Learn how to use our Garden House Church Handbooks.

We live in a culture that is constantly pulling each of us into multiple directions. Yet, most expect that adding discipleship to Jesus and House Church to their schedule is enough to fight against the deformation machine of the World. If we leave our assumptions unchecked, we will find our discipleship and our House Church taken from under us. That is why we believe that christlikeness doesn’t happen by accident. It requires patience, sacrifice, and intentionality. How do we actually do this?

As a House Church we want to grow together in being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and doing what Jesus did. During the lifespan of your House Church you will hold each other accountable to learn Jesus’ commands and to go out to live them out. The results will be that each person who is committed to walking in life with one another will also see the fruit of intimacy with Jesus. It is the balance of the collective holding the individual to become dependent on Christ.

As followers of Jesus, we must structure everything that we do around the word of God. The Bible is central to the way we structure our lives and community. We contextualize our message and ministry by holding ourselves accountable to the word of God in what, how, and why we do what we do.

In a previous handbook, we discussed that the primary Kingdom Fundamental for disciples is to “Love God.” To do that well, we learned how to engage with each person of the Trinity and understand how God is central to our faith. We are not to read about God, learn about Him, and memorize facts about Him. Instead, we must actively participate and cultivate a relationship with God because we now have access to Him through His work.

Yet, How does God expect us to grow in our relationship with Him? To continue our conversation on loving God, we must look to the model that Jesus lays out for us; for Jesus, the Scriptures were central to His relationship with God, and therefore we must engage them similarly, not just for information about God but also a facet of conversation with God. To love God well, we must listen to His voice through the Holy Spirit in partnership with the Bible.

Prayer was the only practice that the gospel writers recorded as having been explicitly taught due to the disciples' request. The spiritual discipline of conversation with God must have been captivating to watch for the disciples, Jesus, in prayer, communed with the Godhead while being on earth. Jesus elevated prayer from ritualistic mumblings or from a wish list of requests to talking to and talking with God.

In the throneroom of Revelation, we find that all of heaven and earth is worshipping God. Every creed, tribe, and tongue will confess the praise of God forever and ever. Worship to God includes singing, but it is also so much more. Worship is giving God the praise He is due because He deserves it. This includes our songs, our resources, our attention, and our devotion.

The most important decision in our life revolves around how we respond to the call to follow Jesus. As our Lord, Rabbi, and King, the call to follow is one of allegiance to Jesus. Our lives are radically different because of this decision. It is a decision of denying ourselves and taking up our own cross to follow Him wherever He will take us. Yet, in following Jesus, we have abundant life. Let’s journey together in learning what it means to live the way of Jesus.

During His time on earth, Jesus established himself as a rabbi to His disciples, a friend to sinners, and through the cross as King to his followers. Being a disciple of Jesus is an all-encompassing decision. We do not get the luxury of passively following Jesus only as a religious teacher with good teachings. When Jesus calls us to follow Him, it is an invitation to carry our cross, to die to ourselves, and to submit to His Lordship. Discipleship is a shift in direction, a repentance of posture, and a whole life submission to Jesus. As King of Kings, Jesus requires and deserves obedience. In this handbook, we will explore how we can live lives that give allegiance to our King, Jesus.

For the early disciples, Jesus’ eventual departure was one that they all resisted. Nothing can prepare you for a loved one going away. However, for Jesus he knew that his leaving of the disciples would make space for the Holy Spirit to come and ignite the church. It was through the Holy Spirit’s arrival that God’s people were connected to Him in a new way. By the Holy Spirit, we all have access, and the privilege of abiding in God.

Abiding is the source of our rest, strength, power, and identity as followers of Jesus. It is a lifelong process to abide in Jesus, but it must be a non-negotiable.