Outline - Discipleship: A Return to Grace

Here is an outline for the gatherings...

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

'Our enemies are those who harbor hostility against us, not those against whom we cherish hostility… As a Christian I am called to treat my enemy as a brother and to meet hostility with love. My behavior is thus determined not by the way others treat me, but by the treatment I receive from Jesus.' – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

February 7th and 10th
Grace and Discipleship
Matthew 5: Of the ‘Extraordinariness’ of the Christian Life

February 21st and 24th
Matthew 6: Of the Hidden Character of the Christian Life
Matthew 7: The Separation of the Disciple Community

February 28th and March 3rd
The Messengers
The Church of Jesus Christ and the Life of Discipleship

The Radical Cross: Living the Passion of Christ, by A.W. Tozer

‘…the cross not only brings Christ’s life to an end, it ends also the first life, the old life, of every one of His true followers. It destroys the old pattern … in the believer’s life, and brings it to an end. Then the God who raised Christ from the dead raises the believer and a new life begins. This, and nothing less, is true Christianity …’ – A.W. Tozer

March 14th and 17th
The Radical Cross: It’s Power & It’s Price

March 28th & 31st
The Radical Cross: It’s Purpose & It’s Pain

April 4th & 7th
The Radical Cross: It’s Provision, It’s Paradox & It’s Promise


Agape Road: Journey to Intimacy with the Father, by Bob Mumford

‘Along the journey we commonly forget it’s goal’ - Nietzche

April 25th & April 28th
Journey to the Father, The Human Dilemma,
The Eros Prison, The Eros Payoff

May 9th & May 12th
The Seven Giants, The Right Road Home, A Word from God

May 23rd & May 26th
The Healing Power of Agape, Cultivating the Eternal Seed

May 30th & June 2nd
Learning to Abide, Avoiding Detours, Becoming a Father-Pleaser

Pentecost: Sunday June 12th – Celebration Fellowship (Detail to follow)

The Day Is Near: Update to Discipleship: A Return to Grace

So the first official get together at our place for...

Discipleship: A Return to Grace
The Essence of being a Disciple of Jesus and a Child of God

see prev blog for more details

...is still set for Monday February 7nd @ 8pm, but after some feedback from a few people and a chat with Robin. We are going to open the discussion up for Thursday evening February 10th @ 8:30pm as well. (We have soccer Thursday eve's so that's why it'll have to start a little later).

If you haven't got the first book yet, please do so. They may have it at the library, or it's less than $10 @ amazon (link below)

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

here's a link...



Grace and peace,
JNG

I reiterate...don't let cost deter you, if you have a need just ask.

Discipleship: A Return to Grace

Greetings!

It's me, Justin, celebrating God's call and the Lord's faithfulness...I'm very excited to share this word with you...thank you to those who have been praying for me in Christ! I'm just going to dive right in...

At Christmas, my pastor came to me, seemingly out of nowhere…one of those foyer encounters, and told me that the Lord had discipleship for us in 2011. So, of course, I started praying for confirmation and listening. The Lord is faithful. So I asked, Father, what do you have for us to do? Where do you want us to go? He made me wait…and in waiting…He called me to seek, to look and see all the ways and people he has been sending to me and working on me through and then He said, My child, this is what I’ve been preparing for us to do together…I trust He has already prepared the hearts of those who will join us in this.

I just left a powerful time of fellowship with some of my brothers and He just confirmed again and again, word after word, throughout the night…before I had even told them what He had put on my heart. So, I came home stoked out of my mind and couldn’t wait to send this out.

Grace and peace,
JNG

Discipleship: A Return to Grace
The Essence of being a Disciple of Jesus and a Child of God

Purpose: To glorify the Father and our Lord Jesus through obedience to His commission to make disciples of all peoples

Place: My house

Materials:

The Holy Scriptures


The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonheoffer

Considering Luke 14v25-35 and the Sermon on the Mount

Beginning Monday, February 7th @ 8pm
(We’ll discuss the frequency and specific nature of gatherings as the Body)


The Radical Cross, by A. W. Tozer

Considering Matthew 16v24-28 and the Passion Narratives

Ash Wednesday (March 9th) – Good Friday (April 22nd)


Agape Road, by Bob Mumford

Considering Matthew 7v13-29 and John 14, 17

Easter (April 24) – Pentecost (June 12th)


Please message me at freshparable@gmail.com or give me a call 561-512-9276 with any questions or thoughts. Please, do not let the cost of the materials listed above deter you, call me.

Now, may the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen

Turn Toward Grace

This is a hard teaching in our culture, but it is necessary.

Grace is not a pass to do whatever you want, it is the Power working in you to do what is right.

Grace is a word too often kicked around these days. Grace is too amazing for that. It deserves far greater respect and reverence. When words are tossed around, when they are disfigured, mistranslated, misinterpreted, misrepresented and taken in vein...they lose any semblance of usefulness. Who puts a light under a basket? Rather, set it on a lampstand so the whole house can see. Set it to rights. There is a judge, a plumb line, and they are the words he spoke. This can be difficult because he spoke plainly sometimes and other times in tongues of angels: picture language, metaphor, the essence of things seen, but themselves unseen lest you have eyes to see, ears to hear...lest the veil be lifted or torn right open.

Grace, is today often made the same as forgiveness. It is not the same thing. Many times forgiveness must be withheld in order that grace may be revealed.
That is why Jesus commands His disciples...

“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

and again

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

Why is repentance required? Because repentance and forgiveness must embrace one another in order to become one and to be fruitful. In order for reconciliation and shalom, healing and salvation to take place that eternal life may come. If you have ears, hear. The Lord your God, the Lord is one.

Still unsure about repentance? This is going to be difficult to accept, especially in our western mindset. It will likely offend our democratic sensibilities, regardless...it is true.

As concerned about the individual person as God is, He is more concerned about the whole project of creation. Make no mistake, His desire is that none should perish; however, greater is His desire to have a companion within creation that reflects his image...priests and servant rulers...a companion that is free. Free to chose to participate or not. God will not sin against Himself. He made a creation and said it is all good. He will not corrupt his own image. We chose to continue on that road which leads to destruction as He sets all things to rights or to repent.

'I have set before you life and death, therefore chose life.'

Grace is something that is. It does not have to be accepted in order to be. It is a 'name' of the Father; a characteristic, a face, a nature. God is, regardless of how we chose to relate to Him. Now, if we desire to experience God, to experience grace, to receive eternal life since we have fallen from Him, then that necessitates a turning toward Him in response to that still small voice calling us to receive forgiveness and in turning toward forgiveness, we are acknowledging we require it. It is right there that we come face to face with the reality to which we were previously blind. YHWY is with us. YWHY saves.

How great is the destruction of the one who tastes that and then turns again to worship idols.

For it is by YHWY you have been saved, through Jesus— this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of YHWY— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are YHWY’s handiwork, created in Messiah Jesus to do good works, which YHWY prepared in advance for us to do.

The Lord says...'You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.'

We, as individuals and as the Church universal, would be well advised to steward the grace we have been given well. We have this treasure in jars of clay. Jesus has called us to be generous in love and compassion; while simultaneously defending against the locusts that are compromise with pagan worldviews, practices and excesses. (Mark 12v1-12, Matthew 25v14-30 . . .)

All authority on heaven and earth have been given to Jesus.

Open your gates before Him.

I have set before you life and death, therefore chose life...

Now, may the LORD bless you and keep you;the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.