Christian Discipleship - Spiritual Formation & Mentoring
Christian Discipleship - Spiritual Formation & Mentoring
1 Who calls us to do discipleship and mentorship? Why? When? What? How?
2 Definitions
2.1 What is discipleship?
Discipleship focuses on laying a foundation in the Christian life. It introduces new believers to the basic truths of Scripture—the authority of the Word, assurance of salvation, the content of the Gospel, and the call to a sanctified life… Discipleship begins the process of character development and holy living, in particular confronting more blatant sins of the flesh. It also challenges believers to direct their attention toward others through service, evangelism, outreach, and ministry of various kinds… the term discipleship focuses on activity. It calls believers to action both in terms of their own spiritual practices and their service to others… modern discipleship emphasizes the cognitive and rational dynamics of Bible study and prayer disciplines. (http://deepwellswithglennmyers.blogspot.ca/2010/07/how-do-discipleship-and-spiritual.html)
Discipleship is foundations, scripture-based, and Holy-Sprit-formed.
2.2 What is spiritual formation?
Spiritual formation includes the basic elements of faith but goes on to incorporate the whole of the Christian life... share an intimate relationship with God that has been tested through the ups and downs of life. A. B. Simpson referred to this as the Christ Life. (http://deepwellswithglennmyers.blogspot.ca/2010/07/how-do-discipleship-and-spiritual.html)
“Spiritual formation is the forming of our spirits. When we make space for the Holy Spirit in our lives and beings to respond to God’s initiative, our lives are increasingly transformed. We are more attracted to moving in the direction of life, rather than death. This mysterious flow of vitality is what restores our lives and increasingly moves us to live, individually and corporately, as witnesses to the glory of God. Spiritual formation is then relinquishing more and more to the vitality of God’s spirit in us. We do this by bringing our ideas about God together with our experience of living so that we might discover God’s real presence in the daily patterns of our lives.” (Carey CSF 500)
“We all live story-shaped lives. The question is not whether we will do so; the issue is, rather, which are the stories (The Holy Bible) that will shape our lives?” (Carey CSF 500)
2.3 What is mentoring?
Mentoring is modeling and life-based.
2.4 How do discipleship/spiritual formation, mentoring relate to each other?
3 Get & Stay Ready
3.1 Pay Attention to and Care for My Being
3.1.1 Prayers
3.1.2 Bible Study
§ Church Sunday School
§ BSF
3.1.3 Regular devotions
§ Writing Spiritual Journal
§ Devine Reading on The Four Gospels
o John 21
§ Letters
3.1.4 Retreat, solitude, silence, prayer, reflection
3.2 Egoism vs. Allowing room for growing together in Christ, quantity vs. quality, self-gratification vs. glorifying God, manipulation vs. Holy Spirit’s guidance
3.3 Be aware of and Practice Healthy Boundary
§ “Emotionally Healthy Church” by Peter Scazzero
§ “The Emotionally Healthy Leader” by Peter Scazzero
§ “Boundaries” by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend
3.4 Know your group members/mentee
3.4.1 Personality
· Extrovert, Introvert
· Sensing, Intuitive
· Thinking, Feeling
· Perceiving, Judging
· Personality Types and Learning (https://www.wnc.edu/mbti/personality-types/)
3.4.2 Culture
§ Ethnicity, family or origin (upbringing), past religious believes/practices before conversion, past church denominations experience before joining church
3.4.3 Learning styles/channels
§ VAK: Visual/auditory/kinesthetic (tactile); Learning Styles -VAK (http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/styles/vakt.html)
§ Bible verse memorization, to emphasize on the concept, meaning, and transformation, less on word-for-word correction (but great if the person can memorize it word-for-word, and the best if memorizing word-for-word in multiple versions)
4 Discipleship
- Men’s group, Women’s group
- Two Approaches
- Integrated Approach
§ Group members study and practice from what being heart/learnt from church preaching and/or Sunday School
o Less time for leaders/facilitators to prepare Bible Study materials, and more time for them to do fellowship, care for members, work on Sunday School homework together, and amplify the material into multiple channels that are effective to group members’ transformation
o You have pastors and Sunday school teachers to guide the group on Bible Study area. (Don’t need to re-invent the wheel, making well use of resources provided by the church)
- Topical Approach
§ Group members study and practice on a specific topic together
o Use a book as guidance
o Season of Life in Christian perspective: dating & engagement, newly-wed, mothering, fathering, grand-mothering, grand-fathering)
o Marketplace Practice in Christian perspective: medicine, engineering, finance, trades, service, education, arts… etc)
o Ministry: Missionary, Bible Study, Spiritual Formation
- Two-in-One calendar to follow: church calendar and Christian calendar (no conflicts)
- church calendar: encourage members to join/serve church events/services as a group (e.g. church community day, Alpha helpers, Christmas Eve service, special celebration choir… etc); working/serving together as a team is a way of building relationships
- Christian calendar: encourage members to join church services (according to the church calendar which should try to follow the Christian calendar, e.g. Ash Wednesday Service, Lent Evening Worship & Prayer (Restless); sit with your group members
