An Introduction to Christian Discipleship

Sunday, November 9, 2025
Pastor Jojo Ma

Sermon Video

The importance of “mission statements”: Google, Tesla, Amazon, Disney, PayPal, TED Talks

CrossLife Community Church, Mission Statement: “At CrossLife, our ultimate purpose as a local church in the San Gabriel Valley is to glorify God (1 Cor 10:31) by following the Great Commandment (Matt 22:37-39) and fulfilling the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20).”

We want to glorify God. And we do that most by loving God, loving people, and making disciples. That is why our church exists and that is why every faithful church in the world exists.

Matt 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What is a disciple? A Christian disciple is one who learns the good news of the gospel and applies it to all of life.

Grounded in the Gospel by J.I. Packer: “Discipleship involves grounding and growing God’s people in the gospel and its implications for doctrine, devotion, duty, and delight.”

2 Tim 2:1-2 You then, my child [Timothy], be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me [Paul] in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Discipleship is about passing on the biblical faith to those who don’t yet know Christ (making disciples) and to those who are growing in Christ (maturing disciples). Discipleship applies to both unbelievers and believers --- and the foundation is the gospel.

What is evangelism? The most simple definition of evangelism is this: It is the proclamation of the gospel. Mk 1:14-15 Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

At a minimum, verbally sharing the Gospel is essential to effective, biblically-faithful evangelism.

What is missions? How is it different from evangelism? Missions is evangelism to the nations. John Piper: “Evangelism is speaking the gospel to everyone, especially those in your culture. Missions is realizing there are cultures and linguistic groups that don’t have anybody in them to do that. And therefore we must make a special effort to learn languages, learn cultures, do all of the anthropological, methodological thought that is necessary in order to be effective culture-crossers to plant a church there who would then do evangelism.”

Matt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Matt 9:37-38 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Jn 10:16: And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd.

We make disciples, but ultimately it is God who is gathering sheep all over the world to Himself by His sovereign grace. We must always remember the sovereignty of God is behind every conversion and every disciple we make.

What is mercy ministry? Tim Keller: “Mercy ministry is any effort to relieve the pain and/or disenfranchisement of the needy.”

Mercy ministry is not the same thing as the gospel (which is of “first importance”), but caring for the least and the last, the weak and the vulnerable, when Christians do this we demonstrate to a watching world the kind of God we have and the kind of love He produces in His children’s hearts.

What is the Mission of the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert: “The mission of the church -- as seen in the Great Commission, the early church in Acts, and the life of the apostle Paul -- is to win people to Christ and build them up in Christ. Making disciples – that’s our task.”