This is class session one of a mini-series on spiritual formation. It’s being recorded live at Harpeth Christian Church. You can join this course in audio format. If you want to get access to the class materials, go to himpublications.com/about for our contact info. We can send you class notes, downloads, and other materials to go with this course so you can join along. Enjoy!

One massive area of discipleship is learning how to handle conflict and seek reconciliation. The story of Jacob and Esau offers an excellent example of reconciliation from a relationship that had been filled with rivalry, hurt, and pain. With all the conflict in our world today, what does God's Word say about finding healing? 

The story of Jacob and Esau provides a reliable guide.

As you listen to today's podcast you'll 

• Understand the key lesson we can learn from the story of Jacob and Esau

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Today we're featuring a sermon preached by Chad Harrington on July 19, 2020, at Harpeth Christian Church. You can read this sermon in text form at himpublications.com/podcast/abraham-isaac/. Subscribe to the HIM Publications blog for more content like this here. 

“Disciple.” We know that word and what a disciple is, but understanding how to disciple others—how to live the life of a disciple-maker—can be confusing. It is a great challenge to lead and disciple someone, especially if we question whether we have been discipled ourselves.

Brandon Guindon, author of Disciple-Making Culture, shares of the joy that comes when disciples make more disciples and when the culture of disciple-making grows and grows, just as Jesus intended it to. Brandon encourages us all to take heart because Jesus showed us the way, and Jesus invites us along in the mission of making disciples.

No matter who you are or your experience with making disciples, you can be a part of disciple-making culture. You can become a disciple who makes disciples who then goes out to make more disciples.

In this episode, which is the last in this five-part series, you’ll find:

• Stories of perseverance and transformation

We are used to culture being something rarely thought about, something that goes unnoticed. But a culture of disciple-making doesn’t come easy. It’s a culture formed by people who are willing to fight for relationship, get on their knees in prayer, and strive to grow both spiritually and relationally. Jesus showed us the power of disciple-making culture. Are we willing to lean on him and live out that culture?

Brandon Guindon, author of Disciple-Making Culture, speaks about the barriers we can face while living out a culture of making disciples. He shares how he’s learned to overcome the barriers and pursue Christ above all.

In this episode, which is part four of a five-part series, you’ll find:

• Three barriers faced in shifting to a disciple-making culture

Relationships within the church can be challenging. We are called to be unified, but often that call to unity can be difficult to navigate. Do we truly live out the culture that we believe in? Do we fight for our relationships and actively take part in the mission of Christ?

Brandon Guindon, author of Disciple-Making Culture, tells of how we, as Jesus’ church, can respond in a unified way to the call of disciple-making. He points us all back to biblical disciple-making culture, and he encourages us to be in real relationship with one another as we live out our calling as disciple-makers.

In this episode, which is part three of a five-part series, you’ll find:

• The challenges of cultivating disciple-making culture among church staff

Stories connect us to each other. They offer a glimpse into one another’s way of seeing the world. What happens when we realize that we are all taking part in the same narrative, that we are all already connected?

In this episode, part two of five in a special mini-series on disciple-making culture, author Brandon Guindon shares some of the stories he has gained throughout his years of ministry. He also shares his heart as he tells of the struggles and challenges in his own life and the power of being surrounded by a culture built upon making disciples who live and love and act like Jesus.

If believers and disciples of Christ will cultivate and live out the culture that Jesus founded, the natural effect will be a disciple-making culture with the power to renew and strengthen the effect of Jesus’ gospel throughout the world.

In this episode, which is part two of a five-part series, you’ll find:

• Stories of disciples caring for one another

It’s easy to want our churches to grow. It’s easy to want more people to know and love Jesus. It’s only that we often find it difficult to actually do the work of making disciples. Where might we start? What are we supposed to do as a Christian to live out Jesus’ calling?

We know that ministry can take many forms—all the while, the goal remains the same: make disciples of Jesus. In this episode, author Brandon Guindon takes you through what a disciple-making culture looks like and how you as a follower and disciple of Christ can cultivate such a culture right where you are.

As followers of Christ, we are called to live out disciple-making the way Jesus did. Let’s recognize how Jesus changed the world through culture and continue in the effort to cultivate a thriving, world-changing culture that produces disciples who can then go out and make more disciples.

In this episode, which is part one of a five-part series, you’ll find:

• What a disciple-making culture really is—and what it’s not

John Mark Hicks experienced great suffering when he lost his wife early in life. He wrote Anchors for the Soul as an articulation of his grief, suffering—and questions to God. Where is God during the suffering? Does he hear us? Does he care? Listen to this audiobook introduction narrated by the author, and order your copy of Anchors for the Soul at HIM Publications. 

Dave Clayton wrote Revival Starts Here to help spark a moment in Nashville with something called "Awaken Nashville." During this month-long prayer initiative, over 400 churches in Nashville prayed and fasted together. They used Revival Starts Here as a guide for how to pray and fast for revival. Order the full book here: Revival Starts Here at HIM Publications.