Discipleship Preaching: A Biblical Pattern for Pastors

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

- Matthew 28:19, 20 NASB

There is a distinct pattern that Jesus used in training His original twelve disciples. Jesus and the disciples employed the exact same pattern when they began to disciple the 70 and then again with the 120.

But this did not start with Jesus. God, the Father, instructed Israel through Moses to celebrate a series of seven distinct festivals at definite times throughout each year. This pattern emerges in looking at these festivals.

Peter listed these steps of discipleship. He also described the desperate consequences of not following these distinct steps. He contributed both the lack of fruit in the believer's life and his doubts of his salvation to a failure to follow these steps. Peter then challenged his readers to give diligence to make sure of their calling by following these steps.

Paul described each of the seven steps succinctly in his beautiful hymn of wonder at the magnificence of Christ in Philippians 2.

The pattern is repeated again and again throughout Scripture, yet is seldom (if ever) heard from our pulpits. Because I have found alliteration to be a great help to my memory, I began to assign alliterated words to this pattern of discipleship that seems to be repeated in Scripture.

This book is designed to walk you through the pattern used in Scripture that can be replicated in your life and in your church.