Stay the Course: Discipleship Summary and Commission

1:07Well, we spent a lot of time looking at discipleship and shepherding. In fact, if we were to go all the way back to December, we started way back then in John chapter 6. And I didn't put a whole lot or a whole lot of highlighting on the fact that we were starting a whole series on discipleship and shepherding. I just wanted to gear our thoughts and our hearts and our minds around from people who trusted Christ or appeared there. That they trusted Christ and then walked away from him. And then from there, where does the Lord take those people through that process? Through the book of Matthew, we looked at the Great Command or the Great Commission. We looked at Titus. We looked at 2 Timothy. We looked at a lot of texts, haven't we, in the last couple of months? And maybe you're thinking to yourself, you know, I only was here for one, or I wasn't here for any of them, or maybe you've been here for all of them.

1:56Be comforted. Tonight, I'm going to go through each one of them separately. Seriously, but we're going to do it really fast. What I want to do tonight, this is just us talking. And by all means, if you feel like you have a question, this is different. If you feel like you want to ask a question, shoot up your hand. I'll answer it midstream. It's okay. We just want to go back and revisit some of the things we've looked at since December and then move our way forward. And the reason I want to do it this way is because I think it's important when we gear our thinking to taking action, I want to make sure that in our own minds we understand that our actions are driven by what we believe. And so the scriptures drive what we believe, if we're believers, of course. And then, so how does that carry itself out in action? So would you join me over in John chapter 6? I just want to take a look at that for a moment in John chapter 6. And as you're turning there, I put a slide on the screen and I put the statement that EBC must be recognized by three characteristics. And you can see them. Sound expository preaching. I believe that we have sound expository preaching here. I'm still thinking. Thankful for our pastor Tom, who diligently studies all week and brings the truth to us, and for those who teach Sunday school, that they're dedicated to the truth of the word. We certainly have music that exalts Christ. Thank you for those of you who participate in that endeavor. And we have people, number three, who love one another, as is evidenced by their service to each other. But I want to say that I think we can do better in this arena. Not that we're doing bad, but I think we can do better. And I base that because of some of the studies that we've done and then some of the directions that the Lord gives us through his scripture. So that's why we're here tonight. We want to get better at this, specifically teaching others the truth of the scripture, serving others in that manner. All right, so we started out in search of the authentic Jesus in John chapter 6. If you remember, there were about 20,000 people. I know it's the feeding of the 5,000. But we know there was probably somewhere between 15 and 20,000 people that were present because the 5,000 were just men, but there were women and children there as well. And so Jesus sees them coming to him. And it was right after John the Baptist had been beheaded. They went out, he and his disciples went to a private area. They wanted to just have some time alone, but this multitude is coming toward them. And we know from another gospel that he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And so in John 6, the opening of John, we see.

4:30Basically, from verses 1 through 21, we see this multitude coming to Jesus, and he begins to heal them of their illnesses. And he heals each one of them, we're told. And they're coming to him in gobs and gobs of people. And by the end of the day, when it was late in the day, the disciples recognized that it was getting late and that these people had nothing to eat. You remember the story, right? The true account. Jesus tells his disciples to ask the question, Philip, where can we get food to feed these people? Because Philip was from that area. And he says, Lord, we don't have enough money or food to feed anybody. We need to send them on. We need to send them home. So what does Jesus do? He takes the disciples. He prepares them from a boy's donation of a handful of bread and a couple of fish. And he performs a miracle right in the hands of the disciples as they're handing out bread. The bread is growing somehow, right? And he's handing it to these 20,000 people. They are watching a miracle take place right in their own hands, and Jesus feeds them. We see that in John chapter 6, verses 1 through 21. He feeds them, and then they want to make him king, right? The crowd. They want to make him king because, you know, if Jesus can feed all this many people, then, you know, he can be king and he can solve the world's problems by kicking out Rome, who had control over Israel. He could just get rid of them. Well, he didn't want that. He didn't. Come to be that kind of a king at that point in time. And so, what happens? With one hand, if you were here that day, if not, you can go back and listen to it. It's still on the internet. One hand is putting his disciples in the boat, tells them to get away. The other hand is shooing away the multitude, tells them to go away. Isn't that fascinating? Jesus tells them the truth about the gospel, but they want to make him king in a way that he's not intended to be their king at this point. He's king, sure enough, but not in the way they wanted him to be a military leader. And so he sends them away. Well, what else do we see here? Well, let me just summarize the text, and we'll look at one key point here. If I were just to summarize this whole text, highlights from this text, it'd be: when searching for the authentic Jesus, you must come to him on his terms, otherwise, you will discover you've found the wrong Jesus. They wanted a Jesus who'd be their king, who'd feed them. They didn't want a Jesus who would invite them to eternal life. We can summarize these passages with the authentic Jesus has compassion on this multitude, but he sends them away.

