Discipleship
10/16/2009
Abiding
All of our accomplishments depend first and foremost on maintaining a deep relationship with Christ (John 15:5). We nurture this relationship with Christ through spiritual disciplines such as prayer; fasting
(Mat. 6:16-18; Acts 14:23); reading, studying, and memorizing scripture; praise and worship; and simply relying on Him moment by moment, and day by day to lead us through the twists and turns of life
(Prov. 3:5-6).
Growing
Scripture calls us to walk in Christ’s footsteps (Eph. 5:1-2), to obey His word (John 8:31 ), and to mature in our relationship with Him (1 Pet. 2:2, Gal. 5:19-26, Heb. 5:13-14). We seek therefore, to help parents raise their children to love and serve God (Deut. 6:4-7; 2 Tim. 1:5; Josh. 24:15, Prov. 20:11), to engage in mentoring and accountability relationships with other believers (2 Tim. 2:1-2; Tit. 2:2), to explore areas of spiritual giftedness, and for each of us to hone our spiritual gifts and use them to strengthen the church
(Eph. 4:11-13; 1 Pet. 4:10-11; Rom. 12:3-8).
Reproducing
As each one is built up in and uses his/her spiritual gifts to strengthen the church, the church will grow. We are to use the gifts God has given us to make disciples of all nations (Mat. 28:19-20; Isa. 49:6; Rom. 10:9-15; Prov. 11:30 ). God uses our evangelism to turn people to Christ, God works through us in disciple-making to grow converts into disciples, and as God fills the church with disciples, God’s kingdom is expanded and new churches need to be planted in order to continue the process of making disciples of all nations (Acts 1:8).