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Recently the leadership of Borden Church of Christ have been meeting to evaluate the programs and methods currently being used in this local body of Christ to accomplish the task of reaching people and making disciples.
By God’s leading we have tried to spiritually and systematically look to what we are investing in and advocating as a church. We have labored to make an objective determination as to whether the things we are doing are first biblical and second working. If they are not, we asked, why not? In the case where something appears to be working, then we ask how can we improve on it and perhaps even duplicate that effort and success in other areas of ministry in the life of the church.
At this time the leadership has made a unanimous decision to transition our Sunday and Wednesday evening meetings to small group discipleship classes (normally 6-10 persons) that will be developed and offered to our people throughout the course of a week. This could mean people are still meeting on a Sunday or Wednesday evenings, but it is just as likely they will get together on a Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday evening, or perhaps on a Saturday morning.
This will of course be all new to us, so we ask for your patience during the coming year as we work to build an effective strategy. Certainly we do not have it all figured out and in the coming year we will try some things that may work and some that may not. Instead of getting discouraged we will reevaluate, modify, and try something different if needed. Of course as things progress we will be working out more specifically who will lead/facilitate each group, what types of small studies and groups we will offer to our people, and finally we will work with groups on where and at what time each group will meet.
Please know this morning we are actively planning to offer our first series of small group gatherings beginning the week of February 19. It is our prayer to have one available for most every day of the week at various times during the week. Watch for more info in the weeks ahead.
What is expected of you and your family – in a word – participation. Get involved, examine what is available, commit to a group, show up, participate, worship, fellowship, invite others, pray, be a good disciple and help us make strong disciples for the glory of God.
Love God, Love People, Make Disciples.
Brother Scott Reeder
Why does Borden Church of Christ exist?
What is our purpose?
ANSWER: We exist to bring glory to God by fulfilling the mission of God and edifying (that is building up) the body of Christ. Love God, Love People, Make Disciples.
The mission of God’s church is clear. We are directed to go into the all the world preaching the gospel, making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them the word of God (Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:18-20). Going, preaching, baptizing, and teaching are all actions in support of the primary task which is to “make disciples”.
How will we accomplish that mission? How are we going to do it?
ANSWER- We will develop and then support appropriate / effective programs that are purposed to reach and then disciple people.
What is the The role of church leadership in this mission?
“The specific mission of church leadership – is to develop and offer appropriate and effective programs through which persons will hear the gospel and then once they accept Christ, we are to engage them in ways that they will have the ability to spiritually mature – to grow as Christians.”
One of the great challenges of making disciples for Christ is fine tuning our efforts, methods, programs, and ultimately our hearts to following the Holy Spirits lead in accomplishing this great task. When we properly follow the spirits leading he gives us direction and discernment as to how we are to accomplish the things which God has prepared for us beforehand, that we might work and walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Every church is faced with examining what they are doing, and with God’s help determine what has and has not worked in the past, what is and is not currently working in the present, and what will and will not work in the future. Sometimes we reinvent an old method or program and it finds new life, at other times we try to revitalize it, only to realize, that something which once worked very well, no longer has the same effectiveness. At other times we try something completely new and find that it is ineffective, therefore is must be adjusted, modified, or even abandoned. Finally at other times we trust God to show us a new way and he blesses it with great success in reaching and making disciples.
More thoughts on the philosophy of a small group strategy.
Something we find in the bible – is the unmistakable reality that in the early church, Christians lived in close relationship with each other. They shared their experiences, meals, homes, joys, sorrows, prayers, blessings, hardships, and ultimately their lives together. They interacted intimately on a daily basis as they worshiped, praised God, and lived their lives in communion with each other through Christ (Acts 2:42-46).
The clear outcome of this kind of commitment was that God tremendously blessed them and added to their numbers daily those who were being saved and discipled as Kingdom citizens (Acts 2:47).
As we look to the recent trend of discipleship groups (often referred to as small /cell/house groups) in the life of the modern church. We find that this type of gathering fosters precisely the kind of community we find in the bible, specifically when we examine the ministries of Christ, the disciples, and the early church.
When small groups of Christians intentionally gather together they find a very unique and intimate way of working and learning together. All the while they often experience God driven numerical and spiritual growth as they become better disciples of Christ.
Honestly we are prone to see this practice as a more recent trend in church life, while in many ways I contend this practice is simply returning to the kind of gatherings that actually took place among the early church. Meetings were more relational. They encouraged participation through sharing, questions, and discussion (1 Corinthians 14:26, Colossians 3:16–17). The desired outcome was indeed that of reaching people and the building up of the body of Christ as they sought to edify the Lord and his people (Ephesians 4:11–16).
