DISCIPLESHIP COLLECTIVE 2021

In a book from InterVarsity Press called “Canoeing the Mountains,” Tod Bolsinger writes to encourage Christian Leaders to adjust to the changing times. His overarching example is the Commission of Lewis & Clark and the Corp of Discovery by president Andrew Jackson.

They were to explore the Louisiana Purchase and forge a new path to the Pacific Ocean, hopefully discovering the NW Passage.

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Meriwether Lewis: “The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River, & such principal stream of it, as by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean . . . may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce.”—Bolsinger, Tod E. . Canoeing the Mountains (p. 49). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Assumed the GEOGRAPHY OF THE WEST was a mirror image of that of the EAST

Just pick up the canoes and carry them over a gentle hill and place them into the headwaters of the Columbia River and coast out to the Pacific ocean.

Absolutely mistaken! > Rocky Mountains stretched out before them as far as the eye could see

As one person in the party said, “the most terrible mountains I ever beheld.”

“As he stepped off the map into uncharted territory, Meriwether Lewis discovered that what was in front of him was nothing like what was behind him, and that what had brought him to this point in the journey would take him no farther. Lewis faced a daunting decision: What would he do now? Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery were looking for a water route, but now they had run out of water. How do you canoe over mountains?”—Bolsinger, Tod E. . Canoeing the Mountains (p. 34). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Leading off the map > Learn new skills

Canoe life vs. Mountaineer life

It was an adventure or die moment

Today, the world in front of you is nothing like the world behind you

God’s people have always excelled in these situations!

Exodus hemmed in at Red Sea

David & Goliath

Paul making disciples from prison

Our KING has commissioned us w/ a Greater Commission!

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

OBSTACLES WE FACE TODAY

Massive Cultural Shift

Place of Church in our culture has changed dramatically

Our starting point used to be, “come back to Jesus”

Now our starting point is, “there is a Creator”

COVID World

Cancel Culture & Censorship

Don’t become a VICTIM, become VICTORIOUS

SOME QUESTIONS:

What are FORMS that you LOVE because it worked in the past in your life?

What are the ASSUMPTIONS we have made about MINISTRY TODAY that are absolutely wrong?

What are the NEW OBSTACLES hindering the church today?

GREAT COMMISSION

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

ONE MAIN VERB

make disciples [main verb] > Of all nations

TWO PROMISES to give confidence in Jesus

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age

THREE PRESENT PARTICIPLES = form of a verb ending in “ing”; continuous tense

Go therefore [literally, “going”]

Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you

Make disciples is main ACTION of our commission

As you are GOING

As you are BAPTIZING

As you are TEACHING TO OBEY Jesus

Principle of FIRST MENTION

LAYS A FOUNDATION of understanding for a word or concept throughout the Bible

First mention of DISCIPLESHIP

Mark 1:17 ESV

And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

Follow Jesus: We are not making followers of ourselves, men, or movements.

We make it our aim and teach others to HEAR, OBEY, and LOVE Jesus.

Fish for people: Jesus makes us BECOME something!

Jesus is the One Who MAKES us into fishers of men when we follow Him.

You cannot follow Jesus fully without Jesus making you a FISHER.

Working on the mission statement lately:

Faithful to Scripture

Simple (less than 8 words)

Repeatable & Rememberable

Aggressive and efficient

Small (each person) and Large (whole church

“MAKING DISCIPLES INTO DISCIPLE-MAKERS EVERYWHERE”

How do we do this in today’s WORLD IN THE USA?

How do we do this with the church’s CURRENT MENTALITY?

Two fronts:

Discipleship Groups > Sign up in church app or website > New messaging

GO5 Groups > www.groupsoffive.com

I. HOW DISCIPLES ARE MADE

What is our mission statement?

“MAKING DISCIPLES INTO DISCIPLE-MAKERS EVERYWHERE”

God COMMANDED us to make disciples, but He said He would build His church!

Matthew 16:18 “...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

“If you build a church, you don’t necessarily end up with disciples. If you make disciples, you always end up with the church.”

NOW at Calvary—Miracle of church growing & missions

God is working > We join Him in His work

1) WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT—A.W. Tozer once said, “If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of this world, much of what the church is doing would go right on, and nobody would know the difference.”

Jesus wouldn’t let the apostles begin w/ out Holy Spirit in Acts 2 > WHY?

Prerequisite before attempting to making disciples

Acts 1:4–5 ESV

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Spirit CONVICTS hearts

Spirit GIVES LIFE

*WE ARE NOT THE SUPERHERO > we are just the SIDEKICK

Robin of the 1960’s Batman TV Series > Actor Burt Ward delivered the exclamations in a nasal voice—"Holy... Batman, what do we do now?”

Following from comprehensive list of 368 "Holy..." exclamations which were uttered in the 1960s TV series:

Holy Bouncing Boiler Plate

Holy Whiskers

Holy Contributing to the Delinquency of Minors

Holy Guacamole

Holy Known Unknown Flying Objects

Holy Interplanetary Yardstick

You are like a sailboat and the Holy Spirit is like the wind > Rely upon on the Holy Spirit for two important things—1) POWER 2) DIRECTION:

1—POWER

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

CREATIVE POWER

Genesis 1:2 ESV

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Holy Spirit at NEW CREATION (Born of the Spirit, Born from Above, Born Again)

John 3:5–8 ESV

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2—DIRECTION

Acts 8:29–31 ESV

And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Acts 16:6–10 ESV

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

How do we rely on the Power of the Holy Spirit?

*I don’t have the energy I used to, so I need God’s help

Trusting God is already at work in hearts

Looking for those God is working in!

2) WITH PRAYER—*My list of 5 in HS

Make a list of 5 unbelievers in your life

Context of pray for anything in my Name

John 14:12–14 ESV

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

3) WITH THE WORD—Our only curriculum

Trust HS to speak through Word

Ephesians 6:17 ESV

and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

1 Peter 1:23 ESV

since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

*Men meeting w/ coworkers to examine Scriptures

4) NURTURING GROWTH OF FRUIT—Only outward sign of NEW CREATION

Nurture for fruit to grow—Can’t force fruit

Obedience vs. Knowledge—Bad fruit: *Fruit of Knowledge of Good & Evil

Good fruit:

LOVE

Galatians 5:6 ESV

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

CHRISTLIKENESS

Romans 8:29 ESV

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

MATURING IN MINISTRY

MULTIPLICATION IN MINISTRY

II. WHO WE SHOULD MAKE INTO DISCIPLES

1) Where God has already placed you—Family, friends, work, school, neighborhoods

2) People you don’t know in your community—cafes, clubs/hobbies, sports, gyms

3) Nations to the ends of the earth

*Ane's Story—Unreached people

Prayer & support missionaries: David Grisanti, Brandon Bee, Kaiti VanBuskirk, Kevin Beckner, Katie Dewhirst, Becky Ricks

Youth team w/ Basque at camp

Short term mission trips

Business as missions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Why is the Holy Spirit a prerequisite to discipleship?

Share one personal story in which you have seen the Holy Spirit at work in discipleship.