heard me say this a dozen times now, prepare to hear it again and again.
    Because it blew my mind a bit this last year.
    Jesus had names.
    Jesus could have a card in his pocket with 12 names on it. Even though he had tons of folks he “could” call disciple, claim as disciples, probably called themselves his disciples.
    Even then, he thought it was important to name some names.
    And this wasn’t nominal, in name only, those names meant specific, purposeful intention, to teach, to train, to lead, to pour into, to show who he was… so they could be like him. To show and teach what he did, so they do do like he did. It is an act of the heart, he cares for these disciples, he addresses them individually, he answers their individual concerns and questions.
    Jesus had names.
    And he didn’t come to those names willy-nilly. It isn’t casual. He stays up all night, and though the text isn’t explicit about what he prayed about, I think he is praying about who to choose. He is praying over those names. Jesus doesn’t just “know everything”, we know he learned, we know he grew in knowledge, we know the Father revealed things to Him by the Spirit, and he was led by the Spirit… and I expect that experience was more like God leading Moses to Joshua, Elijah to Elisha, Paul to Timothy… more like how the Spirit leads us, then just “Jesus is magic.”
    Jesus thought it was important enough, knew it was important enough, to be personal and specific, praying over it, and then naming names. These aren’t just names he had in mind, these are names he announced. He declared it. The 12 knew they were the 12… and I think everyone else did as well.

    Do I have names?

    Why did this blow my mind?
    Because I mostly don’t have names. Or, I didn’t have names. I didn’t have a list in my pocket who I would have put that name on. These are my disciples, these are the people I am discipling.
    And more than that, I don’t have people who, when asked, would probably say “I am a disciple of Dusty.” It feels and sounds weird. And maybe arrogant and self-aggrandizing. And it’s all about Jesus, not Dusty. I have lots of ways and words to dodge the conviction.
    But Jesus told me to “make disciples.” Even if I ignore the whole “disciple of Dusty” piece of that… who am I discipling on purpose?
    So I am wrestling with that. I’m not using that language, I am not thinking that way, that isn’t the lens in which I am seeing my Pastoring, my Teaching, my Leading, my Work… my Parenting!
    And… does that count? Does parenting count as discipleship? Friendship? That’s family and friends, that’s separate, right?
    Somehow, in my head, that stuff was separate from family, from the things I was already doing.
    Okay… back to Jesus:

    The Family of Jesus

    Have you thought much about the family life of Jesus? We see little glimpses of it in Scripture, I want to walk through a bit of that… and maybe look at a fun theory. A likely possibility.
    Of course we know Mary, blessed among all woman, clearly and obviously a faithful follower of Jesus. I think a HUGE influence on Luke’s gospel, which is why he has the best Christmas story.
    But we know James, who would become the leader of the church in Jerusalem, was one of Jesus’ half brothers.
    Galatians 1:19 ESV
    19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.
    Paul calls James an apostle, isn’t that interesting? I don’t know how else to read that.
    Jude calls himself James’ brother
    Jude 1:1 “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better.” (Wait, that’s not right).
    Jude 1 ESV
    1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
    (There is even an Eastern Syrian tradition that Jude was the apostle Thomas, Judas Thomas).
    And it sure sounds in the Bible narrative like Jesus’ mom and brothers were quite often following him around, quite possibly in his broader circle of disciples.
    John 2:12 ESV
    12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
    So Mom and brothers, in the mix with his disciples, and certainly after his death and resurrection, faithful disciples of Jesus. Love it.
    Cleopas
    Luke 24:18 ESV
    18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
    Note Cleopas
    John 19:25 ESV
    25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
    Note there, what was Mary’s sister’s name??? Mary. So many Mary’s. Actually, that is an Englification, it would be Miriam really.
    But “Cleopas” and “Clopas”, it is possible that this is the Uncle of Jesus, identified as a disciple of Jesus.
    It is certain that Jesus’ mother and aunt stood by the cross of Jesus, one of the very few of Jesus’ disciples to stick with him. John seems to be the only male disciple who stuck around.
    But look at that list. There are either 3 or 4 women here. Jesus’ mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and a “Mary” who is either Jesus’ aunt, or there is a 4th woman named Mary who is Jesus’ aunt. The commas
    Salome
    Mark 15:40–41 ESV
    40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Jesus and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
    Mother of Jesus and Salome. So… Jesus’ sister, maybe? We know he had sisters, this could be one.
    OR, this is the name of a woman with Mary Magdalene and Mary, Jesus and James’ mother. And maybe that list of women is the same list of women with Jesus at the cross in Matthew:
    Matthew 27:55–56 ESV
    55 There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
    Three women. Worth noting, there are also three women listed going to the tomb:
    Mark 16:1 ESV
    1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
    So if Salome is Miriam Salome, then first of all you have 3 Miriam
    So, it seems like the Mother of James and John, the same one who begged Jesus to seat her sons at his right and left hand, that was quite possibly Jesus’ aunt… and that makes Jesus 1st cousins with James and John.
    Not too crazy, we know he was also cousins with John the Baptist.
    We already know his aunt, for sure, possibly his uncle, certainly his brothers are following him around and ultimately disciples and leaders in the church.
    So take this as a picture. Jesus is deciding who to call to follow him, and then who to disciple intentionally. As he is prayerfully considering, he is considering these folks:
    His mom
    his brothers
    his aunt
    his uncle, maybe?
    his cousins, maybe?
    his cousin’s coworkers, fellow fishermen (Peter and Andrew), Andrew already a follower of his cousin John (the Baptist)
    the guy who does his taxes. Matthew.
    In one way or another he disciples all of them, leads all of them, teaches all of them, is an example to all of them.
    And in a special way he is going to focus in on a few of them for the next few years, to disciple them on purpose.
    So this convicted me. Do I have names? And who should they be?
    And then I look at this room. And I see my kids. Am I discipling my kids on purpose? I want to, I want to try! I want to be thoughtful about it, praying about it, doing it on purpose!
    Am I discipling my wife, leading her towards the Lord?
    Oh, and look, there’s my Mom, my Aunt, my Uncle Cleopas…
    Am I discipling my coworkers on purpose? I have opportunity like crazy, weekly one on ones, face-time where I get to speak into their work and life, and bring Jesus in the call with me.
    And when I start thinking through it that way, I can quickly get way over 12 names. And so I need to get SUPER intentional and purposeful for a different reason. Now I may have too many names to do anything specific on purpose.
    So who am I intentionally discipling now. And when. And how (we’ll get to that more next week).

