GHC School of Discipleship Module 3 PDF

MODULE 3 Missional Communities 2 (2 hours) Missions (2 hours) Ministry (2 hours) Marriage (2 hours) Multiplying Churches (2 hours) MODULE 3 Topic 1: Missional Communities (Starting & Leading MCs) 2 Starting and leading a missional community How to grow a missional community TEXT: Matthew 28: 19 – 20, Acts 2: 46 – 47 INTRODUCTION We have seen from our last study what a Missional Community is and how it functions. We are moving on as we learn how to start and Lead an MC. STARTING A MISSIONAL COMMUNITY Vision and Prayer – Starting an MC cannot just simply be a good idea or program. It must be rooted in vision for missions and a passion birthed in the heart of the leader through prayer. Spend time to seek the leading of the Holy Spirit as to where you should focus on and what the vision will be. Acts 16: 6 – 10. If the MC is the missional vehicle, discipleship is the engine. The Holy Spirit is the fuel of this engine and prayer is the internal combustion. The MC adventure must be rooted in prayer. Starting with a huddle – Once the vision is clear, an MC can begin with a huddle, i.e., a group of 5 – 10 people that we are already discipling. At the heart of an MC must be a discipling culture; therefore, an existing huddle will always be a good launch pad for an MC. The culture which you are already building in your disciples will guarantee a healthy growth through multiplication. Develop common rhythms in your huddle that will ensure each person is actively making new disciples. These rhythms must be centered around the UP/IN/OUT. The PPEGG activities are an easy way to achieve this. Starting with a person of peace –Jesus Christ laid out this strategy in Luke 10: 1 – 16. He asked His disciples to ﬁnd a person of peace and “stay there” once they were found. A person of peace (POP) is someone in whom God is already working, preparing their hearts for the good news of Jesus. If we don't have a person of peace, we may need to alter our routine till we do e.g, ﬁnd a hobby, join a new gym, play a sport, etc. These helps us ﬁnd ways to rub shoulders more with prospective persons of peace. The POP, become our strong connection to the community. Generally speaking, your MC's initial rhythms should be focused on ﬁnding People of Peace. Once you've found them, your rhythms should then focus on investing in the People of Peace you've found. By so doing, you are riding on the work God has started in them and you can be sure they will open up their network of people to you. Rhythms that focus on ﬁnding a person of peace are more OUT in nature. These include examples like a football match, barbecues, neighborhood humanitarian services, etc. The rhythms that focus on investing in the people of peace are more of IN activities. These are mainly informal one on one meetings that focus on the overall health of the person of peace i.e., (relational, physical, mental emotional, spiritual, and ﬁnancial). While doing this, we must also reach UP – meeting together to pray and seek the mind of God for what He will have you do next. Leading your MC Leading an MC takes the grace and wisdom of God as no two MCs can be the same. Leading an MC has no cast-in-stone formula that can apply for every community. However, here are two key tips; 1. The MC will not work if treated as an event or a program – An MC is a lifestyle not an “add on” to life. MCs must function around daily life. Where daily routine cannot support leading an MC, there will be need to make adjustments. Remember, we must ﬁrst be missional. 2. Be committed to both the organized and organic elements of your MC's life – Pay attention to both the structured (organized) and spontaneous (organic) aspects of your MC. Where an MC is more organized than organic, it tends to become just another program and may run out of steam. On the other hand, an overly organic MC may eventually lose sight of the vision. The truth is that everyone leans more to either of the two (organized or organic). A functional family's life together is always centered around a good balance of the organized and organic elements. This creates a texture of life together. If this balance is achieved, that MC will eventually grow into being an “oikos”. Remember, the idea is to be an extended family on mission. Growing and Multiplying your MC We must implement dynamics of raising leaders and multiplication in our MCs. Here are some practical ways to go about this. Sowing, Reaping and Keeping The concept of sowing and reaping can be seen in Jesus' parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-9); 1. Sowing Stage. The seeds of the gospel are sown to many people, with varying degrees of depth. 