What happens after a course like Alpha?

The answer to this question is multi layered but as a rule, new Christians enter the church and to a degree are just abandoned.  They are expected to know everything about Christianity and left to get on with living the Christian life.  

Does this happen?

The answer is obviously 'no' and in some cases people leave the church and turn their backs on God.

Why does this happen?

The church today is not discipled individually or corporately.  

The Omega Files is a set of three study guides suitable for all members of the church both new Christians and older Christians.  Ideally these study guides are to be used as Discipleship Courses much like Alpha.  Thet lend themselves for corporate study as they include a talk, discussion and activities to get everyone thinking.

Book 1 which is entitled the Radical Disciple covers such subjects as:  Truth, Repentance, Passion and the Holy Spirit, Forgiveness, Love, Witness, Obedience, Commitment, Generosity, Prayer, Servanthood and Faithfulness.

Book 2 which is entitled the Advanced Radical Christian covers subjects like:  Attitude, Behaviour and Lifestyle, Character, Speech and Hearing, Discipline and Self-Control, Humility and Submission, Relationship and Fellowship, Holiness and Righteousness, Boldness and Courage, Spiritual Warfare, Modeling and Leadership and Making Disciples.

Book 3  which carries on the theme of the Advanced Radical Christian covers subjects such as:  Interpreting the Bible, Education, Politics, Science and Technology, Music and Dance, Money, Sex and Sexuality, War and Peace, Death, Denominations and other Beliefs, the Occult and the devil and Failure and Success.

Each of the individual studies is a stand alone study and each course runs for 13 sessions.

If you are interested in finding out more then please contact us and we can send you the studies.

Below you will find the introduction to Book one of the Omega Files.

Introduction

Excerpt taken from, ‘Lucas on Life’ by Jeff Lucas, 2001, Word Publishing, Pages 47-48, ‘Pick me please.’

‘.... ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you.’ (John 15 verse 16).  Ordinary messed up people like loud-mouth Peter and wondering Thomas, and even traitor Judas were picked out of the crowd and given the invitation that changed a lifetime, an eternity, not just ninety minutes (football).  They were chosen to be His disciples, His apprentices – and He’s picked us for His team too.

It’s remarkable that He’s drafted us onto His team.  After all, He’s the coach who sees every weakness we have.  We may fool the crowds, but he sees our clumsy, pathetic attempts in sharp focus.  We miss our goals, and find it so easy to foul, and He watches it all.  He knows us, and still likes us.  And He has paid the highest transfer fee in history – His own life, His own bloodshed – so that we could play on His side.  The problem is, knowing how to play on the Jesus team. 

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?

I’ve often thought that it was easier for the likes of the twelve – because their selection was made by a physical Jesus, and they literally had to put aside their nets or tax collecting and be with Him.  For us, it may seem a little more complicated.  Some suggest that discipleship means that we have to sell everything and give all we own away – but how can that really work?  How can we follow Jesus in a world where ethics and goodness and values are scorned, and where spirituality is fashionable but Christians always seem to get the red card?

Is discipleship a lofty term that can really only be used to describe the martyrs of yesteryear or the suffering church of today?  We had better get this sorted out, because the Jesus who has picked us out has commanded us to go and develop other apprentices for the team (Matthew 28 verse 19).

As we look at Jesus and discipleship in John’s gospel we’ll discover that the life of discipleship is not a dreamy ideal for desert monks and missionary pioneers, but it’s a way of life that is accessible and available to all of us.

If we’re called to make disciples, that means that others should be involved in making us into disciples too.  ‘He is all I need’ is a very old song that celebrates the idea that we don’t need anyone in our lives except God Himself.  It has a nice, lilting tune, but the idea is theologically bankrupt.  We do need other human beings to help us to become the disciples that Jesus wants.  That’s why church is more than a singing club or a biblical lecture centre – it’s to be the discipling community, the forge where people of character and significance are crafted....’

Question?

Looking at this opening statement by Jeff Lucas, what questions and issues does it raise in your mind?

(Practicalities, standards of discipleship, how to achieve this, stumbling blocks, etc.)

Part 2 – The Divine Disciple.

Radical – derived from the Latin, ‘radix’ meaning a root.  Radical is therefore going to the root or the origin, touching or acting upon what is essential and fundamental, thorough, it is also marked by considerable departure from the usual or traditional, it is disposed to make extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions or institutions.  (Oxford and Webster’s Dictionary)

Hebrews 12 verse 2 says...

