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From Pastor Zeke Page 1 From the Desk of Pastor Zeke Follow the Leader “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 3:14 Did you ever play the game “Simon Says?” It is a really difficult game to follow only the instructions that “Simon says” and not to follow any other instructions. With a great “Simon”, who is crafty in their misdirection, it is almost impossible. Sometimes the Christian faith can seem like one big game of Simon Says with Jesus playing the role of “Simon” and us trying to follow his teaching with so many other teachings, distractions, and pulls going on around us and within us. In church terms, a follower of Jesus is known as a disciple. Those who practice following Jesus in their lives practice discipleship. Disciples of Jesus seek to follow his commands and teachings in word and deed. Easy to say but often difficult to do. People will often articulate a moment or a process where they experienced Jesus for the first time. This can also be understood as when you first became a disciple. In our church, what are our discipleship ministries? Sunday School or Bible Study are two of our discipleship ministries. Are there others? These are places where we engage in training to be deeper followers of Jesus Christ and structure systems to nurture this growth. In the next year, I would like to spend some time with each family/ individual in our church talking about discipleship. I believe that, through these conversations, we will begin to make clear what are to be our next steps as a church. There are four basic questions around discipleship that I will be asking. I believe these will help us clarify our vision and mission as disciples. The questions are: • When have you most felt like a disciple of Jesus? • What breaks your heart? • What makes your heart sing? • If you had unlimited money, time, and resources; what would you do? Wesley UMC Newsletter August 2021

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