7:08The disciples had a storm, right? Jesus walked on the sea, he calmed the storm. He tested his own disciples to see that they too could trust in him. They failed the test, but they remembered that Jesus, in fact, was their king and their Lord. All in John chapter 6, in that section. Then we looked at in search of the apathetic believer. That was our second week in John, and that was in December. From verses 22 through 40, we see the search for the apathetic believer. In that section of Scripture, we see that a true shepherd presents the message of salvation with such clarity that people are able to know with precision God's will for their lives. And that's evident right there in verses 22 through 40. If you were to glance over that text and just pull out a few key passages within there, you'd see that the crowd had followed him. He shooed them away the next morning. They wanted some breakfast, so they followed him. They wanted more food. And he kept making it more difficult for them to understand some things that he was saying.

8:10They wanted to figure out what kind of work they could do, right? What kind of work can we do, Jesus? You give us some more food. And he says, I got some work for you. Verse 29, Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. That you believe in him who is sent. That's the work of God. Just believe in that. Well, they didn't want to believe that. And so they kept following him from sea and land and all over the place to get him to perform some sort of a magical trick, do something special, Jesus. Well, then he has conversations with them about this whole thing, about making it more difficult for their understanding. In verse 40, he's disclosing the Father's will, and he says this: For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes. Believes in him has eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day. He wants them to see these things. He wants them to understand that eternal life is in God, is in Christ, and they need not be too concerned about their worries for food. We saw that the apathetic believers, they search for this Jesus, just as by way of reminder. The true shepherd tells them the truth. They have to believe that the Father sent the Son. False disciples are demanding, they want more miracles, and a true shepherd explains God's will. Well, let's move on. Stay the course, the urgency of knowing Christ. But even before I get to that, I would remind you: at the end of John chapter 6, they kept pursuing him. I didn't put that up here, but let me just say it so we're acclimated to it. At the end of John 6, they keep pursuing him. And he keeps telling them that he is the bread of life. He keeps telling them that it's not Moses who fed them, but it's God the Father who fed them. They figured, hey, if Moses can feed us for 40 days, day and night, Jesus, you can do more special miracles and give us a great breakfast this morning. Well, he kept explaining the way of salvation to them. And in John 6, 65 and 66, when he finally communicated to them that nobody can come to the Son unless the Father draws them, unless the Father drags them to the Son, what do they do in verse 66? They walked away from him and kept walking away. Why? Because they didn't believe the truth. And as true believers in Christ, it is our job, it is our motivation as believers. To share the truth about Scripture. And if people want to walk away from that, then they're no different than those who walked away from Jesus. But our job is to communicate the truth. Well, you see it on the screen. Let's turn over to Hebrews chapter 1. We spent some time over there. And we looked at this, staying in the Course, the urgency of knowing Christ. And in Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, we looked at that. And we looked at Hebrews chapter 3, verses 12 through 14. Let me just put this on the screen here. In chapters 1 and chapter 3, there's some highlights. Your knowledge of Christ must be accurate so that you do not fall away from the living God. There is an exhortation here. There's a warning here. Look at chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. I just want to read it.

11:17The text says this: God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets, in many portions and in many ways, in these last days, has spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed as heir of all things, through whom he made the world. Jesus is the creator. Verse 3. He, and he, Jesus, is the radiance of his glory, the exact representation of his nature. And he upholds all things by the word of his power. And when he made purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Look over at chapter 3.

11:54Chapter 3, verses 13 and 14. Let me start at verse 12. He says, Take care, my brethren. That there not be any one of you, any of you, with an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. It's our responsibility as a church. He says, take care. He's talking to believers. He's talking to the church. Take care that none of you fall away. This is our job as a church. It's not just the pastors. It's not just the elders who are to see to it that people don't fall away. It's all of us. When somebody doesn't show up for several weeks, who knows? Who's looking out for them? Who's calling them? Who's asking how it's going? I've made some calls like that. There's some great answers, others. Not so great answers. But it has to be all of us involved. He says this, but encourage one another in verse 13, day after day, as long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast, the beginning of our assurance, firm until the end.