- Relationship Building
- Serving together as a team
- Eating together
- Studying / Practice on a specific topic that most group members concern in a Christina perspective
- Retreats
- Consider members’ safety when planning and implementing activities
5 Mentorship
- Man to man, Woman to woman
- Might work more effective if mentor-mentee:
- Having similar interests/hobbies (for mentoring new believers)
- Working in a similar trade or career (Finance, Medicine, Engineering, Service, Trades, Arts, Education… etc.) – for Christian perspective & practice at workplace
- Involving in or looking into similar ministry work (eg. Sunday School teachers, AWANA leaders, Alpha table leaders, Short-term missionary leaders, discipleship group leaders/facilitators, Singspiration/worship team… etc)
- Define the focus area
6 Take Home Reference Materials
6.1 Books
Like to read some books, you may start with these books…
|
Series
|
Title/Author
|
Comment
|
|
110
|
God So Loved the World / Jonathan R. Wilson
|
- A Christology for Disciples
- Not dry, not thick
|
|
111
|
Celebration of Discipline / Richard J. Foster
|
The path to spiritual growth
|
|
121
|
Eat This Book/Eugene H. Peterson
|
The art of /the attitude on scripture reading
|
|
131
|
Relational Leadership / Walter C Wright
|
A Biblical Model for Leadership Service (Servant Leadership)
|
|
141
|
Spiritual Discipleship / J. Oswald Sanders
|
Perennial principles oriented series, each about 200 pages
|
|
142
|
Spiritual Maturity / J. Oswald Sanders
|
|
|
143
|
Spiritual Leadership / J. Oswald Sanders
|
|
|
151
|
The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery / David G. Benner
|
Dwelling in God
|
|
152
|
Desiring God's Will: Aligning Our Hearts with the Heart of God / David G. Benner
|
Aligning with God
|
|
153
|
Spirituality and the Awakening Self: The Sacred Journey of Transformation / David G. Benner
|
Walking with God
|
|
160
|
Dictionary of Christian Spirituality / Glen G. Scorgie, Simon Chan, Gordon T. Smith, James D. Smith III
|
It contains many articles that provide you a survey on Christian Spirituality; “The Dictionary of Christian Spirituality reflects an overarching interpretive framework for evangelical spiritual formation: a holistic and grace-filled spirituality that encompasses relational (connecting), transformational (becoming), and vocational (doing) dynamics.”
|
|
170
|
逆轉靈性 / 蔡貴恆
|
Written in Chinese; about Christian transformation; with practices
|
|
211
|
Emotionally Healthy Church / Peter Scazzero
|
A Strategy For Discipleship That Actually Changes Lives
|
|
212
|
The Emotionally Healthy Leader / Peter Scazzero
|
How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World
|
|
213
|
Boundaries / Dr. Henry Cloud, Dr. John Townsend
|
Christian faith guide to healthy boundaries; maintaining a positive concept and self-image in Christ, relating with others with respects while dwelling in God’s love (our identity in Christ)
|
|
311
|
The Shape of Living / David F. Ford
|
“Discover how to overcome and develop an everyday spirituality that will guide your actions and bring meaning to your hectic life.”
|
|
312
|
Soulful Spirituality / David G. Benner
|
“probing the contrasts between soulful and soulless spirituality, deep and shallow religion, and healthy and unhealthy relationships with God to affirm the vital role of human development in the spiritual journey”
|
|
321
|
Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God / Timothy Keller
|
"Keller offers biblical guidance as well as specific prayers for certain situations, such as dealing with grief, loss, love, and forgiveness"
|
|
322
|
Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God / Dallas Willard
|
“the author provides rich spiritual insight into how we can hear God's voice clearly and develop an intimate partnership with him in the work of his kingdom”
|
|
323
|
Contemplative Prayer / Thomas Merton
|
“the peace contacted through meditation should not be sought in order to evade the problems of contemporary life, but can instead be directed back out into the world to affect positive change”
|
|
330
|
Sacred Companions: The Gift Of Spiritual Friendship and Direction / David G. Benner
|
Christian friends, brothers & sisters in Christ
|
|
340
|
Be Still / Jane E. Vennard
|
Contemplative Retreats & Congregational Life; Being & Doing
|
|
350
|
The Voice Of Jesus: Discernment, Prayer And The Witness Of The Spirit / Gordon T. Smith
|
Alternatively, there is a series of audio DVD (9 discs) (https://www.regentaudio.com/collections/gordon-smith/products/spiritual-discernment )
|
Legends:
- Series: XYZ
- X - challenging levels
- Y - books grouped by series
- Z - reading precedence within the series
6.2 Articles
No time to read books, you may start with articles…
- "3 Phases of a Paul and Timothy Relationship" by Pastor Rick Warren (http://pastors.com/paul-timothy/ )
- Personality Types and Learning (https://www.wnc.edu/mbti/personality-types/)
- Learning Styles -VAK (http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/styles/vakt.html)
6.3 Video/Audio
Got an hour listening to something…
· 3 Mentoring Principles for Biblical Discipleship
· Disciple Making, Fruit Of Being A Christian by Francis Chan And David Platt
· Richard Rohr - Contemplative Prayer
6.4 Tools
· Bible gateway - https://www.biblegateway.com
· Bible Hub - http://biblehub.com/
· The Bible Project - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVfwlh9XpX2Y_tQfjeln9QA
· Jesus Walk Bible Study Series - http://www.jesuswalk.com/
· Many online materials… just “beware of heresy”
posted by Clara Yeung at
9:59 AM
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