Discipleship (4)

We’re Looking at Discipleship

The Purpose & Mission of Christianity & the Church…

Is for Believers to Become More & More Like Jesus…

And to Help Others Do the Same

To Be Disciples Who Make Disciples

We’ve Been Looking at this Graph…

That Shows Us the Life-Cycle of Discipleship

Every Disciple of Jesus Ought to Go Through this Cycle

But that isn’t the Case for a Great Many Disciples

One of the Issues is that We have Relied to Heavily…

On “Church Programs”

Leaders, Paid Staff, & a Few Zealous Volunteers…

Serve, Do the Work, and Provide the Event…

And Everyone Else Shows Up to Be Served & Consume

Some May Be Growing in Discipleship & Christ-Likeness…

But the Majority Remain in the Infant & Toddler Stages

They aren’t Expected to Do Anything…

But Be Served & Taken Care of

If Programs are All You’re Doing as a Church…

To Be Active in Discipleship…

Then You’re Not Going to Be Very Successful in Discipleship

You’re Going to have Some Who are Learning, Growing, & Serving…

And You’ll have Many Who aren’t

Solely Doing Programs that are Ran By a Few…

And Consumed By the Many…

Are Not Good for the Church

But, that Doesn’t Mean Programs are Bad, in & of Themselves

A Lot of Good can Be Done Through Programs

Especially if Everyone Pitches in to Help

Last Week, We Mentioned that You Won’t Find Any Programs…

In the 1st Century Church

But I Got to Thinking about that…

And Realized that isn’t True

You Won’t Find the Word “Program” in the NT…

But We Do See a Program in the Early Church

In Acts 6, We See a Food Program for the Widows of the Jerusalem Church

This Program Seems to have Been a Staple for All Churches with Widows

Timothy Preached in Ephesus

And Paul Wrote Instructions to Timothy…

For How to Properly Run this Program

Like All Programs can Be…

It was Being Abused By Some

1 Timothy 5:3–10 (NIV)

3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.

5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.

7 Give the people these instructions, so that no one may be open to blame. 8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Widows should First & Foremost…

Be Taken Care of By Their Children/Grandchildren…

If She has Any

9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.

Only Widows Who are 60+ can Be Put on the List…

To Receive Help from the Church

She Must Also have Been Faithful to Her Husband

She Must Be Known for Devoting Herself to Good Works:

Raising Her Children Well

Opening Up Her Home & Offering Help to Those in Need

Serving the Needs of Fellow Believers

Helping Those in Trouble

The Church’s Program to Help Widows wasn’t Simply about…

Helping Any Widow in Need

It was about Helping Older Widows…

Who had No One Else to Help Them…

Who were Faithful, Servant-Minded Disciples of Jesus

This Shows Us One of the Fatal Flaws of Modern-Day Church Programs:

The Early Church Didn’t Go Out of Their Way…

To Serve the Consumers of the Church

They weren’t in the Business…

Of Making the Lazy & Apathetic of the Church More Happy & Comfortable

The Programs Consisted of:

Faithful Disciples Serving Faithful Disciples

That Necessarily Means…

Some People were Told:

“No, this isn’t for You!”

“But it could Be if You’d Straighten Up Your Act…”

“And Start Being More Faithful to King Jesus”

We May Think, “Boy, that’s Harsh”

But Not as Harsh as What They’re Saying to Jesus:

“Thanks for Dying for Me so that I can Be Saved from Sin & Death!”

“But I have No Interest or Intention:”

“Of Keeping My End of the Covenant…”

“Of Gratefully Living in Such a Way that Honors You & Serves Others”

That’s Harsh!

Programs are Good When They are Done:

Wisely

To Serve Those Truly in Need of Being Served

With the Goal of Mutual Discipleship in Mind

But Programs Alone aren’t Going to Do the Trick

We Need a Discipleship Game-Plan

Not Another Program that…

“The Church” Schedules, Plans, Structures, & Implements

We Need a Discipleship Game-Plan…

That Puts the Scheduling, Planning, Structuring, & Implementation…

In the Hands of Individual Disciples

Discipleship isn’t Something You Show Up to

Discipleship is Something You’re a Full Participant in

Starting in January…

We’re Going to Begin a:

3-Tiered Approach to Discipleship

Whole-Church Discipleship

Half-Church Discipleship

Small-Group Discipleship

Whole-Church Discipleship

Worship

Monthly Fellowship Meals

Regular Gatherings for Activities/Services

(Seasonal Get-Togethers, Community Thanksgiving Meal, etc.)

