...have give you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age”. As a disciple we are also called to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15), be a witness (Acts 1:8), pass along our faith (Romans 10: 14-15), invite other to follow Christ (Matthew 4:19-20), make disciples who make disciples (2 Timothy 2:2), and be a Christ-like example to those we disciple (Titus 2:3). If we are called as an individuals and the church to develop disciples that develop disciples: how well are we doing? By observing Christians’ spiritual growth, the growth-stage strategies, and the discipleship process at a local church, perhaps some answers will be found. Discipleship at First Baptist Church (FBC) At FBC the senior pastor defines discipleship as “the process whereby a new believer in...
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...Literally, the phrase person-to-person simply means one-to-one. This implies that addressing somebody personally on certain issues without the interference of the third party. And the rationale behind such relationship is to gain 100% attention of such individual, not only that such person will have freedom to express himself or herself to the person talking to him/her without any form of suspicion. This writeup is made to x-ray the importance of one-to-one discipleship as stated by our lord and saviour Jesus Christ. This report also focuses on the hinderances to this missing ingredient in christendom today. 1.1 Disciple In Christian usage a disciple is a follower of Jesus Christ, an adherent to the Christian tradition. A student, learner or pupil in the school of his/her master (Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers) Someone who believes in ideas of a great teacher especially a religious teacher and tries to follow him. Someone who has an aptitude to acquire knowledge from a mentor (disciplar). Someone that accept the doctrine of his master without any logical reason. The example is that of Jesus Christ and His disciples. Matt. 10:24 says “the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord’’. In other words no man can ever expect to be greater than Christ, for He is the only Lord and Christ (Act 2:36). The word disciple appears in the bible 28 times, while the plural form (disciples) appears 244 times ...
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...Making Plan HEBRON BAPTIST CHURCH __ A Paper Presented to Dr. Douglas White Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for DSMN 500: Discipleship Ministries __________________ by Timothy Taylor #177780 October 15, 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION……………………….………………………………………………2 VISION…………………………………………………………………..………………3 VALUES…………………………………………………..…………………………….4 VIEWS………………………………………………….…………………….…….……6 VEHICLES………………………………………………………………………………6 VERIFIERS…………………………………………………………………………….14 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………17 BIBLIOGRAHY…………………………………………………………………..……20 Introduction As I prepare the Disciple Making Plan for Hebron Baptist Church I have had time to reflect on the desires of the congregation and listen to the voice of God as He has spoke to my spirit. My current status has been encouraging, as we have shifted from being a reactive ministry to a proactive ministry. At this time I am presently in my 10th year as pastor of a church in an urban area of Brooklyn, N.Y, My first 8 years very little in the way of discipleship was accomplished as our building was old and the congregation was already small and began diminishing though relocation and death. Our efforts at discipleship were further hampered after in my 3rd year we experienced a major collapse in part of our building. Over the next 5 years the concentration of the church was on our building. Every bit of our energy...
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...The Journal of the anti-Nazi movement. Edited by Mark Brocker, Translator Lisa Dahill The Cost of Discipleship, 1937(1948 in English). English edition with introduction by Bonhoeffer’s friend, Bishop George Bell of the Church of England. One of the most important Christian documents of the 20th Century, it gives the responsibility of following Christ to the individual. “There is a cost of discipleship, anything else is Cheap Grace.” He used the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew to teach discipleship. Life Together. The stimulus for the writing of Life Together was the closing of the preacher's seminary at Finkenwalde. The book contains Bonhoeffer's thoughts about the nature of Christian community based on the common life that he and his seminarians experienced at the seminary and in the "Brother's House" there. Life Together was completed in 1938, published in 1939, and first translated into English in 1954. Letters and Papers from Prison (The first English translation was in 1953 by SCM Press). The writings from prison. Bonhoeffer was not even 40 years old when he became a martyr of the church. Yet, in his short life he provided a Christian witness for the ages. His understanding of the cost of being a follower of Christ is an example for us to follow. My fourth...
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...society is incredible and the reason for this paper is to examine the merits of his work and to look at his life and his particular place in Christian history by closely examining his background and historical setting, and some of his more significant works. This paper will look into Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship, and Ethics, and his Prison Correspondence. These works are important in understanding the man and as a theologian and they give an accurate picture of what it was like to live back in those times as a Christian. Despite the numerous accounts of WWII that are out there are very few that give us an account from the perspective of a Christian and the hope that all Christians can share even in the darkest of times. But before we get into his works let us take a look at some of his background. Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer? With every great hero there must be a great villain, and in the case of Bonhoeffer there was no greater villain than the Nazi party or specifically Adolf Hitler himself. Not many people realize this but when Nazism first started it was considered a Christian movement coming from the Lutheran Church. The Nazi party tended to get much of their beliefs from the sayings of Martin Luther in his later life. Because in Luther’s later life he did come to write many anti-semantic statements that the Nazi party adopted and went about trying to enforce and in some cases over exaggerating Luther’s original intent. This is when Bonhoeffer's story takes place, at a...
