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Growing Strong
Matt 10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,
Col 1:28… present every man complete in Christ
*From Pastor Mike Breen… -Discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.
-not an option to be pursued or ignored but a relationship to develop and enjoy
*From Dallas Willard … -Our aim is to be pervasively possessed by Jesus through constant companionship with him.
-This requires a long and careful learning from Jesus to remove the duplicity that has become second nature to us
Here is the location of the web site that has the study from George Barna . I’ve copied some notes of the stops that should help generate some discussion. Help people identify what stop best identifies where they are on their journey.
Barna- 10 stops on the Journey of Transformation
- Ignorance of sin: Non-believing people don't even realize that sin exists in their lives.
- Indifference to sin: Non-believing people grow to understand the concept of sin but are indifferent to it. They don't know they should be concerned about it and do something about it.
- Concern for sin: Non-believing people become concerned that sin exists in their lives. They begin to search for the answer to the question, "What should I do about this sin?" According to the research, most Americans never move past this step.
- Understand a Need for Forgiveness: Their concern for sin becomes a need to be forgiven by Someone capable of forgiving sin. They find Jesus to be the only One capable of this forgiveness.
- Embrace Grace & A Need to Grow in Faith: This is the point of salvation. They receive grace and begin to grow as a follower of Jesus Christ. Among those who become “born again Christians,” most never move past stop five. Rather we just get busy with “Christian activities”
- Spiritual Discontent: After salvation and an understanding of God's grace, the nice, comfortable, safe Christianity that is typically taught no longer satisfies. They long for more and are discontent with a faith that doesn't challenge and change them or other people.
- Brokenness: They begin to realize that they cannot change the world on their own. They need God, His power and the rest of His people to do it and are broken by their limitations and inadequacies. Barna describes this as the single most difficult stop. single most challenging stop, a person must be broken of three things: sin, self, and society. He noted that America’s culture serves as a strong barrier to people being willing to completely abandon themselves and the world in favor of listening to, obeying and enjoying God.
- Surrender & Submission: As their brokenness takes it's toll on them they throw their hands in the air and cry out "I surrender"! In the Church of God, this is the point which we used to call being "sanctified". Surrendering all of who we are, our will, our desires, our lives to God and His purposes.
- Profound Love for God: Having surrendered and submitted to God's will, love and grace, a deep, intimate and profound love for Him develops.
- Profound Love for Other People: It is only after understanding and receiving God's amazing grace and love that we can extend that love to others! This is God's mission in the world! For all people to know, receive and share the love of God through Jesus Christ!