13:06This is our call to hold fast to this assurance. What else do we see here? We see that the majesty of Christ demands our attention. In chapter 1, he presents the majesty of Christ as being superior to the angels. And we see in the verses we just read, the magnitude of your salvation must be cultivated. That's discipleship, isn't it? You think, well, maybe that's what I do on. I wake up early in the morning and I pour a cup of coffee and I have a little piece of toast and I pray and I sit in front of the Word and I read and that's good. That's really good. But we need to encourage others, don't we? It's not just us by ourselves. We are in this together. We're a body that needs to encourage others. Well, we shifted gears the next week and we went to Hebrews chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, and we said, the urgency of nurturing your salvation. Let me just read those four verses. The author of Hebrews writes these words. He says, for this reason, and that would be the reason that Jesus is superior to everything, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. Picture a boat on an ocean or in a river, and they're drifting away, and they don't even know they're drifting. He's saying, pay attention to what's written, that we don't drift. Verse 2: For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to those of us who had heard, or by those who had heard. God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will.

14:53So we mustn't drift. We mustn't neglect this salvation. He's talking to the church. Yes. Individuals are important. We, as individuals, mustn't drift. We mustn't neglect our salvation. But he's talking to a group of believers who are called to encourage one another to strengthen their faith. All this was at a time when persecution was happening, but persecution was getting much more difficult. I fear for our land. I don't care who becomes president or who, what senators we have, or representatives, this is going to be a more difficult place to live. And if we're not encouraging others to walk a very careful walk with Christ, then we're failing as a church. And that's why we're talking about discipleship. So, what do we see here? Emmanuel Baptist Church must be compelled to pay very close attention to God's word so that we do not neglect so great a salvation. That's why we come on Sunday mornings. We come to Sunday school. We come to the morning service. We come to this service. We have studies throughout the week. We have pioneers. We have all kinds of things going on. But there's not a whole lot of just one-on-one hashing out the truth. And that's where we want to mix this up a little bit and challenge you in that arena.

16:08We see that the message of salvation demands our attention, don't we, in this passage? And there are dire consequences for ignoring it. Well, let's move on. We looked at Matthew chapter 28. Turn over there with me, please. In Matthew chapter 28, we know this is the great command or the great commission. Oftentimes, people start and Verse 18 and read through verse 20, but didn't we develop verses 16 through 20 that day when we were here? I would encourage you to go back and listen to it. Let me just read the text. I want to point out some things as we go. Jesus had directed, let me just say this, Jesus had directed his disciples to meet him in a specific place in Galilee. Well, they met him. And it says this in verse 16, but the 11 disciples proceeded to Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had designated. They were faithful. They listened to the command that Jesus gave them, and they went.

17:06Verse 17. And when they saw him, they worshipped him. But notice this. Some of them did what? They doubted. They were hesitant, right? I mean, if you had seen Jesus beaten to a pulp like he was, severely, just not many days before, if you had seen him with the crown of thorns on his head, the punches and the spitting and all that was going on, if you'd have seen his hands and his feet nailed to that cross, would you look at the risen Christ and go, is this really him? There's some doubting going on. So he identifies that. They're doubting. Some are believing, some are doubting. Verse 18. Jesus came up and spoke to them. Spoke to who? Those who were believing and those who were worshiping and those who were doubting or hesitant. Here's what he said to them. He says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go.

18:06Is that a command to go? Remember what we talked about? That's not the command here. It's as you are going. It's a participle. As you're going. Therefore, make disciples. That's the command. There's only one command in this text. That's it. We are commanded as Jesus, his last recorded words in the book of Matthew, his greatest command in the end of the book of Matthew ought to be our greatest concern, is that it is to make disciples. Of who?

18:36Of all nations. Does that mean I have to go to every single country? Remember we talked about this? No. We don't go to every country. We don't go to every ethnos, that's the word, every people group in the world. Jesus is telling these disciples, you make disciples, they make disciples, they make disciples. And you know what? 2,000 years later, here we sit in Bryan, Texas. They were faithful to go into all the nations. So here we are. Who's going to carry the torch?

