1. AN ADVENTURE IN COMING CLOSER TO OUR LORD! DISCIPLESHIP 101

2. Why are we here? Matthew 6: 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Together, we will learn how to live this verse!

3. Together! Together we will learn how to be free from fear, anxiety and anger. Together we will learn how to follow Jesus better! Let’s start now, together!!!

4. To whom do we belong For all of our modern sensibilities… we are still TRIBAL people? No??? Are we definitely… Republican or Democrat or Independent? Cardinal, Cubs, White Sox…fans? Ford, Chevy, Dodge…car, truck… gas, hybrid??? St Paul, Trinity, St John, Immanuel, Prince of Peace, American, First, Zion…church members? Beer, coffee, water or wine drinkers?

5. Is there one tribe that pulls this all together? What is the most important Tribe we can belong to? The Jesus Tribe??? If we belong to the Jesus Tribe, then all of the signs of the Jesus Tribe are our signs!

6. Where do Lutherans fit in? If the Jesus Tribe is central and most important, what about the Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics…? Maybe all of us are several Clans in the Jesus Tribe. So all of the signs of the Jesus Tribe and all of the signs of the Clan are our signs. Being a disciple is a sign of the Jesus Tribe.

7. Are we content with our lot? “Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! 2 She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the L ORD ; she does not draw near to her God. 3 Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning. 4 Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men; her priests profane what is holy; they do violence to the law.” Zephaniah 3:1-4

8. Why are we asking? Are we happy with our own faith and faithfulness? Are we happy with the faith and faithfulness of your congregation and denomination? Are we happy with the faithfulness of this country and our leaders? Are we afraid that nothing can be done?

9. Now is the Time! Don’t we know we serve a risen and living Lord? Don’t we know we have been gifted by the Holy Spirit to serve our Lord? Please pray with me, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” Psalm 51:15

10. Let’s be a Disciple!

11. What is a disciple??? A disciple talks with the living Lord God and is open to the power of our God in our lives. A disciple wants to be more than a member who comes to church and goes home and nothing changes. A disciple wants to be freed from the power of self to live for Jesus.

12. What do the Church Fathers Say? Basil the Great (d. 379) “Disciples must learn that the divine take precedence over the human and that human obligation cannot stand in the way of Christian discipleship.” Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444) “One is called to love God more than one’s father or mother.” Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258) “Why would anyone want to return to the devil or the world from which they have escaped?”

13. How do I know if I am a disciple? What does this text mean to us? Mark 8: 34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. A disciple believes this refers to me.

14. Are we ready? Do we want to fall in love with Jesus all over again? Do we want to grow in the peace that passes all human understanding? Do we want more joy, more love, more hope, more confidence in your life? If we can say, “Yes” then we are ready!

15. Where do we start? Here is an overview… 1. As we pray, so do we live. 2. As we pray the Holy Bible, so do we live. 3. As we live the well prayed Holy Bible, our lives and families will be blessed. 4. As our families are blessed, so too are our communities, nation and world. 5. Our goal ? Love God! Love neighbor!

16. ?????? You are probably beginning to wonder…”Just what am I expected to do????” 1. We will learn through prayer and Bible study to love God better. 2. We will learn about our spiritual gifts and how to use them. 3. We will develop an outreach plan. 4. We will encourage and support each other!

17. Do you have any questions? Let’s take a moment and see if you have any questions.

18. Let’s begin with prayer Prayer is square one, the beginning of everything which follows. As goes our prayer life so goes the rest of our life. So when we admit there is room to grow in our faith and faithfulness, we need to go back to square one. If we think there is room to grow in our faithfulness, we are admitting there is a problem with our prayer lives.

19. What kind of prayer There are three general types of prayer: 1. Silent prayer  The goal in silent prayer is to listen to the still small voice of God, which is best done when we aren’t monopolizing the conversation. 2. Expressive prayer  Some of us need to get our prayers outside of us, before we manipulate and control them. 3. Visual prayer  Others of us need to keep our eyes open to slow down our minds.

20. Which is best? One of these three types of prayer, Silent, Expressive or Visual, will be the best type of prayer for us. Having said that, we need to be able to pray all three ways. Whenever we begin to come close to God by the Holy Spirit working through our prayers, the Devil will begin to take notice and will tempt us especially in our favorite prayer form. Then we need to move to one of the others, until it is safe to return to our favorite.

21. What comes next? Before we look more deeply at prayer, let’s continue looking at the larger picture. Our goal is Prayer, Study and Work, in that order. Prayer is square one. In our prayers we fall in love again and again with our living Lord. And we want to know more. So we start praying the Bible. The Holy Spirit takes our love of Jesus and our knowledge of God’s sacred Word and changes our lives. As we are changed, those around us are changed too!

22. Praying the Bible? How can we pray the Bible? First, read a verse or two every day. Thank God, every time you read, for this wonderful gift of Holy Scriptures. Ask yourself, “What is God trying to tell me in these verses?” Then talk to God about what are you hearing in these verses.

23. An Example Proverbs 15: 23 To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is! Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for this gift of your holy word! Thank you for my health and life! Thank you for the presence of the Holy Spirit to help me understand! Meditation: When have I been able to say what needs to be said when it needed to be said???? Prayer: Help me Lord! Fill me with your Spirit, so that Your words become my words!

24. The Presence of a Living God Prayer and Bible Study will bring to us a sense of the Presence of a living God! With the Presence of God in our lives, our goals become clearer, our path becomes straighter, our joy becomes more visible…we become radiant Christians. It is the Presence of God by the Holy Spirit which changes us! I can teach you many things, but I can’t make you into Disciples. Only the Holy Spirit can!

25. What’s Next Continuing with the overview, walking together with God in our prayers and Bible study will slowly but surely change our lives for the better. As our lives are changed, so too are the lives of those near to us changed for the better because God is being shared. In fact, this is one of the goals of a discipling adventure, to share our faith with others, making new disciples!

26. Can I do this all by myself? So far, talking about prayer and praying the Bible, every thing we have talked about can be done all by yourself, all alone, in the quiet of your own home, God and me! But the notion of a solitary disciple is somewhat foreign to discipleship. Jesus called a dozen disciples to be the inner circle of seventy disciples. We need to ask ourselves how we can walk this path together.

27. Walking Together Would you be willing to form a Prayer and Bible Study Discipling Group? Walking together we can help each other, encourage each other, be accountable to each other, celebrate with each other. Walking together we will know we are not alone.

28. Time for Questions That is a lot of information. Do you have any questions before we continue?