2. Reaping Stage. In some people's hearts, the gospel seed sprouts and grows, and they respond and decide to follow Jesus and step more into life in God's Kingdom. 3. Keeping Stage. The people who have decided to follow Jesus continue to grow deeper roots as they join the discipleship rhythms of the MC, becoming more mature, and they begin to sow and reap with the others in the community. From the diagram here, you'll observe that the people involved become fewer as the stages progress. This is not a standard, but what usually happens is that the people decrease as the gospel content increases. Kindly note from the diagram that there are three stages of sowing. Let's expand this below; Sowing 1 – In this stage, the people only relate with the leader purely on a relational level. They recognize the leader as a Christian but there isn't exactly any gospel content in the “meetings”. The aim at this stage is to get these people to like and enjoy being with the leader. This stage is facilitated by lots of “fun” programs like barbecues, football matches, outdoor games, open discussions at the salon/football viewing centers/lounges etc. Sowing 2 – At this stage, interactions are still strongly relational but with a little introduction of some spiritual content. The emphasis here is on “a little”. No sermons, no bible study, just a few believers sharing their personal experiences and adding what God is actually doing in their lives. The idea here is that the people still experience everything they do in the Sowing 1 stage however observing something explicitly spiritual that your MC is engaging in. Examples of what you can do at this stage are; · Asking everyone to share something signiﬁcant about their day before dinner · Asking everyone to share what they are thankful for · Picking a trending topic and asking for opinions about it (MC members must be deliberate in bringing in their God-thinking in sharing their opinion). The aim at this stage is to get the people to see how important your faith is to you. From the diagram above, you'll also notice that there's a bridge between each stage. The bridge represents Trust. It is important that people know when they are moving from Sowing 1 to Sowing 2 stage. Don't leave room for surprises when they notice the introduction of spiritual content (if you can help it). It's important not to burn the bridge of trust; we want to carry along as many people as possible as we move from one stage to the other. Sowing 3 – Up until this stage, we have only allowed the people to observe our Christian community. There hasn't been any express sharing of the gospel. If we look at the ministry of Jesus, He'd usually allow the people to experience the Kingdom before explaining it. The Sowing 3 stage is where we share the gospel to the people. They begin to hear an explanation of what they have been experiencing in our community. They don't necessarily have to have to respond yet, but allow them to process what they are hearing and ask questions too Remember the bridge of trust; don't burn it. If possible, the leader can let the people know ahead that there will be a time of Bible Study or a brief sermon in the next meeting. The aim of this stage is for people to hear the gospel expressly and hope that they move to the reaping stage where we invite them to give a response to the gospel. Leadership Pipeline For an MC to grow and multiply, it is important that there is a discipling culture that enables leaders to be trained and raised. Your MC can only multiply if more missional leaders are raised so as to launch new Kingdom ventures. Only a disciple-maker can effectively lead an MC and raise leaders. It takes a long time to raise leaders, it is therefore important to think of multiplication well ahead of time. Don't wait until it is time to multiply before you begin to think about it. Raising Leaders – Mark 3: 13 – 15 (NLT) Discipleship is apprenticeship. Jesus Christ had a plan for apprenticeship and it resulted in what we call the church today. From our text above, we can see the highlights of His apprenticeship plan as follows; APPRENTICE SELECTION: “called to him those he wanted” APPRENTICE EXPECTATION: “designated them Apostles” APPRENTICE PREPARATION: “that they might be with him” APPRENTICE GRADUATION: “that he might send them out” It is important as an MC leader that you raise people and train them to do what you do. Five Steps of Leadership Development 1. I do, you watch, we talk – At this stage, the leader handle things while the disciples watch and then the disciples and disciples talk (feedback). 