Dear Church Family,
Our re-launch as a church with a focus on the Great Commission leads directly to a renewed commitment to Discipleship and Disciplemaking.
Discipleship is “the ongoing process of becoming and growing to be more like Christ and pursuing the mission we share with him for as long as we have life and being.”
Disciplemaking is “a believer’s intentional effort to invite, encourage, and equip others to become and grow to be more like Christ.”
In the book Disciple: How to Create a Community That Develops Passionate and Healthy Followers of Jesus, Chuck Lawless shares what it means to be a disciple. I have found this to be very helpful in disciplemaking.
- A Disciple of Jesus Lives Out the “Two Greats” – the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). “The Great Commission will be fulfilled by Great Commandment Christians. To be a Great Commandment Christian is to love God with your whole self and to love you neighbor. The Great Commission is to create Great Commandment Christians. The Great Commandment invites us to participate in the Great Commission, and the Great Commission invites us to participate in the Great Commandment.”
- A Disciple of Jesus Exhibits the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Disciples of Jesus must not only abide in God’s Word and love one another, but they must also bear fruit: “Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. . . . When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples” (John 15:5, 8).
- A Disciple of Jesus Wears the Full Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17). This is a call to live faithfully as disciples of Christ. Each piece of armor builds on our position in Christ and call us to live out our faith practically.
- A Disciple of Jesus Obeys Him (John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:14). “Obeying Jesus’ commands in effect means to copy the example of Jesus.” Disciples are to be like Christ.
Want to get started? Many Christians have had to try to learn on their own, pick up things from sermons, or take a Sunday school class. These can provide information, but usually do not build discipleship relationships – really sharing life together. Our Intentional Discipleship Ministry team is in the process of starting up new disciplemaking opportunities to better enable all of us grow in our discipleship to Jesus. We follow the pattern of 2 Timothy 2:2.
First Steps. If you would like grow in your discipleship by becoming part of a group, interning with an existing ministry, and/or meeting individually, please let us know (you can email me – (thomas-taylor@comcast.net). We have a core team of 12, many of whom will be meeting for lunch and planning next Sunday after church so that we can offer some discipleship opportunities even this summer.
“Love God, Love People, Make Disciples”
Yours in Christ,
-Tom
