Pastoral Note - 4th March 2007

Looking to improve your tennis serve or golf swing? Looking to ace your course? We do it all the time from sport to study. Looking to improve your spiritual life? Growth in the Christian life takes time and believe it or not ‘effort’. Godliness doesn’t come by thinking about being godly, it comes when you work on your godliness. Serving others doesn’t come by thinking about where you can serve, it comes when you actually involve yourself in serving others. What you need to realize is when you commit yourself to following Jesus, you are actually committing yourself to a life of discipleship. (Mark 8:34-38)

Discipleship is a life-long journey, or rather a life life-long relationship, not a one-off event. And part of discipleship means committing yourself to being equipped as a disciple of Jesus. This means that if you are a Christian, you have committed yourself to learning how to follow Jesus in life. I believe that there are three areas of discipleship every Christian needs to work on. It’s all about growing to be more like Christ (Col.1:28). Firstly, there is the discipleship of a Christlike mind i.e. having your mind or thinking shaped by the word of God (Rom.12:2). As they say – ‘garbage in, garbage out’. The same holds true for your mind – right thinking comes when your mind is filled with the right things. Learn to disciple your mind by growing in your knowledge of the word of God (2 Tim.3:14-17). Disciples of Jesus are students of the word of God.

Then there is the discipleship of a Christlike heart i.e. having your heart shaped by the godliness a Christlike character. Your heart is the hidden unseen part of your life that occasionally surfaces in your relationships, your attitudes and your decisions. Forgiveness, humility, love, patience, kindness, compassion, perseverance, self-control, generosity … are all ‘heart’ issues (2 Peter 1:5-9; Gal.5:22). Learn to disciple your heart by growing in your personal godliness, in Christlike character. Disciples of Jesus are students of personal godliness.

Thirdly, there is the discipleship of a Christlike hand i.e. having your hands shaped by a Christlike service. Following Jesus is not just about becoming more like Jesus, but also becoming more like Jesus in my relationship to others as well (John 13:34), It’s all about equipping yourself for the work of ministry to serve those around you (Eph.4:12-13). Learn to disciple your hands by growing to use your God given gifts and abilities to serve others, in Christlike service. Disciples of Jesus are students of ministry.

If you’re following Jesus, you’ll commit yourself to the discipleship of your mind, your heart and your hands. Every Christian is called to be prepared for the work of ministry. And that really is what Training For Ministry (TFM) is all about this year. Running over 6 Tuesday evenings in March and April, TFM is looking to help you grow in your knowledge, character and ministry. Would you be prepared to invest 12 hours this year to go the next step in your Christian life?

Check out the details, by right clicking and downloading the TFM image below!

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