On January 17th we will meet at 1:00 p.m. for discipleship training with Jim Hall. It will run from 1 to 5 p.m. I want to provide a meal with the training, and would like it to follow at 5:00 p.m. This training is for every person in our church! Especially for Small Group Leaders and potential leaders, but equally, it is for everyone who wants to be a fruitful Christian.
I have been wrestling with a problem for most of a year. How do I disciple new believers and those who are new to our church? I have considered starting my own Small Group just for new believers. It would meet for a set time and then graduate new believers on to another Small Group. That scenario has several problems, first of which is my schedule. It is also difficult to get people to graduate from one group to another as we have found already.
I have considered having someone else teach the new disciples small group, but again, it is tough to graduate people out of a group into another. It could also be tough on the Small Group leader's ability to fellowship properly if his group was always gaining members, but rotating them out.
I have considered dropping out of my Small Group to do discipleship, but I have found, that is not going to be healthy for my family. We need to all be in a group together at this time. My kids love our Small Group and when child care is done creatively and with some effort, they learn invaluable Bible truths from the kids Small Group time.
What we need is this. Every Small Group is disciplining new people in our church and new believers. Every member of every Small Group is learning to be a disciple maker. This is why this training is so important. It is not new, it is the same thing that I presented to you two years ago, we just have not been successful in it to the point that I desire to be successful in our Small Groups.
Think of it like this. The church is a body. The body has parts that do certain things. But, there are some systems in the body that all the parts are using and doing all the time. The circulatory system is in every part of the body. The nervous system is in every part of the body. Thus, the discipleship system is in every part of the body and the outreach system is in every part of the body. Who does the disciple making? Every believer. Who does evangelism? Every believer. Where does it happen? Every meeting, every Sunday, every activity.
So, who is the training for on January 17th? It is for every person in our church. Every person needs to be in a Small Group and understand what our discipleship goals are in the groups. You are either making disciples, or you are in need of discipling. Who did you disciple or win last year? The answer to that question determines your position right now. You are a missionary or you are still a part of the mission field that I am trying to reach. I don't care if you are on the board, a ministry leader, on the worship team, a teacher, or Small Group leader, the answer to that question determines your personal discipleship progress.
Because some work in hard soil and because others use fruitfulness as a rule for their relationship with God, we have removed our fruitfulness from our criteria for assessing our Christian walk. Like we learned in 40 Days of Purpose, your fruitfulness is your faithfulness, and real faithfulness is bearing fruit.
5 comments:
I realize I may not do as much as I should and that I may not help much in my small group, but I am still trying to learn things that I was not taught while growing up in the church. Changing faiths is very hard. Also, I have the issue of not being able to hear what is said and that holds me back from a lot. Conversations are getting harder and therefore a lot of things for me to do are hard.
Me and my friend are interested in comming but we do not go to your church. is there any possible way we would be able to come. We are wanting to be good leaders.
Yes, there is a way for you to attend even if you are not from our church. There is actually some interest from some other area pastors in attending. Please call our chruch office and we will sign you up and get you some more details.
I am sorry for your hearing loss. I still want to help every Christian fulfill the command of Jesus to all of his disciples, "God and make disciples, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you," regardless of disability. I am realizing a serious need for a deaf ministry in the Washington area. There is a need in the community. However, the goal of the church is to communicate truth and I need communicators who know sign language so that communication can occur. Your hearing loss is a huge obstacle, but it is also a huge nitch, or need that is not being filled or met in our area. It is a problem that can become a great opportunity for you to minister to others and meet a need they too have.
Will there be child care during the training?
We are working on childcare. However, there may be an age limit.
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