Introducing Discipleship

“Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Discipleship is so much more than a church teaching programme or course. It describes who we are in relationship to Jesus Christ and who we are becoming. It means, we are followers of Jesus. All that what we do and say flows out of the reality of our relationship with Jesus.

As a church family we are seeking to live for Jesus in such a way that we point people to Him. If people don’t read the Bible then the only way they can see Jesus is through the words and actions of His followers. Therefore, we are seeking to equip every follower of Jesus who comes to our church to live in a Christ-like way so that they can make a positive difference in society. Bringing light where there is darkness, adding salt where there is decay.

We are also seeking to equip followers of Jesus to show their love for people by sharing the good news about Jesus with them. With gentleness and respect, we aim to answer people’s questions, sharing the reason for the hope that is in us. We believe that God so loved the world that he sent Jesus to give His life for our forgiveness and freedom. He is the reason why we live to love others and He is the one who gives us the grace and strength to do it.

Growing as followers of Jesus is not something we can easily do on our own. We need each other. As we gather together we encounter God through prayer and worship, we equip through practical whole life bible teaching, we encourage one another and we support one another to engage with the needs of others, sharing good news in the whole of life.

We emphasise whole life discipleship because we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. That means that every part of life is important to Him: work, family, leisure activities, community involvement. We don’t just value what happens in the church building but affirm what God is doing through us in the places where we are scattered throughout the week. We want the times we gather to count for the times when we are scattered. These places where we spend most of our time are the places where our discipleship really counts. It is where people see the difference that Jesus makes to our life: our character, the quality of our work, our generosity and love, our truthfulness and integrity, and our words of hope.

Our aim is to be fully devoted followers of Jesus. To make disciples who make a difference. We are certainly not there yet. Yet we know God’s forgiveness, we rely on God’s power to change us, and we rejoice in His promise to be with us always.