Disciple Making
If we can’t frame our definitions and disciplines on Scripture, then we can’t have confidence in our work.
IX Marks
Saturday night we got back to four tired kiddos as tired parents. Sunday was coming fast, but we were full! Full of encouragement, tools, zeal, and love. Though it may be self-serving, I was especially delighted that I finally got to bring Rachel to a IX Marks conference. Not that she needed much convincing. We also had Linda and Matt with us which officially brought us up from chatter to a ruckus. Don’t worry, I’ll have more photos at the end.
The mark of a healthy church that we focused on this year was discipleship, or disciple-making. Starting Friday night and into Saturday late afternoon we examined what God’s Word has to say on the matter.
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
Beginning in Matthew 28, a disciple was defined by Christ as someone who submits, belongs, and obeys. They submit to King Jesus as their Lord and Savior, the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth. They belong to His people He rules across all the nations in local congregations. They obey what He has instructed them in.
This means, we shouldn’t have nearly as much difficulty identifying Jesus’ disciples as we often do. Do they submit to Christ? Do they belong to His people? Do they obey? None of which they do perfectly, but truly.
Further it was hammered all weekend that the work of making disciples is the work Christ has commanded His church to do together and as individuals. This is our job He gave us before He ascended. Curious about what you’re supposed to be doing before you meet the Lord? What you should be doing tomorrow? Make disciples.
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 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. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”
Hebrews 3:12-14
While it can seem a daunting task, both awkward and intimidating (I don’t know enough to disciple!), Scripture lays a heavy burden on us to engage with this work faithfully. Hebrews tells us, if the day ends in “y’, then you need to be exhorting one another! Calling each other upward! Reminding each other to live coram deo, before the face of God! And what’s at stake? The very preservation of our faith. Sin is worse than we think it is and we are worse at guarding against it than we think we are. We need each other to rebuke and encourage us so that sin doesn’t take hold and shipwreck our faith. In the end, nobody will care about who won what sports ball game. We will care about how we finished the race. So how do we do it?
We personally, regularly, and deliberately help others to grow in Christ-likeness.
A Christian is obedient to Christ’s command when they are doing this with another Christian. A church is healthy and mature when their congregation is faithfully engaging in this work. Young or old, everyone is upstream and downstream from someone. Find someone who is faithful, available, and teachable and do these simple things for an hour a week or every two weeks:
Pray
Read Scripture (an easy pick is Sunday’s sermon text)
Discuss it (and the sermon)
Discuss personal spiritual condition
Commit to clinging to Christ together
Pray
Any granular details will work themselves out, and both parties will grow the more they engage in discipleship. Check out the books below for further resources on the topic.
Parenting Conference
This upcoming weekend is the parenting conference put on by Avodah Therapy and Hope in the Grove in Cottage Grove: Conversations on Parenting. It’s going to be an encouraging time for parents to be equipped for the hard work of parenting. Parenting, after all, is the first place children ought to be evangelized and the primary place they are discipled. If you’re a parent you have baked-in disciple making opportunities in your own home! Are there any more precious people than our children whom we should disciple? Is there any weightier a burden than discipling children?
Some topics included this year are:
Wounds and wounding
Family discipleship
The dangers of technology (mine)
Ai
I assure you, there’s nothing happening that’s important enough to miss this. I even checked your calendars for you. Just click the link above and register. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Oh, and if your kids are grown and you think this doesn’t apply I regret to inform you it does not absolve you. If you’re in a church, you’re around kids and have a duty to disciple them as the Lord provides opportunity and to support parents. You will be blessed by and benefit from this time. Plus we’re feeding you!
Mercy
Sunday marked the dramatic conclusion to our journey with Jonah, the petulant prophet. It’s been a surprisingly thrilling book to preach through that has offered us encouragement, correction, and a window into the extravagant mercy of our God. Click below to watch it.
Prayer Requests
Pray for our parenting conference this weekend. Parenting is probably the hardest job in the world. It’s at least the most important. Any parent can confirm, we need all the help we can get. We want this time to be of maximum benefit for churches and families.
Pray for the churches who were present at the IX Marks conference. That as they return to their own churches they will be able to put into practice what they learned with patience, wisdom, and zeal.
Please continue to pray for the church plant. We are 5 months away from planting (Lord willing). There are still plenty of unanswered questions, twists, and turns ahead of us. We are eager to see the Lord continue to show up in unexpected ways.
