Blog PostsDiscipleship Elements: How to Follow Jesus
by Dan Day, Director
NAD Church Resource Center
January 13, 2010
There are three key discipleship challenges around which the upcoming discipleship curriculum from the Adventist Church in North America is constructed: (1) Discovering how to follow Jesus; (2) Learning how to grow in Christ; and (3) Experiencing how to become a nurturing community. In this segment, we’ll look specifically at the first one.
Discovering how to follow Jesus has to do with key elements in a vigorous spiritual life. If you’re a pastor teaching a new members class, you may be dealing with a group of men and women who know relatively little about who God really is, what the dynamics of spiritual life encompass, or what God’s expectations are for new members of His family. You may also have members who have been attending for years who do not clearly understand these dynamics-and who are thus limited in their ability to establish a vigorous spiritual life.
In the new discipleship curriculum, then, will be a number of segments about discovering how to follow Jesus. These will address basics in establishing a relationship with God, including forming an accurate picture of a loving God who wants to be in relationship with us. Also central will be core values for Christian living, such as what it means to be a Christian, what the role of the Bible is in our lives, why we should seek to be involved with a caring Christian community, and what Jesus meant when He said, “By this shall all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Are these “fundamentals” what evangelism should emphasize? Sure, but sometimes in its rush to establish our distinctive doctrines, evangelism misses these. Yet, they are critical elements to establishing a spiritual connection with God, without which new members are unprepared for Christian living in today’s complex environment. The rest is yet to come...
Previous Articles
The iFollow Journey (Jul. 2, 2010)
The iFollow Discipleship Resource (Mar. 10, 2010)
Discipleship Elements: How to Become a Nurturing Community (Feb. 24, 2010)
Discipleship Elements: How to Grow in Christ (Jan. 28, 2010)
Discipleship Elements: How to Follow Jesus (Jan. 13, 2010)
iFollow: What It Is, and How to Use It (Jan. 1, 2010)
Discipleship: Learning a New Language (Dec. 16, 2009)
Discipleship: What Is It, and Why Should We Care? (Dec. 9, 2009)
Discipleship: Just About Being Spiritually "Buff"? (Nov. 18, 2009)
Discipleship: If We Saw It Would We Recognize It? (Nov. 6, 2009)