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...Discipleship * Those who follow Christ will face numerous challenges. But if they stay focused on their Master, they will be able to deal with whatever happens. * Most of us like to be with important people. Meeting a head of state or a government minister or a celebrity provides us with a much-coveted conversation topic. Knowing someone important, or even knowing someone who knows someone important, somehow seems to endow us with a halo of glory. It seems to be a natural desire to climb up the social ladder rather than remain near its base. Jesus’ disciples were no exception to this unfortunate human trait. More than once His closest followers argued over who would be “first” in His kingdom. * However, rather than promising His disciples material prosperity and social status, Jesus prepared them for a different kind of reality. In Mark 8:31-38, Jesus is teaching plainly about His upcoming torture and death. Peter reproaches Him for this, and Jesus responds with one of His strongest rebukes: “Get away, Satan! You don’t have your mind on God’s matters!” It must have been very important, first for Him to have said something so strong, and then for Him to call the crowd to listen, along with the twelve, to what He had to say next. “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. * For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life...
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...……………………………………………………………2 Church Doctrine…………………………………………………………………………………..3 The Emerging Church…………………………………………………………………………….4 Beliefs of the Emerging Church…………………………………………………………………..5 Methodologies of the Emerging Church………………………………………………………….8 Strengths and Weakness of the Emerging Church………………………………………………..9 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….10 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………...12 Introduction Churches all across America are working hard in their attempts to increase the kingdom of God with all kinds of innovative and inspirational ministries. Many of these churches are tuning their worship services to make them more attractive and exciting to reach a new generation. According to George Barna, “Millions of dollars flow from church budgets into events each year in an effort to influence people’s thinking and behavior. Literally billions of dollars are spent every year maintaining, upgrading, and expanding buildings and facilities to provide the space and equipment required for the ministries planned by the church. To appeal to people who have thus far turned a cold shoulder to God, churches and denominations launch sophisticated marketing campaigns that are designed to reposition churches and raise awareness of the things of God.” According to research by David Kinnaman surveys show that the three most common perceptions of present-day Christianity are antihomosexual (an image held by 91 percent of young outsiders), judgmental (87 percent), and hypocritical...
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...& THE RELEVANCE OF THE CHURCH RUTO KORIR-12S03EBT004 The “Church” has been in existence for quite a number of centuries, in the book of Acts we see the fellowship of believers coming together in unity “They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42 & 46). This illustrates to us that the body of Christ came into existence a little while after he had resurrected into heaven. The church has been described in a number of ways, some in their lack of understanding have described the church as a piece of real estate or just a building where individuals hold their religious masses. But in truth the church is a community of those who believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and saviour, the church is composed of those who have a common faith and belief. Others have gone on to describe the church as a body, a family, the New Israel and the body of Christ. It has also been described as the spiritual reflection of the society and humanity as a whole. Churches can exist in small and local communities ranging from small to large congregation and the church is also universal it is composed of the entire number of believers in the world. The church...
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...as they experienced tremendous growth in the early church. During these early days, Paul and Barnabas were called by the church in Antioch to expand the reach of the Gospel (Acts 13:2). Van Sanders with the North American Mission Board offers this insight. “Eventually, Paul and Barnabas encounter non-Hebrew people who have no Old Testament understanding of God…[they] learn quickly that Gentile pagans, the ta ethne [all nations] of God’s mission mandate, have difficult cultural and linguistic barriers between them and their gospel message…the missionary team structure introduced at Antioch is God’s patter for moving the gospel between population groups that are culturally distinct and distant from each...
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...mission of this passage. The sinners were considered unclean and profane, yet Jesus is there to be their physician. He is there to pursue the faith in them (Just 96). Historical Analysis The Gospel of Luke was originally written in Koine Greek (McKenzie 525). The intended audience is Greek-speaking, meaning Christianity was an international religion. The Gospels of Luke, Mark and Matthew have many of the same stories, but sometimes in different words or order. One of the problems of these Synoptic Gospels is the synoptic problem. The synoptic problem is the interrelationship of the three of them and the similarity in content (Mueller 75,77). One solution is that Matthew used information from only Mark, and Luke wrote last, using both of the gospels before him (McKenzie 524). The two main theological parties in Judaism were Sadducees and Pharisees. The Sadducees are not mentioned much in the New Testament, but the Pharisees are debated with in this book. ‘Pharisees’ means righteous. Pharisees were the only ones who could keep the skill of being righteous (Green 246). Levi is presented as a tax collector from Capernaum. Levi is of low status and is...
