D12 -Church Biology Series

Series 12 in 2012 --- Establishing 12 spiritual mile markers this year!

Review of the 2012 so far:

Our 3 rocks signify the following:

January 2012 – 12 meals, 12 minutes of prayer for our 21 day time of prayer and fasting.

February 2012 – 12 minutes of Bible reading a day and you can read the Bible through in a year.

March 2012 – 12 people, 12 ways to invite someone to church.

Re-highlight the pens and the cards to continue inviting people out to church.

Sermon Title: D12 and Church Biology

1 person, 12 meetings this year & or 12 unsaved new connections for the purpose of

“Discipleship”

Our new rock symbolizes our new spiritual mile marker for this month which is:

April 2012 – 1 person - 1 time a month - 12 meetings this year for the purpose of discipleship and or make 12 new connections with unsaved people this year for the purpose of future discipleship.

Introduction:

The subject of discipleship: The missing ingredient!

I first want to make an observation about the church in America as a whole and how I think they are doing with this spiritual mile marker – I think the greatest failure of the church today in America is in this area of discipleship. The church has failed to raise up new disciples and the result of this failure is seen within our societies moral fabric today and spiritual immaturity.

Highlight:

• Fox News: Report on the State of The Bible

• Barna: Trends reports

Quote – thought: Being a disciple encompasses more than just asking Christ in, and goes far beyond baptism. Our conversion, our acceptance of Christ as Savior, our election, is the beginning, the entrance, into the faith and Christian life. It is not the only act of being a Christian! It would be like joining a club, but never venturing into the club. Baptism is initiation and public dedication. It is to be the door through which we go in our walk of faith, as is also our profession and testimony of our faith publicly. It does not stop there! It starts there! http://70030.netministry.com/articles_view.asp?articleid=31693&columnid=3844

Definition of a Disciple - from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciple_(Christianity): A disciple is a pupil of a teacher or an apprentice to a master craftsman. A disciple is one who learns from a teacher or for another and they are students.

But discipleship is more than just a teacher student relationship it is a mentoring relationship for the purpose of helping another person grow and mature in the faith of Jesus. Discipleship is about a relationship with another where you speak into their lives and be there as a guide for the other person in the spiritual realm of life.

Video Illustration: Mentoring others by BluefishTV.

Listen to these following thoughts on discipleship:

Quote: Discipleship is the process of learning about the teachings of another, internalizing them and then acting upon them... (So) What Makes Christian Discipleship Different?...

Since you want to be a Christian disciple you are a student of the teachings of Jesus. But in Christianity a lot of the focus is also on following Christ’s teachings, not just learning them. This is a very important distinction... a student is someone who just learns theories while a follower is someone who learns and then does. To be a disciple of Jesus you have to learn what Jesus taught. But more importantly you have to do what He taught. That is how you can determine if you have really committed your life to Christ, you start taking seriously His commands and actually doing them. And once you have learned Christ’s teachings, you have to pass them on to others. You have to become a discipler. From Read more: http://www.christian-discipleship.com/christian-discipleship/chrisitan-discipleship-definition.html#ixzz1sOwLACdi

Quote: Biblical discipleship is a model of how Christians could and should live their lives in reflection to Jesus’ example and His mission. It involves not only a personal faith with God, but sharing that faith with other people, and building up more disciples.

Thesis: Jesus style discipleship focuses on obeying and applying His teachings and commands to our lives and this includes being willing to pick up our own cross for the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus also made it clear that we are responsible as His disciples to go develop more disciples for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 28:18-20:

18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Romans 12: 1-21: (The process of becoming a disciple and what a disciple does)