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EVANGELISM AND DISCIPLESHIP

Decent Essays

EVANGELISM AND DISCIPLESHIP PAPER

Matthew 9:35-38 (NIV) reads, Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Through the lens of this text God reveals to us the heart He has for His people in a lost and suffering world. Jesus points out to his disciples what we should find significant today, and that is …show more content…

The idea of spiritual formation has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle of “going to church” versus retaining the understanding that we in fact are the church and we carry within us the knowledge and the skill to be transformational. The role of evangelism in Christian education is to aid in church growth and expansion, as well as advancement toward the salvation of souls. Diane J. Hymans suggests that evangelism and education suggests a variety of meanings and that it is a matter of language that is clouding what the connotation of the definitions of evangelism, discipleship, and education are (Hymans). She states that evangelism is “making the gospel known in church and world”, while education “invites people to understand and claim their identity as baptized children of God and to clarify their vocation as people called by God to live lives characterized by love of God and neighbor” (Hymans). Christian education is an intentional process in developing relationship with God for the purpose of fulfilling the mandate to “go and make disciples of all nations, to “preach and teach” the good news of the gospel of Christ, and to build the Kingdom of God. In developing and incorporating evangelism and discipleship into a current Christian education program I believe that involvement of the entire membership of the congregation should be employed (all age

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