Membership to Discipleship. Mid Week Instruction Reid Temple AME Church Pastor Washington

Transcription

1 Membership to Discipleship Mid Week Instruction Reid Temple AME Church Pastor Washington

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3 The Great Commission Matthew 28:19 commands us to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize then in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. This is a call to make disciples, it is not a call to make members. Membership and discipleship are different undertakings and require different means to acquire the desire end. Membership involves understanding the history, polity and Discipline set forth in the local congregation. Membership involves making a decision to abide by the rules and policies of that congregation. In the AME church there are a series of questions that are asked to the members before they are read into full membership.

4 Receiving Members into Full Membership 1. Do you here in the presence of God and this congregation renew the solemn promise contained in the Baptismal Covenant, ratifying and confirming the same and acknowledging yourself bound faithfully to observe and keep the covenant and all things contained therein? 2. Do you have saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? 3. Do you possess friendly feelings toward all the members of the Church? 4. Do you believe in the Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures as set forth in the Articles of Religion of the African Methodist Episcopal Church? 5. Will you be governed by the Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church hold sacred the ordinances of God and try as much as possible to promote the welfare of fellow members and the advancement of the kingdom of God. 6. Will you give of your time, talent and money for the support of the Gospel, Church, poor and various ministries of the Church?

5 Baptism Covenant Parents or guardians who present children for baptism are expected to use all diligence in bringing them up in the conformity with the Word of God. It shall be the responsibility of the minister to exhort all parents or guardians to dedicate their children to the Lord in baptism as early as convenient. Prior to the baptism, the minister shall also instruct the parents or guardians regarding the vows they are to keep according to this sacrament.

6 Criteria for Disciples? The Church didn t possess criteria for doing what the Great Commission commanded. The church did have criteria for membership but discipleship was not mentioned. It could be assumed that when you become a member of the local church through affirmation of the 6 questions, you become at the same time a disciple of Jesus Christ. Membership process requires filling out an information sheet, renewing the solemn promise of the baptism covenant, renouncing the devil and all his works, the vail pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the flesh, Knowing the Apostles creed, doctrine of the holy scriptures set forth in the Articles of religion, the Discipline of the AME Church

7 Nurturing and Discipleship All persons coming to the church with a desire to flee from the wrath to come, but not exercising saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ may be received for nurturing and discipleship training as a new member for a period of 90 days. During this time they will be placed under the supervision of a class leader. They shall be instructed in the Bible and current edition of the Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, particularly our doctrine, organizational structure, and local membership. At the expiration of the nurturing and discipleship training period based upon the person s profession of his or her covenant relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and on the recommendation of the class leader, he or she may be admitted into full membership. (2012 Discipline)

8 Jesus Ministry When Jesus began His ministry He called some individuals to follow Him. Jesus gave them the opportunity to watch and learn from him. Discipleship has to do with learning, and tutoring and passing on wisdom from the revelation of God s word as well as understanding the authority you have in Christ and the responsibility you have as a Christian. With discipleship there is a cross and a cost and self denial which is about as popular as a root canal. So the question becomes are we making members or are we making disciples?

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10 Members or Disciples? This is a critical matter because in our culture, membership often is connected with entitlement. We have membership in golf clubs, fitness clubs, grocery store clubs, book clubs, video clubs, and we join because of the benefits. In membership we fill out some basic information, pay a fee, namely dues and we are in. We think of it as a good deal or a symbol of success. As members we have rights and privileges and receive preferential treatment and praise but membership doesn t go anywhere. It is more about having arrived than it is a journey. A focus on membership alone can be a deadly idea because those who have arrived don t need to grow or go.

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12 Church Membership Church membership by itself promotes spiritual immaturity because those who are now official members sense they have arrived. Members are free to learn as much or as little as they desire, to be involved or inactive as they prefer, to give as much or as little as they find convenient and to attend as frequently or infrequently as they find helpful. The local congregation becomes a spiritual pit stop. The results are members who know what it means to be a member in the institution and how to meet their needs but don t how to become disciples.

13 Personalized Spirituality Membership promotes a kind of personalized spirituality that reflects the needs of our culture but not the design of the body of Christ the Church. Whereas membership becomes important, discipleship can not remain optional. We are producing a generation of religious consumers who want to know what the Church is doing for me, instead of committed disciples who ask, what can we do for the Lord. There is a vacuum that exist between membership and discipleship and while the church may talk about discipleship we don t systematically or institutionally teach discipleship.

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15 Tradition Traditionally, every Sunday we extend an invitation that says, the door of the Church is open. But we don t go far enough to keep the door open so members can become transformed redeemed, committed and biblically trained to become disciples. The door must be open to methods and strategies that are intentional and deliberate that raise up and produce prophetic disciples who go out and bring change to the world that has gone mad. It is no secret that many of our local congregations are reporting no conversion and fewer and fewer accessions and our overall membership is presently in a state of decline. No conversions, no accession should signal an alarm to mobilize the membership to facilitate a new capacity to thrive.

16 Disciple Making Church A healthy discipleship church understands the proper relationship between qualitative increase which is the case of the church that equates to spiritual maturity and quantitative increase which means both numerical and financial growth. Rather than commit to discipleship, most members just date the Church and refuse to commit to long term relationships. We should never forget that God is the God of relationship and God is always doing something cosmically significant and locally specific when it comes to relationships in the local church. Discipleship is a process of connecting the people to meaningful relationship to the extent they want to help and invest in the kingdom enterprise of Jesus Christ.

17 Membership Motives Frequently, I m asked about the membership and I m never really clear about the motive. There is such thing as preacher mathematics. People will ask you how many members but our focus should never be on members, Jesus never counted members but he was concerned about making disciples. Jesus said follow me, not as a member because he was interest in developing the people into disciples. That was the first step in discipleship it is separation from the familiar to grow in relationship with Christ. Jesus extended himself to his followers more than the multitude this was because he mentored and trained them. Finally Jesus told them to go to back and teach them to become disciples.

