Discipleship – Session 4

Session 4 – The Power Of The Laborers

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Session 3

The Power Of The Laborers

My name is Basie Martins. I trust that you are all well and I want to thank you again for listening to this program. For those of you who do not know, we are currently discussing discipleship, church growth, and church planting. Through this series, we will be exploring the ways and means that all churches can follow to counteract new challenges like COVID-19, financial complications, and many other challenges, to expand and to advance their churches and the kingdom of God.

In the previous sessions, we discussed how to identify our focus and purpose as a congregation and as church leaders. We need to determine what we are required to do before we can decide on the strategy that we should follow. We also discussed the Luke 10 method of evangelism which is all about finding a man of peace, making him and this family and friends disciples of Christ whilst we are practically equipping the previous outreach’s new converts. We have seen that success is all about the way that the new converts are utilized. We also discussed the need for church leaders to make the necessary changes to enable leaders and denominations and congregations to accommodate as many people as possible, even people who do not necessarily agree with their doctrines and the way that they do church.

This is all about the need for more leniency when it comes to Christian doctrines and practices which were previously not accepted in particular denominations. It already happens in many churches and denominations but it is not yet officially approved, which complicates things and causes a lot of hindrances in the body of Christ. Many ministers know that some of their members believe differently than they teach and they have accepted that. In many denominations already, people who believe differently are all serving God in the same congregation and there is nothing wrong with that. This is a reality. More and more church leaders understand that the more lenient they are the more people they are able to accommodate.

It is definitely not a case of allowing outrageous doctrines and practices. It is allowing people to make choices and then allowing them to live out their faith. We have seen that particular denominations who have initially opposed Pentecostalism have decided to embrace Pentecostalism. We have seen denominations who were not willing to go that far decided to at least accept people within their ranks to practice Pentecostalism. These denominations benefited tremendously by being more lenient and more tolerant in this regard. They took note of the pros and cons and they convinced their leaders and members to be more lenient and more tolerant with regards to things previously opposed. Pentecostalism does not damage the church and it does offer the laborers the opportunity to preach a gospel of hope and deliverance. We have discussed this aspect in Session 3 and we did explain the benefits that this has. It is for this reason that Pentecostalism is the fastest-growing Christian movement in the world and its popularity is increasing tremendously every day. It is because of this that the denominations that I mentioned have decided to become Pentecostal or to at least allow it to function within their structures.

See also
Audio and Written Versions: Victorious Living In Christ Session 5

In this session, we will be analyzing why the new converts are quickly evolving into this soul gathering machine that God intended them to be. Why are the laborers so powerful? Why is this aspect of evangelism so powerful? Why does it change a church or congregation so dramatically? What causes this aspect to be the most important resource in the hands of God and in the hands of church leaders? What can we as church leaders do to utilize the laborers to their maximum potential? How do church leaders hinder or block this resource? In this session, we are going to look at this aspect and we are going to answer all your questions in this regard.

When we go out to fulfill the great commission, we always pray for the laborers of God to report for duty. We do this because we cannot fulfill the great commission without the laborers. These laborers are not only the mature Christians that will oversee the evangelistic outreaches. The vast majority of the laborers will be new converts and they will be bringing in the harvest. This vast majority is the key to success.

People often wonder how new converts can play such an important part when it comes to evangelism. They just do not understand that new converts are in reality far more valuable than most old Christians in this regard. The reason for this is because most Christians have been failed by the church. We have failed to utilize them according to the instructions that Jesus gave us. We have failed to equip them the way that we were supposed to. They have never learned how to fulfill the great commission and they were spoiled because of this. Many of them will be willing to accept this new way and new methods that we are going to teach them but many of them have been spoiled beyond repair, and this is a shame.

Many people, including church leaders, just cannot grasp the fact that new converts can be taught to do the work of the ministry within a week or two or in some cases within a few weeks. I know of a person who accepted Jesus Christ on Thursday. On Friday he was baptized. On Saturday he was baptized in the Holy Spirit and a few days after that he already healed a few people, led some of them to Christ, and interpreted tongues. This happened because this person was taught in the way that I am describing in this series.

