Part Two — What Does This Actually Look Like?

Before the break, we spent time on the why

We talked about the reality that what students are taught in these years matters

We talked about the theological gaps we are seeing even among young people who are attending church, serving, joining groups, and participating

We talked about the difference between knowing Christian things and actually believing them.

And we talked about this picture:

We are farmers, not factory workers

We do not take students, run every one of them through the exact same process, and expect the exact same product on the other side

We faithfully sow the same gospel

We pay attention to the people God has actually put in front of us

We cultivate what God is growing

We help prepare mature believers to bear fruit

And we trust God for the harvest.

And we ended with three words that describe the fruit we are looking for:

Believe

Last

Reproduce

So now I want to answer the obvious question:

What does that actually look like for us?

To answer that, I want to make two things very clear

First:

What exactly do we mean when we say “disciple”?

Second:

What is the process we are using to help students move toward that?

Those two things are going to become foundational language for Charity Students

Our Finish Line — What Is a Disciple?

If Jesus has called us to make disciples, then we need to know what we mean by the word

We are going to define a student disciple in three spheres:

Personal

A disciple follows Jesus personally.

People

A disciple follows Jesus with His people.

Public

A a disciple follows Jesus in the world.

And under each of those are three simple things we want students increasingly growing in

Personal — I Follow Jesus

A student disciple is learning to walk with Jesus personally

And we are going to simplify that into three things:

Word

Prayer

Obedience

Word

A disciple regularly reads and responds to Scripture.

Not simply:

“I own a Bible.”

“I know Bible stories.”

We want students increasingly believing:

God speaks through His Word, so I want to hear Him and respond to what He says

That means learning to read Scripture

Understand it

Believe it

And obey it

Prayer

A disciple regularly talks with God

We want students developing an actual life of dependence on God

Not simply praying when something is wrong

Not simply saying a quick prayer before a meal

But increasingly learning:

God hears me, I need Him, so I pray

Obedience

A disciple regularly repents of sin and increasingly lives what Jesus teaches

This is where all the things we talked about before the break start connecting

A student can know what Jesus says and still not believe His way is actually better.

We want them increasingly saying:

-nJesus is Lord. His way is good. So when my life conflicts with His Word, I repent and follow Him.

So Personal is

Word

Prayer

Obedience

People — I Follow Jesus With His People

Christian discipleship is not simply me and Jesus

Jesus saves us into a people.

So a student disciple is learning to belong to and contribute to the church.

And again, three things

Gather

Community

Serve

Gather

A disciple consistently participates in the life of the church

They gather for worship

Preaching

Prayer

Fellowship

And we want students increasingly believing:

I need the church, and the church needs me.

This is important because we do not want students to graduate thinking church was a youth program they attended

We want them to understand:

I belong to the body of Christ

Community

A disciple builds meaningful relationships with other believers and receives accountability.

Not simply: “I sat in a circle once a week.”

But: There are Christians who actually know me

They encourage me

They challenge me

They notice when I am struggling

They pray for me

They correct me

They walk with me

We want students who understand that God often grows us through His people

Serve

A disciple uses their time and gifts to help others and build up the church

Church is not simply something we consume

If I belong to the body, then God has given me something to contribute.

So we want students increasingly moving from:

“What does the church have for me?”

to “How can God use me to serve His people?”

So People is:

Gather

Community

Serve

Public — I Follow Jesus in the World

A disciple does not stop following Jesus when they leave the church building.

They represent Jesus wherever God has placed them

Again, three things:

Live

Share

Disciple

Live

A disciple increasingly reflects Jesus in their character, relationships, choices, school, team, work, and home

Christianity follows them out the door.

We want students asking:

What does following Jesus look like on Monday

At school

At practice

At work

Online

In their dating relationships

With their parents

With their friends

Share

A disciple understands the gospel and intentionally talks about Jesus with others.

We want students who can actually explain:

What is the gospel?

And who increasingly believe:

This really is good news that people need.

So they share it

Disciple

And eventually a disciple begins helping other people take steps toward Jesus.

That may begin very simply

Invite somebody

Read Scripture with somebody

Encourage a younger student

Help a friend understand the gospel.

