The Meaning of Discipleship Discipleship revolves around following Jesus both physically and spiritually. Both the first disciples and Christians today are followers of Jesus. A disciple of Jesus would be expected to respond immediately to Jesus, love his neighbour, be willing to forgive sins, show generosity, accept persecution and live their lives using gospel values in everything they do and say. The first disciples of Jesus were expected to give up everything to be real followers of Jesus as this was illustrated in Mark's Gospel when Jesus called his first disciples. As Jesus walked along the shore of Lake Galilee he saw two fishermen, Simon and his brother Andrew, catching fish with a net. Jesus said to them "Come with me, and I will teach you to catch people." At once they left their nets and went with him. He went a little farther on and saw two other brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in their boat getting their nets ready. As soon as Jesus saw them, he called them; they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went with Jesus. (Mark's Gospel - 1:16-20) This extract from the story of Gospel portrays many factors of discipleship the first disciples were to undergo. The main point this story is proving is that to be a disciple you must respond immediately to Jesus' demands even if that means leaving your friends, family and property behind. In chapter two of Mark's Gospel Jesus was once again back to the shore of Lake Galilee where he started to teach a crowd of people. As he walked along, he saw a tax collector, Levi son of Alphaeus, sitting in his office.... ... middle of paper ... ...s a true disciple in the modern world by following the School's mission statement, "Our mission is to be a catholic School where every individual is highly valued and where care and concern is central to our work. All our students are expected to achieve their full potential and become equipped for adult life. At SJB everything` we do is guided by gospel values." (St John the Baptist mission statement) As if what you do is guided by gospel values then you will be directly acting as a true disciple. As well as individuals there are also many societies who act as true disciples like the Salvation Army, Oxfam and many more organisations. The above information suggest it is possible to be a true disciple in the modern world even without literally following Jesus but by following and living the Gospel today.
If Christ lives in us, controlling our personalities, we will leave glorious marks on the lives we touch. Not because of our lovely characters, but because of his. –Eugenia Price.
Stuff and money is becoming more important in people’s lives. They forget how much more important the Holy Spirit is in their lives. Forgetting how powerful the Lord is, they begin relying on material items. In eternity, material items will not be of any value! Like the Li family in Safely Home, the Lord wants His followers to rely on Him to provide, instead a sundry of Christ followers begin to depend considerably on money, jobs, and people for providence. In Safely Home, the story illustrates how Christians are to live with God as their provider because when a Christian lives a life in dependence on God, they rightfully focus on the Lord as their provider. God can direct a person’s path in a way no one else is able to. Just like Li Quan, Ming, Shen and all the other Christians in the story accepted, God’s thoughts will become one’s own thoughts and His words will become one’s own words. However, without fully realizing, Ben Fielding was living to serve himself. He was dedicated to his job, being successful, and well-off, but he was still empty inside. This particular successful businessman was always searching for something to fill the hole in his heart until he truly experienced the Lord and His presence. In short, Christians can be challenged by this story to rely on God more and live a lifestyle that pleases
Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity: A Revised and Amplified Edition, with a New Introduction, of the Three Books, Broadcast Talks, Christian Behaviour, and Beyond Personality. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001. Print.
become a Christian, a disciple of Christ. In this we have to be a good
To be a true disciple of Jesus one must not disown or deny Jesus but
Mark's Gospel and Nature of Discipleship In Mark's Gospel, there are many accounts of Jesus' disciples and Apostles which are helpful to Christians as examples of the nature of discipleship. In this part of my coursework essay I hope to address questions involving what Mark's Gospel tells us about Jesus' disciples and Apostles, as well as defining the principle of what being a disciple entails, and defining also who the apostles were. This is because by learning about past disciples and the Apostles, a modern disciple of the Church can learn about the nature of discipleship. A disciple is somebody who is inspired enough by somebody to learn about them, listen to their ideas and follow them and their way of life.
who "does what God wants them to do". This simply means that if we put
The first reason that it would be unethical for preachers to be “seeker sensitive” in their leader ship and preaching is that it goes against what the Bible says about unbelievers. This whole idea rests on the assumption that faithless unbelievers are actually seeking God. The Bible makes it very clear that “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). Without going into the even more controversial subject of predestination you must agree that in man’s natural sinful state he cannot seek after God. God must first reveal Himself to man. What lost people are seeking is not God. It is peace of mind, relief from guilt, and a deeper meaning to their lives. They seek the benefits of God, while at the same time they flee from Him by seeking for their own selfish gain. Therefore, if preachers only speak messages that attract large crowds, and meet the felt needs of the lost, then they are delivering a false sense of security. They are not bringing people to a true knowledge of the gospel. They are ultimately leading them away from salvation in Christ by blinding them with dazzling music displays and emotion filled messages.