See also
Audio and Written Versions: Dreams Interpretation Session 8

I do understand that some denominations will need help in this regard. The good news is that there are resources out there that can be a great help. There are ministries out there that offer assistance in this regard. For instance, The Great Commission Resources has Church Planting Activation Teams available to help churches and church planters to start their evangelism program. On their website, you will find their Activation Teams Resources Map  which will help you to find the closest contact person in your area. Just contact them and they will help you to get the people in your church mobilized and activated. They usually send a team to your area, usually over a weekend (from Friday evening until Sunday evening) and they get as many people as possible mobilized and activated. More resources in this regard are available on my website and a comprehensive training course is already available at the online Lighthouse Discipleship Bible School.

This Bible School offers a Certificate in Discipleship, a Diploma in Discipleship, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Discipleship. Everything you need is available to you. You just reach out and get the people in your congregation equipped and ready to fulfill the great commission in your area. Do not focus too much on the structures and the differences when it comes to the way that these people do things. They might do things differently but do not allow that to hinder your efforts to get your congregation kick-started. Just ask for assistance, allow them to help you and then you do what you feel you can implement in your congregation based on your structure and your ability.

We want all churches and all denominations and all congregations to benefit from this. We want all to prosper and all to move in the right direction. This attitude will ensure success. The Christian church and the kingdom of God will advance and we will all benefit from this.

COVID-19 caused real damage in the world and even in the church. Churches and Christians have suffered financially and even in other areas. Just like the world, the church was not ready for this pandemic and we as church leaders need to change that. This course gives every pastor or minister the opportunity and the ability to change this whole thing. We can go out and turn this whole thing around. Instead of dealing with all these issues in the way that we have always done it, let’s try something new. However, it is important that we do the right thing. We need to follow a strategy that will be successful. The Luke 10 method is the right strategy. It works and it is Biblical. If if it is done correctly you will never look back again. With this course and the resources that I mentioned you will be able to carry out this strategy successfully.

See also
Spiritual Development In House Churches

The Lighthouse Bible School is interdenominational and they cover all aspects of Discipleship and church planting. They even cover house churches. Re-Forma Outcomes is also available on the Lighthouse Ministries Discipleship Bible School platform. It is an online Bible School and therefore available to everybody right across the world. So I think everything and anything that anybody needs in terms of resources, are available and can be accessed by everybody, no matter where you are or whatever denomination you are part of. With the help of these resources, you will be able to equip the laborers for the work of the ministry and you will be able to utilize them to advance the kingdom of God successfully.

As I said, your most powerful resource is the new converts, the laborers that we should always pray for. In Session 2 of this series, we addressed one of the ways that we should utilize the new converts. New converts are very excited about Christ Jesus and their experience with him. Some have been delivered or healed of disease during the outreach and they are just over the moon with joy. They just love Christ and at this stage, nothing is impossible in their eyes and by the way, nothing is impossible. This wonderful experience happened just a few days ago in their life. So it is important to take them out with you with the next outreach, which should be a day or two after they decided to follow Jesus Christ. This allows them to see and observe the same experience from another perspective. They see what happened to them a few days ago and they learn a lot more. Show the new converts that they can immediately pray for the sick by laying hands on them and they can immediately lead people to Christ. Allow them to do both as soon as possible.

Get as many teams out as possible at different times and different areas in your town or city. There should be different teams going out every day. Very soon you will experience a lot of breakthroughs in this regard. The mature disciples will get better day by day. The new converts will get better day by day. Things will be easier and easier day by day. Before you know it, within a month or two, some of the new converts will be overseeing outreach teams. This is the power of true Biblical discipleship. Your congregation will grow rapidly and new churches will be planted.

