Follow the Master: How Jesus Made Disciples

By Paul Barreca

The disciples waited eagerly by the Sea of Galilee, just as Jesus had instructed them. Their crucified Savior had risen from the dead and promised to meet them in Galilee, where they spent so much time together. Framed in the backdrop of Galilee’s familiar shore, Jesus instructed the Eleven to go and make disciples. They were to disciple o

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grace Acres, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781602650558

Paul Barreca

Paul Barreca is the Director of Fellowship International Mission in Allentown, PA. Paul's passion for discipleship grew out of his years of pastoral ministry, serving for thirty-three years in four churches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan. His pastoral ministry held the Great Commission in highest regard. He now utilizes his pastoral experience and discipleship tools to assist missionaries and churches through the ministry of FIM. Paul sensed the Lord's call into pastoral ministry while he was a teen and entered full-time ministry at the age of 21. He studied at Word of Life Bible Institute, Lancaster Bible College, Michigan Theological Seminary and Clarks Summit University where he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree. He has taught in Bible colleges both in the United States and the Philippines, and is the author of "Follow the Master: A Discipleship Guide for Growing Christians." Paul and his wife Kim have three children and seven grandchildren and have been married since 1982. Contact Paul to learn more about discipleship or to have him speak to your church our group.

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Praise for Follow the Master: How Jesus Made Disciples

Would you like become a disciple-maker? Would you like to become a better disciple of Christ? Read this book!

Dr. Ray Pritchard, President

Keep Believing Ministries

In his book, Follow the Master, Paul Barreca has provided a detailed and insightful analysis of discipleship in the New Testament, with particular emphasis on the methods employed by Jesus himself. I highly recommend this volume to all who desire to heed Jesus’ command to make disciples because of Paul’s immensely helpful guidance. His work is informed not only by careful exposition of the biblical text, but also by decades of study and experience in pastoral ministry.

David James, Director

The Alliance for Biblical Integrity

In our postmodern world, discipleship seems to have multiple conflicting approaches. This book helped me go back and consider the strategy of the Master and how His strategy can help us accomplish discipleship today. Dr. Barreca brings together Biblical principles and practice in a well-balanced approach. This book is an essential tool for those desiring to make a difference in someone’s life. For the last 9 years I have been using this well-balanced approached in discipling young men. I have introduced and taught the material in Follow the Master to hundreds of pastors and leaders of local churches in the Philippines.

Rev. Jonel Arcedera

Co-Creator of Intense Discipleship Is For Me(ID4ME)

Director of Local Church Ministries Word of Life Philippines

At a time when many seem to be lost and lacking direction this is a great tool to remind us of the need to disciple and be disciples as we Following the Master’s plan. Follow the Master is a book that reminds us of the importance to disciple through the power of the Word of God. A practical, biblical and encouraging book that I look forward to sharing it with my congregation.

Daniel Vasquez, Th.D.

Pastor, Calvary Fellowship Cedarville, NJ

Grace Acres Press

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Copyright ©2017 by Grace Acres Press. All rights reserved.

Printed in United States of America

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ISBN: 978-1-60265-055-8

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Bible references unless otherwise noted are from:

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version

Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers

All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Barreca, Paul, 1962- author.

Title: Follow the master : how Jesus made disciples / Paul Barreca.

Description: Larkspur : Grace Acres Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017038046 | ISBN 9781602650541

Subjects: LCSH: Discipling (Christianity) | Mission of the church. | Spiritual formation. | Great Commission (Bible)

Classification: LCC BV4520 .B353 2017 | DDC 253--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017038046

Dedication

In many businesses and organizations, the people who enter above you are sometimes referred to as upline, while the customers or members you reach are called downline. Discipleship is somewhat like that. The Lord uses godly examples who disciple us in our upline, while we simultaneously disciple others who are younger in their faith.

