Discipleship should be conducted both within MHBC and the community at large through relationship-building activities. It is not driven by a program but by a passion for Christ and His Word and the world for whom Christ died. Our walk will both exemplify godly love and influence on brothers and sisters in Christ as well as our neighbor. Because we have been reconciled to God, our old life before Christ has been nailed to the cross (Col 2:14). We are new creations and will live as aliens in this world and will represent the message, methods, and character of our leader, the King Himself. As ambassadors, we plead and implore others to be reconciled to Christ (2 Cor 5:20).
Our Burden Believers who are walking in the Spirit are commanded by God to bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Law here means “love,” as indicated later in Gal 5:14, “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus commands His followers with the following, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). To bear one another’s burdens means to “keep on bearing,” which is the same word used of Jesus bearing His cross in John 19:17. Burden means weight, as in Matt 20:12 and 2 Cor 4:17. It is when one’s load is about to press one down, that God moves people to come alongside and help the person carry his burden.[1] Carrying each other’s burdens involves restoring a person’s fellowship with Christ. Part of this restoration process involves “encouraging one another daily” (Heb 3:13). The Process The best mentoring process is one that is open-ended and unstructured. Mentoring must be a relational process in which God empowers at least two people to share life experiences, successes and failures, wisdom, insight, and personal experiences relevant to the spiritual needs of the person being mentored. The mentor must make the following commitments:
The following is what goes into preparing to meet with each other and what the meeting could look like: During the week:
When partners meet together:
How is God working through you to disciple another? Take a look at this great resource from LifeWay: disciplespath.com/thejourney Matthew 28:18-20 (HCSB) 18 Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [1] Archibald Thomas Robertson, “Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament,” 2004. WORDsearch 7 [CD-ROM] (The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1960).
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Dr. Bruce BeckBruce is a graduate of Clayton College State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration with Marketing. Archives
July 2018
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