See also
The Great Commission In House Churches

The fact that new converts will be able to oversee new teams in such a short period ensures that churches expand fairly quickly. This is powerful but as I said, we have discussed this in detail in Session 2 of the series.

I want to discuss the second aspect that makes the laborers such a powerful resource in the hands of God. By allowing these laborers to start cell groups on Wednesdays or any other day of the week, we give them yet another platform where they can have a wonderful impact on even more people. This is how we get their extended families and friends involved as well. During such meetings, they share their testimonies and they share their experiences with people who would not have been reached in the street or in the marketplace. Yes, they can probably find a man of peace in the marketplace or in a park somewhere but that is not always possible. They sometimes return empty-handed. At least, they always have a meeting on a Wednesday when they can reach out to a person they know.

These midweek meetings might be different in different denominations. In house churches, it will probably be less evangelical orientated but utilized to allow Christians to grow and equip each other to mature in Christ. Even in house churches, they will always be focused on the great commission. The great commission should always be the first priority in all denominations. However, spiritual development through the gifts and workings of the Holy Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 14:26 needs attention as well:

How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

So house churches put their attention on the great commission during the week but on Sundays, or any other day, they come together as a congregation, in a house, different houses actually, to celebrate their faith and to edify each other and equip each other according to 1 Corinthians 14:26.

The institutional church does this on Sundays during the Sunday meetings when the pastor or minister teaches the congregation or exhorts the congregation through a sermon. So, in a big congregation, the midweek meetings can be utilized for sharing testimonies and sharing their experiences and leading their friends and extended families to Christ. This also has a major impact on church growth and development. By allowing this we allow the laborers to reach many more people. We also allow them to experience church in more than just one way: They experience the Sunday celebrations, they experience midweek sharing and they experience the fulfillment of the great commission.

See also
Encouragement To the Called!

All these experiences are significant and a huge thing. On Sundays, they celebrate all these things. On Sundays pastors and ministers give a bit of feedback on all these activities. They should not address specifics but they should give a report or feedback on the successes of the outreaches and achievements of the congregation as a whole. Pastors and ministers should also address the challenges that they are facing and specific issues that need to be addressed regarding the outreaches and the midweek meetings. So in a sense part of the Sunday gatherings can be utilized to do a bit of training and equipping. Guidance and training is always a good thing. The pastor or minister can achieve a lot in this sense during the Sunday gatherings.

This brings clarity and it brings vision. It also brings unity because the whole congregation feels part of something great. They are drawn in and they just cannot resist doing their part of achieving the vision and the goals of the congregation. The reason why this is so successful is the fact that this ensures that the instructions of God are fulfilled. Because the primary vision is to fulfill the great commission, and because the congregation is focused on exactly that, God works with the congregation. As soon as the focus of the congregation is on the great commission, God works with them. This is what causes it to be so successful and such a powerful resource in the hands of God. Just look at what Ephesians 4:11-12 say about this:

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

So the five-fold ministry is given to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. This is how they do it. They show them how to fulfill the great commission and then they allow them to carry out the great commission. They teach and guide the laborers so that the laborers can fulfill the great commission. This is the work of the ministry. This empathizes the fact that the five-fold ministry should always be focused on equipping the laborers for their work of the ministry. As soon as church leaders are focused on equipping the laborers, these laborers suddenly become a great and powerful tool in the hands of God. This is when things start to fall in place. This is when people get excited and focused and when they suddenly see the vision. In Session 1, we have discussed the fact that church leaders cannot be focused on how they want to do things in the congregation or in the church. They should rather determine what is expected from them first.

See also
The Five-Fold Ministry

Christ’s instructions about fulfilling the great commission are their primary focus. It is for this reason that the laborers need to be equipped for their work of the ministry. Their second focus should be to accommodate all laborers and to identify and utilize their specific gifts and abilities and strengths. These two things determine the focus of church leaders. If you don’t address these issues you have failed.