12     looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The best  place to begin when examining radical Christianity and radical discipleship must be by looking at the most radical, revolutionary, and fundamental example we have and that is Jesus Christ!!

When we look to Jesus it’s easy for our hearts to sink and for us to think or believe His standards are unobtainable and unattainable.  ‘Jesus is the ideal, not reality we may muse’ and before we have begun, we shut down our minds and give up!!!

Not so!!!

Jesus is the Son of God, am I not?

Jesus is the anointed one; does the Holy Spirit live in me?

Jesus is seated in the heavenly places; doesn’t the Bible say the same about me?

Jesus Himself said I would do greater works than the ones He did; can this be True?

I never thought of Jesus as a disciple; the Great Prophet, Apostle, Teacher, Messiah; but disciple – no. But when I read Philippians 2 verses 5-11 it says...

5       Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

6       who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,

7       but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

8       And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

9       Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

10               that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,

11     and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And Hebrews 5 verse 8 says...

8       though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

And what Jesus Himself said in Matthew 20 verse 28...

28     just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

And did in John 13 verses 3-4...

3       Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,

4       rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.

Now I began to see Jesus as the divine disciple.  I looked at Jesus’ lifestyle, His nature, His character and I saw the Son of God not only as someone who ‘talked the talk,’ but someone who ‘walked the walk.’

How could Christ be a disciple of Himself?

The answer lay in the gospels; Jesus was a disciple of the Father!!

Look what Jesus says in John 8 verses 28-29...

28     Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.

29     And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."

And in John 4 verse 34...

34     Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

John 5 verse 30...

30     I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

John 6 verse 38...

38     For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

And in Luke 2 verse 49 Jesus shows from a young age that He is a disciple, a learner, an apprentice of the Father, it says...

49     And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"

Even at the end of His discipleship course we see Jesus subject His life, will and future to the Father.  In Matthew 26 verses 36-46 Jesus submits obediently and unreservedly to the will of God.  Here is a true pattern of discipleship, it says...

36     Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."

37     And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.

38     Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."

39     He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."

40     Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?

41     Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

42     Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."

43     And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

44     So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

45     Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

46     Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand."

And this is why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 1...

1             Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.

So radical Christianity is imitating Christ not only on the outside, but on the inside also.  Lifestyle is important (behaviour) but character development, attitude and motivation are of equal importance; and these inner traits can only be seen by God.

How do we maintain a balance, a tension between the paradox of Christ as the Lion and the Lamb; the King of kings and the Servant King; the Strong and the Meek; the Bold and the Gentle; the Sacrificial and the Victorious.

Jesus confronts us with the truth and yet does so humbly, forgivingly.  His character is selfless, sacrificing, serving yet uncompromising, challenging, corrective, comforting.

And this brings us neatly back to our Hebrews 12 verse 2 scripture, which says...

2       looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

He is not only the pioneer of our faith but its perfecter as well.  He’s ‘Here for the journey’ as the current T.V. ad for Lloyds Bank proclaims.

In Habakkuk 2 verses 1-3 it says...

1       I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.

2       Then the LORD answered me and said: " Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.

 3       For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.

And this I hope may answer a question which may by forming in your minds as it formed in mine as I wrote these studies and observations.

How do I become a radical disciple and more Christ-like in character and lifestyle?

The idea is that as we look at this subject and other issues over this course; we will

1.   Cast the vision.

2.   Catch the vision.

3.   Run with the vision.

4.   Learn to love and live (practice) the vision

In summing up this introduction in one of my favourite modern musicals, Sister Act, the main characters who are nuns sing a song.

I will follow Him

Follow Him wherever He may go

And near Him I always will be

For nothing can keep me away

He is my destiny.

I will follow Him

Ever since He touched my heart I knew

There isn’t an ocean too deep

A mountain so high it can keep

Keep me away, away from His love.

I love Him, I love Him, I love Him

And where He goes

I’ll follow, I’ll follow, I’ll follow

He’ll always by my true love, my true love, my true love

From now until forever, forever, forever.

I will follow Him,

Follow Him wherever He may go

There isn’t an ocean too deep

A mountain so high it can keep

Keep my away, away from His love.

And this is really the heart of all true radical discipleship.  Jesus said and still says, ‘Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’  It’s all a question of how closely we follow!!