Biblical Discipleship Essential Components For Attaining Spiritual Maturity

Today, we have many ways of defining success in life. Some define it as being a sports hero, others as being wealthy, others as being popular and well liked, and still others as being happy. How does God define success? He defines it as being spiritually mature! How do we become spiritually mature? There’s only one way, and it’s called discipleship. However, statistics show that discipleship is in a state of crisis today. Many Christians are not growing in Christ and are stuck in the process of reaching spiritual maturity. A Barna study reveals that almost nine out of ten senior pastors of Protestant churches assert that spiritual immaturity is one of the most serious issues facing the church. Sadly, what discipleship meant in the time of Christ and what it means today is vastly different. Moreover, the importance Christ and the Apostles gave to discipleship is also stunningly different than the importance many Christians and churches today give it. Unlike the disciples who had much of Scripture memorized, a whopping 81% of Christians today don’t read their Bibles regularly. Unlike Christ’s disciples who were “Fishers of Men,” 61% of believers today have not shared their faith in the past six months. And sadly, unlike Christ and the Apostles who made discipleship the central focus of their ministries, 81% of pastors today have no regular discipleship programs in their churches. Discipleship is being neglected today, and the consequences are crippling many Christians and churches. This book hopes to change that! Chapter 1 focuses on the state of discipleship today and exposes the sad truth that it’s in crisis mode. Chapter 2 reveals 13 key factors contributing to the lack of discipleship today. Chapter 3 defines biblical discipleship based on central phrases Christ used in His ministry. Chapter 4 brings to light 14 essential components of the discipleship-making process that must be understood and practiced in order to attain spiritual maturity. Chapter 5 provides practical, “how-to” help for growing in Christ. It includes self-assessment tests for measuring your level of spiritual maturity in each essential component of discipleship and gives hands-on, useful ideas for taking steps toward spiritual maturity. Discipleship is a command for all believers and is our highest calling. This book provides biblical help for fulfilling this calling and seeks to discover what God says about genuine growth in Christ. It’s both an informative book and a “how-to” book. It deals with the barriers that are hindering discipleship, and offers practical help for overcoming these barriers and attaining spiritual maturity. So, are you ready to grow? Would you like to be pleasing to God? Would you like to fulfill the reason for which you’ve been created? Would you like the full blessings of God in your life? Would you like to become spiritually mature? Would you like to hear Christ’s words, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” when you arrive in heaven? If so, this book is for you.

This 16 Week Study Guide is exceptionally practical and life-transforming. It is taken from the main book Biblical Discipleship: Essential Components for Attaining Spiritual Maturity. However, it is a “stand-alone” book study that is designed to be used on its own. Its purpose is to take the 14 core principles of discipleship and put them into practice. Today, we have many ways of defining success in life. Some define it as being a sports hero, others as being wealthy, others as being popular and well-liked, and still others as being happy. How does God define success? He defines it as being spiritually mature!

Discipleship is in a state of crisis today! Many Christians are not growing in Christ and are stuck in the process of reaching spiritual maturity. Sadly, what discipleship meant in the time of Christ is vastly different than what it means today. Moreover, the importance Christ and the apostles gave to discipleship is also stunningly different than the importance many Christians and churches today give it. Unlike the disciples who had much of Scripture memorized, a whopping 81% of Christians today don't read their Bible regularly. Unlike Christ's disciples who were "Fishers of Men," 61% of believers today haven't shared their faith in the past six months. And sadly, unlike Christ and the apostles who made discipleship the central focus of their ministries, 81% of pastors today have no regular discipleship programs in their churches. Discipleship is being neglected today, and the consequences are crippling. This book hopes to change that!Chapter 1 focuses on the state of discipleship in the lives of Christians and churches today and exposes the sad truth that it's in crisis mode. Chapter 2 reveals 14 key factors contributing to the lack of discipleship today and how they're affecting our lives. Chapter 3 defines biblical discipleship based upon central phrases Christ used in His ministry. Chapter 4 unfolds 14 essential components of the discipleship-making process that must be understood and practiced in order to attain spiritual maturity. Chapter 5 provides practical help on how to grow in each of the essential components of discipleship. It contains encouraging news and functional steps on how to grow in Christ. It also includes self-assessment tests to measure our level of spiritual maturity in each essential component of discipleship and gives hands-on, useful ideas on taking steps toward spiritual maturity.

Today, we have many ways of defining success in life. Some define it as being a sports hero, others as being wealthy, others as being popular and well liked, and still others as being happy. How does God define success? He defines it as being spiritually mature!How do we become spiritually mature? There's only one way, and it's called discipleship. However, statistics show that discipleship is in a state of crisis today. Many Christians are not growing in Christ and are stuck in the process of reaching spiritual maturity.Discipleship is a command for all believers and is our highest calling. This book provides biblical help for fulfilling this calling and seeks to discover what God says about genuine growth in Christ. It's both an informative book and a ?how-to? book. It deals with the barriers that are hindering discipleship, and offers practical help for overcoming these barriers and attaining spiritual maturity.

What is success in life? God defines it as being spiritually mature! How do we become spiritually mature? There's only one way, and it's called discipleship.This study guide outlines 14 essential components that must be understood and practiced in order to reach spiritual maturity.

In this study, we will examine the parable of the unmerciful servant. This parable expresses the responsibility of the believer to forgive (Matthew 18:21-35). When Peter asked Christ about forgiveness, He responded to him with this parable. Within this story, we see the unlimited forgiveness of God. In addition, we discover the responsibility of His servants to be like him. Let us learn to forgive others as God, for Christ’s sake, forgave us. As we learn from these parables, we will stay on the path to true discipleship.

Authentic discipleship is a step-by-step method for achieving Christian spiritual maturity. It is a Bible-based process using 2 Peter chapter 1 as its source. The Apostle Peter reveals the process at the end of his life where he is expressing his concern for the spiritual well-being of his flock. The process reveals the actual expectations of the Lord for the spiritual development of Christian people for ministry and how to accomplish it. The people were first called Christians at Antioch because they followed the teachings of Christ. The term was meant to be derogatory but was never considered so by them. They not only followed Him but also actually intended to allow the Living Savior to express Himself through them even as John the Baptist cried out, "He must increase, but I must decrease." The more "Christlike" we can become, the greater our discipleship is realized. It is the aim of this book to help Christians, who so desire, to realize their goal as the Lord permits.

We grow in Christ as we seek him together. Jesus' own pattern of disciple-making was to be intimately involved with others and allow life to rub against life. By gathering in twos or threes to study the Bible and encourage one another, we most closely follow Jesus' example with the twelve disciples. This workbook by Greg Ogden is a tool designed to help you follow this pattern Jesus drew for us. Working through it will deepen your knowledge of essential Christian teaching and strengthen your faith. Each week contains the following elements: a core truth presented in a question-and-answer format a memory verse and accompanying study a field-tested inductive Bible study a reading on the theme for the week questions to draw out key principles in the reading This material is designed for groups of three. It has also been used successfully as an individual study program, a one-on-one discipling tool, and small group curriculum. This expanded and completely updated edition includes a new guide for leaders. Jesus had a big enough vision to think small. Focusing on a few did not limit his influence. Rather, it expanded it. Discipleship Essentials is designed to help us influence others as Jesus did—by investing in a few.