The laborers do the work of the ministry and the five-fold ministry equips them to do so. They equip them through teachings and guidance but they also equip them by taking them out and show them how to do it. So there is a theoretical side which is done on Sundays (in the institutional church) but there is also a practical side which is done during the week when the outreach teams go out. This is when the five-fold ministry goes out and teaches the laborers. Very soon and sometimes even from the start, mature Christians are utilized to help the five-fold ministry with this. This is where the kick-start resources that I mentioned can be of great value. Pastors and ministers should try to involve as many Christians as possible during such kick-start sessions. Church leaders will immediately be able to identify people who will be able to go out with teams.

A mature Christian in this regard is a person who showed during the kick-start sessions that he will be able to oversee a team during an outreach. Remember, such a mature Christian is accompanied by another equally mature Christian. They always go out two-two. This helps them a lot because although God is with them, they do not feel alone because of them assisting each other. This is how the apostles did it in Biblical times and it is still the way that we should do it. Also remember, nobody has to be perfect to oversee a team. We all start at the bottom or at the starting point. We are all scared and nervous when we go out the first time. We all make mistakes when we start. All this is not a problem at all. As long as we persist and as long as we do not give up. Like anything else, it does get easier and easier and before we realize it we will function as Paul and Peter did. Remember, it is not us doing the job. It is us with the help of the Holy Spirit doing the job. God always works with us.

See also
Audio and Written Versions: Dreams Interpretation Session 5

As from the second follow-up outreach (visiting a specific family for the second time), these mature Christians will be accompanied by new converts as well. With the third outreach, which is a new outreach to find a man of peace, the process is repeated. So as from the second outreach, the two overseers will not be alone again. They will always be accompanied by a few new converts from previous outreaches. A team of four or five people will be able to get the job done. In the process, they all assist each other and help each other to do the job as well as they can. They all learn whilst practically doing the job. This is the Biblical way of equipping disciples. This is how we make disciples and how we teach them what Christ Jesus taught the early Christians.

There is another aspect that needs to be addressed by church leaders as well. We need to develop the congregation in another way as well. We need to allow them to help and assist each other in other ways as well. This is done through the midweek sharing sessions. Although people can be allowed to share their testimonies and experiences with Christ on a Sunday during church meetings, there is usually not time to do that. This is where the midweek sharing meetings come in.

Although the midweek meetings are primarily focused on reaching out to unsaved family and friends, there is also time for sharing their testimonies and experiences with each other. This emboldens the members of the congregation. This magnifies God and this equips the members of the congregation. This is another aspect of Christianity that the house church movement has proven to be of great value. It just works. It empowers people and it causes them to grow spiritually. Do not forget, the purpose of this course is to help all denominations to use strategies and methods that other denominations have tried and found to be very successful.

Now I know that many churches and denominations have tried to implement the cell group strategy in their congregations but it failed quite often. I will tell you why it failed. It failed because the way it was implemented was completely wrong. The focus and motivation were completely wrong. Another reason why it failed was the fact that church leaders did not trust this strategy. They were scared and they feared that things would happen that they had no control over. They were afraid that they might lose members and that these groups will form new congregations and that some of them will evolve into house churches and fall away and so on. They were afraid that things might happen in these meetings that might be wrong and that it might damage the reputation of their congregations or hurt people in their congregations. A lack of faith and fear are both our biggest enemies in this regard.

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Money! What a Babylonian Confusion!

Because of fear, in the past, church leaders have applied too much control and pressure on the members that attended these meetings. They hindered the members of their congregations so much that these members just gave up. The meetings became as dead as dead can be. In some cases, the meetings were stopped because there was no fruit. Nobody benefited at all from these meetings. In some cases, oversensitive church leaders were very quick in abandoning the strategy at the slightest hiccup. Their fears were just too much to deal with and so most of them abandoned the cell group strategy fairly quickly.

This is not how we should deal with church members. This is not equipping them, this is hindering them from growing in the body of Christ. This is not making disciples. This is preventing people from becoming disciples. Church leaders should trust the system that God has put in place. They should trust God. They should trust people. They should trust the Holy Spirit. They should not allow their personal fears to hinder the work of the ministry and the great commission.