19:03We are. It's our job. So the command is to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. There's baptism involved. What is baptism? That is the outward profession of an inward change, a public profession to say, I'm handing my life over to new management. I don't manage myself anymore. I'm giving it to the Lord. That's surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and that's when you get baptized in the water. If you haven't been baptized yet, please let me know at the end of the night. And we'll talk about it. And we'll do that sometime in the near future. Verse 20. So they're going, they're baptizing, they're teaching them to observe all I commanded you. Then he says, Lo, remember, we looked at that word. It means look. And I think, in the white spaces of the text, I think he was looking at those who were doubting. He says, look.

19:59You're doubting. You know who I am. My last command is to go make disciples. You're a little bit scared. You don't know how to do it. But look what he says here. Lo, look, I'm with you. Literally, I'm with you through the days. How long? Through the end of the age. What's the end of the age? The end of the age of disciple-making. There's coming a time when there will be no more disciples made. It's going to be done.

20:28Our time is now. Our time is now to encourage one another in the text, to encourage one another to walk with the Lord. That is the command. Now, just a little bit of observation here. Christians at Emmanuel Baptist Church will demonstrate their submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ by obeying that one command, making disciples. That happens true enough behind the pulpit because the word is preached and people come to the Lord. But you have a responsibility, dear Christian. You need to take somebody by the hand. And build into their lives and encourage them and love them. None of us are excused, not one of us, if we're believers in Christ.

21:10Well, we see in this text that authentic Christians are available to Jesus. In verse 16, they obeyed the command. They were there. They showed up. Authentic Christians make disciples. And authentic Christians at EBC trust Jesus' promises. You say, well, I don't know how to be a disciple maker. You know what? This really scares me. I'm out of my comfort zone. Well, welcome to the club. We have no choice. If you're a believer in Christ, then this is his greatest command in this text. His last command is: go make disciples.

21:46How is a disciple made? Well, someone going about their life, that's the word go in verse 18, excuse me, verse 19. Someone going about their normal daily course of living is available. And they're teaching, that's faithful, the gospel to another who repents of their sin and embraces Christ as their Lord and their Savior. That's teachable. Faithful. Available, teachable. What does that sound like? Anyone want to help me here? Thank you. It's fat, right? 30-some years ago, when I sat at Grace Community Church, I was challenged with this same philosophy. This is how Debbie and I have done ministry throughout our lives. We were taught way back in our young 20s that you have to be faithful, available, and teachable. Does that mean you have to be everything and everything at every time? No. But faithful, available, and teachable to train up the next generation. Fat, one of the favorite kids wrote that. I just love it. You're going to keep saying that. Isn't that scriptural? It's scriptural. I think it is. Right here in the text.

22:54Yes. Let's move on. How is a disciple made? A disciple is made when that new believer demonstrates his or her own trust in Christ with a public profession of faith. That's their baptism. Okay. And is taught to observe everything that Jesus said. All right. So the question is: three questions to ponder. Am I making disciples in the ministry to which I am going in verse 19? Am I doing this? How do I really know if I'm making disciples in my ministry? Are they just hearing the word and we just hope it sticks? Or is there some loving challenge to them? Tell me about what you know about Christ. If you were to die tonight, how do you know that you're going to stand before the Lord and you're going to answer the question about why he should let you in? Do I really know that disciples are made? Are they growing in Christ?

24:01To what outcomes do I point to demonstrate that the Lord, to the Lord, and to others, that disciples are being made? It has to be more than just coming on a Sunday morning. There's more to it than that. Faithful, available, and teachable. In what ways am I faithful, available, and teachable? Well, in Titus, let's flip over to Titus real quick. Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2 was quite an eye-opener. Let me put up some thoughts there. Just a quick summary, and then I'm going to develop a couple of things here briefly. Well-taught Christians, they back up their biblical beliefs with biblical actions so that the world does not malign God's word. Because that's what was happening here when Paul wrote Titus, when he had to place elders in the churches on the island of Crete. There were people upsetting whole households on that island, and he says you need to train up people to make sure that doesn't happen. Look at verse 2, actually, verse 1. He says, But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, and love, and in perseverance. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips. In other words, don't talk like the devil. Don't be a liar, a deceiver, a slanderer, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good so that they may encourage. Young women to love their husbands, to love their wives, to be sensible, pure workers at home. Verse 6: Urge the young men to be sensible. In all things, show yourselves to be examples of good deeds. Sound in speech is beyond reproach, so that the opponent won't be put to shame. This is our call, this is what we're supposed to do. So we need to see the priority of discipleship. We need to know the portrait of a disciple maker. That's verses 2 through 3, more literally, verses 2 through 8.

