Jesus is the one who calls us ‘come follow me’. The call to be a disciple of Jesus demands a wholehearted, whole life response, which identifies Jesus Christ as Lord.
What would Jesus look like in your shoes and situation? From the very first disciples until now, Jesus has been shaping and forming disciples to follow him in every place. Seventy-two recognises the nature of being life-long followers of Jesus gets tough for all of us, in different seasons of life. We aim to be a community of like-minded Jesus followers and invite all who recognise the Lordship of Jesus Christ to share in our journey of mutual discovery and encouragement. We follow as individuals, but if you have a leadership role within the church you will want to do your very best to cultivate an environment in which other disciples can grow and thrive. Today, personal discipleship is the most crucial issue for the church across the UK and we are calling everyone to this priority.
Inspiring Discipleship Articles and Resources
Don’t Jump the Gun
‘Don’t jump the gun’. When someone acts before the proper or appropriate time. To act too soon when we’re not ready or before the time is right. ‘You’re jumping the gun!’ –‘ hang on a minute, not so fast, hold back, wait!’ The phrase is derived from athletics of...
Jesus And My Leadership
‘My name is Nigel and I’m a follower of Jesus’. Even on first meeting, I’d love it if this introduction told someone all that they needed to know about me and my response towards them as a human being. Needless to say, it’s simply where I aspire to be – I remain a...
Tend Your Fire
As I stepped down from giving a testimony one Sunday, Pam and Ken grabbed my hand and with wide eyes and an urgency to their voices they told me ‘whatever happens Alex, never lose your fire!’. With the nonchalance of a recently born believer I freed my hand and smiled...
Learning
If you ask a group of people how they respond to the two words ‘disciple’ and ‘learner’, you’ll note a marked difference in their responses. My generalised summary is ‘we like disciple, we don't like learner’. I don't know whether this will be good news or bad news...
Living
'Come, follow me’ - the first words heard on the lips of Jesus in Mark’s gospel. They demand a response, they demand action, they demand change, they demand movement. If we stick at only listening to Jesus, we may develop an intellectual awareness of who he is and...
Looking
‘Jesus only did what he saw his Father doing’ (John 5: 16-30). But how do we make his habits our own? We’ve got the sense that God is saying something to us - we’ve heard the words, and hopefully you’re getting in the habit of writing them down so they don’t get lost...
Pre-Prodigals?
In our house we might have accidentally coined a new phrase. I wonder if it applies to your church too. Do you have ‘pre-prodigals’? A pre-prodigal hasn’t cashed in their inheritance and walked away from our heavenly Father … not yet … but they may not be far away...
Listening
If we want to hear, we need to listen..... We can get into the discipleship cycle at any point, but if we want to start from a reliable place, listening to God using the Bible is the easiest place to start. It’s not simply a question of listening for the sake of it:...
A year of reading the Bible – on Facebook
The beginning of a new year; we all start with resolutions, maybe keep them up until February. I personally find setting resolutions difficult, so I don’t. I do like looking back on things that have emerged and have been maintained through the previous year though,...
Re-imagining Missional Movement
Can you still see the person you were called to become when Jesus first said to you ‘come follow me’? Can you still see the church you were called to become when you first caught hold of Jesus words ‘I will build my church’? Honest responses so far suggest any clarity...