Just think of it. If you as a church leader implement all these strategies that I discussed in this series correctly, what are you afraid of? The church will grow tremendously fast. More people and more cell groups will be added to the congregation daily. Are you really afraid that some people and some cell groups will leave the church when these wonderful opportunities are available to them? The members of the congregation will enjoy these strategies and the programs and methods and facilities that you as a church leader has made available to them. They will not give this up. People like to be a part of a whole network of people or groups of people who have a specific identity, who are all interconnected and part of a united body. People want to belong to something. They want to be part of something bigger. Together, as a united body, on a Sunday they like to celebrate Christ Jesus and their combined achievements and their experiences in the kingdom of God.

Church leaders should understand that even if the members of a particular cell group decide to be disloyal to the congregation by doing their own thing, it is not the end of the world. Of course, this is a very unethical thing to do. People should stay loyal to the congregation that they are part of. If they wanted to do their own thing, they should have left the congregation before they started a cell group. They should have considered the consequences of their actions before they did it. This type of behavior is not acceptable but, if it happens, church leaders and the rest of the congregation should forgive such people and carry on with the work of the ministry.

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How To Outsource Your Worries?

Of course, let everyone understand that you consider such behavior to be unethical and not acceptable but do not make a big thing out of it. Forgive and forget. Let those people go. I can assure you that this type of thing will probably not happen or it will be extremely rare. Should this be a cause of concern? Definitely not!

Unfortunately, many church leaders are oversensitive when it comes to incidents like this. This is really not a problem at all. There is no need to worry about incidents like this. Think of this whole strategy as a big investment. You invest a lot of resources and time in the lives of the people in your congregation. You do this because this investment is an extremely good investment. It is extremely successful. You have a hundred percent return every now and then and then when you suddenly lose one percent you abandon the whole thing?! Of course not. That does not make sense at all. The system works and it will empower you and it will allow you to keep going.

However, I do admit that part of the reasons why this failed in the past, is because of ignorance and a lack of experience. Many church leaders have heard about this strategy and they implemented it incorrectly. As I said, their motivation and focus were wrong. It was not built on the right foundation.

In Session 1 we discussed the fact that we need a proper and Biblical foundation when it comes to discipleship. We need to implement the instructions of Christ. We need to teach people the instructions of Christ. We need to teach them what He has taught the early disciples. We need to accommodate and assist and develop the laborers, the church members, and the new converts of our congregations. We need to put strategies and methods and projects and programs in place that address these goals.

This is the proper and Biblical foundation that we need to build upon. This is what you as a church leader will have to put in place. This is what you as a church leader need to make available to the members of the congregation that you serve. You need to focus on the right things and you need to help your congregation to focus on the right things. The first focus or priority is Jesus Christ. The second priority and focus is the great commission, the third priority or focus is the equipping of the members of the congregation and the last priority is the administrative aspects of the church.

See also
Audio and Written Versions: Victorious Living In Christ Session 2

If you have this right the congregation will prosper. The balance will be right. You will all be part of a healthy and happy church. Everything will fall in place the way God wants it. Nothing else will work. This is what God implemented in his church. Whatever we implement will not work, no matter how good we think it is. God knows what is best for us. He knows what is best for the church. Christ Jesus is the Head of the church. He will only bless what He has implemented. The Holy Spirit will only work with us when we do what God instructed us to do.

Let us look again at what you as church leaders have put in place by summarizing what we have learned and dealt with in the four sessions so far: You have put the focus on Christ Jesus. You have made a training manual available that deals with the full Gospel of Christ. This training manual is used by the five-fold ministry and the mature Christians in the congregation to teach the new converts. The training manual is important because it contains all the relevant information that new converts need to know so that they can start the work of the ministry. It contains the basic stuff. It contains the basic information that they need to know. This training manual is significant because it contains those aspects that deal with salvation and it contains those aspects that deal with restoration.