26:00Well, we went over to 2 Timothy. Turn over there real quick. 2 Timothy. This was important. 2 Timothy. He tells them what to look for. Timothy's in Ephesus, and Paul's in jail. He wants Timothy to leave Ephesus and come to him, but he can't leave Ephesus until he trains up more people to do the work of the ministry. Verse 1, you, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. And then he launches into a suffering hardship like a soldier, suffer hardship like an athlete, suffer hardship like a hard-working farmer. In other words, it's going to be tough.

26:52Making disciples is not easy. We're busy people, you see. Back then, yeah, they were busy people, but they were being killed for doing it. This. They knew that they needed to train up the next generation. Persecution was coming. So, in order to receive the word, a good soldier of Christ is ready to suffer hardships, linked with entrusting God's word to others. So, recognize that God has rules about church growth. Those are the rules. It's hard. Recognize that church growth is associated with rewards. Like the athlete, there will be a crown at the end of this thing. There's rewards for leading people deeper walk with Christ. Three rules for church growth: be continually strengthened in this text. In the grace that is found in Jesus, it was hard for them, it's hard for us.

27:49Believers must entrust the scriptures to other qualified people. This is our job. This is what we must do as believers. And number three, Christ, as Christ's ambassadors, you will suffer hardship. Paul writes this, and it's probably his last letter he wrote. He's sitting in a prison, and Nero is about to solve him in half. So history tells us. It's going to be hard, he says. Well, second part of that chapter, verses 8 through 15, we saw that discipleship is a life or death process requiring God's approval so that you can accurately teach the word of truth. He says, be diligent to show yourself approved to God. A workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

28:36We saw the mandate for discipleship. We saw a motive for discipleship and the method for discipleship. It's all there in the text. So when we started this whole process, I asked these three questions. What if someone were to come to you privately and, in all sincerity, say, you got to help me. I don't understand this thing. I need your help. If you're like me, you might be a little hesitant. Like, where do I start? So, what would you say? What would you do?

29:11Is there a plan and process that we can follow? I'm glad you asked that question. Introducing partners one-on-one. Partners one-on-one is a new process. If anybody ever calls it a program, correct them. It's a process. It's a process. This is the lifeblood of where we need to be heading as a church. It's a process. Let me tell you about it. That's just some pictures come up. It's a process of leading others closer to the Lord, leading others in their walk, leading others and understanding God's Word in such a way that you are equipped and able to do the same thing. So that when somebody comes and asks you and says, Would you disciple me? You say, You bet I will. And here's what I'm going to do. That's what we're going to talk about for the remainder of our. Few minutes left. Partners 101 is a discipleship process. It's not a program.

30:08Completion is a prerequisite. This is the desire for the future. We can't make it a reality right now. This is a desire for the future. This is where we're heading. We want to know that people teaching something here have some training and that we can trust that what they're going to teach is accurate to the text. And so discipleship or this Partners 101 will equip them for just such a work. Also, completion is desired for anybody serving in any capacity eventually here at EBC. A prerequisite for sermon junkies.

30:40If you want to learn how to preach God's word, we want that, but we want to make sure that you know something about God's Word and that you're equipped theologically. Again, this is still out in the future. It's going to take us a while to get there. Okay. Perhaps a prerequisite to become an elder at some point. You know why? Because an elder is actively in the process of shepherding people. An elder doesn't become an elder when somebody says, Dub, you're elder. You have a title now. An elder is one who is actively shepherding people, and the congregation says they're shepherding people. That man ought to be an elder. He's doing the job. So, what better way to go than Partners 101 to learn how to be that shepherd? Partners 101, it's highly practical, very practical curriculum. It's Based on a one-on-one discipleship process developed by Mike Freberas. Anybody ever hear Mike Freberas? Mike Freberas spoke at Man Camp, well-known pastor, teacher. He pastors Compass Bible Church out in California. I think I even have a picture of him here. There he is, Mike Freberas.

31:48Spiritual growth. It's a process designed for new or long-time believers who are serious about maturing in their faith. You might be saying to yourself, you know, I've been a Christian now for 90 years. I've been a Christian for 30 years. Why do I need somebody to take me through this process? Number one, maybe you don't have to go through the entire 12 to 15 weeks. Maybe you're ready to go, like we've already have some that are ready to go and they're ready to train. The reason that you would want to go through it is because you're going to have to train somebody else later on, right? So why not start here?

