The first mark of a vital congregation is discipleship. Discipleship is responding
to Jesus’ call, “Follow me!” Scholar and writer Dallas Willard defines
discipleship as “the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.”
Discipleship is a process of becoming a student or apprentice of Jesus, learning
to do the things he did and become the kind of person he was. I see discipleship
as the hub of a wheel – all the other vital marks come from the central focus of
discipleship. As we grow as disciples, we become better able to demonstrate
the other vital marks.
Discipleship is foundational to the Christian life. We can’t really call ourselves Christians if we do not commit to becoming Jesus’ disciples. The word “Christian” occurs 3 times in the New
Testament, while the word “disciple” occurs 269 times. Clearly discipleship is essential to being a Christian. So, how do we become disciples of Jesus? Discipleship is both an initial commitment and a lifelong pursuit. We won’t fully mature as disciples until we meet Jesus face-to-face, but we can begin the process of becoming Jesus’ disciples and make progress in spiritual maturity.
This Lent, we’re going to do a deep dive into the topic of discipleship. I will be preaching a sermon series on the topic as well as leading an adult Sunday school class at 9:30 AM in the parlor based upon the video series, “From the Inside Out”. In this class/sermon series, we’ll explore the following questions:
• What is Discipleship?
• What is Spiritual Formation?
• What is My Picture of God?
• What is My Picture of Myself?
• What is My Picture of the Gospel?
• How Do People Change?
• How Do I Follow Jesus?
I hope this series will help us learn about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, as well as how to grow to maturity as Jesus’ disciples. Jesus calls us with the command, “Follow me!” Let’s learn how to follow Jesus more closely as his disciples this Lenten season and always!
Blessings,
Hilary
Leave A Comment