Getting away with discipleship....

This weekend will be my third Sunday away from St Philips.I’m witnessing the wedding of my eldest niece in the Hunter Valley NSW. She was 3 weeks old when she attended my wedding. Now 25 years later, I will be attending hers.Last weekend Malcolm & I shared at a bush camp just north of Newdegate in the S.E. wheat belt with a small group of keen farming Christians. These folk do life tough, often isolated, enduring drought, just keeping ahead of the bank managers. Yet they persevere in their faith trusting the Lord, seeing Him provide, sharing their faith with their neighbors, maintaining friendships through thick & thin, loving the people and place God has given them. They blessed us so much and I was inspired by their simple faith; uncomplicated and real.The previous weekend was spent with 28 women at New Norcia on retreat. What a treat is was too. My mother-in-law, who is in her 80’s, came over from Victoria to attend having never been to any such camp or retreat in her life. We spent the weekend looking at why discipleship is so important and necessary to grow the Kingdom of God, what discipleship is and some practical tools on how to disciple others. This was the command of Jesus at the very end of his ministry; ‘go and make disciples...’ Matt 28:19f but it’s not been something the wider church has been particularly good at.Most Christians have never been discipled, in fact most leaders of churches haven’t either. Discipleship is about life on life, it takes time, it can be messy, it means I have to be real, honest and open with others, both the disciple and the discipled. It takes place through shared lives, in community with others. That doesn’t go down well with a world that is heavily into individualism.Yet deep down many people long to belong to something bigger than themselves, in a community that loves them for who they are and will journey with them as they stuff up, say sorry and make up. A community that prays for us in the ups and downs of every day; laughs with us; teaches us; challenges us; encourages us. That’s the model of discipleship that Jesus taught his disciples and it’s for us too.Messy, yep! Scary, yep! Worth it, absolutely! There’s no better life.Catch ya next week.Cheryl