Our Incorporation Of Others

Our Incorporation of Others

Matthew 28: 16-20

Week 1: Our Expectations of Others-Do we so quickly anticipate them to maintain our level of morality; living the way we live, acting the way we act? Or, do we prayerfully anticipate that they may come to know Christ as He has made Himself known to us.

Week 2: Christ’s Ministry to Others-Christ anticipated that she would receive the gift of living water; that the Holy Spirit would well up within her.

This Week: Our Incorporation of Others

There is an anticipation which we hold as a church; and which we share with all believers. Our anticipation is the growth of the Kingdom of God. Specifically for us though, it is the growth of Flour Bluff Church of the Nazarene as an agent of the Kingdom of God.

Kingdom of God- [What it is/ Reign of God]

*It did not originate with us. John 4:38

"I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored and you have entered into their labor."

Our desire is not to see the church as an institution grow, but rather to see it grow as an agent of God’s grace!

The greatest and grandest churches in the world are nothing in comparison to the temple for which God created His Spirit to dwell.

*To become the wellspring of living waters. Living waters that will pour out into the hearts and lives of the people we know and meet.

The question for us to answer is, "What will we have to do to see it grow?" When new people walk in the door, when new Christians come into our Church, our fellowship, what is required on our part to encourage and facilitate their active involvement in the ministries of the Church? Simply put what do we have to do to move them from visitor to small group leader, or the leader of a Bible study?

How do we take a Visitor/ New Christian-----and turn them into a

Treasurer

NWMS President

Prayer Partner

Lay Leader

Grounds Keeper

Song Leader

Children’s Pastor

What will it take to get them actively involved in the ministry of the church?

The First Issue of Making Disciples Is To Be A Disciple

Before you can ever lead someone to know Jesus Christ; before you can ever lead someone into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, you must first have that relationship with Christ yourself.

Hear what Christ says in John 15:4-5

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

*Example (To teach flight one must first have a knowledge of flying.)

You can’t teach discipleship unless you are a disciple. What does it mean to be a disciple?

Three Characteristics of Discipleship

1. A Disciple is committed to Prayer.

Isaiah 40:13-14 "Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has instructed him? Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?"

Romans 11:33-34 "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the LORD, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?"

Isaiah 40:28 "The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth...his understanding is unsearchable.

How many of us has never needed understanding or help? "I once knew all the answers to life, but they changed the questions." A true disciple understands that they do not have all the answers; they don’t even know all the questions. But, a true disciple knows who does!

2. A Disciple is committed to Scripture.

Proverbs 7:1-3 "My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live, keep my teachings as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.