{"id":15826,"date":"2019-03-07T12:09:21","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T17:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=15826"},"modified":"2019-03-07T12:11:27","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T17:11:27","slug":"bible-moment-discipleship-in-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/bible-moment-discipleship-in-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Moment: Discipleship in Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>Bible Passage<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1+thessalonians+2%3A1-12&amp;version=NRSV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"1 Thessalonians 2: 1-12 (opens in a new tab)\">1 Thessalonians 2: 1-12<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Take Moment to Ponder<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Discipleship is\nnot so much a programme in the local Church for which persons are invited or\nencouraged to sign up, but rather, the culture of the Church where every member\nseeks, in a deliberate way, to assist each other to become more like\nChrist.&nbsp; Discipleship should ripple\nthrough the entire Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nChurch\u2019s motherly, nurturing role as disciple is crucial.&nbsp; Indeed, the Church is the institution of\ndiscipleship.&nbsp; \u201cWe are enrolled in her\nschool in Baptism, educated in\nher WORD by her pastors and teachers, fed at her table in the weekly COVENANT\nRENEWAL SERVICE.\u201d There is no other way to enter life unless the church as a mother\nconceives us in her work, gives us birth, nourishes us in her heart and keeps\nus under her care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the text to guide our study, we see St.\nPaul\u2019s intentional and deliberate motive to equip the Thessalonian Church to be\nsolid, faithful disciples so that they could, in turn, disciple others.&nbsp; He holds up his example as a model for the\nnew believers to follow and invites everyone\u2019s involvement in the process of\nmaking other disciples.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul\u2019s witness among the Thessalonians was effective\n(2: 1).&nbsp; It was based on his bold\nproclamation of the truth of the Gospel (2: 2).&nbsp;\nThe important motive undergirding and inspiring this testimony is that\nPaul yearned to please God (2: 3\u20134).&nbsp; It\nwas his desire that others please and glorify God (2: 8\u201312), and in the process,\nbecome active participants in the building of the Kingdom of God.&nbsp; This is the mission of the Church\u2026to disciple\nfor the building of The Kingdom.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is precisely the point the Very Rev. Canon\nProfessor Martyn Perry made when, speaking on the Role of the Church in\ndiscipleship he said, \u201cDiscipleship in the Church is towards the building of\nthe Kingdom of God, in families, in communities, and in the workplace.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From\nthe 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-12 reading\nand the commentary, we can identify the character traits below, that are\npositive and necessary to promote Discipleship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Courage\/boldness  (2: 2)<br>Humility  (2: 4)<br>Honesty (2: 5)<br>Gentleness (2: 7)<br>Sincerity\/openness (2: 8)<br>Love (2: 8)<br>Faithfulness (2:1 0, 2: 12)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Practical Action (Thoughts for Application)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider\nthe following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How do you foster a climate of hospitality in your church?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How do you, as an individual, help your congregation to create a <g class=\"gr_ gr_3 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace\" id=\"3\" data-gr-id=\"3\">welcomingand<\/g> inclusive environment for persons of all ages, gender, ethnicity, abilities, etc.?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How can you engage children, youth, and young adults in the life of your Church and value their contributions?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How can you provide a worshipping environment that is sensitive, stirring and grounded in sound teaching?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Closing Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O\nLord, our God, You have commanded us to be as perfect as You, God are perfect:\ngraft into our hearts, we pray, a continual desire to obey Your will. Lead us\nand teach us day by day what You would have us to do, and give us courage,\nstrength, gentleness and forbearance to fulfil the same. May we never, for love\nof ease, decline the path set before us, nor for the fear of shame, turn away\nfrom it. We ask these for the honour and glory of Jesus Christ our Saviour.&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong><em>Amen.<\/em><\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> Intentional Discipleship 1<sup>st<\/sup> Anniversary Service, St. George\u2019s, Kingston, Jamaica, December 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>EXCERPT from: Intentional Discipleship Bible Study 2019 Week 1<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bible Passage 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-12 Take Moment to Ponder Discipleship is not so much a programme in the local Church for which persons are invited or encouraged to sign up, but rather, the culture of the Church where every member seeks, in a deliberate way, to assist each other to become more like Christ.&nbsp;&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":15830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-moment","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15826"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15831,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15826\/revisions\/15831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}