18 Intentional Implementation an Integration Reid Temple programmatically and strategically moves persons from membership to discipleship. Discipleship leadership is key to the continued growth of the Church. We must become involved in the process of discipleship making. Disciples who complete the various course levels and Boot Camp are recognized for their progress and growth. Even in kindergarten/elementary or high school records of every child are maintained about their performance in the exams but also their growth and development of character and personality.

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20 Jesus IDEA I INSTRUCTION D DEMONSTRATION E EXECUTION A - ASSESS

21 Path toward Discipleship Follower: has completed the membership process of entering New Members orientation, read into full membership, taken the right hand of fellowship. Fellow: recognizes that he/she has been born again (Jn 3:6-7) makes the decision to purposely take Jesus seriously. Fisher of Men maturing in attitude and action. Fishers of Men have a deepening commitment to learning and serving because they recognize that God has entrusted them with a divine assignment to advance the vision and the message. Disciple steadfast and obedient to the word of God, they reflect the love of Christ in their attitude and actions towards others under all circumstances.

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23 Followers Followers go beyond just being a member whose name is on the church roll. Followers acknowledge being born again and decide to take Jesus seriously. They accept that salvation is something only God can do and salvation is adoption into the family of God. Followers understand that salvation is a process and accepting Jesus as our guide and makes every effort to believe His words, trust his wisdom and do His will with the aid of the Holy Spirit. Mt.16:24 Function: learn how to follow. Deny personal desires and obey Jesus, pick up cross daily. Acknowledge membership is not enough. Seek to know what an be done for the Lord

24 Expectations and Actions Expectations: become a part of a Reid Temple Ministry to serve God and others in the larger community. Regularly attend bible study to pay closer attention to Jesus works and words. Commit to advancing the Kingdom of God. Love Jesus and commit to an intentional spiritual relationship that grows to love the preaching and teaching of the word of God the Holy Spirit and the family of God. Acknowledge the need to learn more with Jesus as the Master Teacher and the bible as the training manual Actions: grow in spiritual discipline, engage in bible study, identify a mentor to gain wisdom and revelation of God s word. Commit to attend church school, M2D, foundation of faith, CEI, identify spiritual gifts by taking on line gift inventory, learn the fruit of the Spirit be available for service in the Church and community.

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26 Fellow Fellow have moved beyond being a pew member and actively participate in the life of the Church. Fellows take responsibility to grow in fellowship and learn with other believers to advance the kingdom of God through ministry. Demonstrate commitment to joint spiritual partnership with regular prayer and acts of worship. Function: Focus on deepening a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Let your life shine with clear evidence of service in ministry. Work towards being active and effective in ministry with other believers.

27 Expectations and Actions Expectations: maintain consistent fellowship with God through Jesus Christ by praying and reading the bible. Complete steps to enter into full membership at Reid Temple AME Church. Commit to faithfully serving in the work of ministry. Commit to partner with someone to be accountable in serving in the work of ministry. Be intentional to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit and consistent growth in God. Be careful and prayerful to demonstrate fellowship with God by properly relating to other believers. Actions: Receive the right hand of fellowship. Join a ministry and faithfully serve in that ministry using identified spiritual gifts. Attend church school, M2D, CEI, demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit establish a habit of prayer and reading the word of God be a consistent tither.

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29 Fishers of Men Fishers of Men: Acknowledge that everything comes from God. Faithfully manage what has been entrusted to them in a manner that brings God glory and betters the world. Seek godly guidance as to how to maintain distribute or allocate resources and teach others how to do likewise. Psalm 24:1 Functions: Take responsibility to function integrity and character. Exercise good spiritual judgment and decision making to properly allocate resources. Give of time and talent in service to the life of the Church. Be faithful and accountable in the work that has been assigned.

30 Expectations and Actions Expectations: act maturely by showing faith in Holy Spirit leading and not selfish ambition. Study and be obedient to the Word of God. Be faithful in all that is committed to you by having the right spirit for service personally and in ministry. Serve with understanding of the 5 E s of stewardship. Enlightened by the Holy Ghost, Empowered by the Holy Ghost, Equipped with the whole armor of God, Exalting the name of Jesus, Edifying others. Actions: be consistent in attendance to worship services, bible study and prayer service, be yielded to leadership of the Holy Spirit to bring forth abiding fruit, be compassionate, graceful, truthful. Be an active participant in ministry, be accountable, whether in leadership or as a member. Be a consistent tither.

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32 Disciple Disciples are steadfast and obedient to the word of God. They reflect the love of God in their attitude and actions towards others under all circumstances. Disciples do the hard work and are intentional in their love for Christ and others. Phil. 3: Functions: maintain a deep and abiding personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. Deny your own personal desires to obey Christ a the Holy Spirit leads. Walk by faith and not by sight. Walk and talk in love, practicing Kingdom principles and adhering to God s Agenda

33 Expectations and Actions Expectation: imitate and follow the example of Christ. Show the love of Christ towards others in the household of faith. Teach with a life that exemplifies the principles of the Kingdom practices the pattern of the kingdom and proclaims the message of kingdom living. Follow the advice of the Word of God. Be equipped and ready to prepare the saints for the work of ministry. Go and share the word of God. Walk in humility, remain in the posture of a learner. Practice obedience, be steadfast, live an overcoming lifestyle, be an ambassador for Christ. Actions: be disciplined, deliberate in prayer, meditation, bible study, worship. Be a mentor to believers, help others experience a fruitful and productive relationship with God. Follow the commands of Christ, Go and make other disciples. Be a consistent tither.