Dear All,
We welcome Dave and Deb Chislett to the Christ Church Network as our curate. We are excited that God has called them to be with us for this time and we hope you will get to know them as we walk together in the purpose of God.
The morning sermon themes in June have been on the theme of discipleship, and, so I thought this month I would put pen to paper about this theme.
Jesus said Go and make disciples of all nations. So our chief job is making disciples. The question soon follows how does this happen? As we have been seeing, Jesus made disciples by asking them to come and follow him. Discipleship happens in a context of movement to a purpose. It does not happen purely in the context of knowing other Christians (though this is an essential element), it really happens when that group of Christians are following God and you are joining in with them. Belonging to a group of believers who are moving in a clear direction under God is the essential environment for us all. Being clear about the church direction and moving in that direction stops us being people who help others take their eye off the ball and sometimes even in the name of pastoral care cause them to lose direction and find confusion and discouragement as a result.
Secondly Jesus asked them to be disciples so they could be with him.. Jesus said that we had to learn to abide in him before he could abide in us.(Abide in me and in you John 15:4).In John 14:23, he describes this process. If we love and obey him (abiding in God) he then makes his home with us (abides in us). When the disciples agreed to follow Jesus they were not yet equipped, they were just obeying but as a result God formed in them so they became fishers of men. Abiding in God is the place where formation occurs. Paul expected Christ to be formed in the Galatians (4:19). This comes about by loving and obeying Him. We are formed in the image of God (Col 3:10, 2Cor 3:18 see Gen 1:27b). Abiding in God allows God to make that transformation work in us.
There is a mindset change needed......Discipleship is about drawing people after the purpose of God, not teaching people how to be good Christians; Discipleship is introducing people to the presence of God so that their responses bring about something on the inside of each person so that what was once in the unseen becomes tangible within the life and experience of the disciple. Let me use a simple illustration. Say God’s purpose for someone is to read the bible out loud publically. The wrong approach is to do training events where they learn the different ways to read the bible, the different types of scripture or the different services in which the bible is read . Instead the way it works is that God uses someone to invite you to read a lesson in church (something you have never done before). You obey the call, and read the lesson as a result you are able to read the bible in public. This is the way Jesus would do it. Training might well be valuable after people have started on the road. It involves adjusting our methods and growing in understanding. But this happens as we do it and interact with others.
The more we welcome people to feel they can take part with us the more discipleship happens. Bring people with you to your small group just because you will be there rather than whether they will enjoy it or not (though we reckon they will really find it good for them!); same also for that church congregation. How else are you going to make disciples? If you are involved in a project, let people help you; invite people to join with you in worship. This is true for your discipleship of your children as well as your friends. Don’t make the mistake some Christians make of apologizing – e..g. to a young person... its not for young people or to an old person... you may find it noisy, or even worse don’t come where i go because you will not understand it and will not get much out of it.. Cannot God speak to anyone who asks? Sometimes in the decision to obey God and move into(say) a church congregation, God speaks, sometimes in the most unlikely ways. We must just let God do His work. Deal with the questions if they should arise when they ask them not before. The focus is always on what God is doing! if you are aware your friend and others needs something we are not offering at the moment talk to me in case God is showing us something for further growth in the kingdom opportunity there.
The morning sermon themes in June have been on the theme of discipleship, and, so I thought this month I would put pen to paper about this theme.
Jesus said Go and make disciples of all nations. So our chief job is making disciples. The question soon follows how does this happen? As we have been seeing, Jesus made disciples by asking them to come and follow him. Discipleship happens in a context of movement to a purpose. It does not happen purely in the context of knowing other Christians (though this is an essential element), it really happens when that group of Christians are following God and you are joining in with them. Belonging to a group of believers who are moving in a clear direction under God is the essential environment for us all. Being clear about the church direction and moving in that direction stops us being people who help others take their eye off the ball and sometimes even in the name of pastoral care cause them to lose direction and find confusion and discouragement as a result.
Secondly Jesus asked them to be disciples so they could be with him.. Jesus said that we had to learn to abide in him before he could abide in us.(Abide in me and in you John 15:4).In John 14:23, he describes this process. If we love and obey him (abiding in God) he then makes his home with us (abides in us). When the disciples agreed to follow Jesus they were not yet equipped, they were just obeying but as a result God formed in them so they became fishers of men. Abiding in God is the place where formation occurs. Paul expected Christ to be formed in the Galatians (4:19). This comes about by loving and obeying Him. We are formed in the image of God (Col 3:10, 2Cor 3:18 see Gen 1:27b). Abiding in God allows God to make that transformation work in us.
There is a mindset change needed......Discipleship is about drawing people after the purpose of God, not teaching people how to be good Christians; Discipleship is introducing people to the presence of God so that their responses bring about something on the inside of each person so that what was once in the unseen becomes tangible within the life and experience of the disciple. Let me use a simple illustration. Say God’s purpose for someone is to read the bible out loud publically. The wrong approach is to do training events where they learn the different ways to read the bible, the different types of scripture or the different services in which the bible is read . Instead the way it works is that God uses someone to invite you to read a lesson in church (something you have never done before). You obey the call, and read the lesson as a result you are able to read the bible in public. This is the way Jesus would do it. Training might well be valuable after people have started on the road. It involves adjusting our methods and growing in understanding. But this happens as we do it and interact with others.
The more we welcome people to feel they can take part with us the more discipleship happens. Bring people with you to your small group just because you will be there rather than whether they will enjoy it or not (though we reckon they will really find it good for them!); same also for that church congregation. How else are you going to make disciples? If you are involved in a project, let people help you; invite people to join with you in worship. This is true for your discipleship of your children as well as your friends. Don’t make the mistake some Christians make of apologizing – e..g. to a young person... its not for young people or to an old person... you may find it noisy, or even worse don’t come where i go because you will not understand it and will not get much out of it.. Cannot God speak to anyone who asks? Sometimes in the decision to obey God and move into(say) a church congregation, God speaks, sometimes in the most unlikely ways. We must just let God do His work. Deal with the questions if they should arise when they ask them not before. The focus is always on what God is doing! if you are aware your friend and others needs something we are not offering at the moment talk to me in case God is showing us something for further growth in the kingdom opportunity there.
In closing,..just to say..if we do not read the bible and pray each day, go to church each week, or attend a small group neither will those we disciple. They will become just like us.
“Lord may we love and obey you more that those who follow us may also know you more”.
God bless,
Jonathan
Jonathan
PS In the Autumn we are inviting Andy Hall to start a discipleship course for anyone whether Christian or non Christian where we hope all will be drawn into the purpose of God and as a result start to manifest the kingdom of God. If you are interested in this they will be held on Saturdays once a month (starting Saturday Nov 7th) after the releasing the Kingdom 2 conference in Friday 9th & Saturday 10th October
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