This book challenges Christians to examine how they use their words and presents ways to bring Christ into the conversations of one's everyday life in order to give others a better understanding of God and His love for them ...
What if the Church radically shifted the focus of her mission to making disciples one person at a time? Everett Fritz outlines a framework for one-to-one outreach that helps us develop as mentors in faith, furthering the Kingdom of God as Jesus commanded when he told us to go and make disciples. When we learn how to focus on a ministry of one, we will multiply our efforts to create a movement that meets the spiritual needs of many. Whether you’re someone who’s actively involved in professional or volunteer ministry or an everyday Catholic who wants to share your faith, One Disciple at a Time reveals how you can live out your calling to spread the Gospel by focusing on forming disciples one at a time. Drawing on insights gleaned from his personal spiritual journey and work in Catholic parish ministry, Fritz—founder and executive director of Andrew Ministries—shares practical steps for transforming our approach to living our faith and sharing it with others. In this book, you will learn: There is great power in a personal invitation because it becomes the seed to develop a relationship. If you want to make a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ, you have to be committed to accompany them throughout their lifetime. Lessons from Jesus’s relationship with Simon Peter can transform the way we mentor in faith. Taking someone from disciple to sainthood requires assisting that person with the crosses that they bear, as well as witnessing to the reality of the cross in your own life. Formation needs to include identifying the person's God-given gifts and working with them to use those gifts to build up the Church.
Are you ready to take your faith to the next level? If you yearn for a life that moves beyond believing and practicing your faith, if you want to radically live your faith, if you want a more profound relationship with Jesus Christ, then it is time for you to become an activated disciple. The Foundation of discipleship is imitation. True discipleship requires such a close relationship with God that every area of your life is transformed. It is about opening yourself to God and inviting him to dwell within you, becoming holy as he is holy, loving as he is loving, disciples of Christ become the instruments God employs to transform the world. - Move beyond simply believing and practicing your faith and begin radically living it! - Overcome obstacles that keep you from being the disciple you are made to be. - Be a positive influence and an instrument of transformation in the Church.
"Every believer in Jesus Christ deserves the opportunity of personal nurture and development." says LeRoy Eims. But all too often the opportunity isn't there. We neglect the young Christian in our whirl of programs, church services, and fellowship groups. And we neglect to raise up workers and leaders who can disciple young believers into mature and fruitful Christians. In simple, practical, and biblical terms, LeRoy Eims revives the lost art of disciple making. He explains: - How the early church discipled new Christians - How to meet the basic needs of a growing Christian - How to spot and train potential workers - How to develop mature, godly leaders "True growth takes time and tears and love and patience," Eims states. There is no instant maturity. This book examines the growth process in the life of a Christian and considers what nurture and guidance it takes to develop spiritually qualified workers in the church.
How can we transmit a living, personal Catholic faith to future generations? By coming to know Jesus Christ, and following him as his disciples. These are times of immense challenge and immense opportunity for the Catholic Church. Consider these statistics for the United States. Only 30 percent of Americans who were raised Catholic are still practicing. Fully 10 percent of all adults in America are ex-Catholics. The number of marriages celebrated in the Church decreased dramatically, by nearly 60 percent, between 1972 and 2010. Only 60 percent of Catholics believe in a personal God. If the Church is to reverse these trends, the evangelizers must first be evangelized-in other words, Catholics-in-the-pew must make a conscious choice to know and follow Jesus before they can draw others to him. This work of discipleship lies at the heart of Forming Intentional Disciples, a book designed to help Church leaders, parish staff and all Catholics transform parish life from within. Drawing upon her fifteen years of experience with the Catherine of Siena Institute, Sherry Weddell leads readers through steps that will help Catholics enter more deeply into a relationship with God and the river of apostolic creativity, charisms, and vocation that flow from that relationship for the sake of the Church and the world. Learn about the five thresholds of postmodern conversion, how to open a conversation about faith and belief, how to ask thought-provoking questions and establish an atmosphere of trust, when to tell the Great Story of Jesus, how to help someone respond to God's call to intentional discipleship, and much more. And be prepared for conversion because when life at the parish level changes, the life of the whole Church will change.
