Dear Family and Friends of
CCC:
I want to tell you about the
spiritual journey the elders have taken this year and what we believe God has
for us as a body. This journey grew out
of our need for effective discipleship in our church. We have seen evidence of God’s grace in our church–
individuals coming to faith and lives being transformed but we have also seen individuals
who were spiritually stagnant and falling away from the Lord and from our body. As we considered the reasons, it pointed back
to this lack of discipleship.
We began searching for churches
that were actually multiplying disciples and had processes for evaluating spiritual
growth. During this time, one of my
magazine subscriptions, Missions Frontiers, dedicated an entire issue to the topic! It compared the way missionaries build the
church by discipling others with the way American churches build the church by
running programs. One article in
particular by a retired missionary, Avery Willis, caught my attention. He helped a Church in Idaho develop a process for relational
discipleship through small groups.
We read the book together and
were excited about its simple and practical approach to discipleship and how well
it aligned with our mission of transforming lives by winning people to Jesus
Christ, training them to be followers of Christ, and sending them out for local
and global impact. Here is our plan for
implementing this model in our body:
Training
A number of individuals are
going to the Real Life Ministries’ training course; Immersion One this fall and
Immersion Two sometime next year. Karen and
I are going this Saturday to Immersion One; another group is going in November. Please pray for us!
I am also inviting everyone to a monthly potluck
and training to equip as many as possible with the practical skills that I
glean from Immersion One and my years of discipling others. This
training starts September 25th
after church and is open to anyone, but especially those involved in
and leading life groups. The
registration deadline is Wednesday, September 21st. Please bring a dish to pass.
Teaching
I want everyone to
understand and embrace this process for life transformation so beginning October 2, I will be doing a
sermon series on discipleship called , Win. Train. Send. I will be using the Real Life Ministry Training
Manual as a guide for this series. The manuals will be for sale ($13) as a handbook
to the series. Each weekly
chapter is divided into five daily segments that will take about thirty minutes
for reflection and application. It is a great
resource for practically applying the principles to your life.
Life Groups
To reinforce the truths from
the series, we are asking each Life
Group to follow the series in your group, using the Real Life Ministry Training
Manual for your group discussion.
Discussion questions are provided. I believe that a community wide focus will
help us embrace this discipleship model as a community. Make
it a priority to get involved with a Life Group for this twelve week series. You will never be the same! If you are interested in leading a Life Group
call me, 235.8291.
I am inviting you to join
us in this journey as a church family.
Be Excited. Expect a Change. Make a Difference.
Pastor David
David and Karen, I am so glad y'all came down to the South to share your lives with us at Immersion. I was so encouraged by your desire to make disciples in Homer. I know God is going to use you and bless your community tremendously as you start to implement what you have learned. I'll certainly be praying for you both in weeks to come. Pastor James, Spartanburg SC
ReplyDeleteJames, thanks for the encouragement! It was a delight to spend time with you and the rest of our small group. I will be praying for you as you seek to make a change in the lives of individuals. I can identify with your frustration running an organization and the way that limits your impact for the kingdom, especially individuals. Remember it is not a total dichotomy, and that in the midst of running programs and rubbing shoulders with people's, is where disciples can be made! Some are called to leave those situations and some are not. I will pray for Gods leading in your life (Eph 2:10). If you have not read Radical Together it may be a great read for your leadership team. It touches on these very issues.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks fo Rhys post; I realized I had not pasted the whole document into the blog! I was missing two thirds of my plan!
ReplyDelete