2. I do, you help, we talk – Here the leader gets the apprentice to help with a part of the usual duties and then you talk (feedback). 3. You do, I help, we talk – At this point, the apprentice is doing more of the work while the leader helps with a portion of the work after which we give feedback. 4. You do, I watch, we talk – Here the leader only watch the disciples take center-stage and then gives feedback afterwards. 5. You do, someone else watches – Here, the MC is multiplying. The disciples have begun their own MC and are beginning to raise other leaders. Sometimes MCs multiply by simply splitting into two. Raising leaders is also a key success factor for this system. CONCLUSION MCs are a great vehicle that gets you to the missional places God is calling us to go, but discipleship is the engine. Without a process of discipleship for raising up leaders within the MC, our vehicle might look good, but it's going nowhere. Having a process of discipleship that actually works is vital to being able to go to the land of Kingdom multiplication. Note also that there is no “one size ﬁts all” way to start and lead an MC. ACTIVITY · Looking at your current daily routine, how do you plan to start your MC? · Identify a person of peace in your community (network of people you want to reach) and begin the Sowing stage of your MC. MODULE 3 Topic 2: Missions The concept of missions Missional Frontiers The Missional believer Introduction. God’s mission is to restore humanity to Himself, John 3: 16; Hab. 2: 14; Rev. 21: 1. He doesn’t just want a few people saved; He wants all men saved. 2 Peter. 3: 9. The Great Commission (Matthew 28: 18 – 20) is our call and exhortation from Jesus. This being that, “all authority has been given for you to go and make disciples teaching people to obey everything that Jesus has commanded you to do”. This isn’t just a call for some, it’s a personal command for you as a follower of Jesus. God has called you to join in His great mission of restoring humanity to Himself. (2 Corinthians 5: 20). A. THE CONCEPT OF MISSIONS There is a prevalent misconception that missions is when an individual or a group takes the Gospel from one location (usually an urban center or place of relative comfort) to another location, probably with lesser exposure, education, comfort, etc.). This gives the unspoken idea that only some people are gifted for missions and hence only those can be missionaries. Missions, in our context, simply means being sent. In that sense, every believer is a missionary who, upon being endued with the Holy Spirit, is meant to be a witness for Christ, starting from Jerusalem (your immediate relationships and geography) to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. (Acts 1: 8). Jesus noting Samaria shows that the gospel will transcend not just geography (Jerusalem and Judea), but ethnicity as well, till it gets to the ends of the earth. Jesus gave the mandate to all of His disciples “Go into all the nations (people groups) and make disciples.” Matthew 28: 18 - 20. The original word translated as “Go” actually reads “As you go…” This implies that as you go to work, make disciples. As you go to school, make disciples. As you go to the mall, make disciples. Do you get the idea? Jesus asks us to go into all the ethnic/people groups. (Matthew 28: 19) Because of the new birth, we are ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 20). This means that we are to be His representatives anywhere and everywhere we are or go. B. THE MISSIONAL BELIEVER Being missional is not a task but a lifestyle and commitment we embrace when we become saved. A missional believer is a follower of Christ who uses whatever he has as a tool or platform for preaching the Gospel. As a representative and witness of Christ, your life becomes a platform (2 Timothy 4: 5). Here are a few things you can do to make being missional a lifestyle. Start out by being excellent at whatever place you spend most of your time in e.g., your workplace, family, marketplace, etc. Be an example of a believer. 