But eventually mature disciples make disciples.

So Public is:

Live

Share

Disciple

This Is Not a Christian Checklist

And I want to make one thing really clear

We are not putting nine boxes on a page and saying:

“Do these nine things and now you're a good Christian.”

That would simply become behavior modification.

And that is not what we are after.

The framework we have built is deliberately supposed to move from belief to response.

So instead of:

“Christians are supposed to read the Bible, so I guess I should.”

We want:

“I believe God speaks through His Word, so I read and obey it.”

Instead of:

“I'm supposed to go to church.”

We want:

“I believe Jesus has made me part of His people, so I actively belong to His church.”

Instead of:

“Good Christians are supposed to evangelize.”

We want:

“I believe the gospel is really good news and Jesus has sent me, so I tell other people about Him.”

The goal is not:

Know what a disciple does and imitate the behavior.

The goal is:

The gospel has changed who I am and what I believe, so this is now the way I respond.

So now we have our finish line.

We want students who increasingly follow Jesus:

Personally — Word, Prayer, Obedience.

With His People — Gather, Community, Serve.

Publicly — Live, Share, Disciple.

And over the long haul:

Believe

Last

Reproduce

Now the question becomes:

How do we help them get there?

Our Process — The Four E’s

This is where the Four E’s come in.

You heard me use some of these ideas before the break, but now I want to make them very simple.

Our process is:

Engage

Evangelize

Establish

Equip

Engage

Engage means:

We intentionally move toward students

We enter their world

And I think there is an important mindset change for us here.

Engagement cannot only mean:

“How do we get more teenagers into our building?”

We should absolutely care about reaching new students

But we also need to ask:

Where are the students God has already given us?

What schools are they in?

What teams?

What clubs?

What FCA groups?

What neighborhoods?

What workplaces?

What communities?

How do we engage lost students in the contexts our current students are already involved in?

I do not want us so focused on the hypothetical students we wish were here that we overlook the students God has already entrusted to us.

So we ask:

How do we engage in the context our students are already in?

And through them, how do we increasingly engage others?

Evangelize

Evangelize means:

We clearly and repeatedly give students the gospel.

Not vague Christian encouragement

Not simply: “God loves you.”

“Make better choices.”

We tell them the actual good news

God is holy

We are sinners

Christ died and rose

Salvation is by grace

Jesus calls us to repent and believe.

And here is another important point

We do not assume the students already in our ministry believe the gospel simply because they know how church works.

A student may have been coming for four years and still need evangelism

They may know when to stand during worship

They may know the right small-group answer

They may have gone to camp five times.

That does not automatically mean they have trusted Christ.

So we keep preaching the gospel

We keep having gospel conversations

We keep asking questions

We do not assume

Establish

Establish means:

We help gospel truth take root.

This is where a lot of our ministry energy should live

We teach Scripture

We teach theology

We help students build habits of prayer

We help them learn repentance

We answer hard questions

We teach what the church is

We walk through suffering

We help them develop Christian convictions

This is where what we talked about before the break becomes really important.

We are not satisfied with: “They heard it.”

We want truth to become: “I understand it.”

Then:

“I believe it.”

Then:

“My life is increasingly being shaped by it.”

And establishment cannot only happen from a stage

Preaching matters

Teaching matters

But students also need mature Christians who know them well enough to help truth take root in their actual lives

Equip

Equip means:

We prepare students to begin doing ministry themselves

We give responsibility

We help them serve

We help them share the gospel

We help them lead

We help them disciple

We move them from: “What does Charity Students have for me?”

Toward: “How can God use me?”

Eventually the engaged student becomes someone who engages other people

The evangelized student begins evangelizing

The established believer begins helping establish somebody else

The equipped student begins doing ministry

That is reproduction.

So now we have…

A Finish Line

Personal: Word, Prayer, Obedience.

People: Gather, Community, Serve.

Public: Live, Share, Disciple.

A Process

Engage

Evangelize

Establish

Equip

Now we can finally ask:

What Does This Actually Look Like at Charity Students?

And the first thing I want you to hear is:

It does not mean tearing everything down

We are not blowing up Charity Students and starting from scratch

We are not saying everything we have done was wrong

We are not killing MDWK

We are not getting rid of camp

We are not throwing away everything familiar.

