Dare to be a Disciple 2
(Read Dare to be a Disciple 1)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
This course has been born out of a conviction that I have, in my 22 years as a preacher, teacher and pastor, concentrated too much on making converts and too little on making disciples. I have come to the realisation that the two are not the same. Jesus command is "Go and make disciples", so
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
This course has been born out of a conviction that I have, in my 22 years as a preacher, teacher and pastor, concentrated too much on making converts and too little on making disciples. I have come to the realisation that the two are not the same. Jesus command is "Go and make disciples", so
Discuss the following statements:
“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“People do not decide their future. They decide their habits and their habits decide their future.”—Unknown
“Whatsoever one would understand what he hears must hasten to put into practice what he has heard.” —Gregory the Great
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried.” — GK Chesterton
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus . . .” —The Apostle Paul Philippians 2:1-13
Consider and discuss the following as a general rule of discipleship:
To witness to Jesus Christ in the world,
and to follow his teachings through
acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion,
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Name various acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion
Read through the Gospel readings set for Lent (here) and discuss what the bolded sections teach us about:
Compassion
Justice
Worship
Devotion
The Gospel reading for this last Sunday Mark 8:31-38 has Jesus talking about suffering. Read Chapter 4 of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and for next week be prepared to discuss the following points he raises. Read here
My main resources in drawing up this course are:
Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Covenant Discipleship by David Lowes Watson
The Sermon on the Mount by Scot McKnight
The Sermon on the Mount by Cedric Poole