By using this training manual, you have empowered your outreach teams with a message of hope. In a previous session, we have discussed the fact that this message of hope makes a congregation or a church relevant. It makes a huge difference. It is not just about salvation but the possibility of restoration as well. Churches that ignore this aspect will struggle to advance or to be successful because they start with a serious disadvantage. I am in the process of compiling a proper training manual that will contain the necessary information about the Gospel of Jesus Christ that the laborers need to know and understand. It will be available on my website soon.

Let’s carry on with the summary. You have put programs and strategies and methods in place that will ensure the fulfillment of the great commission. Evangelical outreach teams go out on a daily basis, seeking for a man of peace, preaching the gospel of Christ, casting out demons, inviting themselves to his house, healing the sick, and praying for people to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

See also
Discipleship - Session 5

You follow up with follow-up outreaches. You immediately utilize the new converts, who are the laborers of God. You involve them immediately. You kick-start them so that they can become disciples who immediately start to make more disciples of Christ. On Sundays, you hold celebration meetings or cervices. You give feedback on the achievement of the whole congregation. You teach the congregation and you give guidance and you address problematic issues.

On Wednesdays or any other day of the week, you allow the members of your congregation to gather in houses to reach out to unsaved family members and friends and to share their testimonies and spiritual experiences with each other. You allow the members of the congregation to interact with each other and to become family. They become family because during these meetings they learn more about each other and they share their struggles and challenges as well.

They learn to help each other with difficult or challenging issues in their lives and they learn to pray for each other. During these midweek meetings, they become the ekklesia of God. They start to love each other. They start to look after each other. They start to exhort each other. They start to edify each other. They start to teach each other. They start to reprove each other. They become a true and real family.

They cannot do this during Sunday meetings. There is no time for that and it is not the right place for that. They need to get together in a more informal way to ensure that this strategy is successful. During Sunday services people become acquaintances very slowly. It literally takes years for people to know each other this way. During midweek gatherings people become more than acquaintances, they become family. This is a very important aspect of our faith-walk in Christ. When we become part of the family of God, God wants us to live together as a family. That means that we interact with each other as family. Not as acquaintances.

This makes us grow spiritually. This makes the word of God relevant in our lives. We are used to applying the word of God in our way of life. We take his word and we adapt it to fit in the way that we are doing church and that does not work. That is not how God intended his word to be dealt with.

It is always amazing to me to know that Jesus Christ spent another forty days with his disciples after He was raised from the dead. So He appeared in his glorified body, to many of his disciples, every day for forty days before He ascended to heaven. During this period of time, He taught them everything that they needed to know so that they were prepared and able to plant and advance the church of Christ and his kingdom. He could not do that like He wanted to before the crucifixion. He had to pay the price first. He had to die for the sins of the world first, and then the disciples were able to comprehend the significance of it all.

See also
Audio and Written Versions: Victorious Living In Christ Session 10

This is when Christ Jesus really could teach the disciples what they needed to know. He taught them how the church should be planted and how they should fulfill the great commission and how they should live together in unity as the body of Christ. During the forty days, He equipped them for the work of the ministry. He taught them how they should experience God together as a family. He taught them how they should do church. This is what He commanded them to teach the new converts. He wanted them to make disciples and to teach them what He taught them.

Let’s read Acts 1:3

To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

So what did Jesus teach the disciples during that forty-day period? Well, the disciples have written the New Testament and what they have written down, is exactly what He has taught them during the forty days. I know that Paul was not part of this forty-day experience but Jesus Christ has visited him in a similar way and He did for him what He did for the other disciples. This is why Paul has written most of the New Testament.

When we teach the church what is written in the four gospels and in the rest of the New Testament, we are teaching the new converts what he has taught the early church.

