Learning to Follow Jesus (29 of 31)
Series: Grace-Energized Men
John Barnett
June 29, 2008
Following Jesus is the call of every believer. As the Apostle John was inspired to say, it is also the test of true salvation. Listen to him in his first letter: "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:6)
Discipleship:Learning to Follow Jesus
Although the word discipleship is a common term used constantly in many churches, we don't seem to see Christ-like people developing as readily as it is talked about. We live in a land where millions of born again Christians are suffering from acute biblical illiteracy; and many of them are enslaved to culture-accommodating lifestyles. It is a critical time to reassess how God's Word says to train people to be true followers of our Lord Jesus.
"Perhaps the greatest single weakness of the contemporary Christian Church is that millions of supposed members are not really involved at all and, what is worse, do not think it strange that they are not. As soon as we recognize Christ's intention to make His Church a militant company we understand at once that the conventional arrangement cannot suffice. There is no real chance of victory in a campaign if ninety per cent of the soldiers are untrained and uninvolved, but that is exactly where we stand now."
In analyzing the Gospels we find that Jesus ministered to the multitudes no less than 17 times; but His small group sessions recorded number no less than 46. Although this is just an observation, we could conclude that Christ's plan was to offer a mix of 25% public training (large group sessions) and 75% small group nurturing (discipleship, hands on demonstrations and accountability).
John Wesley wrote, "I am more and more convinced that the devil himself desires nothing more than this, that the people of any place should be half-awakened and then left to themselves to fall asleep again." So, in 1743 John Wesley organized a society. "Such a society ...
Series: Grace-Energized Men
John Barnett
June 29, 2008
Following Jesus is the call of every believer. As the Apostle John was inspired to say, it is also the test of true salvation. Listen to him in his first letter: "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:6)
Discipleship:Learning to Follow Jesus
Although the word discipleship is a common term used constantly in many churches, we don't seem to see Christ-like people developing as readily as it is talked about. We live in a land where millions of born again Christians are suffering from acute biblical illiteracy; and many of them are enslaved to culture-accommodating lifestyles. It is a critical time to reassess how God's Word says to train people to be true followers of our Lord Jesus.
"Perhaps the greatest single weakness of the contemporary Christian Church is that millions of supposed members are not really involved at all and, what is worse, do not think it strange that they are not. As soon as we recognize Christ's intention to make His Church a militant company we understand at once that the conventional arrangement cannot suffice. There is no real chance of victory in a campaign if ninety per cent of the soldiers are untrained and uninvolved, but that is exactly where we stand now."
In analyzing the Gospels we find that Jesus ministered to the multitudes no less than 17 times; but His small group sessions recorded number no less than 46. Although this is just an observation, we could conclude that Christ's plan was to offer a mix of 25% public training (large group sessions) and 75% small group nurturing (discipleship, hands on demonstrations and accountability).
John Wesley wrote, "I am more and more convinced that the devil himself desires nothing more than this, that the people of any place should be half-awakened and then left to themselves to fall asleep again." So, in 1743 John Wesley organized a society. "Such a society ...
There are 15898 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