1 Tim. 4: 12 Pray daily for opportunities to share your faith. Pray for speciﬁc people you know who are far from the Lord Intentionally build relationships and trust e.g., showing kindness to others, listening to them, etc. Prepare yourself to share the gospel using - Your story - God's story C. MISSIONAL FRONTIERS They are places or networks of people where there is little Gospel presence and an opportunity for a much fuller in-breaking of the Kingdom of God. A missional frontier is a combination of two things who you are trying to reach and; the platform we are using to reach them with the Gospel. It is the platform for the execution of the mission and the community you are trying to reach. That community can be a geographic community or a group of people. This is in line with Jesus’ commission to us to reach all people groups. A missional frontier is an opportunity to live out our faith with intentionality, focus, urgency and an abundance mindset. Examples of missional frontiers. Tutorial classes targeted at secondary school students who are planning to write a major exam. Reaching a residential community with a water provision project. Can you think of missional frontiers that you can create? D. THE PURPOSE OF A MISSIONAL FRONTIER The purpose of a missional frontier is not just community impact, development or corporate social responsibility but the fulﬁllment of God’s mission to restore mankind to Himself hence whatever we are using to reach the community becomes a tool to reach that community or group of people. E. ELEMENTS OF A MISSIONAL FRONTIER Reach: The focus on how you can disciple them by introducing them to a relationship to Jesus. In short, people must be coming to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Restore: This focuses on What problems do those in that community have? Realize that you are equipped by God to solve those problems. Prayerfully consider how you can use those problems as an opportunity to get their attention. People’s most basic needs are being met in community. Reproduce: The product of a missional frontier is the making and multiplication of disciples. Using a missional community makes this possible. ACTIVITY Can you think of missional frontiers that you can create? Practice telling your own story with the aim of sharing it with others. How can you be more missional in your life? List 5 people who are far from God in your sphere of inﬂuence that you can start praying for. Write down when and how often you will pray for them. Write out when you are going to share the gospel with them. Share this with someone you are accountable to so they can follow up with you. MODULE 3 Topic 3: Ministry Understanding Ministry Equipping for ministry (Gifts of the Spirit, Ministry Gifts, the anointing) TEXT: ROMAN 12: 3, EPHESIANS 4: 11–16, 1 PETER 4: 10 INTRODUCTION Every Christian is not called to be a pastor, but every Christian is called to the ministry. God wants to express His power and His love through us. Service in Christ is not optional for a Christian. In God’s army, there are no volunteers; everyone is drafted into service (Romans 12: 11). WHAT IS MINISTRY? - ACTS 6: 2 – 4; Matthew 20: 26 - 28 The word most frequently translated as “ministry” in the New Testament is the Greek word diakonia, which means, “To serve, attend to, or wait upon”. Ministry can be directed to God and other people. WHO IS A MINISTER 1 PET. 4: 10 – 11 The word “minister” (or servant) refers to all members of the Body of Christ and whoever has a part in serving. It does not just apply to a small elite group. UNDERSTANDING GOD’S CALL – 1 COR. 7: 17 There is a general call into the body of Christ (1 Pet. 2: 9; 2 Thess. 2: 13, 14). There is a special call into an area of service. (Acts 6: 2 – 4; 13: 2 – 4) EVERY BELIEVER IS A MINISTER. We are: Created for ministry (Eph. 2: 10) Saved for ministry (II Tim. 1: 9) Called into ministry Gifted for ministry (I Pet. 4: 10) Authorized for ministry (Matt. 28: 18 – 20: Luke 10: 19) Commanded to ministry (Matt. 20: 25 – 28: Matt. 28: 18 – 20) To be equipped for ministry (Eph. 4: 11 – 12) Needed for ministry (I Cor. 12: 14 – 20; Rom. 12: 4 – 5) Accountable for ministry (Rom. 14: 12) To be rewarded for ministry (Col. 3: 23 – 24) EQUIPMENT FOR MINISTRY (1) SPIRITUAL GIFTS I CORINTHIANS 12: 1 – 11 Revelation Gifts: Spiritual gifts that reveal something. The Word of Wisdom: - This is the supernatural revelation by the Spirit of God of the divine purpose and plan in the mind and will of God (Gen. 6: 13 – 