However, the word of God, the New Testament, is a letter or a manual addressed to people who follow Jesus Christ, who are focused on fulfilling the great commission the way that I described in this series, and who regularly meet and experience life together as a family in an informal way. The body of Christ is the ekklesia of God. It is when the members of a congregation experience church the way that I described here, that the Bible suddenly makes sense to them. This is when they truly understand what the Scriptures say and mean about everything that they experience in life and in the kingdom of God and in the church in this regard.

I want to put your attention on some of these Scriptures that are addressed to a family who experiences life and Christ together as a family:

Acts 2:42, 44, 45 and 46

42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.

We do not have to sell everything we have to live like this but we should live as a family. Everything that Paul has written to the churches was written with this truth in mind. This is what he told them to do: Be warm to each other, honor each other, confess your sins to each other, be humble to each other, be unanimous, love each other, have peace with each other, edify each other, accept each other, admonish each other, be friendly to each other, be hospitable to each other, have mercy for each other, cry together and laugh together, be submissive to each other, exhort each other, build each other up, support each other, be patient with each other, visit each other, discipline each other, wait for each other, look after each other, teach each other, motivate each other, serve each other, tolerate each other and carry each other’s burdens.

See also
Discipleship - Session 1

This is truly a mouth full. There are hundreds of Scriptures in the New Testament that instructs the family of Christ to do the things that I have just mentioned. It was not given to natural families. It was given to the spiritual family of Christ. These were all instructions that were found in the letters that were addressed to the church.

This will not happen if we as church leaders do not implement this lifestyle in our congregations. It can only happen if this is officially part of the structure of the congregation. When leaders ignore this aspect of our faith-walk in Christ they have failed the congregation.

All church leaders need to empower the laborers. The laborers need a healthy and a divinely inspired balanced Christian experience. As soon as church leaders understand the power and the abilities of well-balanced laborers who are unleashed into this world to do the work of the ministry, they will reap the benefits forever.

Church leaders cannot prevent their members to experience the full Biblical Christian experience as God intended. By doing that they are doing their members a big disservice. We are given gifts to the church to serve them. We serve the members of the congregation and we should give them everything that God intended for them. We should not keep certain things away from them. We also cannot be impartial or ignorant in this regard. We should provide them the things that they need. We should put in place or implement the things that God expects from us and what the body of Christ needs.

Church leaders need to seriously evaluate their programs and methods and motivation. We have arrived at a place in history where we can no longer cling onto old methods and old ways that failed and that will keep on failing. We need to do something different. How wonderful when that something is not only Biblical but blessed and anointed by God. We need to change. We need to change the way that we do church. We need to be brave and we need to stop accepting things as if it will never change. This is a lie. Change is not always easy but it is always possible. Now is the time to change. We can change and we will change. We need to push the boundaries. We cannot stagnate and we cannot accept to live and experience mediocre lives.

We can make the church the most wonderful experience that Christians ever experienced. We can make a very religious and somber experience a wonderful real-life experience that is so dynamic and so exciting and so relevant. This is what the shared community-life experience does in the lives of Christians. This family-experience so divinely interwoven into the great commission and our experiences in Jesus Christ change the lives of people. It dramatically changes the church experience of the body of Christ.

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Lives being destructed!

The church is suddenly exciting and very fulfilling. It brings focus and fulfillment and vision. It makes life worth all the trouble. All the challenges that we face suddenly become less threatening and less serious and insignificant. People start to experience joy and they start to live purposefully. They feel valuable and precious and needed. They feel that they achieve much and they know that they make a huge difference.

This makes people happy and this is what pastors and ministers want in their congregation. They want happy and fulfilled members. As soon as something brings happiness and success, people buy into it and they will do whatever they can to keep this thing going. This is a recipe for success, it is Biblical and it is blessed and it carries the approval of God. This is how the church can make a huge difference in this world.

Are you ready for this? Are you ready to address the issues that I mentioned? As soon as the COVID-19 lock-down restrictions are lifted, we should be ready to make this strategy a reality. There is no time to waste. Now is the time to be obedient to Christ and to fulfill his will.

This is all for today. See you next time.

Session 5

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