Discipleship
In the Church
Coming to maturity in Christ
Discipleship
Discipleship is not a church program but a
spiritual journey that leads to maturity.
By providing sound Biblical teaching and
facilitating transparent supportive
relationships within the body, the church can
help believers grow and develop on this
journey.
Making Disciples
Mt. 28:19
“Making disciples” involves both an
individual and group mentoring effort, in
which those who have greater maturity
in Christ encourage and serve those who
have not traveled as far.
Small groups provide a safe environment
where believers can grow during the
seasons of their discipleship walk.
Our Discipleship Walk
3 seasonal areas of growth
on the road to spiritual maturity
Conversion period
• Learning the basics of salvation
Process of Sanctification
• Growing in holiness to become strong in
the faith
Coming into Completeness
• Deeper walk of dying to self to live for God
Following Christ:
A spiritual Journey
The Basics
When we repent and believe, we are:
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Delivered from the power of sin & death
Redeemed: forgiven
Justified: made righteous
Cleansed from the guilt of sin
Consecrated: set apart as holy to God
Going Beyond the Basics
“Therefore let us leave the
elementary teachings about Christ and
go on to maturity, not laying again the
foundation of repentance from acts that
lead to death, and of faith in God,
instructions about baptisms, the laying
on of hands, the resurrection of the
dead, and eternal judgment.” Heb. 6:1
The Way of Discipleship
• The kingdom of God operates on the spiritual
principle of sowing and reaping. Receiving the
“implanted word,” we produce a spiritual crop
through the transforming power of the Spirit.
• The pattern of seasonal growth is found in the
harvest festivals of Israel’s worship.
• The feasts of Israel provide a thematic model or
pattern for spiritual growth. Because Jesus
fulfilled the feasts, and since we are in Christ,
we also fulfill the themes of the feasts in our
discipleship walk.
The Feasts
The feasts were divided into three
seasonal harvest festivals:
• Passover, the spring barley crop
• Pentecost, the summer wheat crop
• Ingathering, the fall crop of grapes & olives
These three festivals correlate with the
seasons of our growth as disciples:
• Conversion, Sanctification, Completeness.
The Seasons of Christian Growth
• Conversion: Coming into the relational
knowledge of God
• Sanctification: Persevering in trials
through the power of the Holy Spirit
• Completeness: The season of selfdenial, of taking up our cross and
serving those in need, bearing mature
fruit for the kingdom of God.
Scriptural Basis for the
Themes of Discipleship
Phil: 3:10: “I want to:
Know Christ…………..
The power of his
resurrection…………..
The fellowship of his
sufferings………………”
Conversion: Coming to
know God
Sanctification:
Overcoming in power
Completeness: Taking
up the cross of Christ
to bear kingdom fruit
Themes of the Feasts: a
Model of Seasonal Growth
Theme: Conversion
Growing in the relational
knowledge of God
Growth Area: Appropriating the initial
blessings of Salvation by faith:
Deliverance, Redemption, Forgiveness,
Justification, Cleansing, Expiation,
Consecration.
Themes of the Feasts: a
Model of Seasonal Growth
Theme: Sanctification
Wielding the power of the Holy Spirit
to persevere and overcome
Growth Area: Walking in the power of our
salvation that edifies the body and overcomes
the world, evidenced in dual form.
• The gifts of the Spirit (Rom. 12)
• The armor of God (Eph. 6)
Themes of the Feasts: a
Model of Seasonal Growth
Theme: Completeness
Sharing in the sufferings of Christ
Growth Area: Coming to maturity in Christ
• Repentance from works of the Old Man
• Self denial: Taking up the cross and developing
the character of Christ in service to others
• Rejoicing and peace in the Presence of God
Some Points to Consider
• For believers to grow beyond the basics, there
needs to be teaching on the armor and the gifts.
• Small groups are the appropriate forum to discover
and exercise one’s spiritual gifts, and to recognize
and respond in authority to spiritual battles; so the
body can be edified, encouraged, and strengthened.
• Anyone who knows the basics of salvation can
teach them to another. Those discipling others
beyond the basics should be mature: knowing God,
strong in spirit, overcoming the world and
consistently expressing the love of Christ.
More on the themes of the feasts
and discipleship can be found at:
http://www.thefirsttrumpet.com/Christian_Discipleship.html
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