Theos is back and with a new 6 month course designed to get us making disciples using all the principles we've been learning together in previous meetings.
If Jesus' promise of disciples bearing fruit is going to be a reality, this must mean that we have to learn how to be not only disciples, but disciple-makers.
This course is designed to help people think clearly about what it means to help others grow as disciples, understanding more about God, themselves and the whole discipleship journey.
We'll do this with a mixture of presentations, discussions and exercises that everyone will be able to get involved in. The Gospel of John is going to be the key text for all the sessions and it would be really helpful if people have read through that before they begin the course with us.
Our hope is that the course will inspire you as a disciple and go some way towards equipping you as a disciple-maker of others.
The Theos team is: Andrew Belfield, Neil Hudson, Chris Lane and Anna Thompson.
Venue: Salford Elim, Holy Angels, Moorfield Rd, Salford, M6 7EY
Time: 7.30pm – 9.15pm
| 20th Jan | Discipleship Dynamics - Introduction What do we mean by discipleship anyway? And how does disciple-making work? Do we have any right to expect to be engaged in helping others be shaped in their Christian life? What can we expect from a course like this? These and many other questions will be raised – and answers explored. |
| 17th Feb | The Goodness of God Through the ups and downs of life many people (Christian or not) struggle to accept God’s goodness in the face of tragedy or to trust in his right judgement in things outside of our control. Here we’ll address the most significant question we can ask: ‘Who is God?’ Amidst his many names and the numerous facets of his character we build a sure foundation for our disciple making on the persistence of God’s goodness. Key text: John 3.16 |
| 17th Mar | God Incarnate God is here! As we explore the way of life modelled by Jesus we discover the choice of God to ‘move into the neighbourhood’ in a particular time and place. As we seek to emulate the way of Jesus we consider the implications of the ‘local’ God to our discipleship and our disciple making; including our own hearts, our community of relationships and our interactions with our culture and society. Key text: John 1:14 |
| 21st Apr | I am in Christ In this session we begin to consider the fundamental question ‘who am I?’ Building on the understanding of God gained in the previous two weeks we will consider our nature as children of God existing ‘in Christ’. Discovering both our rights and our responsibilities we will consider the dynamic relationship between the Spirit of Jesus and the believer and identify how we can anchor our lives through a renewed identity and can lead others into a deeper security in Christ. Key texts: John 15, 2 Cor 5:17 |
| 19th May | I am in Community How can being part of a community shape us as disciples? What does it need for this to happen? How does this go beyond our common experience of church? Can we see this working out in our everyday church lives? What’s the cost of being in a disciple-making community? Key text: John 13 |
| 16th Jun | Being Fruitful What does it mean to bear fruit as disciples? What responsibilities do we have as followers of Jesus? What is the relationship between what God has promised to do and what we have to do? In particular how does this play out in our personal relationships? Key text: John 15, Gal 5:16-26 |
| Saturday 2nd Jul 9.30am -1.30pm | Being even more Fruitful In this final time together we will consider our wider responsibilities. What is God’s intention for how our fruitfulness will extend his kingdom purposes? We will also conclude the course with some evaluation and a celebration lunch together. Key texts: John 16, Rev 21-22 |
To book your place on the course email Andrew Belfield with your name and telephone number ajbelfield@gmail.com by 10th January.
We look forward to seeing you there and learning together how we can enable discipleship in our communities!
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