Disciple Making Elective — Faith Foundations

The Bible’s answer to that question is: believing truth. In other words, believing the Bible. Jesus prayed in John 17:17 that we’d become more holy through the Bible. Paul explains that we grow by “speaking the truth in love” in Ephesians 4:15. Mark 4 even reveals that God’s word ought to produce a spiritual growth in us that leads to spiritual “fruit”. In other words, believing God’s word causes us to live lives that look more and more like Jesus. James speaks to this in James 2:14-26 when he shows us that believing truth must be reflected in the way we live our lives.

So, how do people grow? They grow by believing truth. The next logical question is– what does growth look like? Jesus helps us answer this question in Matthew 22:36-40 when he condenses all of the commands of the Old Testament into two categories: Love God and Love Others. So, biblical growth means increasing in a love for God and others above all else. And the ultimate fulfillment of this is Jesus’ Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 where he sends us to make disciples of all nations. Nothing demonstrates a love for God and others best by denying ourselves to help others follow Christ.

In other words: Biblical Truth –> Love for God and Others –> Disciple-Making

This process is the heart behind Providence’s Disciple-Making Electives. Our mission is to glorify God by introducing people to Christ and growing them up to love and worship Him. One way to go about accomplishing that mission is through these electives where Bible teaching leads to Disciple-Making.

Providence Disciple-Making Electives, or “PDEs” for short, are time-bound classes dedicated to a specific topic. Electives will run between 6-12 weeks (sometimes longer). Content will be delivered via lectures and small-group discussions. These will be supplementary spaces to grow at Providence, as a result, they will be offered on Sunday evenings and weeknights. Electives are customized for certain people in varying stages of their spiritual journey. Some may need a season to explore the basics of Christianity or how to read their Bibles. Others may want a space to dive deeper into a particular of the Bible, or even unpack the theology of evangelism further. Overall, PDEs will meet the needs of the people of Providence.