A Disciple's Path Daily Workbook: A Guide for United Methodists

A Disciple’s Path

Deepening Your Relationship with Christ and the Church

Daily Workbook

James A. Harnish with Justin LaRosa

A DISCIPLE’S PATH DAILY WORKBOOK

Copyright © 2012 by Abingdon Press

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission can be addressed to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., Nashville, TN 37228-1306 or e-mailed to permissions@abingdonpress.com.

First edition published as ISBN 978-1-4267-43498.

ISBN 978-1-5018-58123. New cover printing with minor revisions, 2018.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked NKJV™ are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quotations marked Discipline are from The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2016. Copyright © 2016 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.

The SOAPY explanation on page 45 is used by permission of Wayne Cordeiro, www.enewhope.org.

Excerpts from Diana Hynson’s article De-Mystifying the Bible (at Least a Little Bit) originally appeared on www.gbod.org and are used by permission.

The Spiritual Gifts Descriptions on pages 118-21 are adapted from Serving from the Heart: Finding Your Gifts and Talents for Service by Carol Cartnill and Yvonne Gentile (Abingdon Press, 2011), and are used by permission.

(New cover printing with minor revisions)

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27––10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

With appreciation to Rachel Burns, who led the team at Hyde Park United Methodist Church that developed the Discipleship Pathway, which formed the basis for A Disciple’s Path. She not only helped design the path; she walks it.

CONTENTS

Introduction: Follow Me!

What Does It Mean to Be a United Methodist?

Week 1: A Disciple’s Path Defined

Day 1: What Is a Disciple’s Path?

Day 2: Relationship Stages

Day 3: God’s Role in Growing Your Faith

Day 4: The Roles of the Church and Family in Growing Your Faith

Day 5: Your Role in Growing Your Faith

Week 2: Prayers: Prayer and Scripture Meditation

Day 1: What Is Prayer?

Day 2: Three Prayer Methods

Day 3: The Bible

Day 4: The Wesleyan Quadrilateral

Day 5: Bible Study and Reflection

Week 3: Presence: Corporate Worship and Small-group Community

Day 1: There Is No Solo Christianity

Day 2: Preparing for Worship

Day 3: What Is Worship? How Do We Worship as United Methodists?

Day 4: The Sacraments of Baptism and Communion

Day 5: Discipleship Changes as You Grow

Week 4: Gifts: Financial Generosity

Day 1: It’s All God’s!

Day 2: The Tithe

Day 3: Cheerful Giver

Day 4: It’s the Heart, Not the Size

Day 5: 10-10-80

Week 5: Service: Spiritual Gifts and Gifts-based Service

Day 1: Priesthood of All Believers

Day 2: Spiritual Gifts

Day 3: Servanthood

Day 4: The Body of Christ and Ways of Serving

Day 5: Divine Discontent

Week 6: Witness: Invitational Evangelism

Day 1: What Is the Good News?

Day 2: Who Was Your Andrew or Philip?

Day 3: Your Story Is Important!

Day 4: How Will I Share My Story?

Day 5: Do I Have a Witness?

A Final Day: A Time for Commitment

Appendix

Small-group Community Profile

Gifts-based Service Profile

Selecting a Bible

Spiritual Gifts Overview

Spiritual Gifts Descriptions

Notes

INTRODUCTION: FOLLOW ME!

Follow me! The invitation is so simple a small child can understand it. When it was time for my preschool-age grandchildren to come to dinner, pick up their toys, or head to the bathtub, I used to say, Follow me! and start marching down the hall like the drum major in a parade. It meant that it was time to get up and move! And it worked. They would get up and join the parade.

Follow me! is the invitation with which Jesus called his first disciples. It appears twenty-one times in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Every time he says it, Jesus is calling for decisive action. He invites and expects a response.

Peter, James, and John drop their fishing nets to fish for people. Matthew leaves his tax-collector table and ends up with his name on a Gospel. The rich young ruler hears the invitation but sadly walks away.

As Jesus’ path leads closer to the cross, the invitation becomes more costly. He lets the disciples know that following him will mean taking up a cross.

