Congratulations on becoming a new Christian!
You are about to embark on a wonderful adventure, one that is both difficult in some ways and easy in other ways. One that will encourage you to heights you never suspected or dreamed of.
If you have been Christian for some time, you may still find portions of this series interesting and may give you some ideas for your current relationship with God. Our hope is that it will help all who decide to study these lessons.
Let us answer your first question right now – “Why another discipleship pathway series?”
"Why another discipleship pathway series?"
Discipleship Pathway Intro
We believe that following Jesus is an active process. Not a once a week obligation. It requires not only study but also action and activity within a community of like believers. For you to flourish in this endeavor we believe that relationships need to be built and maintained. First and most important is a close and loving relationship with God, but equally important are the relationships with family, church members, and your community.
We are convinced that Bible Study is an important part of our growth and understanding of how to conduct ourselves as God’s representatives in our communities. In that study we learn how God thinks, and how He deals with people and situations. We can’t represent someone we don’t know, so our knowledge of Him is essential. We need to be able to show how much He loves everyone, even those who don’t know Him and reject the whole concept of Him.
However, we maintain that Bible Study requires knowledge that can be gained outside of the Bible. By that we mean as we study we need to know who was writing this part of scripture, what part of his culture influenced his writing, and what were the historical events of the time in which he was writing. All of these aspects have an influence on how we are to read and interpret a part of scripture.
It sounds like a massive undertaking; and it is, but we have a whole lifetime to work through all of this. It won’t come through any particular study method or informational source. We find bits and pieces everywhere. Think of it as a gigantic puzzle with an unlimited number of pieces, and we have our whole lifetime to work on the puzzle. Each study time we may see a couple of pieces come together and get another glimpse the Plan of our Loving God.
