How to grow

how to grow

Our faith community explores ways to grow as a disciple and become more like Jesus.

Our desire at Parliament Community Church (PCC) is to see people grow in their faith and become life-long disciples of Jesus. We also believe that there is no simple ‘to do’ list that we can each follow. Rather, God works in each of our lives in unique ways to grow our relationship with Him. 

Our faith community helps each person at PCC understand what a disciple is, explore ways to grow as a disciple, and take the necessary steps forward to become more like Jesus.

Landmarks of discipleship

While a discipleship journey is unique for each individual, there are some things that we have in common – landmarks along our journey. Three of these landmarks are:

1. Repentance
At some point, all our journeys of faith come to the place of recognizing that what Jesus taught about life is true, and we all fall short of God’s standard for living. This is what we call ‘sin.’ Repentance means we accept our sinful thoughts and actions, ask God for forgiveness through Jesus, and embrace the gift of the Holy Spirit to go forward living as a member of God’s family.

2. Baptism
Throughout the New Testament narratives, we see that most discipleship journeys began with baptism – ceremonial washing that declared the washing away of sin and showed identification with Jesus’ death and resurrection. In many modern settings, discipleship journeys begin with a prayer of repentance and a decision to follow Jesus. Baptism is left as a later step on the discipleship pathway. Either way, baptism is an essential rite of passage for followers of Jesus. At PCC, baptism most often occurs through full immersion in a body of water following a disciple’s public declaration of repentance and desire to follow Jesus.

3. Membership/Belonging
To be clear, all those who have repented and turned to follow Jesus are members of the church, but membership in a specific local church usually follows baptism. Members of the church participate in the life and ministries of the church and use their spiritual gifts for the service of others.

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Spheres of Discipleship

We also believe there are three spheres in life in which we are discipled. Each sphere is an important part of our discipleship journey and all three should be present in a discipleship path. These three spheres are:

1. Relationship with God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)

2. Relationship with the Church (Covenant, Service, Fellowship, etc.)

3. Relationship with the World (Love, Evangelism, Creation, Care, etc.)

The character traits and ways of living that are developed affect many different areas of life including other people in the church, those not in the church but who are interested in Jesus, and those with no affiliation with God’s Kingdom. Living life as a disciple should affect all areas of life.

There are a number of areas where we can grow as disciples through our relationship with God, the church, and the world.

 

Relationship with God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)

    • Responding to God’s grace with repentance
    • Having an identity rooted in Jesus
    • Yielding to the Holy Spirit
    • Living in communication with God
    • Knowing God through the Bible
    • Being a joyful and intimate worshipper of God
    • Being good stewards of God’s resources

 

Relationship with the Church

    • Having a commitment to the local church
    • Engaging in relationships of love and mutual submission
    • Using gifts to bless others

 

Relationship with the World

    • Engaging in a life of witness
    • Practicing hospitality
    • Practicing generosity
    • Living life as ministry
    • Having a global understanding of the kingdom
    • Caring for all of creation

 

Each of these areas are places where we can step in and grow as disciples. What are your areas of strength? In which sphere has most of your discipleship taken place? How do you wish to challenge yourself to grow as a disciple? We would love to discuss how we can walk alongside you as you intentionally seek to grow as a disciple of Christ.

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