Actually, the biggest change is much less dramatic

We are becoming more intentional

We are taking the things we already do and asking better questions

What is this environment actually for?

What part of the disciple are we trying to cultivate here?

How is this helping us Engage, Evangelize, Establish, or Equip?

How does this help a student grow personally, with God's people, or publicly?

And we are making changes based on the students we actually have

Not the students we wish we had

That is really important to me.

I do not want us overlooking our current students because we are always dreaming about the students who are not here yet

So we ask:

How do we engage with the students we have?

How do we evangelize the students we have?

How do we establish the students we have?

How do we equip the students we have?

Then we trust that as those students mature, they increasingly become people through whom the gospel reaches others

The New Reality

So here are some of the concrete ways this is going to begin showing up

1. Camps, Retreats, and Toronto Become More Intentional

We are already doing these things

We're not adding a new program.

We are simply becoming much more intentional with what those environments are producing

At retreats and camp, we want to deliberately touch all three spheres of discipleship

Personal

Students spend intentional time in the Word and prayer

Morning devotions

Personal Scripture

Learning to seek God themselves

Not simply hearing somebody else talk about God

People

We build intentional gospel community

Small groups

Church group time

Squads

Conversations

Shared experiences

We are not assuming deep community happens simply because everyone rode the same bus

Public

We intentionally ask:

What are you going to do with what you have heard?

How does this change how you live when you go home?

Who is one person you want to share the gospel with?

And then we follow up

2. Weekly Formation — Split MDWK Teaching and Small Groups

This is probably the most visible change.

Middle school and high school students are in different developmental places

A sixth grader and a senior can both genuinely follow Jesus and still need different kinds of instruction

So we are going to stop asking one message to perfectly serve both groups every week

We will still gather together

We will worship together

We will have the shared culture of MDWK

But when we get to teaching and discipleship time, we will split.

That lets us give students more age-appropriate teaching and gives leaders more intentional shepherding time

The New MDWK Schedule

Here is what the night will actually look like:

6:00–6:30 — Block Party

As normal

6:30–6:32 — Call to Worship

We intentionally transition from hanging out to gathering as God's people

6:32–6:42 — Singing

Two songs together.

6:42–6:45 — Split

Middle school and high school move to their respective spaces.

6:45–7:10

High School — Message

Approximately 20 minutes of biblical, gospel-centered, age-appropriate teaching

The message will intentionally think about application through

Personal

How does this shape my walk with Jesus?

People

How does this shape life with God's people?

Public

How does this shape the way I represent Jesus in the world?

Middle School — Small Groups

Approximately 25 minutes (I’ll get to this in a minute)

7:10–7:15 — Swap

Groups transition

7:15–7:50

Middle School — Message

They now hear an age-appropriate message from the passage they have already encountered.

High School — Small Groups

Approximately 35 minutes of intentional discipleship time

7:50–7:55 — Regather

Everyone returns together

7:55–8:00 — Announcements and Dismissal

We are not dramatically lengthening the night or adding another program

We are becoming more intentional with the time we already have

What Are Small Groups Actually For?

And this may be the biggest practical shift I want you to understand.

I do not want small group to simply mean:

“The sermon ended. Now here are five questions.”

Small group is one of the places where the farmer knows the soil.

It is where you stop seeing middle school boys or: junior girls

and start seeing the actual students God has entrusted to you

You learn:

What is happening in their life?

What are they struggling with?

What do they really believe?

What is God doing in them?

What did they ask us to pray about?

What happened with that situation they mentioned two weeks ago?

Who is growing?

Who seems to be drifting?

Who needs encouragement?

Who needs correction?

Who needs somebody to listen?

That's cultivation.

And our small-group rhythms are going to help us do that intentionally

Middle School Small Group — 25 Minutes

Middle school small groups happen before the message

The basic rhythm is:

5 Minutes — Catch Up

Actually see how everybody is doing

If somebody is new, welcome them

Ask a question

Find out what's happening

This is Engage

A student should not be able to sit in your group for six weeks while you still know almost nothing about them

Know what they are involved in

Know what they are excited about

Know what they are nervous about

Be curious

Help every student feel known

10 Minutes — Scripture

This is the major middle-school distinctive

They are going to read the passage that will be preached before hearing the sermon.

