Ordinary Disciples Podcast with Keith Atkinson

(A message shared at Hope Chapel on 8/23/26)

In the Great Commission, one imperative stands out: make disciples. Everything else in Jesus's directive flows from that command. Without that realization, the Great Commission quickly becomes the "Great Omission." A disciple, on Jesus’ own terms, is someone who is with him, is becoming like him, and does the things he did. Discipleship is a response to grace, powered by grace, and it cannot be done alone but takes place in deeply connected communities.

Watch the video of the message on YouTube and download sermon notes: https://hope.org/sermons/2026/08/discipleship/

Scriptures, quotes and questions to go deeper from message:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NfYYf3c6b1UzaMTXBf4tISwTgz7j_9aMyrImFBgEz-I/edit?usp=drive_link

Contact Keith: [email protected]

I interview my friend Wendy Holtz, who has a winsome, joyful walk with Jesus. Wendy has written a new book entitled What You Aren't: 10 Things That Just Aren't True About You. You may download a digital copy for free from her website, wendybethholtz.com as well as subscribe to her newsletter. We discuss her book on the broadcast as well as what it means to be an ordinary disciple.

More information about our ministry can be found on our website: ordinarydisciples.org

Keith may be contacted via email: [email protected]. Keith is a certified spiritual director and is available to new clients.

Keith looks at the reality that discipleship seems optional in the modern church, whereas in New Testament times it was assumed. He does it through the lens of the church of Antioch, which was planted by persecuted, homeless refugees fleeing persecution in Jerusalem. The church in Antioch is the first church to reach Gentiles on a large scale, and it will become the "mother church of the entire Christian movement.

Link to exercises: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qCvvw49K-oRk_u1-rwJJNwNLc1reVbiddjGetU8rVnQ/edit?usp=sharing

Keith's [email protected]

website:ordinarydisciples.org

Keith Spiritual Director Bio: https://www.paxcenter.org/one-on-one-spiritual-direction-1

Luke describes 18 years of Jesus' life in two verses, but in those two verses, we see Jesus living in a sense the life of every human in his family, work, and faith community. It is in an ordinary life that He grows, and we grow as well. Jesus's incarnation means that God has lived among us and understands us. We live our lives in the shadow of the incarnation and cooperate with God now, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

Link to questions and resources for this episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X0feTkP6_AAoOkp1VlwiXDFb5ZqhJRhSq96RuXOkAAQ/edit?usp=drive_link

To contact Keith--email: [email protected]

Keith's bio. as a spiritual director: https://www.paxcenter.org/one-on-one-spiritual-direction-1

To learn about spiritual direction or the Ordinary Disciples ministry: ordinarydisciples.org

Luke describes 18 years of Jesus' life in two verses, but in those two verses, we see Jesus living in a sense the life of every human in his family, work, and faith community. It is in an ordinary life that He grows, and we grow as well. Jesus's incarnation means that God has lived among us and understands us. We live our lives in the shadow of the incarnation and cooperate with God now, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

To contact Keith--email: [email protected]

Keith's bio. as a spiritual director: https://www.paxcenter.org/one-on-one-spiritual-direction-1

To learn about spiritual direction or the Ordinary Disciples ministry: ordinarydisciples.org

Going deeper and resources for growth: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X0feTkP6_AAoOkp1VlwiXDFb5ZqhJRhSq96RuXOkAAQ/edit?usp=sharing

We see elements of Jesus’ ministry already taking shape when the Messiah appears in the temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve. He amazes the teachers of the law by the way he listens and the questions he asks. Mary and Joseph are bewildered as they get a preview of the incarnation. Surprisingly, Jesus returns to Nazareth, where he will be subject to his parents and work as a tradesman. Keith contends that these thirty years in Nazareth are essential and the actual foundation for Jesus’ three-year ministry, which changed the world. Keith encourages us all to embrace the life we have as a gift from God, growing in grace as Jesus did, believing that God has a purpose for it all and nothing is wasted.

Questions and thoughts from the episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/149Lf1w0qeKKmN2PfUOY3Rr7pDEH69qjmgxZ0HVCSFek/edit?usp=sharing

Contact Info: [email protected]

Website: Ordinarydisciples.org

To Donate: https://ordinarydisciples.org/donate/

In this episode, we look at Jesus' childhood and how Jesus never leaves the childlike dependence He has toward His Father. Keith explores the implications for "Ordinary Disciples."

Contact Keith at: [email protected]

Link for questions and small groups:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dBzCodROD6xicmq8Z7hpoTIDox__MZm7/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115720524422094710280&rtpof=true&sd=true

In this episode, Keith teaches how the invitation to believe in Jesus is also an invitation to be His disciple and why this is the most important and wonderful invitation we will ever receive. Keith shares his own testimony of how this came about in his own life and then invites all of us to accept the invitation to be Jesus' apprentice in our ordinary lives.

website: ordinarydisciples.org

Link to resources for episodes: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1w1MtcHJyT2vuzKSKjRkSTbhMYNqjWpdq?usp=sharing

To contact Keith, email: [email protected]

Sited:

Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg.: Invitations from God: Accepting God's Offer to Rest, Weep, Forgive, Wait, Remember and More

Hudson, Trevor. Seeking God: Finding Another Kind of Life with St. Ignatius and Dallas Willard (pp. 99-100). (Function). Kindle Edition.

A short overview of the Ordinary Disciples podcast.

To learn more: https://ordinarydisciples.org/

Contact Keith: [email protected]