Our Discipleship Puzzle
The word "disciple" literally means "follower." At Story Church, we want to be followers of Jesus. We want to do our best to live in obedience to the instructions and examples He gave us. We have identified four things that all work together to help us continue to grow and develop and become disciples of Jesus.
These four things can all be done on their own. Many believers in Jesus have one, two or possibly even three of these elements in their lives. However, all four are needed in order for us to be working towards becoming fully mature followers. Each piece of the puzzle is important and can stand alone, but only through living out all four pieces does the entire picture of God's work come to light.
INTERNALIZE
We cannot follow Jesus without first knowing His story and knowing Him personally. This comes through things such as reading the Bible, attending church, joining a Life Group, and praying. At Story Church we also offer a discipleship class called "Rooted" that we encourage everyone to attend, which helps teach us the importance of those things, as well as how to add them into our lives.
EXTERNALIZE
Knowing Jesus personally and knowing about Him are so important, but it can't stop there. We must take what we know and apply it to our lives. The four values of Story Church are: hospitality, service, relationship and growth. In order to apply those values in life, we must be willing to put others before ourselves and live in high character obedience to Jesus. Having a core group of 2-3 friends that will partner, challenge and encourage you in these areas is an incredible help. Living out our relationship with Jesus comes from both changing how and why we do the activities we already have in our lives, as well as changing some of the things we do.
MULTIPLY
In Matthew 28 Jesus tells His followers that they need to make other disciples, baptizing them and teaching them obedience, too. To be a disciple of Jesus means to help others become disciples, too. At Story Church we want to help people to and through their decision to follow Jesus. That means every member needs to be in intentional relationship with non-believers to show them how Jesus can impact their story, and also in intentional relationship with a few who have already chosen to believe to help them become even better disciples.
CELEBRATE
Life is messy and difficult, and that doesn't change even when we are followers of Jesus. But, God is still at work and uses us as a part of that work. We want to celebrate what He is doing and how He is using us in His story. It is crucial that in the midst of life we purposefully take time to pause and celebrate Jesus for what He has done and continues to do in our lives and the lives of others.
GOD'S TRANSFORMING WORK
We have to do our part to live as followers of Jesus, but it's ultimately the work of God through us that helps us transform to our best selves. When we follow Him, we are opening ourselves up for Him to guide and direct and change us at our very core.