Friday, March 6, 2015

Dare to be a Disciple 6

Dare to be a Disciple 6
Read Dare to be a Disciple 5
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
This course has been born out of a conviction that I have, in my 22 years as a preacher, teacher and pastor, concentrated too much on making converts and too little on making disciples. I have come to the realisation that the two are not the same. Jesus command is "Go and make disciples", so

This week we will summarise everything we've learnt thus far in a PowerPoint presentation

We'll look at some sample covenants:
Here is one sample

Knowing that Jesus Christ died that I might have eternal life, I herewith pledge myself to be His disciple, witnessing to His saving grace, and seeking to follow His teachings under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  I faithfully pledge my time, my skills, my resources, and my strength to search out God’s Will for me, and to obey.

I will worship each Sunday unless prevented.

I will receive the sacrament of Holy Communion each week.

I will pray each day, privately, and with my family or with friends.

I will read and study the Scriptures each day.

I will return to Christ the first tenth of all I receive.

I will spend four hours each month to further the cause
of the disadvantaged in my community.

When I am aware of injustice to others, I will not remain silent.

I will obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit
to serve God and my neighbour.

I will heed the warnings of the Holy Spirit
not to sin against God and my neighbour.

I will prayerfully care for my body and for the world in which I live.

I hereby make my commitment, trusting in the grace of God to give me the will and the strength to keep this covenant.


Date:                                    Signed:                                      


We'll decide whether to form Covenanted Discipleship Groups which will each draw up their own Covenant

My main resources in drawing up this course are:
Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Covenant Discipleship by David Lowes Watson
The Sermon on the Mount by Scot McKnight
The Sermon on the Mount by Cedric Poole