And the goal is to begin teaching them something incredibly important:

How do I open the Bible and begin understanding it myself?

First ask: What is the main point?

What is happening?

What seems important?

What is this text saying?

Then begin looking for application

Does this passage show us anything about:

Personal — following Jesus personally?

People — following Jesus with His people?

Public — following Jesus in the world?

And we do not force all three into every text

The Bible determines the application.

But we are training students to ask:

“If this is true, what does it change?”

Then they go hear the message

Now the sermon is helping clarify and deepen something they have already wrestled with

5 Minutes — Check-In

This is something I really do not want us to skip

Because discipleship should have a memory

If a student told you last week: “My grandmother is having surgery” —> Ask: “How did the surgery go?”

If they were nervous about tryouts, ask what happened.

If they told you they were struggling with a friend, follow up

If there was a significant conversation two weeks ago, do not act like it never happened because we moved to a new sermon.

Sometimes you may need to write something down after group

Make a note

Whatever works

Because one of the most powerful things a teenager can discover is: “That adult actually remembered what I told them.”

That's shepherding.

And this is also a place where students can share what is happening now

How are you doing?

What is hard right now?

What is God doing?

What can we pray about?

5 Minutes — Prayer

And then we actually pray

Not:

“Okay, we're out of time. Somebody pray really quick.”

Prayer is part of the disciple we are trying to cultivate.

Remember: Personal — Prayer.

So if we want students who pray, they need to see adults pray

Leaders, pray for your students by name

And increasingly let students pray too.

Sometimes pray for the needs that were just shared

Sometimes widen the circle

Pray for the schools represented in your group

Pray for lost friends

Pray for missionaries

Pray for Charity Students

Pray for our church

Pray for our community.

We're teaching students that prayer isn't merely: “God, make my week easier.”

It is dependence on God and participation in His mission.

So Middle School is:

Catch Up — 5 Scripture — 10 Check-In — 5 Prayer — 5

High School Small Group — 35 Minutes

High school students have already heard the sermon

So their group has a different emphasis.

Middle school looks forward to the message through Scripture

High school looks back at the message through reflection

5 Minutes — Catch Up

Same purpose

Know your students

Welcome people

See how they are doing

Build real relationships

Around 10 Minutes — Sermon Reflection

This is not: “Who remembers point number two?”

We're not trying to preach the sermon again

We want students processing: What do I actually have to believe because this text is true?

Then we work through the three spheres

Personal

How does this apply in my walk with Christ?

People

How does this affect the way I live with God's people?

Public

How does this affect the way I live publicly for Jesus?

We are trying to train students to move: Truth → Belief → Life.

The sermon is not information to be heard once and forgotten

Around 10 Minutes — Check-In

High school gets more room for deeper relational follow-up

Ask about previous conversations

Ask about previous prayer requests

Ask about spiritual goals

Ask about relationships

Ask about their life.

This is the ministry I cannot do from the stage

I can preach to a room

You can know a student

Both matter

5 Minutes — Prayer

Again, we actually pray.

And I want our leaders increasingly praying for students outside Wednesday night too

If God brings one of your students to mind during the week, pray for them

You know they have a big test?

They have a game?

They are struggling?

They want to share Christ?

And sometimes tell them: “Hey, I prayed for you this morning.”

I would love our students to grow up knowing there are mature Christians in their church who are regularly bringing their names before God

The high-school block is 35 minutes, while those basic elements total closer to 30, and I am okay with that margin. 

Because this is a rhythm, not a rigid liturgy.

If a student finally opens up about something significant, do not cut them off because the schedule says it is time for the next item.

The schedule serves discipleship. Discipleship does not serve the schedule.

So when you think small groups, I want you thinking:

Know them.

Follow up with them.

Pray for them.

Open Scripture with them.

Help truth become life.

And then do it again next week

And the next week

And the next week

That's cultivation

3. Other Tools We're Building

Not everything needs to become another weekly program

Some things simply help students take the next step.

