October 2008

10.20.2008

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” In regard to discipleship training, at ARBC we’ve completed two sessions of Share Jesus Without Fear, and Crown Financial is currently in session. There is more training on the horizon, and I would like you to know why these particular classes have been chosen for the coming year.

Some may ask, “Why wasn’t I asked about what I’m interested in learning?” I considered that, and then I looked at our rolls. We have 600+ names on our rolls with around 230 attending every Sunday. If only half of those in worship responded with two suggestions, I could have had 200 different suggestions. Considering duplication, it could have been a large number. There had to be a better way.

It all began with prayer. Next I turned to the Bible. Specifically, Galatians 5:22-23 and Matthew 28:19-20. I also considered the five basic functions of the church – worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry. The last item I used as a guide was the ARBC mission statement printed inside every Sunday’s worship guide. Then I asked myself, “Using this specific criterion, what are the factors in what a fruit-bearing Christian looks like and/or does?”

1. Prayer. Every Christian should pray. So I have a resource called, “Pray in Faith.”
2. Witnessing. We’ll continue with Share Jesus, but I also have a class developed by Billy Graham called “The Christian Life and Witness Course.”
3. Family Life. For those who are married there is a course called “Marriage – from Surviving to Thriving” by Chuck Swindoll. Also, I have two parenting resources: “Parenting – The Early Years” and “Parenting – Your Teenager.”
4. Finances. God owns everything, including the other 90% we have after our tithe. “Crown Financial” classes help us learn what God says about finances.
5. Healthy Christian View. The resource for this factor is “Search for Significance” and it’s all about basing your self-worth on the love, acceptance, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ and not on the world’s standards.
6. Serving God. There are two courses to help you with this. “Experiencing God” is a favorite of many Christians. The other is “The Body Life Journey.” This is a short workbook to be completed prior to attending one three-hour workshop. This is a class to help us discover how and where God has designed us for ministry. It looks at Spiritual Gifts trends, your relational style, vocation, passions and desires to help locate a place to serve within the church.

As you can count, that is 10 courses for next year, not counting the Ladies’ Bible Study. Fortunately for me, we’ve had others step and offer to teach some of these classes!

One last class to mention is on Wednesday evenings. Pastor Jim and I want to try something different. In October, he will begin teaching from Proverbs while I will teach a class on different World Views – other religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, and a few more “isms” that will one day be “wasms.” I pray you’ll attend one or more of these classes.

Until next month,
Danny Joe

Posted by arbc at 10:49 PM