I Corinthians 4:16-17 Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. For this reason, I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.
From Paul's words, we can see the encouragement (imperative) is to be an imitator. For this week at Super Summer in the discipleship sessions, we discussed what it means to be an imitator of Jesus Christ.
To be imitators of Jesus Christ is to be rooted in Christ as we recognize the authority and lordship of Jesus in our lives! What He says (His Word), we are to do! Simple enough right? Yet this is the very thing that we struggle with, just as in a game of Simon Says, we can miss it if we aren't listening. So the focus this week is to stop in the busyness of our lives and spend time listening to God and then to see how this carries forward to everyday.
The example that we use is the Discipleship triangle called Up-In-Out developed by Mike Breen.
Here is the illustration that we used (adapted from the original).
When we evaluate the relationships that we have with God, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and then the world we can see how this reflects a balance in our lives of up-in-out! These are the three areas that we reflected upon this week with questions that followed in your small groups.
Varying discipleship models present ways to explain the same concepts. I think about the Master Life Disciple's Cross by Avery Willis that is grounded in God's Word, focused in worship, ministering to our brothers and sisters, and ever-reaching to those in the world!
As you can see the same principles apply and help us to see these things come from Scripture. The example that we used this week was Jesus' experience in Luke 6:12-19. In this brief passage we see Jesus' example to pray (up); the time that He spent with his disciples (in), and how He went and healed the masses (out). Therefore for us, we can look to Jesus' example and see the same things in our lives as we grow in our relationship with the Lord through worship, prayer, and consuming God's Word. Then we grow in our relationships with those in the body of believers, the church through the groups we are in and how we minister to one another, and then we will see the fruit of growing in Christ as we go out to a world and share the gospel!
For each of these areas, there are some questions that will help us to have a balanced triangle.
From Paul's words, we can see the encouragement (imperative) is to be an imitator. For this week at Super Summer in the discipleship sessions, we discussed what it means to be an imitator of Jesus Christ.
To be imitators of Jesus Christ is to be rooted in Christ as we recognize the authority and lordship of Jesus in our lives! What He says (His Word), we are to do! Simple enough right? Yet this is the very thing that we struggle with, just as in a game of Simon Says, we can miss it if we aren't listening. So the focus this week is to stop in the busyness of our lives and spend time listening to God and then to see how this carries forward to everyday.
The example that we use is the Discipleship triangle called Up-In-Out developed by Mike Breen.
Here is the illustration that we used (adapted from the original).
When we evaluate the relationships that we have with God, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and then the world we can see how this reflects a balance in our lives of up-in-out! These are the three areas that we reflected upon this week with questions that followed in your small groups.
Varying discipleship models present ways to explain the same concepts. I think about the Master Life Disciple's Cross by Avery Willis that is grounded in God's Word, focused in worship, ministering to our brothers and sisters, and ever-reaching to those in the world!
As you can see the same principles apply and help us to see these things come from Scripture. The example that we used this week was Jesus' experience in Luke 6:12-19. In this brief passage we see Jesus' example to pray (up); the time that He spent with his disciples (in), and how He went and healed the masses (out). Therefore for us, we can look to Jesus' example and see the same things in our lives as we grow in our relationship with the Lord through worship, prayer, and consuming God's Word. Then we grow in our relationships with those in the body of believers, the church through the groups we are in and how we minister to one another, and then we will see the fruit of growing in Christ as we go out to a world and share the gospel!
For each of these areas, there are some questions that will help us to have a balanced triangle.
Up:
• Do I make enough space for prayer?
• Do I intentionally make time to
read God’s word?
• Do I live daily with an awareness
of God’s Spirit in my life?
• Am I afraid or nervous? How am I taking my fear to the Lord?
• Am I obedient to what God is saying
to me?
In:
• Do I love my church?
• How are my relationships with my friends?
• Do I keep my promises?
• How easy is it for me to trust
people?
• Am I making myself vulnerable to
others?
Out:
• How often do I share my faith?
• Do I make time for relationships
with non-Christians?
• Do I know what the gospel is and am
I sharing what I know?
• Am I a servant to those with needs?
• Do I spend time with the lost,
least and lonely in my world?
Here are some resources to help you grow in each of these areas:
Up:
In:
Out:
Thank you again for checking everything out and getting connected for Super Summer! Live a life imitating Christ!
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