    Who Are You Discipling?

    Ultimately, I want names.
    It isn’t so important that I know them… but it is pretty important that you know them!
    There may well be a season where you are healing, and all your focus needs to be on that. That’s great and good… and it is for a season, it is not forever.
    We are called to follow Jesus together, and like any group on a path, sometimes we are right behind Jesus leading the way, and perhaps for a brief moment we are trailing the pack and nobody is in sight behind us… but the normal expectation for every disciple is to have folks we are following as they follow Jesus, and folks who are following us as we follow Jesus.
    The pattern we see in Scripture is intentional choosing, teaching, and leading of disciples on purpose.
    That may be informal. You might never say to someone “be my disciple”, “follow me as I follow Jesus” or “be as I be, do as I do.”
    Now, to be clear, I think it is sad and unfortunate that those phrases sound so alien and weird to us. Those are Bible phrases, Jesus phrases, they should be our MOST common language. I encourage us to lean into those, use those more often, use the words Jesus and his disciples used.
    But you may say:
    hey… would you be interested in talking about spiritual stuff more often? I am learning some things, I would love to share with you, bounce ideas off of you.
    I want to look into what Jesus actually said and taught, like in history, would you be interested in digging into that together?
    I see a ton of potential in you, the way you sing, lead worship, teach, preach, speak truth… and I have learned a bit about how to do that. If you are up for it, I would love to pass on what I learned, we can work on that together.
    We will get into more of the “how” and ponder together what it looks like in our actual life. How to do it. What to teach. What has God uniquely prepared YOU to teach.
    But first, we need some names.
    I want to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and EARNESTLY pray this week about who the Spirit is leading you to disciple. Consider those around you, the mother, the cousin, the kids. Consider the guy who does your taxes.
    Prayerfully consider with every expectation that the Spirit will lead you, not in general, in specific, to 1… 2… 12 names of people that you can disciple, to follow you as you follow Jesus.
    Especially pay attention to those who are already looking to you for counsel, for guidance, for tips and tricks, for life-hacks… turns out you are already discipling those folks in something.
    How beautiful it would be to do so on purpose.
    To be fully and completely available to the Mission of Jesus, the Person of Jesus, the live changing transformation of Jesus. To follow our Rabbi, and because we love others, invite them along the Way.

      • Matthew 28:19–20NIV

      • 1 Kings 19:19–21NIV

      • 2 Timothy 1:5–6NIV

      • Matthew 4:18–22NIV

      • Luke 6:12–16NIV

      • Galatians 1:19NIV

      • Jude 1NIV

      • John 2:12NIV

      • Luke 24:18NIV

      • John 19:25NIV

      • Mark 15:40–41NIV

      • Matthew 27:55–56NIV

      • Mark 16:1NIV

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Next Step Christian Church
pastordusty@nextstepchurch.org
(720) 663-9085
https://www.nextstepchurch.org
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