Introduction

·        Turn to Matthew 28

·        Have you ever faced a task that felt overwhelming until you began to break it down into smaller parts? Maybe it was rebuilding a car engine, or planning your wedding, or writing a 20-page term paper in school.

·        Princess Cruises – manning agent. Each ship had a certain complement of crew members, and we were responsible to try to keep that number consistent. When a c/m had was getting near the end of their 6 or 8 month contract, we would contact recruiting offices and schedule a replacement. The goal was always to have a new c/m board the ship on the same day that another c/m was departing. E.g. If a waiter had to leave due to a medical injury or disciplinary action, we would have to get another waiter onboard as soon as possible b/c the ship would have to sail short and the other waiters would share the extra load. This of course would have a direct impact on our passengers. There was a lot of detail and stress involved.

·        After about 3 months, called in by manager. I thought I was going to get fired or warned. But it turned out that he was asking me to take a special assignment. The TP was being built, and getting ready to sail, and they needed someone to ‘man up’ and make sure the ship had a full complement of our best crew. Over 1,000 c/m onboard, including officers, engine crew, accommodations staff, restaurant staff, etc. I went from feeling terrified to feeling very honored, and they helped me to learn exactly what needed to be done to accomplish this goal.

·        Last week, we were introduced to a seemingly overwhelming task. Jesus told us to ‘make disciples’ of all the nations.

·        We receive these instructions right here in Mt. 28:18-20

·        Learned what a disciple is (student, sinner, slave), introduced mission statement, for glory of God, and emphasized that we all need to support, and that EVERYTHING we do must go back to this mission.

·        Today, I want to break this down into a series of smaller steps. The question is, How do we make a disciple? How do you do it? How does this church do it? What is the process God uses to turn someone who is ignorant of the gospel, or perhaps opposed to it, into someone who embraces Christ, loves God and people, and has a vibrant relationship with the Lord??

·        Focus in on two words from Mt. 28...

Baptizing

·        Started at beginning of John the Baptist ministry, “Repent, and be baptized, for the kingdom of God is at hand”

·        Peter on Day of Pentecost “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Ac. 2:38) “Those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls” (2:41)

·        A picture of sins washed away, dying to old life, having new life in Jesus Christ.

·        ‘Baptism’ assumes a person has already repented from their sin and believed in Christ. So Christ is using the word to summarize the entire process of “evangelism.” In our mission statement, we have chose the word ‘reaching’ to describe this.

Teaching

·        Disciple is a student

·        Lessons teach; Song lyrics teach; relationships teach

·        We learn in order to do. Everything is practical.

The Discipleship Process

·        We are now ready to break this down into sub-categories, which I have found very helpful

·        Peter Bolt – Mission Minded

·        The big picture – every ministry fits somewhere into this process

·        “Reaching”

-         Raising awareness – unbeliever has no personal contact; we are helping them to realize there is a church here and showing them what we are about. E.g. our sign out front

-         Initial Contact – one of us meets that unbeliever; face-to-face contact; first impressions are made.

-         Pre-evangelism – we begin to develop relationship with that unbeliever, build a trust, lower defenses, normal people, but that there is something different about us

-         Evangelism – gospel is actually shared; evangelism does not actually occur until this happens. “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? … Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:14, 17)

-         By the grace of God, a person accepts Christ and is saved. They become a disciple!!

·        “Teaching”

-         Follow-up – first help as new Christian. Like a new plant; delicate root system, regular feeding and watering, help them get established in their faith.

-         Nurture – Ongoing help in Christian growth and sanctification

-         Training in Ministry – now time for you to begin to take what you have learned and invest in others.

·        Behind-the-scenes support

·        What stage are you at in this process?

·        Progression from left to right

·        Many churches are strong in one area and weak in the other

Get on Target

·        What is your role in the mission? Get on target! Our three main goals and reasonable expectations for every member. Whatever else you are doing, we want to make sure you are doing these three things so that you progress in discipleship.

·        Sunday Morning (SS and Worship Service) – worship and attend topical Bible-studies in a mixed setting. I think we all agree it’s important to worship together in God’s house, and that we are not to forsake the “assembling of ourselves together.” >>But that is not enough.

·        Belong to a Fellowship Group – ‘one anothers’

-         Accept one another – Rom. 15:7

-         Admonish one another – Rom. 15:14

-         Through love serve one another – Gal. 5:13

-         Bear one another’s burdens – Gal. 6:2

-         Be kind to one another – Eph. 4:32

-         Abound in love for one another – 1 Thess. 3:12

-         Encourage one another and build up one another – 1 Thess. 5:11

-         Stimulate one another to love and good deeds – Heb. 10:24

-         You cannot stay on the fringes, just show up to one service a week, and be obedient to all of Christ’s commands!

·        Serve in at least one ministry – “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10). You’ve heard of the 2080 rule. I want to give you a challenge: let’s have a 100100 rule at FSBC!

·        If you neglect one or two of these out, you may be stunting your spiritual growth. We are committed to helping you mature in Christ, but we ask you to commit to being involved in this church.

·        On the other hand, doing too much more than this could be harmful also. Busyness ≠ godliness. Might get burnt out; quality of ministry might suffer; might neglect family or evangelism; shouldn’t judge others