GROWING Together - G-Groups

Paul encourages Timothy to make disciples. Notice the instructions he gives, “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men...” Paul understood that his job was to disciple young men like Titus, Timothy, and others. In doing so, he knew that his job was not done until these men were making disciples. So, Paul commands Timothy, “what you’ve learned, pass it on.”

As Christians, this is our calling. Yes, Timothy was a believer, but it is precisely because he was discipled not only by Paul, but by others that Timothy had grown in faith and faithfulness. How do we know this?

Let’s look back at 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 1:5 (ESV)

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

2 Timothy 3:14–17 ESV

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

So you see, Timothy didn’t become what he was in a vacuum. It was because of the faithful, consistent teaching of others that he became a man of God. In the same way, we are to consistently and patiently walk with others. So how do we do that?

First we need to encourage ourselves with a truth, because if we’re not careful we can lose heart when we start the discipleship process, we must remind ourselves that

GOD makes disciples grow, not us.

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 ESV

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

This is key. We can invest ourselves so deeply in the spiritual growth and maturity of those around us and miss that it is God who makes the grow. My job is simple. I am called to plant good seed. I am called to do the work I can do and trust the Holy Spirit to do what only HE can do: Change a heart with the good news.

But that doesn’t mean that in discipleship, much like in farming, there are some practices and steps that we should take.

Four Steps of GROWing Disciples

Guide Them

Paul in speaking to Timothy commands him to “entrust” what he learned from scripture to others.

Colossians 1:28–29 ESV

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Notice Paul reminds the Colossians that it is Christ that they proclaim “teaching everyone with all wisdom.” As a discipler I am called to teach well the word of God to those I disciple. But what am I to “teach”?

Well back in 2 Timothy Paul called him to entrust what he had learned. Quite simply, we are not all called to teach deep theological truths, and obscure theological terms. We are not all gifted the same way with the gift of forthtelling from the word of God, but we are all called to search the scriptures and to proclaim what we hear from them.

That’s why the first thing that a discipler must do is READ GOD’S WORD and share what they are learning from God. A discipler must first be a daily DISCIPLE of Christ.

I can’t take someone where I have never gone. If tomorrow I were to host a trip to Israel, and 30 of you were to fly out to Israel with me to see the sights of the Holy Land we would be in trouble. I’ve never been to the Holy Land, and as much as I would love to take you to the place where Jesus healed the blind man in Bethsaida, or where he walked on water at the Sea of Galilee, I am just as likely to drive us off into the Arabian Desert as I am to find Golgotha.

But my friend Rick Henson has been over 10 times to the promised land and knows where many of these great places are.

As believers, we must be walking daily in the word if we are going to disciple others. The question is, how soon after I’m saved can I disciple others? Not long. Remember, Jesus only spent a year with his disciples before he sent them out, and only 3 years total before they changed the world!

We need to be reading God’s word together with other believers and as we do, and as iron sharpens iron, we begin to grow.

Root for Them

Several weeks ago, Aiden, our youngest, began going to the Ninja Warrior Training Academy in Flowood. For a while Kristy and I have been wanting to get him involved in some sort of physical activity, and Aiden has loved it. As I’ve gone with him on Tuesday and Thursdays, I’ve been impressed with the godly, Christian environment of the leaders at the Academy and the way the kids reflect that. No where did I see that more clearly than last week when I went to go pick Aiden up.

One of the things they do with the kids is give them goals to reach. As the kids work out and get stronger, they are encouraged to accomplish tasks. One task was for Aiden to swing across the monkey bars and then to reverse and come back without stopping. When I went to pick him up the instructor and students called me over and they hooted and cheered for Aiden as he showed me he had accomplished his goal!

They encouraged him, and cheered him on until he made it.

One of the keys to discipleship that we cannot overlook is the need for accountability and encouragement.

Accountability is defined as an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions and encouragement is the act of giving hope, to inspire to have courage to do something.

Hebrews 3:13 ESV

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

As Christians we need spiritual cheerleaders to urge us and to encourage us to press on. There are days when we don’t want to do it, but one of the keys to any good discipler is that he or she does not let us quit. They challenge us. The urge us. They encourage us. They hold us accountable.

A true discipler demands that we do what we say we are going to do.

In our g-groups the three things we are accoutable to do each week are to:

Read our Scripture

Pray Daily

Memorize Scripture (1 Verse or more)

In our discipleship we are to demand that we do these things together.

Offer up Prayers for Them

We must pray for our disciples.

2 Thessalonians 1:11 ESV

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power,

One of the most powerful things we can do is to daily pray for one another. It’s also one of the things that the enemy will convince us is unnecessary and a waste of time if we’re not careful.

We must pray, not just our organ recital, you know praying for kidneys, livers and spleens, but for the spiritual health and victory in spiritual warfare of one another.

So what can we pray for one another?

1. That their beliefs and values would be firmly grounded in the truth of God’s Word.

2. That they would be motivated by the incredible love of God.

3. That they would learn to depend on God for their every need.

4. That they would learn to forgive and live at peace with everyone.

5. That they would grow in humility, faith, hope and love.

6. That they would understand their identity in Christ and how God has equipped them for ministry.

7. That they would start a healthy group of fellow disciples.

8. That they would have a passion to help the lost and forgotten.

We need to pray for one another daily!

Warn Them

1 Corinthians 10:11–12 ESV

Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

In this passage, Paul is speaking of those who “desire evil” an d”put Christ to the test.” One of the ways that we are to disciple those around us is to warn them of sin when we see them stray. Sin is dangerous and deadly and if we’re not careful we can fall into sin.

Colossians 3:16 ESV

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Hebrews 3:13 ESV

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

As a discipler one of the more difficult but needed aspects it to admonish one another, to warn one another when we are sinning. This goes back to accountability. No one falls away all at once. It’s usually small sacrifices, small failures that lead to the big noticeable ones. What we need is someone to stand in the gap for us, to pick us up when we begin to fall. To say, thus far and no more.

This is why Community and Connection are so important. Without the constant encouragement of others we can easily fall into a Christianity that talks a lot about Jesus but doesn’t live for him. A discipler can help us when we’re weak, helping us get back on our feet.

At Truitt, we’re starting what’s called G-groups, and I’m proud to say that so far we have 4 different groups that I know of that have started or will be starting soon.

A G-group is a gender-specific group of 3-5 believers who gather together weekly for 12-18 months for accelerated spiritual transformation. They commit to:

Meet weekly.

Read Scripture Daily.

Memorize Scripture Weekly

Hold everything said in strictest confidence, and to be transparent in their discussion with one another.

At the back of the church we have 3 pamphlets and a flyer that you can get that tells you more about G-Groups. What these groups do is simple: They quote scripture to one another, they discuss what God has said to them in their personal quiet times, and they pray for one anther. That’s it. But let me tell you, when God’s people get serious about God’s Word then God makes disciples.

If you’re a Christian but you want to be a disciple, would you ask God to put on your heart 2-3 other believers that you can meet with to pray for and encourage on a weekly basis.

How do we do this?