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| The Tangible Kingdom Primer |
Apprenticeship:
moving beyond
knowledge-based discipleship
to action-oriented followership,
with the goal of living like Jesus lived;
comes through regular practice,
faith-oriented action, and
personal devotion to know
the ways of Christ
As Emmaus City Church steps into Spring 2025 with a focus on prayer, holiness, courage, and faith (i.e. good risk and trust), we're revisiting a map for a 2-month journey that helped shape us for our first decade as the first congregation of missional communities (MCs) in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The Tangible Kingdom Primer: An Eight-Week Guide to Incarnational Community helped our first City Group (MC) lean into apprenticeship with Jesus together. And the memories, lessons, and formative experiences have continued to shape people among Emmaus City in fruitful ways to this day. You can read more here:
Apprenticeship in Jesus' Way
Apprenticeship in Jesus' Way
While one brief post can never replace what day-by-day meditations, practices, steps of faith, and reflections provide, this adapted excerpt from Week 6 (Tuesday, April 15 — Monday, April 21, 2025) of The TK Primer is provided as a review of content to come back to and to provide food for thought for when City Groups connect for our Sabbath gathering on the 5th day (Saturday, April 19 in this case).
Become an Apprentice
of Jesus
Day 1: Exploration
If you would have asked some of the first disciples what it was like being one of Jesus' students, they probably would have responded with,
"He always tested our faith
"He always tested our faith
and our motives.
He always took us to places
we wouldn't have gone ourselves.
We became friends with people
we would have hated before.
Looking back,
it was the most wildly transforming process
I could have ever imagined.
I'll never be the same."
While it is good to learn about becoming a disciple, there is significantly more that can only be understood through practice. In order to re-engage the discipleship process, we need to look at another word that better captures the essence of discipleship today. That word is apprenticeship.
Apprenticeship is best understood in the context of learning a trade, especially one that requires developing a set of skills important to becoming a fine craftsman.
Key Exploration Consideration
Describe an apprenticeship environment that you have experienced.
Day 2: Meditation
Much of what we call discipleship training involves learning concepts individually with little emphasis on the practical implementation of the knowledge. Not only has discipleship become passive, but it has also been tailored to fit the consumer lifestyle.
What we need is a new definition of discipleship. What if discipleship became more costly in terms of time, effort, relationships, or finances?
What if discipleship
became a real apprenticeship
in community?
Read
James 1:22-25Key Meditation Question
& Consideration
As you consider the differences between passive discipleship and active apprenticeship, how would you describe your own Christian journey so far?
We need Gospel,
and Mission
to become a mature disciple
or "master apprentice"
of Jesus.
Apart from the Gospel,
our communities can end up self-focused
or based on any number of things
besides the Kingdom.
A social club of sorts.
One-to-one discipleship
can produce aspects of Christ-likeness
in us, but without a community
that is made up of all the
different parts of the
Body of Christ
"rubbing up against" our areas of sin
and unbelief, we will never grow into
a fuller picture of Jesus.
It is when we
live life in community out on mission,
displaying and declaring the Gospel
and making more apprentices of Jesus
that we truly grow.
Day 3: Change
Discipleship is the holistic care
of a smaller group of people
who are consistently experiencing
Jesus' life and teaching together
in a healthy environment
where they are learning to submit
every area of life to
the Lordship of Jesus.
Take a look at these passages from the Bible and observe how Jesus made disciples. Ask these questions as you read:
What were they doing?
Where?
How often?
With whom?
How is this part of
Jesus making disciples?
Key Change Conversation
This is a good time to talk to God about your hopes (and His hopes) for your growth. Thank Him for His grace with your failures, but even more, thank Him for the hope He gives you for the future.
Write a prayer expressing your thoughts and feelings to God.
Day 4: Action
Are your prayers monologues or dialogues?
Are you able to describe the story of your faith
in Christ to others?
Do you feel comfortable participating
in activities with sojourners?
Are you consistently involved in a
Christian community?
Are you committed to spending time
regularly with others in your community?
Do you regularly welcome others
into your home?
Do you have a hobby that you practice
regularly with others?
Do you give your money to bless others?
Are you able to control your temper
and your words?
Is sharing your life with others
a priority for you?
Are there people in your community
who are aware of your vices?
Do you have a wise mentor who
guides you through tough decisions?
Are you in the habit of
Scripture reading and reflection?
Do you prayerfully allow God
to guide your week?
Do you consider spending time
with your family as part of
God's mission?