32:25It's overviews of the fundamentals of being a disciple of Christ. As I said, it's about 10 to 15 weeks. Some will be a little longer. Perhaps some of you will go through it quicker. I don't know, but I wouldn't count on it. Requires two to three hours of homework. Gasp, look, three rules for the church growth. You know what? This is going to be hard, right? It's going to be hard. Three rules for church growth. I have it in front of me here. Be continually strengthened in the grace that is found in Christ. Entrust, believers must entrust the scripture to other qualified people. And as Christ's ambassadors, you must. Suffer hardship. You say, well, it's going to be hard. I have school. I have this. I have that. I have the other. We're only looking at 12 to 15 weeks. Once you do the homework, you don't have to do the homework again. You do it once, it's done. Later on, if you are one of those who might, perchance, teach others, then you'll have already had your work done. You can lead others through it.

33:23Church growth is hard work, and you're a part of that. Prepares new leaders to train other leaders. Growth and multiplication, meant to be life-changing. I promise you, this will be life-changing if you take it serious. There are thousands of people that have gone through this. Countryside Bible church, where my daughter goes to church, Tom Pennington pastors, they started this in September, and by six weeks ago, a month ago, they already had 200 people that had gone through it. And they can't wait for more. And I think that's where we're heading here at EBC.

33:56All right, so Colossians 1.10, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God. We bear fruit based upon what we know to lead others in the truth of God's word. We looked at 2 Timothy 2:2. We have to entrust these things to others. We see here the things which you've heard from me in the presence of many witnesses. Entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. The be able there is capable. They have to be capable of doing this. So not everybody is going to. To teach somebody else.

34:33Workbook. There's a workbook involved. There are specific chapters we look at here. The first one is being sure about your relationship with God. How do you really know you're saved? How do you know how to ask questions of somebody that you're sitting across the table from to clarify with them to ensure that they really know the truth of God's Word? It's going to go through some very specifics. You'll look up passages of Scripture that will give you great clarity on what it means to be saved. Deepening your knowledge of God. You'll go through some of the main attributes of God. You'll look up passages of Scripture and write it in your book. You can write it in your book. Learning to study the Bible on your own. Maybe there's times you open the text, you go, I don't know what this means. Well, we're going to teach you how to understand what the text means by what it says and what to do with it. Develop an effective prayer life. There's a weakness for me. I feel like I fail here. I always need to go back to text on Scripture about how to do a better prayer life. Well, there's a whole chapter on that. Living a life that is led by the Holy Spirit. We've been talking about that in our Ephesians Sunday School class a lot. Be kept filled with the Spirit. Well, that whole chapter is about being led by the Spirit. The importance of a good local church. You know, the pastors and the elders, they're not the body.

35:47We are unable as individuals to do everything. The church must practice their spiritual gifts and encourage one another in their walks with Christ. Being intentional about biblical fellowship. What is biblical fellowship? We'll define that. Getting actively involved with serving here at Emmanuel. You have gifts. We need your help. The Holy Spirit has gifted you with a specific gift, and if you're not using it, you're robbing God and His church. We want you to understand what that is and how to apply it, how to get involved. Sharing the gospel with people who need it. Oh, that's scary. Well, let's talk about ways to talk about the gospel, how to open a conversation with somebody. That's not so bad.

36:31Number 10: striving to be holy in an unholy world. How do we live this in a world that hates us? How do we live this in a world where over the oceans, over the seas, they're chopping off heads and burning people alive? How do we live it when it's more serious here and we're prevented from saying things? Well, we're going to talk about how to live holy in an unholy world. What else do we have here? I think the battery is running dead on here.

37:03Ministry leadership. So I'll be the elder pastor oversight. Debbie will handle the women's portion of it. She'll be the women's coordinator. The launch is today. We're launching it today. We've developed some about seven people, and I've got about five more that we're going to be taking through the development process, the leadership process, to take others through it. New leaders will begin to take others through the process. You see the word program there? I missed it. It's a process.