Simply stated, “the word "gospel" means simply good news.” With that definition, then the good news would summarize all of the information found in the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul recaps the most basic components in the gospel message. These are found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, specifically listed in 15:3-4 (NRSV) “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,”. “These verses, which were an early Christian confession, give us the heart of the gospel” and show the importance of three incidents; that Christ died
The individual either turns from God as Langston Hughes did, or runs toward God as I did. Langston Hughes was aware of what he had done, and was aware that his salvation was not authentic. His experience did not bring him to Jesus, rather pushed him away from Christ. In my case, I spent many years thinking I was saved and discovering I was not saved. This caused me to be insecure about my faith, and ultimately led me to the realization that I needed Jesus. During the ages from seven until thirteen, there is much confusion with one as they begin to discover who they are. Often during this time one may get led astray from Jesus or brought to His fold. The way Auntie Reed presented Jesus to Langston Hughes in this way, “…when you are saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life!… you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul”(369). This confused Langston Hughes as he did not understand Auntie Reed’s use of words. He thoughts Auntie Reed was being literal as to how Jesus would show up for him. When this exact experience did not happen for Langston Hughes he felt as though something was wrong because he did not experience God exactly how he was told he should. Using language that children do not understand, and saying exactly how Jesus will show up can be extremely confusing to children. Also, when peer pressure is a factor it is evident that children will do things they do not sincerely mean. Langston Hughes, his friend and myself all did things that we did not mean to because other children were doing
In the divine religion of Christianity, the life of Apostle Paul set a legendary example of devotion, loyalty, and commitment to the Holy Christ and the church. He was the true apostle of Jesus Christ who tried his level best to spread the Divine mission of peace and love to all civilizations and different cultures. Unlike other apostles he was the one who enlightened the Asia world with the great teachings of Jesus Christ through his ceaseless endeavor in the form of preaching. His mission was to bring humanity closer to the blessings of Christ by means of apostolic charity so as not to be confided to one race or culture but to the whole mankind (Feingold, 2009).
When it comes to the way you treat and speak to others on a daily basis I think it comes down to being mindful and caring. God was a leader and expects us to be a leader and help those around us. I feel as Christians it is important for us to feel comfortable enough to speak the word of God to others to form conversation and friendships. I feel like a biblical worldview could influence the way you decide on a future career. With God expecting us to act as servants and help others I feel like it would only be right in choosing a job geared to helping others and spreading the word. For myself, I know I have always wanted to become a teacher and influencing children and helping them create their own personal worldview. I look forward to teaching young children the word of God in their younger
Once a person agrees to accept the entire Bible as God presents it in the Bible, the test of faith (or mere hope) comes. A mere hoper won't bother (or dare) to keep exactly what God says; a person with true faith will not only try but succeed when he does. Because I have faith in Christ, have escaped the corruption that is in the world, am a partaker of the Divine Nature, and have received many great and precious promises from God Himself, my goal in life is to be diligent in my service of righteousness to God. The society we live in, like any that has seen the noonday sun since the day God spoke it into existence, is utterly depraved, and I am too. It is God himself in my life who works in everything in my life that may seem to be faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity.
When Jesus called His disciples, His invitation was simple. He invited them to follow Him. The same is true today. In Matthew 28, Jesus gave His last charge to His disciples, and the charge was simple. He called his followers to go and make disciples. Much effort has been placed by Christians to fulfill this charge, commonly referred to as the Great Commission. Jesus chose to fulfill the implementation of the New Covenant through 12 men who He called, appointed, and commissioned, and he only had a few short years to prepare them for the task (Willson, 1990). His methods were unconventional and were revolutionary for that time. His disciples were to be trained extensively by Jesus, living with Him for three years prior to His ascension. He taught about servant leadership and its meaning for both the leader and follower Matt. 20:25-28). From the beginning, Jesus put in place a careful plan, and an examination of His actions in the Gospels showed that Jesus left behind the pattern to be replicated. His methods, which included the incorporation of three different levels of discipleship, included His interaction with Peter, His closest three (Peter, James, and John), and finally the group of 12. This paper identified and analyzed the three levels of discipleship Jesus modeled, these discipleship methods were then measured against modern leadership theories, and Jesus’s level of involvement and interaction with his disciples were critiqued in light of these modern theories in an effort to determine the effectiveness of this approach.
The particular family member that I was witnessing to I knew for a fact was going to be stubborn at my approach. My family member asked me about what I have learned in evangelism, and I told them about certain approaches to how those can reach salvation. From there I introduced the “Four Spiritual Truths” method that I say would happen to very effective if implemented properly. I said , “The four laws are: God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life, Man is sinful and separated from God, Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin, We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.” Of course I received an uneasy response at first. i was questioned to why do I have to accept Jesus as my savior in order to be saved, why can’t it be that I can’t just be a good person to get into heaven. Of course I answered that with, “God wants us to be perfect holy beings in his pr...