Session 3- Our Strategy

Scripture:  Matthew 4:18-25; Various

Subject: Strategy

Central Theme:  Our Disciple Making Strategy

Objective Statement:  We can make disciples of Jesus Christ faithfully by helping people identify and take steps on the discipleship pathway.
Keyword: Steps

Points:

Step 1- Crowd

Step 2- Congregation: Salvation & Baptism

Step 3- Community: Sunday School

Step 4- Core: Discipleship Groups

Step 5- Commission: You are not dismissed, you’re sent!

Introduction:

• Over the last two weeks I’ve begun to tell you about our co-mission vision.
• In week one, I talked about our problem. I made the case that God’s plan for helping to transform our nation, our state, our county, our nation, and our families is spiritual transformation through the Gospel.
• Last week, I talked about our mission. When you put the five great commission passages together, you get a cohesive sense of the mission of our church.
  • Salvation is an event. Jesus called it being born again.  We go from being lost to being found through repentance and faith in Jesus.
  • The Great commission is a process. We reach people for Jesus Christ by preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost.  When they believe we baptize them, and then teach them to obey everything that Jesus commanded them with the goal of helping everyone who is reached to join in that same mission.  This process needs to happen in every corner of the world, starting locally and going to the uttermost part of the earth.
• That mission is personal. We want that for everyone!  (For you, and for you, and for you…)
• We want you to be saved, baptized, obedient to all that Christ commanded (discipled) and sent out to serve and reach!
• Is that just for some elite group of really exceptional Christians?
• So, here is the million dollar question. How can we do that at Trinity Baptist Church?
• Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry gives us valuable insight into how we can do the Great Commission.
• Jesus said, “As the Father hath sent me, so send I you.” Not only was he saying that we are sent like He was, I believe he was saying, “I’m sending you to do what I just did with you!”
• So what did Jesus’s ministry look like?
• Not only were Jesus’ words inspired, I believe his methods are too.

Jesus ministered to distinct groups of people in different ways.

First, Jesus ministered to crowds of people.

• Let’s look at the passage of scripture that our dear Bro. Long read.
• Look at Matthew 4:23-25

Matthew 4:23-25

23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.  24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.  25 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

• That word “multitudes” is used in the gospels several times.
• Jesus ministered to multitudes at the Feeding the 5000- Matthew 14:13-14

13When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. 14And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

• Notice what it says about Jesus’s motivation in that. He was “moved with compassion towards them.”
• You see him doing it at someones house when the four friends brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus. The scripture says this in Luke 5:19-

19And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

• Do you remember the Woman with the issue of blood- Luke 8:43-48?
• I won’t take the time to read it, but Jesus perceived that the woman had touched him, and he asked, “Who touched me?”. Peter answered him saying something like- There is a multitude of people here Jesus.  Why would you ask that question?
• Jesus ministered to the crowds, and he was incredible at it, by the way.
• He taught better than anyone ever had. He taught as one who had authority.  He was the Word.
• He healed people authentically. He raised people from the dead.
• He did miracles! His first one was to save the reputation of a family by turning water to wine.
• He fed the crowds at least two times that we know of, and after he did they sought after him to try to make him a king.
• Jesus ministered to crowds, but that is not what he did with the majority of his time in ministry.
• Most of Jesus’ time in ministry was done with some specific people.

Second, Jesus ministered in a community of his disciples.

• Let’s go back to that same passage that we read already this morning in Matthew 4:18-22.

18And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 21And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 22And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

• Think about the timing of all of this.
• Before He ever preached to a crowd, he called some men to be his disciples.
• He did that first. I think that is interesting.
• It was common for a jewish rabbi to call people to be his disciples.
• Like the colleges of our day, the best colleges often try to get the most elite students, and the most elite students want to go to the best colleges.
• That’s what the pharisees were doing in Jesus’ day. They would interview prospective disciples and when one made the cut he would say to them, “Follow me”.
• But Jesus went to these fishermen, and tax collectors…people of low reputation, many with low means…and he said to them “Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.” They understood that to be a call to discipleship- a call to become his mentors—to go where he went, learn what he knew, and to do what he did.
• We even learn the process by which he recruited them.
• Mark 3:14 tells us…

13And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. 14And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 15and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

• So the whole time he was ministering to the multitudes, he was training at least those 12.
• Sometimes he trained them through teaching didactically.
• Sometimes he trained them by showing them what to do. They watched him and imitated him.
• Sometimes he trained them by sending them out and then coaching them when he heard and saw what they did.

Thirdly, Jesus ministered to a congregation.