37:30Boy, the things you find out when it's on the screen. All right, so we're going to continue building this leadership base as we go. The church-wide promotion sign-up. Guess what? You can sign up for this today. We're going to talk about the specifics of how leaders. How do you become a leader? Well, you have to be a church member here. We want you to be a church member because we have a wonderful guideline, a rule that nobody gets to teach at a manual unless they're believers. So, look, if you're not a believer of a manual, would you become a member here? Excuse me, a member. Would you say that I'm going to give my life to a local body of Christ? If it's not this church, then find a church where you're sold out for Christ's body and you want to serve. This is it. So, if you want to teach through this process, at least the bare minimum, you have to be a member. You know what? The gift of teaching is not required to lead somebody through this. We're all called to disciple somebody. The teaching is already done. The manual is there. You don't have to have the gift of teaching to teach through it. You have to complete the program as a participant and be recommended by your partner's leader. If your leader says, Well, I don't think they're quite ready, well, then you're probably not ready. And that's okay. Let's spend more time in the book and make you ready if this is something you want to do.

38:48Must be approved by a pastor or an overseer. Must personally embrace the content of the program. You know what? This thing has been through thousands of hands, it's been tried and tested. It's a great program. So, we want you to. Embrace it, must have an ability to effectively lead other participants. All right, matching the leaders. Well, men will lead men, and women will lead women, some exceptions, husbands, wives, of course, parent, teacher, or family members. Ministry leaders will attempt to match each participant with potential leaders based upon various criteria. Of course, location may have something to do with it. You might want to be near somebody. So all leader assignments and participant completions will be tracked by our ministry leadership program. Debbie's been developing an entire website on this. It's still a work in progress, but you'll see it when I put up the URL there. You can look it up later. All right, so the workbook. The workbook is a partner's workbook. It's about 200 pages, somewhere in that range. As all the books that we put over here in the resource center, it's a donation only. Some of you can afford a whole lot more than $11. Some of you can only afford a nickel. You know what? We don't even know who puts what in there. We just want you to have the book, and we want you to be responsible to take on the responsibility to say, I'll pay for it. I want to work through this thing. Other options are available. If you don't want to go through the book, there are other options I want to talk about here. We can talk about those with whoever will be your leader at that point. All right, so March 6th, today. It's a slow, rolling launch. Because we're going to take seven people to disciple seven people, and it takes three or four months to get them through it. You get the math, right? It's going to take a while. That's why we're not making a requirement that I've put on the screen. Earlier. It's going to take a while.

40:32Those who sign up will be prioritized in terms of opportunities as they open. Sign up on March 6th. All right, so Debbie at the end of the service, she has two clipboards. If you want to sign up that way, you can. You can see the URL. Debbie put that together. She spent a lot of time on it. EBCbrian.org/slash partners. You can go there, sign up. You can read more about it, etc. So it's a model for multiplication. That little dot over here is a leader who's partner leader. They're going to take somebody through this thing. Watch. The first year, it looks pretty skim for one person. They do one, they do another, and that person does one. Year two, those people do one.

41:12See how it builds? Watch this: year three. One person's work in year one is resulting in this. And it keeps growing until you got 63 people because one person said, I'll go. I'll go. I'll take discipleship serious. One person. So, how does it work? It's right there. You go to Emmanuel Baptist Church, our website, and you pull down the ministries tab, and you click Partners, and it's right there. That's all there is to it. Is this something you sense that the Lord is asking you to be a part of? To take serious your walk with Christ and to lead somebody else through the Process.

42:03I got about two minutes for questions. Is there any? Do you have any questions? Anyone have any questions? And we'll just close in prayer? All right. How about if I close in prayer? Debbie has a couple of the clipboards. If you don't want to sign a clipboard, sign up. Well, then go to the website. It's all there for you. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this later. Father, we're so thankful. We're thankful that you've given us your word and a heart for ministry. Otherwise, we wouldn't even be here. Lord, we think of generations in the future that if we don't train the ones who are with us now, they won't be ready. It's our responsibility. Those who took serious this call in the first century, they're not here anymore, Lord. And those in the year 500 and 1500 and 1,800, 1,900, there, they're passing on. And the torch has been handed to us, to this little church in Brian. And we are asking, Lord, for you to guide our thoughts and our hearts through this process, that we'd be faithful, available, and teachable. Not everybody's going to fit every category right now for the next several weeks, perhaps, or maybe not till the summer. There's not a guilt trip involved here. We know that, Lord. We're asking you just to capture our hearts and our minds to take serious your last command in Matthew, and that is to make disciples. We can't do this apart from you enabling us, Lord. So leave. us to this end, we pray in Christ's name. Amen, and have a great rest of the evening.