iChurchDMV: BE and MAKE Disciples

BE and MAKE Disciples

Luke 10:1-12 “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”

Our closing question last week:

What kind of grace, are your daily devotionals producing, that afford you stewardship of the truth?

Our Mission is, as both The Church and a Church is clear, make way for the coming of Jesus!

As it was during the time of our text, in Jesus’ first coming, so it is today, to prepare for His return.

Therefore we are called to “BE and MAKE Disciples.”

Last week, the Lord lead me to share with you, that this week, we would use our time to share the vision of iChurchDMV. The specific components those who engage with Christ in this community, uniquely discipline themselves around, in order to achieve the mission.

As stated last week, todays presentation is more big picture outline expressive, than constructed as a polished teaching. Our aim today is less on instruction and more on information, this however does not absolve your engagement. As a matter of fact, my expectation is that you engage with more intentionality.

Here at iChurchDMV you can expect serval times a year, for us to set aside, time to to do a check up’s and a check in’s.

Church should not be a spectator sport. Where you come, pay an entree fee then leave either with a high or a low depending on the performance of what you came to see. Church is better understood as an internship, where you come to learn, at some sacrificial cost to yourself, that which you will be expected to perform and make a profit from.

It is with this in mind, its important to know the end. To count the cost as we have mentioned several times over the past weeks. So that when associating yourself to Jesus, you do so with eyes wide open, that we do not sanitize Scripture through some romanticized routine of religious practice, that often has to end with you feeling high, but balance that out with each of us charting out our course with sober comprehension.

When we engage with the Word of God, we must know, that what God requires, commands, what He says, is said from and with eternity in mind. Its echos in time, but its start and ending point is eternity. ~ Selah

Did you hear what I just said. How much of what you have come to know, pertaining to Scripture and the Church have you disciplined into this context.

You have heard me say over and over again, to gain an understanding of the content of Scripture, what is said, through the context in which it has been spoken.

To not connect context with content is to misunderstand the heart of God, and becomes the root cause of Jesus statement in Matthew 7:21 (ESV):

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

In other words, there will be people who come to church, and who are good people, who will miss heaven!

Because coming after Jesus and following Jesus is not the same!

Doing what is right over what is wrong, does not always amount to righteousness!

And being in the wilderness, or the dark, or suffering brokenness or even facing death, is sometimes the gift we need! For the unique power of Christ is revealed through the resurrection… and you can not have a resurrection, if there is not first a death!

What I am trying to say is, each of us must be prepared to be uncomfortable, inconvenienced, and even sacrificial as we follow Jesus.

This is the stewardship responsibility of the church… to prepare a people to end up with Jesus!

Each of us has a purpose and God has a plan. And I contend, that the way we understand both, is in community, specifically the community that makes us the Church! Therefore our mission is to Be and Make disciples. Here at iChurchDMV we cultivate an environmental, where people can practice and be trained to obey and behave in a manner conducive for eternity.

We are a 3D Church, we: Disciple / Demonstrate / Do

In Disciplining we engage in a learning culture

In Demonstrating we engage in a modeling culture

And in Doing we engage in an empowering culture

This is our mission vision and value statement!

iChurchDMV:

The Premier hybrid ministry expression of virtual and in person services, designed to BE and MAKE Disciples through transforming; the world, by impacting our world; one person, one family, one block at a time! By loving God, through love others as we love ourselves.

So lets break this down.

Hybrid Ministry Expression of virtual and in person services.

We, the Elders and I have wrestled over what does church look like? What does it mean to both express and experience ministry today and what might it look like tomorrow?

Taking lessons from our decade and a half of experience and filtering it through the Covid Context, we have landed on 3 and 1. As a type and shadow of how our God expresses Himself through Scripture three distinct personalities in One Devine Being.

We here at iChurchDMV, express the church, through 3 virtual services and 1 in person service. Another way to think about it is, the last service in the month we gather in person.

Now in the same way, to understand the fullness of the God-head you must engage with Father Son and Holy Spirit. To understand the impact of iChurchDMV you have to engage with us virtual and in person. Our in person gatherings are family reunion, a time for fellowship and communion. Meeting once a month not only takes into consideration any seasonal social restrictions, and respects the new virtual world, it allows for a less taxing logistical consideration, and it reorients our faith expression around building ministry locally around you!

Bishop Jakes said something many years ago that many of us have repeated. “If Jesus was to walk into church today, He would not recognize it.” The church on a whole that we read about in Scriptures was not in buildings, but in houses.

I contend that, root of the cultural challenge and the opportunity of ministry today, is found in calibrating the church, from simply a place you go to, to a place you create, where you already are!

Hybrid Ministry Expression of virtual and in person services.

Next…

Services, designed to BE and MAKE Disciples

IChurchDMV is a learning culture! I am not going to go into great depth today, but let me say this. Everything we do, we do with development in mind! To grow you, so that you can be the hands and feet of God towards someone else.

This is why, there is always connective tissue to our presentations. Vary rarely do you ever come and I offer a message that is not part of a series. The series are expressions of Scripture themes that demand greater engagement then a single look. We choose to not present a gospel that is so lofty that it can not be grasped by all, instead we offer importation life lessons in bit size portions.

Here is the thing about that… it requires a time commitment of engagement. Disciples are developed over time!

There was a minimum investment of 3 to life for those who followed Jesus! Three years of development and demonstration in order to produced a life time of doers!

Most can not do, because they have not put the time into developing!

Services, designed to BE and MAKE Disciples

Last point for today…

Transforming; the world, by impacting our world; one person, one family, one block at a time!

When the seventy two return, vs 17 they are rejoicing because, their commitment to development is demonstrating the power of God not only to them, but through them. They are not simply being transformed, but are transforming. But its what Jesus says to them, in vs. 23 I want draw your attention as we close.

Luke 10:23–24 (ESV):

“Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

There are people in your life, and who will cross your path, who you will be the only gospel they encounter! We are blessed to be a blessing to our

Friends, Relatives, Acquaintances, Neighbors and Coworkers. We are call to be the light on the hill we dwell on. Your house, can become God’s house. And the more of us, who receive this call to bless our world, we will begin to see the world transform.

Transformation does not happen outside in, but from the inside out!

iChurchDMV has been commissioned to transform the world by impacting the communities around the DMV. We live in the most divers region in the country, people from nations around the glob live around the beltway. When you and I take seriously the call to Be and Make disciples, and we take serious the vision to be 3D followers in a 3 and 1 family, we will see ….God’s power manifested in ways that generations before desired to see, but was reserved for this generation to demonstrate!

Question for your consideration:

How many hours per week can you devote to developing, to committing to Being and Making disciples here w/ iChurchDMV?