Jesus’ lifestyle on earth exemplified the reality of the Kingdom of God. Because of his intimate relationship with the Father Jesus lived in freedom and set others free. He was confident in his identity and calling. He was moved with compassion for the afflicted and connected them to God’s healing touch. Under the leading and power of the Holy Spirit Jesus released the Kingdom of God on this earth. Jesus is the picture of humanity living in right relationship to God.
Jesus was recognized as a rabbi (master or teacher). Back in the day, a rabbi chose followers (disciples) who would sit under his teaching and learn from his ways with the expectation that one day his followers would do the same. Jesus chose twelve young ordinary men and spent three years teaching and demonstrating the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 28 Jesus instructed these first disciples to go and make more disciples. This was their mission and continues to be the mission of the Church today. When it comes to developing disciples, however, the American church is failing.
· The majority of evangelical churches report negative growth of 3%, meaning that we are losing more disciples than we are making.
· Sixty six percent of Christians after the age of 18 drop out of church because it no longer has an impact in their lives.
· According to the Rainer Institute, 90% of Christians die without leading one person to Jesus.
· Statistically speaking, it takes a church of 100 believers 365 days and $100,000 in resources to lead 1 person to the Lord.
· The divorce rate among church members is 2% higher than the rest of the population.
· According to Barna, 8 out of 10 Christians are biblically illiterate.
· Twenty percent of the church does eighty percent of the work.
Something is wrong. Something needs to change. We can do better.
If you are a devoted follower of Jesus, then you want to become more like him and you want to see our church succeed in developing mature disciples. We all desire to see people: living in freedom, experiencing intimacy with God, cultivating healthy relationships, impacting the lives of people around them, etc. The truth is, however, we are falling short. This is not to say that we aren’t seeing people touched. It’s just to say that we can do better in developing mature disciples.
What if we could provide a way for maturing disciples to grow in their understanding and experience of the Kingdom God… a place where there is a deeper level of teaching and a safe environment to learn how to “do the stuff” like hearing from God and praying for others… a place where we can be challenged and stretched and do it “together”?
The Discipleship Experiment:
Here’s something we are working on. How about a large group – small group experience? We would begin with a potluck meal (bring your favorite dish). Then we would move into a time of singing worship songs to the Lord. Who knows? Some nights we may just minister to the Lord or to one another if that is what he wants. We would normally then have a teaching moment to challenge and inspires us toward the kingdom lifestyle. Then we would break out into small groups for the rest of the evening dialing down to listen and respond to God.
Just a note about the small group dynamic… we will ask people to commit to a particular small group for a period of time so that closer relationships can be developed and people can receive care from one another within that group. Also, our hope is to identify people within our church community who have a “pastoral/shepherd’s” heart who will touch base with group members during the week.
One of the benefits of this process is that it can make things a little easier. Hopefully, this will help those new to our church community to enter a small group while giving others more time to hang out with friends as well as get to know more people. This will also build a sense of unity within our church family. We will be experiencing the same thing at the same time.
Below is some of the content that we will be exposed to:
Growing in an Intimate relationship with God -
- Grounded in his love
- Filled with His Spirit
- Learning how to hear and obey his voice
- Worshipping God
- Spending time with God in prayer and Bible reading
- Turning to God when tempted or having sinned
- Free from sins and unhealthy habits and mindsets
Developing Healthy Relationships with others –
- Loving other people
- Helping to foster a culture of honor
- Practice confrontation in a healthy manner
- Becoming self-controlled rather than controlling others
- Drawing the good out of others
- Reconciliation through confession and forgiveness
- Submission
Living with a sense of mission and purpose-
- Discovering role and gifts and ministry
- Inviting others into a relationship with Jesus
- Equipped and empowered to pray for the sick and oppressed and hurting
- Taking risks for the sake of the kingdom
- Helping the poor and disenfranchised
Living in Financial Freedom-
- Tithe 10%
- Save 10%
- Get out of debt
- Live on and give away what’s left
