Where to Begin…

Discipleship: January 7, 2007

Where to Begin…

The Christian life—the saved life in Christ—is not easy to explain. In fact, it defies explanation, but if we ask enough people we will discover that everyone’s faith story (while different, perhaps, in external situations) has a common element—one of a changed life. Salvation is for the here-and-now as well as the hereafter! “Jesus saves” is present tense. The problem appears to be that while we all have this head-knowledge of salvation few Christians understand how to grow in a salvation that we rarely understand and that we did not initiate. That brings us to the importance of dialogue.

Interacting with one another at various levels of spiritual discernment and faith is vital to our spiritual growth. Jesus did not function in a vacuum and neither should we. The importance of dialogue with other Christians is often ignored in our society as we get busier and busier and ultimately retreat from sheer exhaustion into our own spiritual shells. My hope and prayer is that our walk together, growing into mature believers in Christ, and reaching out to those who need Christ but maybe don’t even know how to seek Him, will be blessed with a spirit of unity even within diversity.

In order to achieve unity within diversity we have to have a common goal: to grow and to let grow. Simply stated, that means that our dialogue must be seasoned with grace. There is room for everyone at every level of spiritual longing whether it is to know what this strange world of Christianity is all about or whether it is to know Christ in deeper and more profound ways as the years of being a believer mount up. Dialogue is crucial to our journey. We must (as a group) continually seek to understand our God and each other before we can truly understand our selves. For that reason I would like us to covenant with each other to always strive for the good of the other person in our conversation. There is room for each one to express freely the desires of the heart in finding and knowing Christ.

Assignment for the week of January 7-13:

1. Spend some time in reflection over the “cost of discipleship.” How does that cost intersect/mesh with/conflict with the joy that comes with a relationship with Christ? What personal sacrifice have you made or will you make to be a disciple of Christ? What does the following quote mean to you? Is it hard to understand?

“The cross intersects at the deepest point of our need.” (anonymous)

2. Read the first chapter of Ephesians daily—read it aloud so you don’t skip over anything. Concentrate on the elemental truths found in that chapter such as “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

3. Reflect on what it means to receive grace and peace from God.

4. Consider beginning a journal of your spiritual walk based on our text.

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” (Ephesians 1:17)