Discipleship Tape Ministries

The Lord’s Prayer – many of us have read it, memorized it, and recited it many times. But, do we use it as the pattern God intended it to be? In Matthew chapter six, Jesus shows us a pattern of how to come before God in prayer. This study is about that model. It is the beginning of a look at that portion of the Sermon on the Mount that teaches us how to pray. Read lesson: 981A

In Matthew chapter six, Jesus began teaching on the evidences of deeper spirituality. To the Jew, there were three great religious activities which set a man apart as spiritually successful: almsgiving, praying, and fasting. These were the hallmarks of a religious man. It was here that Jesus chose to pull back the layers of artificial godliness and expose man for what he really is apart from the g...

Light is not a quality, or a creation or a force, it is a Person. Jesus Christ is The Light. If we are to be lights, we are to be inhabited by that Person. The character of light, then, is a reflection of a Person. What will this light do when properly allowed to shine? What happens when we succumb to the curse of becoming hidden light? This is the subject of Jesus’ lesson to His disciples. Read l...

Salt from the steeple; light from the hill. Two amazing commodities, so simple, so available, so seemingly insignificant that they would be overlooked in man’s scramble for a more complicated formula with which to impress a searching world. Salt from the steeple; light from the hill. Could it really be that simple? If so, then why wasn’t the world transformed in a generation? Jesus clearly explain...

The Jews began accusing Jesus of not complying with the law, although it was really only their traditions. The issue of the Sabbath was in question. Was it right to work on the Sabbath, and what constituted work? Was it right to heal on the Sabbath? The Jews had taken the principles of God and turned them into a religious system. Today we might call it legalism. There are several major issues abou...

A paralytic man is lowered from the roof of a house right in front of Jesus. What will Jesus do? He said to the paralytic, “Take courage young man, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes and Pharisees among them began to murmur, “Who can forgive sins but God?’ Had Jesus simply said “Rise up and walk”, they would have been satisfied, but only God can forgive sins. Which is more important? The mir...

It is in solitary places that God and man most often conduct business which is eternal. God still does His greatest work when we retire for a time to solitary places. Jesus kept withdrawing to be alone with the Father and once alone, He prayed. Man in our age has no time for the solitary place; no time to recharge the batteries of his spirit away from the drain of daily activities. Jesus had to ha...

In part two of this lesson, we will look further at what it means to develop a ministry, and what it means to be a disciple. Jesus teaches us that a successful ministry is one in which the one doing the ministering has no expectations based on his own natural talents or abilities. He has no expectations based on prior performance or the world’s plans. He is simply available to the Master. As he be...

How did Jesus draw men who would leave everything they had to follow Him? In this lesson we will look at how Jesus drew a crowd, how He designed His facilities, how He developed a ministry and how He defined discipleship. The church of today needs to look at the example of Jesus instead of man’s techniques and man’s technology as the basis for growth. If we lift up the Word of God and teach it wit...

There are two absolutes that we find all throughout Scripture. They are the universality of sin and the love of God. One requires the other. Without a knowledge of sin, we will never appreciate God’s love. As we look again at the story of the Samaritan woman, there are four truths that become evident concerning our relationship to God. As we examine these truths, we will see that to know about God...

Our Scripture for this lesson is Matthew chapter 4, which is the story of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well. Our primary reason for this series of lessons is to seek to discern how Jesus behaves in the marketplace of life. Therefore, we must cautiously observe why Jesus went through Samaria, and why Jesus spoke to this woman. See how Jesus used such a common thing as water to begin a con...

As we look once again at the subject of being born again, we see that not only must man be born again, but there must be a perfect sacrifice for this to take place. As we take a look at the most memorized passage in Scripture,  John 3:16 , we see the awesome love of God. He sent His only Son in our place to take away our sins. Satan says that salvation is a mirage. God just came to Earth to condem...

As we look again at the story of Nicodemus, we take a closer look at what it means to be “born again”. Jesus explains that there are clearly two worlds, the world of the flesh and the world of the Spirit. We have all been born of the flesh, but not until we are born of the Spirit can we see God’s kingdom. For a second time, Jesus reveals the miracle of the second birth. Listen as Jesus explains. R...