This is a good time again to talk to God about your hopes (and His hopes) for your growth. Thank Him for His grace with your failures, but even more, thank Him for the hope He gives you for the future.
Spend time in prayer expressing your thoughts and feelings to God.
Day 5: Community
If we are to take apprenticeship with Christ seriously, we need the input and guidance of our entire community along with people who are "masters" in various areas of faith, living out the gospel in community together on mission.
Group Discussion:
Reflecting on the Scriptures (see Day 3: Change above), discuss these different aspects of a healthy discipleship or "apprenticeship" environment.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit's job is
to make us like Jesus
and to help us accomplish
the mission He sends us on.
Therefore, He is the primary discipler
and equipper of people.
Gospel-saturated
As the gospel seeps into
every crack and crevice of our lives,
we walk more and more
in submission to Jesus,
for our good and His glory.
Community-influenced
Much of our learning,
and growth, takes place in community
as we serve and experience
life together.
Without this accountability,
most people are likely to keep
significant areas of their lives
hidden and in sin.
Service-oriented
Jesus was consistently serving those
in great need.
He regularly exposed the disciples
to different kinds of people,
in different kinds of places,
with different kinds of needs.
Character qualities like
love, compassion, sacrifice, and
generosity are more likely
to be integrated into our lives
as we serve others.
Holistic
body, etc. must all be shaped
from a gospel perspective.
Frequent and long-term
Discipleship is not fast.
It takes a lot of time,
commitment, and sacrifice.
A discipleship community is
together frequently and
cares for each other
over the long-term.
Individually-tailored
Discipleship must include
a personal focus as well;
knowing each person in a community
has different needs, problems,
passions and spiritual gifts.
What things are you already doing that help create good environments for the "apprenticeship" of others?
What are the areas your community could work to grow in?
What are some unique assets (skills, abilities, networks, key relationships) that already exist within your community?
Day 6: Calibration
You are both being discipled and discipling others all the time, that is what a life of apprenticeship in the Kingdom is like.
Think about the friends, family, and acquaintances you already have today. Many of these people are quite possibly sojourners God has brought into your life. Think about the most natural ways, as a group, you can begin to enter into their story and share God's story with them.
Think back through the Rhythms:
(1)
Know the Story
Get more familiar with
the Bible as one big story —
God's story.
Get to know the stories
of the people in your community
and help each other see how
your stories intersect
and mirror God's story.
(2)
Listen
Set aside regular times
to just listen to God.
Listen 'backward' through
time in God's Word.
You can actively listen 'forward'
to hear what God is saying to you today
through His Spirit and
through your community.
(3)
Celebrate
Gather throughout the week
with your community to share stories
and celebrate all that God is
doing in and amongst you.
Invite others to these celebrations
as a way of displaying
God's extravagant blessings.
(4)
Bless
Intentionally bless others
through words, gifts, or actions.
God desires that all nations —
all people —
would be blessed through Jesus.
Seek God's direction
for who He would have you
tangibly bless each week.
(5)
Eat
Regularly eat meals with others
as a reminder of our common need
for God and His faithfulness
to provide both physically and spiritually.
Try and eat one meal each week
with at least one sojourner
enjoying the meal with you.
(6)
ReCreate
Take time each week
to rest, play, create and restore
beauty in ways that display the Gospel,
resting in Jesus' completed work
on our behalf.
Cultivate this Gospel rhythm of rest
and create — ReCreate — in your life.
Ask God to begin to show you
how to intentionally integrate your life
into the rhythms of these sojourners.
This is not an individual effort.
You are part of a
family of missionary servants.
Key Calibration Consideration
How can you begin to "share" your friends, family, and acquaintances with others in your community more intentionally?
How will you begin to show them the Gospel and invite them to "walk in the ways" of Jesus? (Remember, this is a group endeavor that takes time.)
Day 7: ReCreate
Rest and consider:
We don't have to strive or stress
about our "apprenticeship."
Jesus calls us to trust His sovereignty
and the ability of His Spirit
to guide us and form us into His image.
Our discipleship is God's work.
We can rest in His perfect plan.
Read
As you look for examples to follow in your own apprenticeship of Christ, look at the examples of faith provided in the book of Hebrews.
Apprenticeship Songs
Next Post
TKP Wk 8: The Intuitive Life
Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back.
Kindle and seize us.
Be our fire and our sweetness.
Let us love. Let us run ...
Let us sing a new song,
Not with our lips but with our lives.
+ North African St. Augustine
May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.
Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne,
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
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