Discipleship the key. Laying the foundations

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1 Authentic Disciples We will be a diocese in which we grow authentic disciples, going out as individuals passionately, confidently and courageously sharing their faith, and coming together as creative church communities of prayer and worship that live out Kingdom values

2 Discipleship the key When dealing with discipleship, and the related capacity to generate authentic followers of Jesus, we are dealing with that single most crucial factor that will in the end determine the quality of the whole if we fail at this point then we must fail in all the others. Alan Hirsch 2 Laying the foundations

3 all saints

4 all saints It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians. Acts 11:26 The idea of being Jesus disciple predates the word Christian.

5 In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19).. Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are disciples and missionaries, but rather that we are always missionary disciples. Pope Francis

6 The Purpose of Mission Is Discipleship

7 The Great Commission 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

8 The climax of Matthew s Gospel 'These verse are the key to the understanding of the entire book.... They sum up everything Matthew wrote in his gospel.' David Bosch Fresh Expressions 8

9 The Purpose of Discipleship Is To Be a Blessing

10 Jesus fulfills the promise to Abraham 12:3 Go and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed 18:18 all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him (Abraham) Mt. 28:19 Go and make disciples of all nations

11 Jesus fulfills the promise to Abraham Mt. 1:1 An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Mt 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations

12 Go and be a blessing

13 What Is Discipleship?

14 What Is Discipleship? Matthew 10.25: it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher. The heart of discipleship is being with Jesus, in order to be like him. If I am to be Jesus disciple that means I am with him to learn from him how to be like him. Or how he would live my life if he were me. Dallas Willard

15 Abide in me But in the ancient world to be the student of a teacher was to commit yourself to living in the same atmosphere and breathing the same air. Rowan Williams

16 There is no discipleship without mission.

17 There is no discipleship without mission. Discipleship emerges out of prayer, study, dialogue, and worship by a community learning to ask the questions of obedience, as they are engaged directly in mission. Alan Roxburgh

18 Who does this? This is the calling of ordinary worshipping Christians, with their doubts and struggles. Worship and mission are inseparable, They form the rhythm of church life. Authentic worship leads to mission. Authentic mission wins worshippers.

19 HOW ARE DISCIPLES MADE?

20 How are disciples made? As Jesus made disciples. The founding of the whole Christian movement was initiated through the simple acts of Jesus investing his life and embedding his teachings in his followers and developing them into authentic disciples. Alan Hirsch

21 How are disciples made? Only disciples make disciples. He commissions his own disciples to go out and replicate themselves by creating communities of obedience among the nations. Mission is replicated discipleship, learned through ethical obedience and passed on through teaching. Christopher Wright

22 By going The change is to an outward focus: from a come to us approach to a we will go to you attitude, embodying the gospel where people are, rather than embodying it where we are, and in ways we prefer.

23 Outward facing Focus on ministry by the church in the world, rather than ministry in the church that is largely confined to the existing members. Eddie Gibbs Fresh Expressions 23

24 Contemporary culture makes disciples

25 Contemporary culture makes disciples 21 ST CENTURY WESTERN CULTURE A core value - Individual choice A satellite navigation system - Consumerism A new controlling story Constructivism

26 CONSUMERISM The religion of the twenty-first century? Steven Miles

27 CONSUMERISM The activity of consuming has become a kind of template or model for the way in which citizens of contemporary Western societies have come to view all their activities. Colin Campbell

28 Discipleship requires A more captivating motive for daily choices A more powerful set of character forming habits A proactive supportive Christian community Outclassed by a Christian way of life!

29 By baptizing That through the Son, and by the Spirit we will share the Son s relationship with the Father which is the key to his discipleship.

30 By baptizing Incorporating people into the community called the Church. David Bosch 1Cor. 12:13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

31 Baptised into Christ s mission As members of Christ s body they are baptized into his mission, equipped by the Spirit to make their distinctive contribution to the totality of the ministry of the church. Eddie Gibbs Continuing the journey 31

32 By teaching

33 By teaching All that I have commanded you The whole gospel becomes a manual for the making of disciples. Much more than compiling a list of ethical requirements. It is an integrated ethical code fulfilling and going beyond the Law of Moses

34 By teaching Practices when you pray, fast and give Ethics Sermon on the mount, money, relationships, Mission - witness, healing, deliverance, the poor,

35 Only through Christ

36 Only through Christ Based on his achievement Under his authority In his presence

37 Authentic Disciples We will be a diocese in which we grow authentic disciples, going out as individuals passionately, confidently and courageously sharing their faith, and coming together as creative church communities of prayer and worship that live out Kingdom values