Pursuit Women's Discipleship Program: The Heart of a Disciple

By Michelle Clifford

Who is the Church to be in a time such as this? Are we to try to be relevant and accessible? Are we to water down truths as a means not to offend? Are we to let go of the Bible in order to fit culture into our faith? Are we to simply focus on our own faith journey in the private spaces of our homes and hope that is enough? Or is there a deeper call out there?

In the Pursuit Women's Discipleship program we explore if discipleship could be the simple and yet profound answer to it all.

Why discipleship? Isn't it assumed? Most Christians are doing their faith on their own. Yes, there are a good number of Christians in community, but is that community sharpening them? Holding them accountable? Strengthening their faith? Or are they simply sharing the hopes and problems of today with one another?

True discipleship is rare, even among leaders within Churches.

Most gatherings that Christians attend today create a place for them to be taught, informed, and inspired. However, these gatherings rarely communicate a clear call to action as disciples. They discard the cost and the true mission of living a life not focused on building ourselves up but on building up the Kingdom of God.

Jesus calls us to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matt 28:19-20).

This has been a muffled message lying in the background behind messages that instead wet our appetite for our own life and comfort. Discipleship, in its fullness (both being and making), has taken a back seat in the foundations of many western Churches, and the result is a Christian culture of consumers of the faith and lonely leadership.

Though this is our landscape, it is not reflective of the hearts within it. Many Christians want more but struggle with knowing where to begin. What does being a disciple look like outside of one class, one seminar, one book? What does it look like as a lifestyle? What does it look like in the face of all that is occurring in culture? This idea of discipleship and a greater call upon the Christian piques the interest of many women. They get excited about the idea that we can pursue more of God, being more like God and living a life marked by Him as opposed to being subject to the ever-changing culture around us. They get excited by the idea that we can be on the offense of our faith, not simply the defense. That we can pursue God's path for our lives instead of getting lost in detours. Unfortunately, the fire shortly goes out in many as they encounter the very present gap between their interest and desire and the first step necessary in the pursuit.

This is the heart of this program. It is a model for discipleship that can be executed at any Church, in any home, or within any family. It's a place to start for those who are ready to awaken their curiosity and strengthen their faith in a time such as this.

We kick off our Pursuit with book one, The Heart of the Disciple. In this book we introduce the Pursuit program and then spend the majority of the pages examining our hearts and if they are truly postured to follow. The pursuit to be disciples who make disciples must begin in the heart. If we know the mission and live the life of a disciple, but do not have the heart of a disciple, it is all for naught. God is first and foremost after our hearts. He desires a relationship with us, and everything else we are called to as a disciple is designed to flow out of that relationship.

So join the Pursuit movement and step back in the to simple and yet profound call of being disciples who make a disciples today

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CDNMSYCN
• ISBN13: 9798218243937
• Release Date: August 2023
• Publisher: Bowker Identifier Services
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.5" x 11.0"