Go: Stage three of discipleship program
Updated: Mar 11, 2022
What to go through for this stage...
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In this stage we are going to be focusing on how we actually interact with the only two groups of people that exist in this world! These two groups are sinners and christians… so how do we talk to these people in a way that best glorifies God and advances his kingdom! Matthew 6:10, ‘your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,’ what is God’s will for the conversations that we have with people who are both saved and unsaved.
Once we have recognised, once we have equipped ourselves, our focus should be to go out into all nations, that means every environment or context that God has placed us in; for example… education, employment, sport, wherever it is, our focus is how we should be both salt and light!
Matthew 5, ‘let our light shine before men so that they may see our good works and glorify our father in heaven.’ Our lives, like the existence of Israel in the Old Testament, is to be a public declaratory witness that demonstrates a life transformed by the gospel.
Sinners, if people don't know Jesus, then our focus should be to bring them to know Jesus the same way we have come to know an intimate relationship with Jesus. So that is our primary focus in every conversation. How can I love this person with everything that I have? I can preach the gospel to them. Now the expression and how you preach the gospel will be different for different relationships we have; some will require more depth, or a building up of a relationship, or, perhaps like Paul and the disciples we will have to meet new people and simply go for it!
If you look at the video on our channel that was done on evangelism, this will give 9 steps that will help with how to preach the gospel on a practical level… for example: understanding the gospel, the mission, the equipping, the battlefield, prayer, the bridge, depth, reflect and pray again! (WATCH IN OWN TIME).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMIqXZjkaxM&t=1357s
Evangelism doesn’t just come from words and preaching the gospel in that way, often the most poignant and effective witness comes from the actual living out of the gospel! Our actions and the way that we live should make others thirst for God! Can we truly say that our lives are all out for God, that we are living for God in every aspect of life and are full heartedly obeying all that God has commanded?
In Acts 1:8, it says, ‘but you will receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.’
/Verses that will allow our lives to be a public demonstration of Jesus:
/ ‘Do everything without complaining’.
/’ In everything give thanks to the Lord’.
/’Do everything enthusiastically for the Lord’.
/’Do nothing out of selfish ambition.’
When deciding how we are living our lives in each context, if we are operating in the above verses and everything else we have looked at, our lives will be so different and they will beckon questions about why we live the way we do.
What about the other group, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, how do we treat them! Read Ephesians 4! Look at how it tells us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, ‘with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.’ We must always humble ourselves and place other people in a position of importance (should be careful with this), we must always be gentle, not looking to coercively say what our thoughts and opinions are! We must always be careful with being hasty with our words and actions, we should never let other people's words or actions dictate our own, we should take our time in thinking about how we can respond, this will require patience.
We must always desire to preserve unity! Jesus said, ‘I pray that just as me and the father our one, I pray that you will be one,’ we should strive to be unified with every brother and sister in Christ! Regardless of whether or not our views differ, even to the point where there is an emotional pinch.
We should always operate in the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
A framework that can be used to be a witness to both sinners and christians is…
/ ‘Whatever is true, pure, just and commendable think about these things’
/Are you operating in the fruits of the spirit?
/Romans 14, ‘what doesn’t proceed from faith is sin,’ and ‘everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.’ (1 Corinthians 10).
/Can you stand before God innocent, knowing that you are acting and speaking in a way that is totally obedient to God’s word, Psalm 26, Psalm 43, ‘search me oh lord and see if there is any offensive way in me.’
Francis Chan said, ‘something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers.’
Romans 12- Don’t conform.
“BE VERBS! PUTTING INTO PRACTICE WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED! ”
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NOW EVERYTHING HAS BEEN LOOKED AT IN DETAIL, LET YOUR MENTEE LEAD YOU IN A SESSION, WHEREBY THEY WILL TAKE YOU THROUGH THE ‘GO STAGE.’
GO
WILDFIRE DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM