Seven paths of Discipleship

Discipleship is facilitated at Grace Silicon Valley through membership, worship services, community groups, prayer, service opportunities, Christian education, and deliberate relationships.

Here are some ways you can be discipled:

1) Through Membership. This is the most basic way for the leaders of the church to know you and fulfill their call to equip and encourage you. Take advantage of this opportunity to be in relationship with the leaders by communicating with them.

2) Through the Worship Service. Make weekly worship your top priority (even if you’re traveling). Also, come to the worship service as a worshiper, not a consumer. Pray for God to meet us there and expect He will. Come looking for opportunities to listen and love others.

3) Through Community Groups. Community Groups are the primary context for discipleship at Grace Silicon Valley. They are the place where we unpack our Sunday worship, share the means of grace, bring our joys and burdens, and come to know others and be known (confessing, confronting, supporting and encouraging one another). The pastors/elders at Grace Silicon Valley oversee, encourage and equip the Group leaders so they can encourage and equip others. Community Groups are also the “front lines” for pastoral care, and the place where the leadership learns of pastoral needs.

4) Through Prayer. The entire Christian life intersects with prayer. Our hearts and minds are shaped through prayer. Our relationships deepen as we rejoice over answered prayers and present one another’s needs to God. Vision for Kingdom work is inspired and triggered in prayer. And, the strength of God’s Spirit comes to us in prayer. We pray before and during worship, in Community Groups, in ministry teams and in special times set aside just for prayer.

5) Through Service. Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats, and also the book of James, teach that when we face the Lord, He won’t need to test us on our theology. He’ll simply look at our deeds, which serve as the true story of our theology. Discipleship which only occurs over conversation and books pretends that we are disembodied minds and is a commitment to a theoretical life only (not whole-life). Jesus opposed this kind of religion. Through serving one another and our city the life of Jesus is at work in us.

6) Through Education. We are not opposed to discipleship of the mind! It is critical. Here are some of the ways you can grow in knowledge at Grace Silicon Valley:

• · GraceU Course Offerings, Seminars, Weekend Conferences
• · Annual Church Retreat
• · Missions Presentations and Prayer
• · Arts/culture: Movies at Grace, book discussions, arts
• · Resources: recommended reading, sermons, and study guides
• · Vocational discussion groups/mentoring

7) Through Deliberate Relationships. Many people benefit from a small, close group of reliable friends who are willing to honestly care for each other. These friendships can be open-ended (ex: ‘how is God working in your life now?’), guided (ex: with a specific curriculum), or issue-specific (ex: helping with a sin pattern or struggle). The key is consistent, regular, dependable meeting together.