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...Misty Gilliland Description of the Image of God The biblical approach to describing the image of God begins in Genesis 1 (NASB) where it is written that God made man in His own image. In the creation of mankind, God purposefully distinguished humanity from the other created beings by giving each an individual identity and supplying the ability to relate to God.1 Gen. 1:26-27 clearly states the mankind was made in the image and likeness of God. Humanity is so valued by God that He put special emphasis on not committing murder and that even the blood can cry out from the ground (Gen. 4:10) from those murdered. As God is without sin and humanity was created without sin, the introduction of sin damaged the relationship mankind shared with God, but the restoration of that relationship was made possible through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.2 Over the course of history, the historical approach to describing the image of God resulted in various interpretations of the image and likeness of God as it pertained to humanity. Irenaeus proposed that God’s image and likeness were separate things and that the likeness of God gave mankind the ability to relate to God in righteousness. That righteousness was broken in sin, but restored in Christ as believers could come to God through Him. Calvin later argued that human nature was completely damaged by sin and Aquinas followed Irenaeus with some modification. The historical interpretations held by these men are viewed as...
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...important to recognize that the principles underpinning Judaism is not a single belief instead a variety of belief systems. Through my research, I have drawn parallels and differences between Judaism and Christianity with respect to their belief system, and worldview. The paper affirms that Judaism has had a profound influence on the overall lifestyle, social interactions, cultural practices, and the religious history for the Jewish community. Introduction What does Judaism mean in the life of a Jewish person? In order to properly analyze “Judaism” one must first understand both the origin and the significance of the term Judaism. The term was first used in the intertestamental period by Greek-speaking Jews to distinguish their religion from Hellenism. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Judaism is defined as “a religion developed among the ancient Hebrews and characterized by belief in one transcendent God who has revealed himself to Abraham, Moses, and the Hebrew prophets and by a religious life in accordance with Scriptures and rabbinic traditions.” Simply put, Judaism is the intricate religious and cultural history for the diverse people known as the Jewish community. Judaism plays a significant role and is influential on the cultural holidays, dietary practices, social structure, and entertainment for its followers. After reading and reflecting on Matthew 5:1-7:29, write a 600-word essay in which you describe your understanding of this sermon and how it applies...
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...CONGREGATIONAL TRANSFORMATIONAL MODEL APPLICATION The framework for facilitating real change in a congregation of age is simple according to John Kotter. The principles of change transcend secular and religious lines. Although the message of the Gospel is about change, churches may be the last entity to desire it. The status quo is often elevated to a sacred position in the church, shadowing the reality of the current situation and the need for transformation. The following paragraphs represent enmesh the current congregational situation facing Hillcrest and the principles of change found in Kotter’s book. At Hillcrest church, both leaders with titles and those with influence exist. To date, some discussion concerning change and growth has...
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...Empowering Youth Focusing on Salvation and Service Missions Leadership Discipleship Evangelism Prepared by the General Conference Youth Department Layout by Ludi Leito A General Conference Youth Department publication. Please specify title when re-ordering. This material may be translated, printed, or photocopied by any Seventh-day Adventist entity without securing further permission. Republished documents must include the credit line: “Youth Department, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, used by permission. © 2001 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904, USA Contents Introduction...................................5 Introduction Chapter 1 Salvation and Service for All Ages ............................9 Chapter 2 OUTCOMES.....................................13 OUTCOMES Chapter 3 Discipleship Chapter 4 Leadership Chapter 5 Mission Chapter 6 Evangelism Strategies.................21 Strategies Strategies Strategies...................31 Strategies.........................37 Strategies Strategies..................41 Strategies “With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior might be carried to the whole world!” (Education, p. 271). 4 Introduction It’s probably Ellen White’s best-known statement about...
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...Theology and Spirituality: Interdisciplinary Approach to Christian Counseling Summary McMinn (2011) uses this book to bring out the importance of the use of spirituality (as related to Christian faith) in psychological counseling. He describes the Christian Counselors as people who are highly trained in counseling theory and techniques, in theology, and are personally disciplined to mirror Christian attributes during and after counseling. (pg. 139) According to McMinn (2011), Christian Counselors face the challenges of knowing the techniques of spiritual formation, inability to learn spiritual passion, and devotion so as not be handicapped in bringing religious issues to counseling and therapeutic session (p.39). This is because training and competency in the field of psychology and theology can be evidenced, but understanding spirituality cannot be evidenced. This will continue to be a challenge because we can never be spiritually competent. Another challenge is the link between the counselors personal and professional life and worldview as it affects the clients’ level of spirituality, believes and worldview. He states that Christian counselors are faced with the problem of expanded training. They must go beyond the level of professional training to personal training because other factors such as empathy, care, trustworthiness, wisdom and insight come from within (McMinn, 2011, p.15). In moving counseling towards psychological and spiritual health, McMinn explores...
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