We are working on things like:

A Resource Table

Books

Bibles

Devotionals

Resources about theology, apologetics, spiritual disciplines, and real-life issues

Something tangible we can put in the hand of a student who says: “I want to learn more about this.”

Bible Studies

Additional opportunities for students who want to go deeper

Some may be seasonal

Some may be based on particular needs

School Outreach

FCA

Relationships with schools

Other opportunities to support gospel ministry in the places our students already live.

And again, that goes back to Engagement

We do not simply wait for teenagers to enter our building

We ask: Where has God already placed our students, and how can we help them faithfully live there?

4. Leader Training Becomes Leader Discipleship

We're also going to bring back intentional leader development

But I want to change the way we think about it

There is a place for leader training.

New leaders need to know:

Policies

Safety

How MDWK works

How to lead a small group

How to handle different situations.

And we are working toward putting much of that practical training online so new leaders can go through it and existing leaders can return to it when needed.

But when we gather together in person, I want it to be something deeper

I want to call it:

Leader Discipleship.

Because if we're asking you to help establish students, we need to help establish you

Our students are going to ask questions

Why can I trust the Bible?

What about sexuality?

What about suffering?

What about predestination?

What about other religions?

How do I know Christianity is true?

Why does God allow this?

I do not expect every leader to have every answer immediately

But I want us becoming increasingly equipped.

So when we gather for Leader Discipleship, we'll spend time on:

Theology

Doctrine

Apologetics

Cultural questions

Hard issues students actually face.

Not simply: “How do you keep your group quiet?”

But: “How do we become mature Christians who can faithfully help younger Christians follow Jesus?”

Healthy students need healthy leaders

5. Things We're Working Toward

And then there are things that fit this philosophy that we are going to build toward slowly

Not everything starts tomorrow

We're farmers

We can be patient

We can build methodically.

Some of those things are:

Greater Engagement in Schools and the Community

Finding ways to enter spaces where our current students already live and build genuine relationships there

Better Partnership With Parents

Parents have far more time with students than we ever will

We do not want to replace parents

We want to equip and support them

Service Projects

Giving students opportunities to practice:

Serve & Live

Leader Team Time

More intentional opportunities for us as leaders to actually know one another

Pray together

Build relationships

Talk about students

Function as a team rather than simply a collection of adults who happen to be in the same building Wednesday night

MDWK+

A deeper theological environment for students who are ready for more

Theology

Church history

Apologetics

Hard questions

Deeper biblical training

Not every student needs another program

But some students are ready to go deeper

And part of establishment is giving them a place to do that

So What Is Really Changing?

If somebody asks: “What is the big change in Charity Students?”

The answer is not simply:

“We split the messages.”

“We changed small groups.”

“We added a resource table.”

The biggest change is: We are becoming more intentional about disciple-making.

Instead of: “We go to camp because youth ministries go to camp,”

“How does camp cultivate Personal, People, and Public discipleship?”

Instead of: “We have small groups because churches should have small groups,”

“How does this group help these actual students believe, last, and reproduce?”

Instead of: “We preach a sermon every Wednesday,”

“How does this biblical truth need to take root in these actual students?”

Instead of: “We need more teenagers,”

“Who has God already entrusted to us, and how can we faithfully engage, evangelize, establish, and equip them?”

And then as they grow, they increasingly become the people through whom we engage and reach others

The Vision

So imagine a sixth grader walks into Charity Students

Somebody engages them

They learn their name

They keep showing up

They hear the gospel

They believe

And then we do not stop

Over several years, the seed increasingly takes root

They learn Scripture

They pray

They repent

They gather with the church

They build Christian community

They serve

They learn to follow Jesus publicly

They share the gospel

Eventually they begin helping somebody else follow Jesus

And then one day they graduate

But discipleship doesn't end

They join a church wherever God takes them

They keep serving

They keep believing

Maybe one day they get married

Maybe they have children

Maybe they disciple those children

They share Christ with coworkers

They encourage people in their church.

And someday there will be people following Jesus who never attended a single Wednesday night at Charity Students—but they heard the gospel from someone who did

That's the harvest

So we're not trying to build the biggest machine

We're trying to faithfully cultivate the people God gives us