Greg Ogden recovers Jesus' method of accomplishing life change by investing in just a few people at a time. In this revised and updated edition Ogden sets forth his vision for transforming both the individual disciple and discipleship itself, showing how discipleship can become a self-replicating process with ongoing impact from generation to generation.
The most important disciple a parent will make is within their own home, and yet this is the most difficult disciple to make. Family Discipleship by Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin helps readers develop a sustainable rhythm of gospel-centered discipleship through a guided framework focusing on moments of discipleship in 3 key areas: time (intentional time gathering your family around gospel activities or conversations), moments (leveraging opportunities throughout the day), and milestones (celebrating significant life events). Each section provides parents with Scriptures to consider, questions to answer, structures to implement, and ideas to try out as they seek to see Christ formed in their children. Here is a book that begins with the end in mind, offering ideas and examples of what gospel-centered family discipleship looks like, helping parents design their own discipleship plan as they seek to raise children in the love and fear of the Lord.
Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining. "Believing in Jesus does not mean believing doctrines about him," Borg writes. "Rather, it means to give one's heart, one's self at its deepest level, to . . . the living Lord." Drawing on his own journey from a naive, unquestioning belief in Christ through collegiate skepticism to a mature and contemporary Christian faith, Borg illustrates how an understanding of the historical Jesus can actually lead to a more authentic Christian life—one not rooted in creeds or dogma, but in a life of spiritual challenge, compassion, and community. In straightforward, accessible prose, Borg looks at the major findings of modern Jesus scholarship from the perspective of faith, bringing alive the many levels of Jesus' character: spirit person, teacher of alternative wisdom, social prophet, and movement founder. He also reexamines the major stories of the Old Testament vital to an authentic understanding of Jesus, showing how an enriched understanding of these stories can uncover new truths and new pathways to faith. For questioning believers, doubters, and reluctant unbelievers alike, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time frees our understanding of Jesus' life and message from popular misconceptions and outlines the way to a sound and contemporary faith: "For ultimately, Jesus is not simply a figure of the past, but a figure of the present. Meeting that Jesus—the living one who comes to us even now—will be like meeting Jesus again for the first time."
Not long ago, veteran Youth Minister Everett Fritz counted the number of his former Youth Group members who were still practicing the Faith. The result? Almost all of themhad left the Faith! Fritz learned that otherparishes reported similar staggering losses, pointing to a grim truth: today’s Youth Ministries simply do not form young people into lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. Not satisfied with these dismal results, Fritz devised a different way of forming young people in the Faith. It’s an approach that can truly transform the spiritual lives of young people by applying the same one-to-one personal method that Jesus Himself used to form his twelve original disciples . . . only one of whom was lost! Fritz has worked with countless parishes, helping them make the shift to a small-group discipleship structure. You’ll learn to avoid the many pitfalls and common mistakes parishes make, as well as ways you can easily build the volunteer base needed for a successful transition. He will help you create a comfortable environment that leads young people into self-reflection, as well as the critical role parents and the parish community play in youth formation. Finally, Fritz shares various resources that can help you accomplish your goal. But he warns: you’re not running a program that has been pre-developed. Relationships and mentoring make disciples; programs do not. If you’re troubled by the number of young people in your parish who leave the Faith year after year, then open these illuminating pages and learn the art of forming young disciples.
The Movement Starts with You Do you doubt you can actually make a difference in the world? Do you struggle with knowing how to express your faith in the daily routines of life? The Only One: Living Fully In, By, and For God shares simple approaches to grow as a follower of Jesus. Dive into the concepts and tools to find the connection between “being” and “doing” with God. Designed to be read, processed, shared, and used to equip others, The Only One is a tool to not only grow as a disciple, but also to make and multiply disciples. This is about living into a greater impact on the world and the purpose for which God designed you. It’s time to experience life with Him, and others, as a joyful and exciting adventure—read this book and get started!