Meaning of Discipleship.
Discipleship is a fancy word meaning how you mature
in Christ, how Christ is formed in you and how his teaching is shown in your
daily actions and thoughts about your life. Discipleship is not church
attendance or Bible study. Some folks who have gone to church their entire
lives have never been discipled.
OzEterniy will work in building a practical way to
follow Jesus, by becoming his disciple, walking alongside someone who has
already further developed their life in the Christian faith, for a significant
period of their life. You will find this transformative experience to be
personal and challenging. Jesus walked with his disciples for three years.
There was no six-week curriculum, or a predetermined programme that they had to
follow.
Process of Discipleship
At OzEternity Discipleship
will be performed at three different levels:
1. Entry
level - discipleship will aim to equip new followers of Jesus Christ to
understand the fundamental truths of the Bible.
2. The
second level will start by organizing meetings with some of the already
discipled pastors and elders of each of the local churches who are members of
OzEternity.
3. OzEternity
will develop a team of Spiritually mature Christian leaders in many of the
member churches, to evaluate each other, to build and develop an
accountability process, to meet the expectations established by Jesus Christ Himself.
What will be our
Christian mission of discipleship at OzEternity?"
At OzEternity, disciple is a person who accepts and assists others in the
spreading of the good news of salvation by Jesus Christ. Discipleship is
also the process by which disciples grow in the Lord Jesus Christ and are
equipped by the Holy Spirit, who resides in your hearts, to overcome the
pressures and trials of this present life and become more and more Christ-like.
The aim is to become equipped,
to always be ready to give testimony of the reason for the hope that is within
us (1 Peter
3:15) and to disciple others to walk in Christ’s way. According to Scripture,
being a Christian disciple involves personal growth characterized by the
following:
1. Putting Jesus first in all things (Mark 8:34-38). The disciple of
Christ needs to be set apart from the world. Our focus should be on our Lord
and pleasing Him in every area of our lives. We must put off self-centredness
and put on Christ- centredness.
2. Following Jesus’ teachings (John 8:31-32). We must be obedient children
and doers of the Word. Obedience is the supreme test of faith in God (1 Samuel
28:18), and Jesus
is the perfect example of obedience as He lived a life on earth in complete
obedience to the Father even to the point of death (Philippians 2:6-8).
to abide in Christ, and if we do, the Holy Spirit will produce the fruit, and
this fruit is the result of our obedience..
4. Love for other disciples (John 13:34-35). We are told that love of
other believers is the evidence of our being a member of God’s family (1 John
3:10). Love is
defined and elaborated on in (1 Corinthians 13:1-13). These verses show us that
love is not an emotion; it is action. We must be doing something and involved
in the process. Furthermore, we are told to think more highly of others than of
ourselves and to look out for their interests (Philippians 2:3-4). The next verse in
Philippians (verse 5) really sums up what we are to do when it comes to
everything in life: "our attitude should be the same as that of Christ
Jesus." What a perfect example He is to us for everything we are to do in
our Christian Walk.
5. Evangelism - Making disciples of others (Matthew 28:18-20). We are to
share our faith and tell non-believers about the wonderful changes Jesus Christ
has made in our lives. No matter what our maturity level in the Christian life,
we have something to offer. Too often, we believe the lie from Satan that we don’t
really know enough or haven't been a Christian long enough to make a
difference. Not true! Some of the most enthusiastic representatives of the
Christian life are new believers who have just discovered the awesome love of
God. They may not know a lot of Bible verses or the "accepted" way of
saying things, but they have experienced the love of the living God, and that
is exactly what we are to share.
Purpose of Discipleship
Discipleship is the most fundamental way to learn
and live the truth of the Gospel. THIS IS because Jesus Christ is the
final embodiment of the “Eternal Gospel”