Before understanding how to become a disciple we must first know what a disciple is. Through the person of Jesus Christ we will come to know what it means to claim the name “Christian.” This is the first in a five-part webinar series on Christian discipleship. Slides and other handouts can be found at http://bit.ly/BetterDisciple.

4. Jonathan F.
Sullivan
• Director of Catechetical
Services, Diocese of
Springfield in Illinois
• Originally from Kansas
City
• Married, 6 (+1) children
• www.JonathanFSullivan.co
m

5. Is anybody out there?
WHO IS
“IN THE ROOM?”

6. A few points…
• This series will not just
be “information
delivery”
• More personal,
reflective
• Opportunities to
respond – so please
participate!

7. Overview
• History of “Journey of
Discipleship”
• “Holiness Indicators”
• Basis found in Acts of
the Apostles

8. Overview
10/13: Jesus
10/20: Scripture &
Tradition
10/27: Christian
Community
11/3: Liturgy &
Prayer
11/10: Vocation and
Mission

10. “Who do you say that I am?”
WHO IS JESUS?

11. “I too have decided, after
investigating everything
accurately anew, to write it down
in an orderly sequence for you,
most excellent Theophilus, so
that you may realize the certainty
of the teachings you have
received.”
(Luke 1:3-4)

12. “But these are written that you
may [come to] believe that Jesus
is the Messiah, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you
may have life in his name.”
(John 20:31)

13. Jesus is Lord
• Scandal of the New
Testament
– Challenged the Jewish
People
– Challenged the Roman
Authorities
• King on a Cross

14. Jesus is Lord
• Scandal of the New
Testament
– Challenged the Jewish
People
– Challenged the Roman
Authorities
• King on a Cross

15. Jesus is Lord
• Scandal of the New
Testament
– Challenged the Jewish
People
– Challenged the Roman
Authorities
• King on a Cross
Photo by Alexander Z.
under a CC-BY-SA license.

16. Jesus is Priest
• Offers proper worship to
God
• Jesus as “High Priest”
• Teaches us to pray
– “Our Father…”
• Acts in and through the
liturgy
– Sacrosanctum concilium
no. 7

17. Jesus is Teacher
• Teaches within the
Jewish rabbinic
tradition…
• …with a twist
– Calls students to him
– Teaches of his own
authority

18. Jesus is Teacher
“In Jesus, the same Word of God,
that had resounded on Mount Sinai
to give the written Law to Moses,
made itself heard anew on the Mount
of the Beatitudes. Jesus did not
abolish the Law but fulfilled it by
giving its ultimate interpretation in a
divine way…”
• Teaches within the
Jewish rabbinic
tradition…
• …with a twist
– Calls students to him
– Teaches of his own
authority
(Catechism of the Catholic Church no.
581)

20. Priest/Prophet/King
WHAT SPEAKS TO
YOU?

21. Having an identity crisis?
WHO ARE WE?

22. We Are Disciples!
• Acknowledge that Jesus
Christ is Lord
• Worship him and with
him
• Follow him and his
teachings

23. Called to Imitate
Jesus Christ
• Is this even possible?
• Mystery of the
Incarnation…
• …through participation
in the Paschal Mystery
– Life
– Death
– Resurrection
– Ascension

25. “[B]aptism is the sacrament by
which its recipients are
incorporated into the Church and
are built up together in the Spirit
into a house where God lives,
into a holy nation and a royal
priesthood.”
Christian Initiation,
General Introduction no. 4

26. Discipleship is
Counter-Cultural
• Radical turning over of
our life to Jesus Christ
• Culture
– Obeys other lords
– Worships other gods
– Follows other teachers

27. Looking to Jesus
DISCIPLESHIP:
WHAT’S THE
DIFFERENCE?

28. Acts 2:42
THE PILLARS OF
DISCIPLESHIP

30. What’s on your mind?
Q&A

31. Video and slides available tomorrow at
bit.ly/BetterDisciple