Who is a disciple?
A follower of Jesus.
What is discipling?
Intentionally helping others follow Jesus.
What is a culture of discipleship?
When the whole church discipling the whole church is normal.
_________________________________
Putting it all together
Discipling is not another thing we do. It is the way we do everything. More than a program or a curriculum, discipleship is the normal way we live together as a church. This is lived out in corporate and personal contexts.
Corporate Discipleship
In the Great Commission, Jesus instructed his disciples to make disciples by baptizing and teaching everything that he commanded. The command to baptize means that the main context of discipleship is the local church. In a broad sense, discipleship happens in the life of the church as we worship and serve together. Here are a few examples of how we disciple one another in this way.
Attend Sunday Morning Gathering – We encourage, exhort, and edify one another when we gather to hear from God. Sing whole-heartedly and loudly! Pray fervently with the church. Come ready to hear from the Word of God. Stay a while and talk to others.
Attend Sunday Morning Training Classes and Wednesday Night Bible Study and Prayer – These are great opportunities to build more relationships in a context of teaching, prayer, and fellowship. Our Training Classes are a great opportunity for discipleship! Bring someone with you and plan to discuss the material after the class.
Pray – The PHBC directory is a tool to help you pray for each member of the church. If you don’t know the person, pray the Scripture you read that day over them. You could even send them an email or invite them over to get to know them.
Initiate Hospitality – Bring others into your life. Invite a visitor, new member, or member you don’t know to your home to get to know them. Hospitality could also be initiating coffee or a lunch.
Evangelism – We want to help people follow Jesus even if they don’t know Him. Team up with someone in the church to take the Gospel and engage the neighborhood around you or the church, or the people that you naturally come across in life. Let others in the church know how they can pray for your evangelistic efforts.
Serve in a Ministry – Serving in ministry is not driven primarily by a desire to express our gifts, but to love and edify others.
Personal Discipleship
While Jesus drew large crowds in his ministry, he also focused his discipleship with a few. The relationships we build in broad discipleship should move towards a focused discipleship with a few. In a focused sense, a culture of discipleship is marked by initiating intentional relationships centered around the Word, transparency, and prayer. This won’t always be easy! But this is what gospel ministry is all about. If you are not sure who to meet with, we want to connect you with others to get the ball rolling.
Join a Community Group – Our Community Groups are not intended to be filled people that look just like us, but are diverse in make up. These groups are for men and women of different ages that spend time applying God’s Word to their lives and praying.
We hope the above structures will encourage you in your discipling relationships, but please don’t feel limited by them. We encourage you to initiate these relationships on your own.