18; Acts 11: 28 – 30) The Word of knowledge: - This is the supernatural revelation by the Holy Ghost of certain facts in the Mind of God. (John 1: 47 – 49; II Kings 6: 11, 12) The Discerning of Spirit: - The gift enables us to supernaturally discern, perceive or judge whether the spirit operating in the situation is divinely, humanly or demonically sourced. (Luke 13: 11 – 13; Acts 16: 16 - 18; 2 Kings 6: 17.) Power Gifts: Spiritual gifts that do something. The Gift of Faith: - This enables us to supernaturally have assurance and conﬁdence that God will prove His power in a ministry situation. (Mk. 4: 37 – 39; Jn. 11: 41 – 44; Josh 10: 12 – 13) The Working of Miracles: - The Holy Spirit with this gift enables us to carry out acts that are contrary to natural laws with power beyond human capacity. (Jn. 2: 1 - 11; Luke 9: 16, 17; Exo. 14: 21, 22) The Gifts of Healings: - The Holy Spirit enables us with this gift to administer God’s power to heal spiritually, emotionally and physically. (Mk. 3: 1 - 5; 2 Kings 5: 10 - 14). There is a great variety of manifestations of these gifts. The exercise of the gift of healing does not give the gifted the ability to heal all sicknesses all the time. The Utterance or Inspirational Gifts: They are gifts that say something. Prophecy: - The Holy Spirit enables us with this gift, to communicate a special message from God to a person or people, which would be in the language of the hearer(s) and edify, strengthen, encourage and comfort the person(s). (1 Cor. 14: 1 – 6). The gift of prophecy however is different from the ofﬁce of the prophet, as prophecy alone does not make one a prophet or seer. Diverse Kinds of Tongues: - This gift of the Holy Spirit enables us to speak in language(s) (whether earthly or angelic) that we have not previously learned. (Acts 2: 4 Acts 10: 46) Interpretation of Tongues: - This gift of the Holy Spirit enables us to interpret the meaning of an unknown or unlearned tongue in an understandable language. (1 Cor. 14: 13, 26 - 28). The gift of interpretation of tongues when operating with tongues is equivalent to prophecy. HOW TO ACTIVATE THE GIFTS- Acts 13: 1 - 3 Prayer and fasting. Effective service - Acts 6: 5, 8; 8: 4 – 8. Laying on of hands - 2 Tim. 1: 6; 1 Tim. 4: 14 Faith Worship (2) MINISTRY GIFTS Apostle – One sent forth from God, the bearer of a commission. (Eph. 4: 11; 1 Cor. 12: 28) Prophet – This is a forth teller of God’s word who speaks under the inspiration of the Spirit. They may also foretell future events (Eph. 4:11; 2: 20, Acts 11: 27 – 30, Acts 13: 1) Evangelist – A preacher of the gospel having harvesting ministry. (Acts 21: 8, 2 Tim 4: 5) Pastor – An overseer of the church, who teaches, guards, guides and feeds the ﬂock of God (John 10: 16, John 21: 16, 1 Pet 5: 2 - 3) Teacher – An instructor of God’s Word, who imparts systematic knowledge and establishes truth and doctrine from the word. Exhortation – An exhorter is one who consoles, strengthens and encourages others on a personal and church level with words of ediﬁcation. Giving – This is a ministry of giving ﬁnancially and sacriﬁcially, to meet the needs of the church and to propagate the gospel of Christ. Mercy – This is a ministry of love and compassion for the disabled, less privileged, sick, elderly, shut and needy. Government – This is the ministry of one who steers, directs, or pilots an activity in the Church or a local church. It means to operate in the gift of administration. (1 Cor. 12: 28; Rom. 12: 8; 1 Tim. 5:17) Helps – One who gives relief and help. One who lightens loads of leaders by doing certain practical things for them. The Helps ministry includes music, intercession, and specialized ministries to children, women, men, prostitutes, etc. It is also all other ministries outside of the ﬁve-fold ministries. DISCOVERING YOUR SHAPE – Acts 9: 1 – 6 The “SHAPE” acronym will help us to explain the ﬁve elements necessary to know our ministry. Spiritual Gifts: - The speciﬁc gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation in our lives while serving. Heart: - The heart represents the centre of motivation, desires, interests, and inclinations. (Psalm 78: 70 – 72) Abilities: - Abilities are the unique natural talents that you are born with. Personality: - Your personality or temperament reveals your peculiar characteristics which is a pointer to what area of ministry you can best operate. Experience: This could be educational, vocational, spiritual or