Discipleship Class Recap: Feb 7th
A couple of weeks ago about 300 of us gathered for our first PRDX Discipleship Class. I was encouraged to hear about the helpful conversations that took place and I am excited about the coming classes on March 7, April 4, and May 2. If you missed it we talked about 3 main ideas. The high and lows of discipleship in community, hospitality, & genuine conversations. We will post a seperate blog on genuine conversations next week but here is a brief overview of the class for those that missed.The Highs and Lows of Discipleship in CommunityDefining discipleship is not hard. Following Jesus. Learning to follow Jesus. Seeking to obey all Jesus commanded. Taking from the great commission, to be a disciple is to make disciples and help them obey all Jesus commanded. So any version of following Jesus and helping others do the same is discipleship. Yet the ease of definition is matched by the hardness of execution and faithfulness in all of life. For instance; conflict with fellow believers, busyness of life, demands of parenting, relationships that aren’t clicking, just to name a few. This is the very reason Jesus reminds us before he ascends into heaven that he has all authority and he will be with us to the end of the age.Many are in a season of great fruit and joy in the midst following Jesus in community. Others are struggling and unsure about how to get to a season of great fruit and joy. My exhortation to you would be don’t give up. We can often get stuck because we bounce from church to church, relationship to relationship, hobby to hobby looking for something that is there for us if we were to just stay the course. To be clear there are times for change, yet we need to seek wisdom and make sure those decisions are not being made out of seeking comfort superficially.One clear next step we can all take is “seek to show hospitality (Rm. 12:13).”HospitalityLet us dwell on the surrounding context of that verse.[9] Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. [10] Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. [11] Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. [12] Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. [13] Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Romans 12:9–13 (ESV)Look around, see who God has put in your life and boldly heed Paul’s words to them. Who can you show genuine love to? What evil do you need to turn from and what good can you cling to? Who can you treat with brotherly or sisterly affection this week? Who can you pray for? What need are you aware of that you can meet? And who can you invite into your home?Those questions might overwhelm you or invigorate you. Either way the key to follow through is to find how you can incorporate this into the normal rhythms of life. Who can you call to encourage on your way to the grocery store? Who can you invite over to your house even if it isn’t as clean as you would like it to be? What if you turned to pray for someone instead of going to a social media feed for comfort?We might feel stuck in our discipleship, this passage gives us clear exhortation that can help look outside our own current needs and look to others and likely see that our real needs get met in the process.Next PRDX Discipleship Class: March 7thWe were excited about the great turn out and have planned to create more space to accommodate everyone that wants to be there on March 7. We will talk about the role prayer has in Discipleship. The only registration that is needed is for childcare. Please register your children here.