(Gospel Meetings, VBS)

Half-Church Discipleship

Lady’s Days, Trips, Classes, Retreats, Service

Men’s Days, Breakfasts, Classes, Retreats, Service

This Tier is Primarily Gender Focused

Like the 1st Tier…

These will Be Scheduled Events on Our Calendar

Either Every Other Month or Once a Quarter

Every Gathering should Consist of:

Prayer

Study of Scriptures and/or Spiritual Discussion

Decision on What the Next Gathering will Consist of

Small-Group Discipleship

Groups No Smaller Than 3 & No Larger than 12

Meet Together on a Frequent & Regular Basis

Ideally, Once a Week

We’ll Begin with Groups Meeting for a Quarter at a Time

Each Gathering Needs to Consist of:

Praying Together

Study & Discussion of the Scriptures Together

Or

Serving Together

Or

Sharing a Meal & Relaxing Together

Try to Fit All of These in the Quarter of Gatherings

Don’t Only Study

Don’t Only Serve

Don’t Only Eat Together

All of These Things were Important to Jesus’ Ministry

They Need to All Be Important to Our Small-Group Gatherings

1 Group Leader Per Group

Schedules the Where/When of Group Meetings

Plans & Leads Study

Plans the Activity/Service

Encourages & Participates in Deep/Intimate Discussions

It’s Very Flexible

Doesn’t Matter Where You Gather

Doesn’t Matter When You Gather (As Long as it is Each Week)

Doesn’t Matter How Long You Gather

Be Reasonable - Leaders, Don’t Hold Your Group Hostage

Doesn’t Matter What You Study

Doesn’t Matter What Kind of Service You Do Together

Doesn’t Matter What Kind of Activity/Hobby You Engage in

As Long as Your Gatherings are Spiritually Focused…

The Details are Up to the Leader of the Group

These Small Groups can Be Structured Around Anything:

A Shared Hobby:

(Ex. Sewing Group)

Hiking

Coffee

Cooking

Reading (Spiritual Book Club)

Sports (Watching or Playing)

Gardening

Serving:

Visiting

Card-Writing

Handiwork/Maintenance of Homes/Cars

Teaching (Learning How to Teach)

Cooking/Delivering Food

Evangelizing (Learning How or Practicing)

Stages/Circumstances of Life:

Widows/Widowers

Singles

Young Families

Married Couples

Study Interests:

Grief

Marriage

Eschatology

Bible Book Studies

Each of the 3 Tiers are Designed for:

Growth in Discipleship & Christ-Likeness

I Believe if We Participate in Each of These 3 Tiers…

And Keep the Focus on Jesus…

That’s Exactly What We’ll See

But the Tier that will Produce the Most Fruit will Be the 3rd Tier

That’s Where Relationships will Grow the Strongest

That’s Where Prayers can Be More Personal

That’s Where Discussion can Be More Intimate

It’s a Close, Tight-Knit Group to Study, Serve, and Share Meals with

It’s the Perfect Environment to Evangelize the Lost

It’s a Comfortable, Spiritual Setting to Invite Outsiders to

Small-Group Discipleship is What Jesus Spent Most of His Time Doing

That’s Where Deep Spiritual Growth Takes Place

But Being Involved in Small-Group Discipleship Requires Sacrifice

Discipleship is about Discipline

Discipline is Training

Discipleship is Disciplined Training to Be More Like Jesus

That isn’t Always Easy

It will Take Your Time, Effort, & Devotion

But I Believe with All My Heart…

That if We will Devote Ourselves to this…

We will See More Spiritual Growth & Blessings…

That We can Imagine

But it will Take Your Time, Effort, & Devotion

Discipleship Takes Difficult Sacrifices

Peter, Andrew, James, & John…

Were Expected to Leave Their Jobs Behind to Follow Jesus

The Rich Young Ruler…

Was Told to Sell All His Possessions & Give the Money to the Poor to Follow Jesus

If We’re Going to Follow Jesus is Discipleship…

We’ve Got to Be Willing to Make Some Sacrifices

Discipleship Takes Place in Community

It Takes Disciples Living as Disciples Together

Teaching Each Other & Learning from Each Other

Training Together to Be Better Followers of Jesus

This is Game-Plan is Going to Help Us Do that

If You’re Interested in Being a Group Leader…

We’ll have a Meeting for Leaders Before January…

To Discuss the Small-Groups & Answer Any Questions You Might Have

Invitation

Paul, a Disciple of Jesus, Discipled a Young Guy Named Timothy

In this Letters to Timothy…

We See a Lot of Imperative Commands

Paul Commanded Timothy to Do a Lot of Things

Things that would Help Him Grow as a Disciple of Jesus

2 Timothy 2:3–6 (NASB95)

3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.

Paul Gives 3 Analogies of a Disciple of Jesus:

A Soldier

An Athlete

A Farmer

A Good Soldier Remains Focused Upon the Duties He’s Been Given…

So that His Commander will Be Pleased with Him

An Athlete Who Wants to Win the Crown…

Competes According to the Rules

A Farmer Who Wants to Enjoy the First-Fruits of His Crop…

Must Put in the Hard Work to Produce it

As Disciples of Jesus:

We Must Remain Focused on Our Duties/Commitment to Him

We Must Follow His Rules, Commands, & Desires for Us

We Must Work Hard in the Service of His Kingdom

Are You Focused & Committed to Pleasing Jesus?

Are You Obeying His Commands & Will?

Are You Working Hard to Serve in His Kingdom

That’s Who a Disciple is

Are You a Disciple of Jesus?