A CALL TO DISCIPLESH IP

Jesus gives everyone a great invitation: Come, Follow Me. Discipleship is simply the
process of following Jesus. Its the essence of what you do with your life when you say
yes to Jesus. Its about growing to be more like Jesus, and doing more of the works
that Jesus did. The following are some statements used by Steve Murrell, co-founder of
Every Nation, to define disciples and discipleship:
1. A disciple is a person who follows Jesus.

2. Every Christian should be a disciple.

3. Every disciple should make disciples.

4. Discipleship is the process of helping others follow Jesus.

5. Discipleship is a life-long journey not a six-week class.

6. Discipleship happens best in community (small groups).

7. Evangelism and discipleship should not be separated.

8. Discipleship is relationship.

9. Jesus wants all nations to be discipled.

Jesus not only calls every person to follow Him and BE a disciple, but also calls every disciple to
MAKE disciples. It is our delight to be with Jesus and be transformed by Him, and it is our desire
to help others experience the same. It is not in any way something only the most skilled and
most anointed Christians do.

DISCIPLESHIP IS RELATIONSHIP
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another!
(John 13:35)
One of the things we often say in our Every Nation family is that Discipleship is
relationship. What exactly do we mean by that? Pastor Joey Bonifacio, to whom this
phrase is usually attributed, explains using LEGO as an illustration:

Despite their differences and the year they were made LEGOs have the ability to do
one thing: Connect to the top and connect at the bottom, because they can do that
LEGO pieces can create just about any shape there is. Similarly, in Christ we are wired
on the inside to connect to God and with one another. Regardless of where we come
from, our skin color or our denominational box we have the power to connect to God
and to one another. And because we can do that we can pretty much shape the world
we live in.
In other words, there are two components to discipleship: a connecting to the God and
a connecting to one another. We firmly believe that both these connections are best
made within relationships!

The bible teaches that As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (Prov
27:17). Friends discuss and debate ideas and concepts, bounce ideas off one another
and by doing so, get a better understanding of Jesus and what it means to abide in him.
By loving and caring for, rubbing off their character on one another theyre showing the
true mark of discipleship as quoted above from John 13.

To summarise it, discipleship happens wherever authentic relationships happen

provided that Jesus is part of that relationship! So discipleship runs through all areas of
life, in church and beyond that. Sometimes it is intentional, sometimes it isnt. The main
point is that in being discipled and discipling others, we are all moving closer to Jesus!

DISCIPLES MAKE DISCI PLES

So, Discipleship is Relationship. In our understanding, that means the best setting for
discipleship is an existing or beginning friendship between two people. These two
friends use our favourite discipleship tool Steve Murrells One2One booklet which
outlines the most important biblical foundations in 7 chapters.

The one friend who already is a Christian (or the more experienced in case both
friends are Christians) will help the other friend understand those basic biblical truths.
As they meet, they get to know each other better, and as explained earlier, iron begins
to sharpen iron!

One of the great misunderstandings of discipleship is that of what we call the Super
Pastor. What we mean by that is the assumption by quite a number of Christians that
discipleship is the job of the pastor and the church staff. Quite to the opposite, we
believe that it is every disciples job and privilege to disciple others! Our idea of the
church is one in which disciples make disciples make disciples and so onyou get the
idea!
Just on a side note: we are highly critical of any form of authority being exercised in the
process of discipleship a lot of churches have rightly been criticised for that. As if
Jesus anticipated this future problem, he said in the very sentence before his Great
Commission to make disciples that all authority on heaven and earth has been given to
me. (Matt 28:16). So the authority is with Jesus and not with a leader or a mentor
they are here to help and serve, but not to lord it over.

In that sense, dont wait for a program or permission. You can get started straight away!
If you need any help or a One2One booklet, give us a call or shoot us an email. We look
forward to hearing your discipleship stories!
Besides the discipleship that happens through relationship, as a corporate church we
also have some unique tools and programs to help us grow as disciples and to help
each disciple to make more disciples. These include:

The One2One booklet for relationally going through the foundations of what the new
start in becoming a Christian.
The Purple Book A workbook to do on your own, with a partner, or in a group, to lay
strong biblical foundations for your faith from the Bible.
Victory Weekends Through worship, teaching and ministry, these annual
weekends help every disciple to know and experience the true freedom of Jesus in every
area of your life.
Bible School This empowering one year course established and equips disciples in
the Scriptures and their application to life and ministry. It it presented on-site (Currently
in Stratford and Slough) and and on-line with videos and all the notes. See here for
more information.
Other courses and seminars from time to time we present specific courses and
seminars covering topics and ministry to teach, equip and minister to specific areas.
The Follow Path This is a new track and format of teaching and training currently
being introduced in our Hammersmith congregation to help to new believer advance
more intentionally from lost to leader from saying yes to Jesus, to growing to fulfil all
Gods call on their lives. It is a three-step process, and we have called the steps Come,
Grow and Lead.

CONNECT GROUPS our primary way of intentionally doing relationships in authentic

Christian community. Again, it is important to emphasise that discipleship is not a
program, but a relationship lived out with God and with others. Relationships are
foundational to all of this, and without relationships, discipleship programs wont be
enough.

COME, GROW, LEAD

We are excited for you to embark onto the discipleship journey with us and experience
what Jesus promised, that your life will be transformed from one degree of glory to
another (2 Cor 3:18). Irrespective of which tools or programs or track you choose to
use in growing as a disciple, it is helpful to understand the discipleship process in these
three stages based on Jesus great invitation: Come, follow Me, and I will make
you (Matthew 4:19)

COME: The invitation to INTIMACY: The call to follow Jesus starts with an invitation
to relationship, not a bunch of instructions.This part of discipleship is about
understanding Gods Father heart and his love, and how through Christ you are called
his child and heir.
Knowing who you are in Christ, and being clear and confident about your relationship
with God by grace through faith is absolutely foundational to how you end up following
Jesus. He is not looking for slaves, but sons and daughters, and you are all sons of
God through faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)

GROW. The invitation to IMITATION: The cross changes everything! We can be free
to be who we were created to be, and we see the blueprint for our original design in
Jesus. One of the most beautiful messages in the bible is that we can come as we are,
but we dont have to stay the way we are! The great adventure of following Jesus will
inevitably change our entire life we will grow more towards him and become like him!
Therefore a focus of all discipleship must be to develop a healthy, balanced and
integrated Christian life. On the Follow path for example, we break this down into 5
essential spheres of a disciples life: Faith, Family, Freedom, Filling, and
Fruitfulness. We are sold out to the idea that if your life is revolving around Jesus and
you equally prioritise and advance in these 5 spheres of life you will grow to
greater maturity, spiritual health, and fruitfulness.

LEAD. The invitation to INFLUENCE. The call to discipleship is not only to follow
Jesus, but to lead others in following Jesus. Paul said follow me, even as I follow
Christ. Every disciple is called to be salt and light a Kingdom influence in this world.
Jesus-style leadership is very different from worldly leaders, and we want to equip and
train every disciple to understand what Christ-centred leadership is, and give you skills
to grow your influence and leadership capacity both in the church and in your world. The
world desperately needs godly leadership in every sphere of society, and we believe
that every disciple should have a vision and be equipped to take their place as a bold
servant leader and Kingdom influencer in their world. You have been called for such a
time as this!