“Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” —Matthew 7:24-27

Week 1

Our goal is to live as disciples or

of Jesus.

“To follow Jesus is to become his apprentice. It’s to organize your entire life around three driving goals: 1. Be with Jesus. 2. Become like him. 3. Do as he did.” —John Mark Comer

Lent is the 40-day season (not including Sundays) of self-examination, fasting, and recommitment leading up to

.

This Week

The question is not, Am I a disciple? The question is,

disciple am I?

“If we’re not intentionally choosing to be discipled by Jesus, then we’re being unintentionally discipled by the world.” —Chris Cruz in The Practice of Being with Jesus

Jesus was a

which is literally translated “

Reveal Answer

.”

Every rabbi had his “

” – which meant his set of teachings, his way of living, his way of interpreting the scriptures.

Rabbis were

, relying on the hospitality of people of peace in every city, town, or village they visited and taught.

The Jewish people believed that becoming a great scholar of the scriptures represented life’s

achievement.

The Jewish Educational System in the First Century

At around five years old, children attended the local bet sefer, “the house of the

.”

The “elementary school” was built onto or next to the synagogue, and the curriculum was the

.

By the age of 12 or 13, most children would have the entire Torah – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy –

.

Most students stopped there, but the best and brightest went on to bet midrash, “The house of learning,” where they memorized by the age of 17 the entire

.

Almost all students then went home to work, have children and

that their kids would become rabbis.

The best of the best of the best would

to apprentice under a rabbi, much like applying for a Ph.D. program at an elite school.

If the rabbi thought you had the intellectual capacity, drive, grit, and work ethic to become a

, he would say, “

Reveal Answer

.”

It was then and is now the invitation of a

.

“There is no problem in human life that apprenticeship to Jesus cannot solve.” —Dallas Willard

The entire

was being with your master to become like your master. (Matthew 28:16-20)

Are You a Christian or an Apprentice?

The word Christian is used only

times in the New Testament.

The word disciple or apprentice is used

times.

“It seems the Western church has at times been more careful to avoid ‘works righteousness’ than to avoid sin.” —John Mark Comer

Roughly

percent of Americans self-identify as Christians, but those who say they are following Jesus are at

Reveal Answer

.

At Acts 2 United Methodist Church we have one question: “Do you want to

Jesus?”

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all make a sharp

between the followers of Jesus and the crowds.

For Jesus,

is less about getting you into heaven and more about getting heaven into you.

It takes

. The

Reveal Answer

name for the followers of Jesus was “the Way” or “followers of the Way.”

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (Matthew 7:13-14) Jesus’

way leads to life.

The broad and wide “

” way of the world has always led to destruction and heartache. (Matthew 16:24)

Our first core value is “

” because when Jesus says, “whoever wants to follow me,” he means

Reveal Answer

.

Action Steps

Take a step toward Jesus by taking a step away from the world, and take no

during Lent.

Ask God to help you become free of the need for things to go

way so you can practice

Reveal Answer

way.

My additional notes:

.