Discipling though the Spiritual Disciplines

As we grow in Christ-likeness, the practice of certain spiritual disciplines both accelerate the process, and provide us with the necessary resources that we may draw upon in our hour of need. Three of those essential disciplines would be: personal time in the Word, Scripture memory, and personal time in prayer.

Church-Wide Discipleship:

Personal Time in the Word

Although there are numerous methods available to strengthen a personal time in the Word, each year we provide two reading schedules for the congregation. One schedule encourages you to read through the Bible in a year. The other schedule focuses on reading a key chapter of the Bible each day. The reading schedule will be provided with study questions. The choice of this method allows for those who are just beginning personal Bible study to not be overwhelmed, but to read through a significant portion of the Bible over the course of the year. This method also allows for those who are further advanced in their time with the Lord to simply add a chapter to their current reading. Imagine the potential conversations around the Word of God if the entire church family were to embrace the Bible reading schedule! With the beginning of a new year providing opportunities for renewed commitments, habits, and practices, we encourage this habit each January.

Scripture Memory and Meditation Passages

In the wilderness temptation, Jesus answered Satan with direct quotations from the Old Testament. He didn’t have a scroll available, or a Bible concordance to look up the appropriate Bible verse. He simply had them memorized. He understood the lie from the tempter, and he was prepared to answer with the appropriate Bible passage. For years our children’s programs have done an outstanding job encouraging our children to memorize the portions of the Bible. We believe that our adults should do likewise. A key passage from our weekly reading is provided for memorization each week.

Corporate Prayer

Our dependence on the Lord is most clearly communicated through our desire to pray. It is through prayer that we are actively demonstrating our need for the Lord, our desire to lean on Him, and our commitment to know and do His will. It is also through seeing the visible answers to prayer that we are further encouraged to keep praying.