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A church is defined by what it teaches, believes and stands for. You might think, “Well our church is known for its love.” Perhaps, but if you really want to know how your church is perceived, ask a waitress. On any given Sunday, these hardworking servants serve the servants. Get ready for a gut-check. They may tell you that your organization is only interested in political or social issues. They may tell you that the Sunday crowd is large, noisy, demand everything and leave nothing in return. Or they might say that your church is defined by the core objective and prime directive Jesus gave us: loving God – loving others and making disciples.
Want to really change things? I would suggest that you humbly ask your church leaders to focus on the same mission and commission that our Founder gave us. Is your church really known for its love and making disciples? Ask a waitress.
Life is growth. When a child is not growing, we know immediately something is wrong. Growth is not optional, but essential (Gal. 4:19; Eph. 4:15).
We talk about discipleship, but how closely does our discipleship process model that which we discover in the Gospels and Epistles?
Discipleship is a lifelong process of growing in Christ-likeness. It begins when we are born again and continues until we die. Lots of ups and downs, starts and stops, detours and occasionally, pinpoint accuracy. We tend to think that growing in Christ primarily involves intellectual ascent. However, although learning is essential and knowledge is required that’s only a part of the process. Learning and knowledge must lead to new character and conduct reflective of Jesus. Moreover, it is only through the transforming power by the Holy Spirit and our obedience that disciples can truly enjoy abundant life (John 10:10).
So, if current research as reported by Barna is even remotely accurate, why are there so few New Testament-like disciples? I believe it is because we do not decide to be Jesus’ disciples.
What Jesus desires is that we be transformed into “the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).
How do we begin? Ask. We must ask Jesus to become more like Him, to see Him more clearly, to see as He sees, to feel as He feels, to have His heart in all matters of life.
There cannot be a disciple without a decision and there cannot be a disciple without discipline. We are born-again in an instant, but discipleship takes a lifetime. It begins with a decision. The disciple’s hymn becomes, “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.”
The cost of discipleship is great, but the opportunity is greater still.
From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to great courage
From great courage to strength
From strength to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to leisure
From leisure to selfishness
From selfishness to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy to dependence
From dependence to weakness
From weakness back to bondage
Charles R. Swindoll, Come Before Winter, 500.
Discipleship Tip
The Great Commission has three participles: “go,” “baptizing,” and “teaching” and one imperative verb, a command: “make disciples.” The main idea is to make disciples. The participles tell us how to do that: we make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching. So the goal of discipleship is to make disciples, teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:18-19). Being a disciple and making disciples is a direct command from our Lord Jesus and the primary purpose and responsibility of the church and every born-again believer. Everything we do in church or ministry should have discipleship as the ultimate core goal. Our going, baptizing, and teaching needs to be discipleship-centered. What we do each time we gather, whether church services, Sunday School, children’s ministry, women’s ministry, men’s ministry, VBS, outreach, etc., all need to focus on making disciples. Read the rest of this entry »
When was the last time you impressed God?
You remember the story. Jesus went about doing good, and came home to Capernaum to do good there, too.
When Jesus entered the city, a centurion came to Him, asking for help. The centurion was a Gentile, a Roman, an officer of the army and someone familiar with rank and file. He understood authority. Read the rest of this entry »
…someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go” (Luke 9:57).
How many times have I boastfully said: “Here am I Lord, send me” while thinking to myself, “As long as Your plans do not conflict with my business plans.” Read the rest of this entry »
From God’s Word, we discover that God builds using 3 important keys.
“Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.” (Mark 6:3)
1. God Builds Revelationally:
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” (Deut. 29:29) Read the rest of this entry »
