Devotion

Over the past four weeks, we have been exploring the Discipleship Pathway. We’ve looked at how Jesus modeled a rhythm of life that we, as his disciples, are invited to follow. These rhythms form the three pillars of the Discipleship Pathway: weekly worship, groups, and a personal relationship with God. They are an invitation from God to do life together with him … and with our fellow disciples and neighbors. The pathway guides us in experiencing the life God has intended for his sons and daughters—for you and me.

Now, we are asked to consider the next steps in our faith journey. The Discipleship Pathway isn’t just for the new, or not yet, Christian. It is for each one of us because spiritual growth happens one step at a time, even for those who have been on the journey for a long time. 

As you consider the pathway, which pillar is God inviting you to focus on in this season of your life? Maybe you’ve been attending weekly worship for a long time, but you’ve never joined a group where you had the opportunity to be known and know others on a deeper level. Perhaps you have been actively engaged in a group, yet struggle to find a good rhythm in your spiritual practices that lead you into a deeper personal relationship with God. Perhaps you never really saw the value in attending a worship service every week. 

This week, we invite you to prayerfully consider where God is calling you to take action. We have created a simple assessment that allows you to choose the pillar you are focusing on during this season and then provides helpful resources as you engage with that pillar. We also encourage you to tell a friend about the pathway and how you are planning to engage in the pillars. You can complete the assessment here.

Also, if you have the Crossings App, your assessment will link directly to the new Discipleship Pathway dashboard in the app. You can see the pillar you chose to focus on and access resources for each pillar. (If you don't have the Crossings App, search “Crossings” in your app store.)

PRAYER

As we close this devotional series, we offer Colossians 1:3-14 as a prayer over you; may you receive these words as God’s covering and commission for you in the season ahead as we all engage the Discipleship Pathway together.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Amen.

Todd Poe
Pastor, Discipleship

Resources:

Take the Discipleship Pathway Assessment.

Watch Discipleship Pathway Sermon Series by the Crossings Teaching Team. 

Explore other devotions like this one any time at crossings.church/devotions .