Then, at the empty tomb, the women hear the angel say that the risen Christ is already out ahead of them, calling them to follow him into a new life. In John’s Gospel, Jesus’ final word to Peter is, Follow me.

And now, the invitation comes to you!

Wherever you are in your faith journey, this is your invitation to follow Jesus too. You are invited to take your next step along the path of discipleship leading to a life that fulfills Jesus’ great commandment that we love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and love others as we have been loved by God.

Deciding to follow Jesus and take the next step along the discipleship pathway raises several important questions:

•What does it mean to follow Jesus? And what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus in the Methodist tradition?

•What are the specific practices that will help you grow into the likeness of Christ and become a part of God’s transformation of the world?

•How can you discover your unique gifts and become engaged in transforming ministry in the world, and what role does the church play in this process?

Our Wesleyan heritage responds to these questions in two ways:

1.We believe that every follower of Jesus is involved in an ongoing process of transformation made possible by God’s grace.

This means that we don’t just get saved and wait to go to heaven. God’s love and grace are continually at work within us until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

God’s grace is a central theme of the Wesleyan tradition. It describes the undeserved, unearned love of God that meets us where we are but loves us too much to leave us there. God’s grace begins its work in our lives before we respond in commitment to Christ and continues God’s work within us throughout our lives. Charles Wesley described this continual growth in grace when he taught Methodists to sing,

Changed from glory into glory,

till in heaven we take our place,

till we cast our crowns before thee,

lost in wonder, love, and praise.¹

2.We follow practical methods or disciplines to grow in the love of God.

John Wesley was not only a theologian and preacher; he was also a pragmatic leader who organized his followers around specific disciplines by which the people called Methodists would continue to grow in the love of God. It’s in our Methodist DNA to design practical methods by which the love and grace of God become tangible realities that transform the way we live.

The label Methodist was mockingly applied to the members of the Holy Club at Oxford because they were so methodical in the development of their spiritual lives and in their service to the needs of people around them. These disciplines were practiced primarily in small groups that were designed for biblical study, spiritual growth, compassionate service, and mutual accountability. These same methods of spiritual discipline continue to be the source of vitality and spiritual growth wherever the Methodist movement is alive and well in this world.

A Disciple’s Path

A Disciple’s Path will guide you in the practical application of these two ideas and will help you understand God’s role, your role, and the church’s role in the process of discipleship. It combines a uniquely Wesleyan understanding of growth in grace with the time-tested practices of spiritual discipline expressed in the vows of membership² when we commit ourselves to be involved in the church and support its ministries through our

prayers

presence

gifts

service

witness

Because we practice these disciplines in Christian community with other disciples who are walking the same path, A Disciple’s Path is designed to be used in a group, such as in a new member orientation class, an ongoing class or small group, or even a congregation-wide emphasis. However you use it, two resources will guide you along your journey.

Daily Workbook

Because we learn best by doing, the Daily Workbook engages you in reflection on Scripture and teaching material, including questions for response, and guides you in practicing the discipline for the week. Five reflections are provided for each week (each requiring less than thirty minutes). Each reflection includes Scripture, a message for the day, personal reflection questions and prompts with space for writing, and a prayer (not always in this order). These reflections become the basis of the discussion, sharing, and accountability in the group session. In this way, the workbook will help you develop your own pattern of spiritual discipline.

Companion Reader

The Companion Reader provides important biblical and theological insights and background material on each week’s theme from a distinctively Wesleyan perspective. It may be used by both participants and leaders to enhance understanding of the spiritual disciplines, find answers to questions, and promote deeper reflection.

These two books and the accompanying DVD and leader resources grew out of the life and practice of disciples just like you who were searching for the most effective way to respond to Jesus’ invitation to follow him. Our prayer is that they will help you follow him too.

I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.

—John Wesley³

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A UNITED METHODIST?

A Brief History

Methodism began as an eighteenth-century spiritual renewal movement within the Church of England. John Wesley, a priest in the Church of England, and his brother Charles, a priest and songwriter,