God is so faithful.
Since my last blog post on discipleship, the Lord has done so much in our group. Not only have we seen fruit from the preaching that my brothers have been doing and have had the chance to disciple some new believers, but our small group has quickly become the family of Christ knit together in love that I have longed for for years.
One of the things we were trying to accomplish in this group was getting away from agendas and moving more towards living a Spirit-filled life together without a plan or a time limit.
We started doing dinners together on Thursday nights. One of the girls thought it would be a good idea to do communion while we were together, so...now, each week, we go from house to house breaking bread together.
As the Lord began to grow this group and grow this vision, He happened to reveal something great to me. I was studying the book of Acts for a few weeks and right after this process began with our group, I read this:
"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." Acts 2:42-47
For the first time it felt like I had a visual of what this is supposed to look like. Our group IS devoting itself to teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer. Our group DOES have one mind. Our group IS taking our meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. And the Lord IS adding to our number. Wow, what a beautiful thing! The body of Christ is amazing.
I feel so blessed to be a part of this move of God. I have been looking for this kind of fellowship for so long. God is faithful to provide. I am greatly encouraged by my brothers and sisters here.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Discipleship, what's that?
Have you ever been discipled?
I know I haven't...and it's rare that I find someone who has.
This should be alarming since the last thing Christ said to us before he ascended was "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..."
We need to know what discipleship is if we call ourselves disciples of Christ.
My small group has been evangelizing lately. Some of the brothers in my group, I believe, are anointed preachers and God is using them mightily. A few men have been saved through the preaching of one of these brothers. Because of this, and the fact that our group feels led to evangelize more often, we were forced to talk about what might happen if the Lord brings people into the Kingdom through our small group.
So, as we talked about what it means to make disciples we came to some conclusions:
-We are called to make disciples, not tell someone about Jesus and toss them into the pond to learn to swim on their own. Therefore, if YOU bring someone to Christ, then YOU are responsible for "teaching them to observe ALL that Christ commanded"--not the church you suggest to them.
-Discipleship means sacrifice. Sacrifice of time, comfort, and ultimately, your life. If we are called to disciple people, we must do life with them...not just Bible study once a week.
-It means being selfless always. It means counting others better than ourselves. We should be doing this daily anyway.
-It means living godly lives for others to see. "Teaching them to observe all that I commanded..." Observe. That means they are watching our every move. We are to do what Christ has commanded. James 1: 22 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
As another brother said last night, and I have often thought, although I do not know what it is like to be discipled, I will try my best to give them what I never had and follow the command of Christ in doing so.
I challenge you, learn to disciple...I plan to start learning right now.
I know I haven't...and it's rare that I find someone who has.
This should be alarming since the last thing Christ said to us before he ascended was "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..."
We need to know what discipleship is if we call ourselves disciples of Christ.
My small group has been evangelizing lately. Some of the brothers in my group, I believe, are anointed preachers and God is using them mightily. A few men have been saved through the preaching of one of these brothers. Because of this, and the fact that our group feels led to evangelize more often, we were forced to talk about what might happen if the Lord brings people into the Kingdom through our small group.
So, as we talked about what it means to make disciples we came to some conclusions:
-We are called to make disciples, not tell someone about Jesus and toss them into the pond to learn to swim on their own. Therefore, if YOU bring someone to Christ, then YOU are responsible for "teaching them to observe ALL that Christ commanded"--not the church you suggest to them.
-Discipleship means sacrifice. Sacrifice of time, comfort, and ultimately, your life. If we are called to disciple people, we must do life with them...not just Bible study once a week.
-It means being selfless always. It means counting others better than ourselves. We should be doing this daily anyway.
-It means living godly lives for others to see. "Teaching them to observe all that I commanded..." Observe. That means they are watching our every move. We are to do what Christ has commanded. James 1: 22 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
As another brother said last night, and I have often thought, although I do not know what it is like to be discipled, I will try my best to give them what I never had and follow the command of Christ in doing so.
I challenge you, learn to disciple...I plan to start learning right now.
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