DEV 02FN Identifying with Jesus

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=Session 2: Identifying with Jesus=

''In this session, you will discover the importance of identifying with Jesus through baptism and communion. ''

Pre-session requirement by you, as the facilitator, or your trainer:
Please discuss how the pastor of your church wants to handle baptism and communion in the new groups that are being formed – who can do it? how it will be done? and when will it be done? Below is an example of what to say:

'“Pastor, we are excited about what the Lord is doing through you and your church. Your participants in this training have been working hard for the last 2 months. They have finished the initial training and have a missional community. As they disciple the new believers and teach them to obey Jesus, they learn about topics that are precious to the church: two of these topics are baptism and communion. We want to introduce these two important topics, but, like with all of our training, we want to put things into practice. On these two subjects, we want your direction on how best to proceed. Please review the lesson (have a copy for him/her) and give us direction on how the new believers can apply them. Our desire is for this to be as meaningful to these new Christians as possible and consistent with your desires. How can we and your participants in the training proceed?”'

Heart of a Leader (40 min)

 * Worship together in the big group
 * Have participants get into groups of 3-4 people and discuss the following:
 * What are you learning and how are you abiding in Christ through word, prayer, obedience, PCS, relationships and fellowship?
 * What areas of your life is obeying God a challenge?
 * What unresolved conflict do you have?
 * What happened as you trusted God with your goals from our last meeting?

Vision Casting for the Heart
'Peter was one of the closest followers of Jesus. He experienced many miracles and experienced the thrill of the Lord using him to reach many people. But he also made many mistakes as a young leader. He often took action and said things before thinking. He lied about being a follower of Jesus. And he got discouraged. But Peter was always honest with Jesus. There is so much we can learn about having a heart and love for the Lord from the life of Peter. We all can relate to stumbling as we learn to be leaders. But be encouraged. Jesus is full of grace and He is gentle in His heart toward us. He will patiently guide you and teach you along the way. '

Celebration of Faithfulness (20 min)
NOTE: Celebrate Faithfulness in the large group so that all can benefit and be encouraged.


 * Give opportunity for participants to share what has happened since the last meeting. Ask them to relate it to goals they set from the last meeting.

Iron on Iron: Sharpening Myself and Others (45 min)
Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another.” 


 * Review the process of drawing the Health Circles if needed (refer to Develop FN01)
 * Have them get back into their small groups, draw their network of missional communities and churches then share and evaluate with their group.
 * What is going well?
 * What is not going well? What obstacles are you facing?
 * What are possible solutions from the other group members?
 * What do you need to do to add the missing characteristics into each group?
 * Have them set goals for improvement from their evaluation and share them with their small group. Then have them pray for one another.

New Lesson (45 min)
Relevant Topic: Why is it important to know what it means to identify with Jesus?


 * Have participants get into new groups of 4-5 people (or they can continue in their Iron on Iron groups)
 * In the following sections, each group assign verses to each participant. Each participant will then read the passages below and tell what they learned to the group.

Discovery Bible Study - Identifying with Jesus Section 1: Identifying with Jesus through Baptism Jews and Samaritans: Acts 2:37-41; Acts 8:5-13

Paul: Acts 9:10-12, 17-19; Acts 22:12-16

God-fearing Gentiles: Acts 8:34-38; 10:44-48

People of Peace in Philippi: Acts 16:13-15; Acts 16:25-34

People of Peace in Corinth: Acts 18:5-8; 1 Corinthians 1:14-16


 * After they have all shared their assigned verses, have each person in the groups share:
 * What caught your attention? (or What did you like best?)  Why?
 * What types of people were these before they were baptized?
 * How would you describe the pattern of baptism in these verses?

'Summary: Read Romans 6:4-5. A famous Chinese pastor, Watchmen Nee, said “Baptism is the outward expression of an inward faith”. Baptism is an obedience issue. In Matt 3:13, Jesus modeled baptism for us. And in Matt 28:19, he commanded his followers to do it to others. It does not mean every sin in our lives is gone before we obey. Baptism is not about being mature; it is about being sure we want to commit our lives to being followers of Christ. Even though, in every example in Acts people were baptized immediately, there isn’t a direct command to be immediately baptized. It is important that someone understand what baptism represents before they are baptized. However, we should be careful not to hinder people from obeying God by being baptized immediately after they believe.'

Section 2: Identifying with Jesus through Lord’s Supper 

Jesus’ Model: Luke 22:14-20

Paul’s Instructions: 1 Corinthians 11:23-28


 * After they have all shared their assigned verses, have each person in the groups share:
 * What caught your attention? (or What did you like best?)  Why?
 * What did Jesus teach His followers about this?
 * How did Paul teach the Corinthians to obey Jesus’ teaching?

'Summary: The death and resurrection of Jesus were so significant that the Lord gave us two ordinances to practice to identify ourselves with them. Baptism is done once and symbolizes our commitment to identify with Jesus’ death and resurrection. Communion is done on a regular basis and reminds us of the new covenant we have with God because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Teaching new believers about Baptism is found in Foundational Bible Study 4: Boldly Identifying with Jesus. Teaching new believers about Communion comes in Foundational Bible Study 14: Remembering Jesus’ Sacrifice. '

Preparing for Mission (20 mins)
Based on the discussion with the pastor prior to this session, practice how to baptize and how to lead communion.


 * If permission is given for the missional community to have baptism and to give communion, then practice a simple way to conduct baptism and to lead communion
 * If Baptism and communion can only be given by the pastor or other church leaders, ask the pastor to describe the process they will use so that new believers can obey this teaching
 * Write “I will by when” statements. Include “who will you teach this lesson to?”
 * Practice any additional skill that leaders need in leading their groups or starting new ones.

Sending the Laborers

 * Reinforce the overall vision: a church or faith community for every 1,000 people
 * Spend time in Prayer:
 * committing the goals that were set to the Lord
 * for God to raise up a movement of churches
 * for more laborers to come out of the harvest