The story of Nicodemus reveals to us just why Jesus came. Nicodemus came to Jesus wanting to know Who He was. But he couldn’t. He did not possess the capability to understand spiritual truth, because he was spiritually dead. So Jesus, rather than tell Nicodemus Who He was, told him what he needed to do to find out. He had to be born again. Find out what it means to be born again and not only to kn...

The message of the overturned tables is, in reality, a singular message. It is that religion is not a business; it is a relationship with the Living God. Whatever business is necessary to define and develop that relationship, God honors. Whatever goes beyond that and becomes self-serving and self-perpetuating God loathes. Thus we see Jesus in the temple demonstrate more righteous indignation than...

As Jesus called out His disciples, He said two simple words – “Follow me”. Following means total abandonment of what you intended to become, total abandonment of what you intended to own, total abandonment of what you intended to accomplish. It means death to self. Is Jesus asking you to follow Him today in some area of your life? Read lesson: 973B

In this lesson, we will take a look at the life of John the Baptist who knew exactly who he was and Who his Lord was. As people came to John the Baptist, they began looking to him as the Messiah, instead of merely a channel God was using. They saw him as the power source and not just the vessel. Men seek to glory in men; men seek to glory in churches; men seek to glory in systems. Our belief needs...

This lesson takes a close look at the third, perhaps the deadliest, temptation. It is a subtle affront to God. What were “all these things” that Satan had vowed to give Jesus? And what was the catch? See how Satan uses the “Two Kingdom Lie” to try to lure us into his camp. Read lesson: 972B

As we look again at the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, this lesson will center around three statements made in that passage; statements that seem to be central in the unfolding of the layers of truth that are lovingly wrapped around this conflict of the ages. The first of the three statements holds the key to how Satan attacks the child of God. The second holds the key to how God, i...

When the warfare gets tough, God wants to fight for us. Our lesson takes a look at Jesus as He was led into the wilderness and tempted by Satan. His life demonstrates both in the testings of life, and in the battlefields we face daily, how God behaves when He is allowed to be God in us. How does Satan attack us, and how does God respond? As we look at the life of Jesus, we will see the power of Go...

What does it mean to make Jesus Lord of your life? How does God live in you as He lived in His own Son? Does this mean a life free from suffering? It didn’t for Jesus. Does that mean a life of prosperity? It didn’t for Jesus. Does that mean a life free of persecution? It didn’t for Jesus. It means a life of Spirit-controlled joy in the midst of persecution; a life of Spirit-controlled peace in the...

Be still! The very words seem out of place in our society. We have become so busy, we have forgotten our true priority of sitting at the feet of Jesus and realizing Who He is. Until we can learn to be still, we cannot win life’s battles or learn life’s lessons. There are two ways to be still. We can choose to be still, setting aside time to wait on God, or we can be stilled by the circumstances of...

Jesus laid it all on the line. To Him, discipleship was nothing more and nothing less than dying to yourself and letting God be God in you. You can’t live the Christian life – God has to live it – therefore, all He’s asking you to do is to let Him. Did you, like the disciples, begin your walk with God, not knowing just what it was that God was calling you to do? Did you assume the world’s posture...

Humility is the life of Christ giving Himself away with no regard to recognition: its only reward is the joy of having pleased the Father. Humility has no rights to claim; no recognition to demand; no results to be guaranteed. It only has one purpose – to reveal the incredible, supernatural life of Jesus Christ in the midst of a world that is struggling to prove itself by declaring itself to be im...

Spiritual pride. It is so subtle, so disguised in spiritual robes that we miss it. Satan has taken that old rascal “self”, yanked him out of his coffin, dusted him off, and set him on the front pew. In Satan’s Slingshot, we find the most dangerous form of pride of all: spiritual pride. It masquerades itself as righteousness, when in reality it is the most subtle form of self-righteousness known to...