Why is this brown cardboard box that has “Kingdom of Me” and “My Little Cardboard Castle” written on the sides in Mike Johnson’s office? Join the expert webinar with Greg Hawkins and find out. Find out what it means and how it helps Mike flourish as a sacrificing disciple deeply united to Christ.
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Our Guests for this Episode – Rev. Matt McClure and Rev. Peter Cammarano:
As you progress through the Stages of Faith, the Beyond Yourself collection is an excellent choice for furthering your spiritual growth. We recommend you start with Your Pathways, then the Spirit’s Fruit series, and then Christ Habits before jumping into Beyond Yourself.
Beyond Yourself challenges you with this question: Do you really own anything?
We complain that people are wasting our time, we are possessive of our money, and we get angry when circumstances upset our lives. But those things are not really ours at all; they are God’s.
Beyond Yourself teaches you to be a good steward of the things God graciously gives to you. This perspective of being a steward rather than an owner provides relief from the anxiety that a controlling attitude brings, and it enables you to use your resources more effectively and meaningfully. At the end of our lives, what will matter most will be to hear God tell us, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matt. 25:21).
There are five books in this collection, and we suggest you use them in the following order:
As a Participant, you will:
“Scripture teaches that everything belongs to God. Ultimately, nothing really belongs to us. He created this world and everything in it. He made it. He gave it, and He can take it away.” From Handle With Care (pg. 4)
If you’re a visual learner, good news! You can see where our small group studies and resources fit within the Stages of Faith.
As you can see, after Spirit’s Fruit we recommend you pick up the Christ Habits collection.
Christ Habits looks at perhaps the most crucial question for any Christ-follower: how can I open my life as fully as possible to the transforming grace of God, and so be ever more shaped into the likeness of Jesus? God has a deep desire to form us into the image of Christ–and as he does, so we find ourselves less and less thirsty for sin, and at the same time more able than ever to experience His love.
We are saved by grace, and we are remade by grace; there is nothing we can do to make ourselves more Christ-like. But we can learn from Christ how to order our lives so that rather than sipping grace cautiously from a teacup, we can drink deeply from it’s soul-refreshing stream.
There are nine books in this collection, and we suggest you use them in the following order:
”My life is lived out in the tension between longing and reality. The longing of my heart is to be drawn ever deeper into intimacy with God: to increasingly celebrate his sacred presence in my everyday world. But the reality of my life is that my disordered character–the desires and drives, vices and behaviors form the root of my brokenness–drag me in the opposite direction, alienating me from God. My appetite for God and my appetite for sin are in violent and destructive conflict. If you share that tension, the may be about to take you on the the most important journey of your life. These are practical books. The disciplines and practices described here by Ascending Leaders have the potential to change our lives, our churches, and our communities–but only if we are prepared to live them, rather than simply discuss them.”
The Spirit’s Fruit collection was the second set of books Ascending Leaders published for small group use, after Christ Habits, but we recommend you start with these as soon as you’ve gone through Your Pathways and before you dive into the spiritual disciplines found in Christ Habits.
There are nine books in this collection, and we suggest you use them in the following order:
Each book has six sessions for your small group. In general, each session is divided into three unique learning experiences.
Our desire is that this is not simply a learning experience, but an opportunity for the Spirit of God to work in our hearts to make our natural behaviors be more like Jesus.
Becoming like Jesus is what the Christian walk is all about. And becoming like Jesus requires us to change how we live, think, talk and love. And this is where the Spirit’s Fruit collection is so meaningful: It challenges us to not only discover the truth about who we really are, but it takes us on a “journey of sanctification.” It helps us cultivate the Spirit’s fruit in every part of our being. It is my privilege, therefore, to commend this resource to all readers.
Once you’ve completed the Spirit’s Fruit studies, you’ll be ready for Christ Habits! Stay tuned for more information next week…
One of the questions we hear a lot is where to start with our small group studies. To answer that question, we’re starting up a series of blog posts to give you a peek inside each of our study collections! If you want to dive in, the best place to get started right away is with Your Pathways: Strong Connection with God.
The core idea behind this study is that the most meaningful way that one person relates to God may be very different from the way another feels closest to or best communicates with their Maker. What works for one person may not work for another. That is the beauty of our diversity and the majesty of our God.
As a participant in this study, you will:
The single most important and powerful body of information a leader possess is self-awareness. Please take this study seriously. Do it for you.
Once you’ve completed Your Pathways, next up we recommend jumping into the Spirit’s Fruit collection. Come back next week to learn more!
In a continuing effort to improve our support of discipleship in churches, we recently asked the members of DiscipleOn! to complete an end-of-season survey. Here’s just a sample of the congregational impact stories shared in the survey:
”Our staff and the discipleship team have a much greater understanding of how to review our programs and we seek to make our classes and programs cover all of the stages as a core planning tool.”
”It kept me focused on developing the spiritual pathway.”
”We were able to learn from the community and the vault about a team charter for our discipleship team – which was timely and wonderful for renewing the team’s commitment.”
We are also taking some of the feedback on where we can improve and making some important changes for next season. The biggest change is that we’re offering a “BASICS” community for people who are newer to the concepts of the stages of faith and a discipleship continuum approach. This group will have access to everything the other groups have, but will have a set series of topics for their monthly catalytic gatherings. Our desire is for this to address the needs of those who felt overwhelmed and unsure about where to start.
100% of respondents agreed (or strongly agreed) that “I am likely to recommend DiscipleOn to others!”
Spiritual friends are as essential to our individual following of God’s directions as close trusted friends are to life in general. In holy listening, we can serve each other by truly being present and asking probing questions – while trusting the Holy Spirit to do His work, and respecting the spiritual journey of your friend. In this setting, you are not the teacher, advice giver, or counselor; this requires humility and a deep trust of God to do His work without your input. Spiritual direction focuses entirely on the relationship between God and the person seeking direction. Become for your friend a mirror in which can be seen a more accurate reflection of his or her beliefs about God and his or her discipleship.
Even though God’s direction for us is unique and personal to each of us, the norm for the directing process includes a community of like-minded followers of Jesus.
When we intentionally grow through spiritual guidance, whether we use groups, friendships, or individuals…we will grow in our connectedness to God.
This group exercise is adapted from Listening Together: Gaining Spiritual Direction in our Christ Habits collection of small group studies. Read more…The quarterly publication of Ascending Leaders, for churches, leaders and disciples. Read more…
“In your experience, is it important that we name each of our discipleship studies (boulders, rocks, pebbles) by which stage it’s in for people in the congregation to see, or is that more for our discipleship staff and team in a ‘behind the scenes’ sense?'”
I suspect you and I agree on this statement–the best answer is the one that will clearly and simply encourage people into growth opportunities that will move more people at each of the four stages of a disciples’ growth forward in their love for Jesus.
Using stage names publicly will only help if the majority of the congregation understands discipleship by stages because of various means of communication over months and years and recognize the titles you have given to the stages.
If that is not yet the case, then do not confuse people by putting it out there. Rather, simply describe a growth experience by what may be true for them. For example, you could say ‘If you are trying to grow in Christ and sense you need to take one step forward in growing more intimate with Christ, this group may be just what you need.’ And take more steps over coming months to help people understand discipleship by stages and what it can mean for them.
If you want to be a part of this work, please consider making a donation today.
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