• You know that the 12 weren’t the only followers or disciples of Jesus.
• In fact you know some of their names.
  • Mary, Martha, and Lazarus
  • Nicodemus
  • Joseph of Aramethia.
  • Mathias- In the end, after Jesus left they replaced Judas who had betrayed Jesus and committed suicide in the twelve. The qualification was that whoever replaced him had to have been a witness of Jesus’ entire ministry from his baptism through His resurrection.
• You know them by Jesus’ own word. He said to Peter that “on this rock I will build my church”.  That word for church is the word assembly.  Assembly of what?  Disciples!  Christ followers!  People who were not just there for the food, or the show, but people who were true followers and disciples- learners of Jesus.
• You know them by number.
• We know that at the end of Jesus’ minsistry there were 120 assembled together, and we know that after the ministry of that day there was added to the assembly about 3000 souls.

Lastly, Jesus ministered to a core group within his 12 disciples.

• 5 times in the Gospels, Peter, James and John are mentioned as a group.
  • At the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31)
  • At the raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mark 5:37)
  • On the mount of transfiguration with Jesus (Mark 9:2)
  • At the Olivet Discourse, when Jesus explained end-time events (Mark 13:3)
  • With Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, just prior to his trial and crucifixion (Matthew 26:37)
• We do not have many one-on-one conversations that Jesus had with his disciples because most of the teaching he did was done in the context of the group- the 12, the 120, or the multitude.
• At the end of his ministry, Jesus had set up these three to help lead the 12 in that early church. Those 12 helped lead the 120 that became 3,102.
• They could embrace the 3000 as converts and help them grow as disciples and help them embrace the mission because Jesus had equipped them for ministry and for leadership.
• 4 Groups
  • Crowd
  • Congregation
  • Community
  • Core

Why am I telling you this?

What if we embraced Jesus’s method of ministry as our method of ministry?

• If we want the blessings of the ministry that Jesus had, we must take the approach that Jesus took.
• That is, we should not expect Jesus’ blessing if we are not doing what he commanded.
• He had a disciple making ministry.
• He reached people, taught people, and sent people out to minister.
• But he did it through a very specific process.
• He helped people to take steps to follow Him.
• What if we modeled our ministry like Jesus’s ministry?
• This is what we are striving to do.
• If the Great commission is a process where we reach people for Jesus Christ by preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost…. If when they believe we baptize them, and then teach them to obey everything that Jesus commanded them with the goal of helping everyone who is reached to join in that same mission… And if this process needs to happen in every corner of the world, starting locally and going to the uttermost part of the earth…
• Then we must have a plan, a process, and a pathway for helping everyone be a part of that ministry.

We can make disciples of Jesus Christ faithfully by helping people identify and take their next step on the discipleship pathway.

• We have a discipleship pathway by which you can grow and be a part of that mission in our church.
• Those steps are based on those 4 groups that Jesus ministered to.
• The first group is those who have not taken a step. It’s the crowd.
• Jesus ministered to the crowd.
• The crowd we are called to minister most immediately is Hancock County, Ohio and the surrounding areas.
• According to the cencus beurau, there were 74,920 people in Hancock County in April of 2020.
• If you were to add up the people who regularly attend a Bible believing and preaching church in our area on a given Sunday, I believe you’d find that your opinion would be that we have a lot of people that need to be reached, and that we need more Bible preaching churches.
• We have a lot of people to reach.
• Some who are part of the crowd are starting to come on a Sunday morning to our services. Maybe you’re here today.  You wouldn’t describe yourself as a disciple of Jesus.  You’re not a believer.
• We have public services where everyone is welcome to come. We put our services on the internet for people to hear the message of the Gospel.
• Our desire is that people who are part of the multitude- the crowd- to become a part of our congregation.

Step 1 on our discipleship pathway is our Worship Service.

• There were many that were a part of the crowd that Jesus spoke to, that became a part of the assembly of disciples.
• The first step that we want people to take is going from the crowd to becoming a part of our congregation.
• How does that happen?
• We practice regenerate church membership which is what the Bible teaches.
• To be a member of our church you must have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, and followed him in baptism.
• This is what the great commission teaches, and this was the practice of that early church that had been directly discipled by Jesus.

Acts 2:37-38

37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

• We believe that every believer ought to have a body of believers- a congregation- that they are a part of in order to be obedient to Jesus and follow after Him as a disciple.
• To join our church you have to have been saved and been scripturally baptized in a church of like faith and practice.
• By joining the church you are partnering together with this local body and making yourself accountable to th
• ose in the church and outside of the church.
• You don’t have to be a church member to be saved, but to follow Jesus as a disciple means to be a part of a local body of baptized believers. Jesus loved and gave Himself for the assembly.
• So if you are a part of the crowd, we want you to be saved, and baptized and be a part of the congregation- the assembly.
• And when you assemble here with your church on the Lord’s day, you can grow in a way that people who are not a part of the congregation do not grow.
• We sing the Word of God. We read the Word of God.  We teach the Word of God.  We even have a time for you to respond to the Word of God as it is preached.  That is the point of this Sunday morning service.
• So the first step is to become a part of this congregation and attend this service as a priority of being a disciple.

