Highlights:

• Unique Role of Congregations: Local congregations play an irreplaceable role in bringing Jesus and the reality of the Kingdom to ordinary people, preparing them to live both now and in eternity.
• Living Water Defined: “Living water” is God’s Spirit flowing through believers, not dependent on human cleverness but on the richness of the Kingdom as a present reality.
• God’s Sufficiency: God’s presence is enough, freeing people from unsatisfied desires and grounding them in unceasing joy regardless of circumstances.
• Knowledge of God: Christian teaching is to be presented as knowledge of reality, not merely tradition or faith. This perspective transforms the Church’s approach to discipleship and truth.
• The Kingdom in Action: God’s Kingdom is His ongoing activity in the world. Believers are invited to align their lives with what He is doing and participate in it fully.
• Spiritual Formation and Truth: Living in truth and trusting God’s sufficiency relieves life’s burdens. From this place, believers are able to love enemies and live authentically.
• Transformative Power of Love: Agape love is the intention to do good for others. Such love flows naturally from experiencing God’s love.
• Practical Discipleship: Discipleship means learning to embody Jesus’ teachings. Aligning character with the Kingdom of God makes His reality visible in daily life.

Highlights: 

• The Sufficiency of God: The sufficiency of God is the foundation for life and teaching. This reality brings peace and stability amidst life’s uncertainties.
• Obedience and Transformation: Obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge. Attempting to obey leads to inward transformation, making righteousness a natural expression of character.
• The Kingdom Is Now: The Kingdom of God is not postponed or distant but available now through Jesus. Its presence transforms how people live and act.
• From Legalism to Life: Jesus’ teachings are not legalisms but descriptions of a new kind of life in God’s Kingdom. Legalism misses the vitality of life He offers.
• Radical Discipleship: Discipleship is apprenticeship to Jesus, learning to live as He would if placed in our unique circumstances.
• Beyond Anger and Contempt: True righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees by addressing the root causes of anger and contempt.
• A Living Gospel: The gospel must move beyond “sin management.” The true gospel produces disciples naturally rather than consumers of religious goods.
• Spiritual Beachheads: Discipleship establishes “spiritual beachheads” where the Kingdom transforms ordinary life, fostering organic growth and genuine community.

Overhead Transparencies Used in this Session:

1. Does the gospel I preach have a natural tendency to produce disciples as  from consumers of religious goods and services?
2. The Great Commission:
   “I have been given say over everything in heaven and on earth. So, as you go, make disciples of all kinds of people, gather them in trinitarian reality, and teach them in such a way that they do all things I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you every moment, until the job is done.” Matt. 28:18-20 (Willard paraphrase)
3. Who is an Apprentice of Jesus?
   As Jesus’ apprentice (disciple, student), I am learning from him how to lead my life in the Kingdom of God as he would lead my life if he were I.
4. The Heart That Jesus Gives Us—Seen in the Sermon on the Mount 

Highlights:

• Essence of God’s Kingdom: Entering God’s Kingdom requires humility and dependence on Him. This life brings freedom from anger and worry and strengthens the ability to stand for righteousness with clarity.
• Secret of Contentment: Contentment in every circumstance comes from trusting God’s sufficiency. Peace and unhurried living flow from releasing control and relying on His provision.
• Grace as Active Participation: Grace is God acting in our lives to do what we cannot do alone. Far from passivity, it calls for cultivating receptivity through spiritual disciplines.
• Role of Spiritual Disciplines: Practices such as solitude, silence, and fasting prepare the inner life to receive grace. These disciplines reorient the mind toward God and bring lasting change to thoughts and feelings.
• Managing Our Time: Time is to be managed under God’s guidance. Since He never gives more than can be carried, stewarding time becomes an act of faith that reflects trust in His goodness.
• Prioritizing the Aspects of our Life: In the circle diagram above, God works from Life to Job. We are prone to put the emphasis exactly in reverse.
  Life = Me. My experiences and  who I am. This is the foundation of the diagram from which everything else builds.
  Work = The total amount of lasting goods which I will produce in my lifetime.
  Ministry = That part of God's special work in my time that He has specifically allotted to me.
  Job = What I am paid to do, how I earn a living.
• Dallas reads a passage about managing our calendars that is from The Art of Pastoring by William C. Martin. This little book contains helpful advice for anyone in leadership (and that includes parents!).
• Life as a Garden: Using the metaphor of a garden, Dallas describes our lives as spaces meant to bloom with beauty, goodness, and truth under God’s care. He challenges us to take responsibility for the cultivation of our souls, reading an Antonio Machado poem called "The Wind, One Brilliant Day."
• Relentlessly Eliminating Hurry: Hurry must be eliminated from life, distinguished from mere speed. True rest comes from surrendering outcomes to God and working out of inner peace.
• Centrality of Trust in Jesus: Discipleship and transformation rest on trusting Jesus as both Savior and Teacher. Salvation reduced to forgiveness alone falls short of the full life of faith in God’s Kingdom.

Overhead Transparencies Used in this Session:

1. What is a Discipline?
2. The Shield of Saint Patrick
3. Leadership magazine “funny”
4. Aspects of Me That I Am in Great Danger of Confusing
   (Job, Ministry, Work and Life, in a circle diagram)