Ministers Desk Aug 12 2012

The church in the twenty-first century needs to be firstly a disciple-forming community.  This means that our practices need to be orientated toward helping each person grow more into the relationship God wants with them.  This applies equally to those who are already members of God’s kingdom and those who are yet to come to faith.  Discipleship is something that needs to be lived and experienced.  Through our living discipleship we will understand more deeply what it means to be a Christ follower and we will be able to express that more often.  In worship we have been talking about the practice of evangelism.  This can be a practice that is about us as much as it is about the person we engage with.

Growing disciples are people who surrender their will to that of Jesus Christ, but we need to grow in our capacity to surrender.  For too long we have been taught by this world that to surrender our will and independence is a sign of weakness.  Yet in Christ it is a strength that leads to the fullness of the blessings that God can offer.   Through the practice of evangelism we learn to surrender our desire to control the people we spend time with, the things that we do with our time and the preferences we have in how we share our faith, or don’t share it.

Growing disciples are people who are have a growing obedience to Christ in all things, but our rebelliousness holds us back from being obedient.  Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations.  This command is unambiguous and direct, yet too often we ignore that in the pursuit of other activities which have a less clear biblical command.  I tend to ignore the command to evangelism because I don’t like its implications.  However, my growing discipleship to Jesus means that I cannot live with integrity and not do anything about it.

Growing disciples are people who are living a life that is attractive to others, so that they too will want this type of life for themselves.  Growing in our capacity to show unconditional love to others, serve without counting the cost, to honour others above self, offer forgiveness without reservation and seek reconciliation are all signs of the movement of the Spirit in us.  As we receive more of the Spirit in us these characteristics will be more prevalent in our lives.

Growing disciples are people who are alert and responsive to the leading of the Spirit.  It is he who provides the opportunities for us to have faith sharing conversations and provides the words and inspiration for what we say.   As we practice being responsive to the Spirit, we will find that it comes more naturally and more often and we will experience his leading in our lives more often.

Our purpose as a church is to facilitate each one of us growing as disciples of Christ.  He has so much more in store for us, more than we can ever contemplate experiencing.  To be led to this life we need to give ourselves to practices that will continue to develop our heart for God, one of this is through engaging with another in the belief that God will draw them into a living relationship with him.