Step 2 on our discipleship pathway is our Sunday School Classes.

• When you come to the worship service at our church you can experience all that is offered in this experience.
• You can worship God through the songs and the preaching of God’s Word.
• You can begin to know people that may sit around you or that you pass in the hallway.
• Often though, people who attend our services only do not get to know people in the church.
• Jesus called 12 to follow him.
• Jesus Christ taught the disciples all of these commands that are called the “one anothers”.
• As an example he told them to love one another.
• Hebrews teaches us to provoke one another to love and to good works.
• It is difficult to do this when we don’t know one another.
• So, we have created environments, much like the early church did, for people to get to know each other and love each other in Christian community with a focus on God’s Word.
• Our Sunday School classes meet each week an hour before our services.
• They are open groups, which means, they expect new people to come and be a part of them each week.
• Most of our classes are mixed gender- and most are between 10 and 20 people in attendance. Some are larger and some smaller but that gives you an idea.
• They are organized by age and demographics.
• In those classes you can get to know people attending the church that are like you.
• In those classes we have a 9 year plan to go through every book of the Bible. The Bible is taught with application to where you are at in life which is really helpful
• They do things together through the year, both formally and informally as ways to get to know each other.
• They are intentional in trying to reach people. You do not have to believe to belong.  You don’t even have to be a church member to go.
• You need people around you that know you and that you know- to be encouraged by and to encourage.
• They have done research on people who get involved in open groups in their church (Sunday School and Small Groups) and they have found that 75% of those who take this step are still in church 5 years later. 25% of those who only take the worship service step are still in church 5 years later.
• People that are connected in community in the church often grow at a different pace and depth than those who just attend the worship service.

Step 3 in our discipleship pathway is discipleship groups.

• The first two steps you may have already been aware of, but this step is somewhat new to our church.
• Jesus poured Himself into Peter, James and John and they were key leaders among the rest of the body.
• Jesus told them…follow me and I will make you to become fishers of men.
• Discipleship groups are different than Sunday School classes. While Sunday School classes are open- meaning they are ongoing, and expect new people every week, Discipleship groups are closed, and do not expect new people in each particular group once the group is started.
• They are small groups of 3-5 people that are of the same gender. Men with men. Women with women.
• They meet for the purpose of growing in discipleship through accountable relationships.
• In those groups they meet weekly for 12-18 months to learn to do 5 disciplines
  • Scripture Engagement
  • HEAR Journaling
  • Accountability- Who’s your one?
  • Prayer
  • Fellowship
• In the worship service and in the Sunday School people grow through encouragement, community, but especially through understanding the Word of God. In those environments they are being fed by those shepharding those groups.
• In the discipleship group, the goal is to help each person learn how to feed themselves so that later they can feed others.
• We help people get into the Word of God until the Word of God gets into them.
• Here is what people in our church are saying about discipleship groups:
  • “I’m becoming more bold in my witnessing.”
  • “This is an opportunity for spiritual transformation that every believer needs to be a part of”
  • “Everyone in the group truly cares for each other and encourages each other.”
  • “I love Jesus more and it shows. I’m growing up.”
• Now, when we do this process- this pathway- in our church, it is always with this step in mind.

Step 4 in our discipleship pathway is commission.

• Our aim is multiplication.
• Our aim is service and sending.
• The goal is just like Jesus reached, and then trained, and then sent…. We reach people, then teach people, then send people out to minister.
• People get trained in our services…Then they are not dismissed. They are sent.
• Disciples get trained in our Sunday school. Then they minister to each other and to the lost and saved who are becoming a part of our church.  The church ministers to each other as they grow in love and provoke one another to love and to good works.
• Discipleship groups multiply so that those who have learned to walk with the Lord and evangelize, and pray help others to do that as they were taught and held accountable to do.
• As people grow in the Lord they get a heart for the lost. I’m watching it happen in our church.
• Believers reach unbelievers.
• Discipleship groups multiply discipleship groups and great commission leaders.
• Sunday School classes help send people to start new groups to do new ministry.
• Churches start churches by sending leaders to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth as God calls people who have been discipled and equipped.
• And where are all these people sent to….
• They are sent back to the crowd. Back to the multitude… That 74,920 people in Hancock county…, the 11.78 million people in Ohio, the 331.9 million people in our Nation, and the 7.88 billion people on our planet.
• So that’s our pathway:
• So, what’s your next step?