This week I have seen God move his people in many ways. Coming together at homes for prayer had been a wonderful experience. Many expressed a wish to carry on with house church / small group meetings. The inspiration and effectiveness is beyond challenge.
What you are experiencing is the nostalgia for the lost art of disciple-making. For almost a century already the Christian church had been loosing the Legacy of Our Lord Jesus. Let me explain! In the Signs of the Times, May 10, 1883 Ellen White wrote “The Son of God, leaving the royal courts of Heaven, takes not his position upon David's throne; but from the swaying seat of a fisherman's boat, speaks the words of eternal wisdom which are to be immortalized in the minds of his disciples and given to the world as the legacy of God."
Jesus left God’s Legacy to this world, and that Legacy is twofold: the Gospel Message and the Discipleship method. Gospel proclamation and discipling as a method for nurturing and spiritual growth are inseparable. Either one is ineffective without the other. That’s why attempts to preach without discipling fail to convert people. That’s why a 30 night evangelistic series needs a strong infrastructure of discipleship groups where people would be cared for.
- Achievement comes when you do great things for and by yourself.
- Success is when others are empowered to do achieve together with you.
- Significance comes when you develop others to do great things for you.
- Legacy comes when people will do great things without you.
Christ’s final promise to be with us until the end of the world is conditional on our living His Legacy. The Great Commission spelled in Matthew 28:19-20 to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” – is a condition that comes before Christ’s promise: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age." We can be sure of His presence only when we are living His Legacy of discipling others. Christ’s Legacy is our Mission.
Imagine a bird that has one wing clipped. Can it fly? Or will it simply go in circles? The church has two wings: Message & the Method, the Gospel & Discipleship, the Large Group celebration & Small Group nurturing.
Pray for God to restore His Legacy in our midst. Pray for God to raise up leaders for house churches. Pray for God to heal our broken wings that we may soar on His Spirit, seeing His Vision, empowered by His Legacy.
Currently the North Church is training a group of 8 leaders for future Small Groups, that should be ready by January to take responsibilities for nurturing believers. Similar training process at the South Church will begin in January. It’s time for the spiritually mature to invest in nurturing others.
So, let me remind you, if we truly are in the Message, we should not ever miss the method - DISCIPLESHIP.
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