ministerial. They could also be painful experiences in our lives and are the indication of the problem we are born to solve. (3) THE ANOINTING ISAIAH 61: 1 – 3, ACTS 10: 38, ISAIAH 10: 27. PURPOSE FOR THE ANOINTING (Isa. 61: 1 - 3) (I) Healing for the total man. Healing of the spirit Healing of the emotions Healing of the mind Healing of the body Healing of poverty (ii) Works of the ministry Luke 24: 49 ESSENTIALS FOR THE ANOINTING Lack of lofty natural attributes (I Cor. 1: 26 - 28) Righteousness (Heb. 1: 8 - 9) Hunger and thirst (Isa. 55: 1; Ps. 42: 1) Walking in compassion (Mark 1: 41; Rom. 5: 5) STIRRING UP THE ANOINTING Praise and thanksgiving (Ps. 22: 3; Ps. 149: 6 - 9; John 11: 41) Prayer (Acts 4: 31) Fasting (Acts 13: 2) The Word (John 6: 63; Ps. 107: 20) Transference (1 Tim 4: 14) Testimonies (1 Sam. 17: 34 - 37) “The Anointing of the Holy Spirit will always destroy every yoke of bondage”. ACTIVITY: What spiritual gifts have you seen in operation in your life? Make a list of them. Have you been stewarding these gifts well? How can you begin to steward them better for God's use? MODULE 3 Topic 4: Marriage Deﬁnition and Purpose of marriage Family life Responsibilities of the husband Responsibilities of the wife Maximizing singlehood Choosing the right partner Courtship Divorce TEXT: Gen. 2: 18 – 25 INTRODUCTION Marriage is an institution established by God for man’s beneﬁt and for His own purpose. It is a lifetime partnership and commitment that helps individuals synergize to fulﬁl their God given purpose in an atmosphere of love, acceptance, tolerance, and oneness. Eccl. 4: 9 – 12 Marriage was meant to be happy and fulﬁlling when it was established in Eden. God’s interest in marriage is the raising of godly seed. Marriage as an institution is older than the church or human government. A. DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE Marriage is simply deﬁned as a covenant relationship between one man (biological male), and one woman (biological female) in partnership with God to live together for the rest of their lives and achieve the following purpose. PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE - To provide a suitable helper for man (Gen. 2: 18) - Procreation (Mal. 2: 15) - Companionship (Gen. 2: 18). B. FAMILY LIFE (i) HUSBAND AND WIFE This is a covenant relationship not just a promise. Loyalty is therefore required in fulﬁlling the conditions of the covenant so we can derive the full blessing of marriage. HUSBAND’S RESPONSIBILITIES ︎ Be the head of the home (1 Cor 11: 3) ︎ Train the children (1 Tim. 3: 4, 5) ︎ Love his wife (Eph. 5: 25) ︎ Provide for the family (1 Tim. 6: 8) ︎ Be faithful to only one wife (1 Cor. 4: 2) WIFE’S RESPONSIBILITIES ︎ Submit to the husband as to the Lord in all things (Eph. 5: 22) ︎ Love the husband and children (Titus 2: 4) ︎ Be a home builder (Prov. 14: 1; Titus 2: 5). NOTE: Roles or responsibilities between a man and his wife are evolving as they go through different seasons of their marriage. Moreover, there are no two marriages that are the same. As a result, couples must prayerfully apportion roles and responsibilities based on bible principles, and the uniqueness of their union as a couple. They must ensure that the word of God is the ﬁnal authority in their home even as they are led by the Holy Spirit. Here are some tips to putting more life into marriage and helping married couples make a success of their marriage: 1) Make your spouse a priority 2) Accept your differences 3) Listen carefully to each other 4) Complement each other daily 5) Work together as a team 6) Mind your manners towards each other 7) Deliberately spend quality time with each other: watch TV less and ﬁnd time for fun, enjoying each other's company. 8) Fight fair and forgive each other quickly 9) Welcome each other home and go to bed at the same time 10) Develop mutual friends 11) Make love don't just have sex. 12) Treasure your spouse and pray for him/her. C. MAXIMISING SINGLE HOOD: As a single unmarried man/woman, you must know your identity and locate yourself in God’s plan and purpose for you, knowing the direction God is leading you in life. Discover your potentials and give your all in pursuit of your God given purpose. Make the best of the opportunity of less distractions at this stage of your life. 1 Cor. 7: 32 – 34 You must add value to who you are before you get married. Who you are is the foundation for who you become in life. Your nature will determine your