This book is dedicated to the host of people who form the upline in my life. They have encouraged me through their teaching and examples. The list is long and continues to grow, as I am still on my own journey of discipleship. Key among these upline believers are Christian parents, a godly wife and children, close friends, Bible college and seminary professors, and fellow pastors and church members. Some upline encouragers are people I have never met, whose books and articles nurtured my soul. Thank you for encouraging me to Follow the Master.

My greatest joy has been to watch those in my downline mature in their spiritual development. Some of them now serve as pastors and missionaries. Others are parents and members of various local churches. I pray that in some small way, you the reader will be drawn into greater depths of obedience to and faith in the Lord. Thank you for enduring this flawed vessel as we learn together to Follow the Master. I thank the Lord who uses our inadequacies and weaknesses to proclaim the life-changing treasure of the Gospel. To God be the Glory!

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Acknowledgements

The publication of this book would not have occurred without the contribution of many who helped form my understanding of discipleship and enabled me to put these ideas into practice. Anne Fenske of Grace Acres Press was kind enough to embrace my vision for this book. Her publishing experience and theological knowledge gently guided me through the writing, editing and formatting process in an extremely compressed time-frame. Thank you, Anne!

The original work that supported this book originated with my Dissertation on Discipleship which was completed for the Doctor of Ministry degree at Clarks Summit University. Thank you Doctor David Mappes, Dr. Kenneth Gardoski and Dr. Donald McCall for challenging some of my ideas concerning discipleship while introducing concepts that caused me to dig deeper and reflect on Jesus as our example for contemporary disciple-making.

Kim, you endured the most through my doctoral studies and the writing of two books on discipleship. Thank you for your godliness and our joint efforts in discipling others. I would have very little to share without the contributions of such a godly, loving and competent wife.

I am also thankful for the ministry of Word of Life. For many years I have taught these discipleship principles at the Word of Life Bible Institute in the Philippines. The curricula in Follow the Master: A Discipleship Course for Growing Christians is being used in the Bible Institute and hundreds of churches in the Philippines. I am grateful for the leadership of Jonel Arcedera, who organized the translation of the curricula into Tagalog and developed a discipleship training course for Philippine churches. Jonel’s efforts are bearing much fruit and equipping churches to be more effective in making disciples.

Several editors provided valuable corrections, insights and suggestions for a more logical argument for this book. Thank you Judy Parmer, Pastor Daniel Vasquez, and my daughter Brittany Raup for the timeliness and thoroughness of your editing suggestions.

It was my years of pastoral ministry at Faith Bible Church in Vineland, NJ that provided the opportunity to develop and implement this discipleship philosophy. I owe much to the pastors, leaders and members of this very special congregation.

Contents

Introduction

1—The Start of a Great Journey

2—The Disciple’s Guide: Jesus

3—The Disciple’s Pattern: Jesus

4—The Disciple’s Language: Use the Right Terms

5—The Disciple’s Journey: Follow and Learn

6—The Disciple’s Destination: Life Change

7—The Disciple’s Map: The Great Commission

8—The Disciple’s Examples: Learning from Other Travelers

9—The Disciple’s Travel Plan: The Best Route for Your Discipleship Journey

10—The Disciple’s Reward: Arriving at Our Destination

Appendix: Discipleship Lessons from Jesus

About the Author

Endnotes

Introduction

I love maps. One of the highlights of my childhood was a family road trip from upstate New York all the way to Los Angeles, California, and back. Dad assigned the role of navigator to his young and eager son. With the aid of AAA Trip-Tik maps, I plotted our course each day, keeping my dad informed of the nearest rest stops, gas stations, or scenic attractions along our route. By following the map, our family Buick stayed on track and heading west. A few days later we reached the destination: our relatives in Los Angeles. We could never have completed our journey without the help of a precise map pointing us to the most efficient route and assisting us in avoiding unnecessary detours along the way.

This book is about a different kind of journey. It is the journey of spiritual maturity that Jesus travelled with his disciples.