Dann L. Spader - Walking as Jesus Walked: Making Disciples the Way Jesus Did

WALKING AS JESUS WALKED

MAKING DISCIPLES THE WAY JESUS DID

DANN SPADER

M OODY P UBLISHERS

CHICAGO

2011 by
D ANN S PADER

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations marked NCV are from the Holy Bible, New Century Version, copyright 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, Nashville, TN 37214. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189, U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphasis in Scripture has been added by the author.

Edited by Pam Pugh
Interior Design: Smartt Guys design
Cover Design: Kathryn Joachim
Cover and Interior Images: Albert Smirnov, iStockphoto.com, #12478206,
iStockphoto.com #2118236, #2192892, #10638727, #15874634

Library of Congress Catologing-in-Publication Data

Spader, Dann.
Walking as Jesus walked : making disciples the way Jesus did / Dann Spader.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8024-4709-8
1. Jesus ChristExample. 2. Discipling (Christianity) I. Title.
BT304.2.S63 2011
232dc22

2011013774

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To my wife, Char, my best friend and partner for over thirty years,
to our three wonderful daughters Julie, Jamie, and Christy,
to our two sons-in-law Pete and Brandon,
and to Keira and Elyse, two of the cutest granddaughters anyone could ever have!
Thanks for making our family such a wonderful part of life!

and

To my executive Bible study guys you truly are a band of brothers.
Your passion for the Lord and heart to see His kingdom advanced is inspirational.
Thanks for your friendship and encouragement.
Special thanks to Brian Campbell, Bob Chicoine, Scott Kirk, Bob Spence, and Gary
Vargyas for your time and input in helping make this a better Bible study tool.
And special thanks also to Barry, our seeker friend,
who gave us special insight into this study as only someone
who is still kicking the tires and checking out Christianity could.
I cant wait until the day you make the decision to
accept Christ as your Savior. We all love you!

EXPLORE MORE ONLINE

Watch Dann introduce each week at WalkingAsJesus.com

W alking as Jesus Walked is a resource for small groups or individuals who have a desire to study the life of Christ and go deeper in understanding what the Scriptures mean in 1 John 2:6 when it says, Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did. This resource has been developed as a 1012 week study, but can be adapted to a longer time frame, depending on the needs and interests of the group.

Designed primarily as a small group interactive study, this resource can also be used for personal study at your own pace. With interesting questions for individual preparation, group discussion and interaction will aid in going deeper in this material. Feel free to use it as best serves your needs or that of your group. A leaders guide, along with a personal video from the author introducing each lesson, is available online at WalkingAsJesus.com. These videos and leaders guides are free resources and can be used in any way that will serve your group.

Each session in this book has been designed with an introductory overview called Getting Started followed by five Days of personal study to be done prior to the group meeting (or six when you take a day for the overview). Each of these Days takes approximately 1015 minutes to complete. Feel free to mark up your book, adding additional insights or questions you may have as you study the text. Bring any of these questions or insights with you to the small group interaction time. The free online leaders guide will serve as a tool to help the group facilitator guide the group interaction time.

At the end of each lesson is a supplemental For deeper reflection designed to provide ongoing questions for further thought. You may want to use some of these questions for group interaction. They are also designed to take the lesson to a deeper level.

Our prayer is that you will gain a fresh look at Christ and see in His humanity a model of how God intended us to live life. Allow the Spirit of God to teach you look honestly at the Scriptures and allow Him to transform your life. Hebrews 3:1 in The Message version of the Bible challenges us to take a good hard look at Jesus. Hes the centerpiece of everything we believe. For over thirty-five years I have been studying the life of Christ and what I love about Him is that He is a very deep well continually giving us new living insights about living for Him. Our desire in writing this study was to help you take a good hard look at Jesus.

See WalkingAsJesus.com for video resources specific to this weeks study.

M ax Lucado begins his excellent book Just Like Jesus with this powerful challenge:

What if, for one day, Jesus were to become you?

What if, for twenty-four hours, Jesus wakes up in your bed, walks in your shoes, lives in your house, assumes your schedule? Your boss becomes his boss, your mother becomes his mother, your pains become his pains? With one exception, nothing about your life changes. Your health doesnt change. Your circumstances dont change. Your schedule isnt altered. Your problems arent solved. Only one change occurs.

What if, for one day and one night, Jesus lives your life with his heart? Your heart gets the day off, and your life is led by the heart of Christ. His priorities govern your actions. His passions drive your decisions. His love directs your behavior.

What would you be like?

Max goes on to talk about the heart of Jesus that can be oursa heart of forgiveness, compassion, purity, worship, and hope. This is a valuable exercise, for it gives us an opportunity to reflect on how our lives might change if we truly allow Jesus to renew our heart and mind. It takes seriously the challenge of Philippians 2:5, that we should have the same mindset [i.e., heart] as Christ Jesus.