On Sunday, I was speaking on making disciples from the great commission that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:16-20 and we were exploring the process of making disciples. As I see it, it starts with Being in God's presence and having a strong God connection. Then we must Go out... Go out of our comfort zones and connect with others. Then as we go, we must do something with Jesus for others. This is BOTH a sharing Jesus with our words AND showing Jesus with our actions. Then it's not enough to simply share and show, we must invite others to join the journey of loving Jesus and discovering who he is. That part of the journey I called Making disciples of Jesus. But the making is NOT forcing but is about forming. Helping others be formed by Jesus' love, grace, and connection. And finally, it all circles back in a spiral kinda way to being in God's presence... helping others find strength in their own God connection as they surrender to Jesus and start the process all over again.
One of the main problems the church has in this whole disciple making realm is that we too often try to force people into a relationship with Jesus instead of helping them form a relationship with Jesus. The forcing pushes them away, while the forming is about deeper discovery and strengthening relationship/ connection. Forming also recognizes that we don't have all the answers and we haven't arrived yet either. Loving Jesus and serving him in the world is a process that is life-long. Come join the journey! It's a wonderful thing!
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