future. There must be a speciﬁc deﬁnite internal change and a genuine new birth experience. You are a product of your dominant thoughts. How do you see yourself, your career, your business, and your marital destiny? Develop your character. Character is who you are and not what you do or profess to be. Your character is the most valuable assets you will have in your married life (Prov. 23: 7; Rom. 12: 2; Gen. 39: 2). You are a product of your thoughts. Who you are today is from your dominant thoughts of yesterday and yester-years. Your thoughts will create your words, which dictate your actions, which form your habits, which ultimately shape up your character. Thoughts – Words – Actions – Habits – Character D. CHOOSING THE RIGHT PARTNER: Genesis 24: 12 – 27. It is very important that you ask for the help and guidance of the all-knowing (omniscient) God in choosing the right partner. At creation, God put the female gender in the man, but man could not tap effectively into the vast resources God has put in that aspect of his life. Adam was alone (in terms of companionship) but was not lonely because he had a wholesome relationship with God (fellowship with God) until the day Eve was brought to him. He wasn’t lonely; but God had to bring Eve out of him to behold and to fellowship with. MARRIAGE IS NEVER AN ESCAPE FROM LONELINESS. As a single unmarried person, be given to serving the Lord whole heartedly, and seek to knowing God more without distractions (1 Cor 7: 34 – 35). The more of God you know, the more you understand yourself and the easier it is for you to make the right choice of a life partner. SELF DISCOVERY IN CHRIST IS KEY TO CHOOSING THE RIGHT PARTNER! STEPS TO TAKE TOWARDS MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE OF A PARTNER: Step 1: Set goals for your marital destiny (Luke 14: 28 – 30). Step 2: Allow God to heal you of any past heart break if there is any. Step 3: Allow God to guide you every step of the way in making the right choice (Isa. 48: 17). Step 4: Hear from God and know His perfect will for you, before you make your choice (Rom. 12: 2). Step 5: Be sure you are matured enough for marriage. JUDGING MATURITY FOR MARRIAGE Gen 2: 24 – Emphasizes a “man” and a “woman” shall leave their parents. Marriage is not for immature boys and girls. Adulthood is a requirement. There is need for maturity age wise, spiritually, socially, mentally, emotionally, and ﬁnancially. You must be ready for the responsibilities of marriage which includes parenthood. You must be balanced emotionally. “Leaving and cleaving” to become ONE is the golden rule of marriage. A matured person within the context of marriage must be: ︎ One who can handle responsibilities, setbacks, and disappointments. ︎ One who is ﬂexible, positive, responsive to change and can receive correction. ︎ One who is less critical, not destructive in criticism, not proud, but meek and not a faultﬁnder but open-minded ︎ One who has access to and exploits the wisdom of God to his/her own advantage with proven results in their lives ︎ One who sees through and open to God enough about their weaknesses and is dependent on the mercy and grace of God for supernatural interventions. ︎ One who has a job Step 6: Get to understand the differences between a man and woman and how to relate with the opposite sex (I Peter 3: 7). Step 7: Ensure you are thinking of and planning for marriage for the right reasons. HEALTHY REASONS FOR MARRIAGE There are many wrong reasons people go into marriage. Below are the healthy reasons people get married: For Companionship (Gen 2: 18; Mal. 2: 14) To Complement each other – Marriage hinges on friendship. You marry someone you can count on; feel comfortable with, someone who believes in you, your dreams, potentials, concerns and can laugh with you. You can jointly work together to fulﬁl and establish God’s purpose for your lives. (Eccl. 4: 9) For Coition – To fulﬁl sexual needs and fulﬁlment in the way God establishes it (Heb. 13: 4). We are sexual beings. Sex is good, pure, glorious, and holy but has been designed to be enjoyed and experienced within the conﬁnes of marriage. For Communication – We get to know, understand, demonstrate, and express love the way God intends for it in marriage (1 John 4: 18). For Consolation – To establish your conviction, which you believe it is God’s will for you to marry your spouse to be (Eph. 5: 22 – 23) and enhance your growth in your relationship (Eph 4: 15 - 16). E. COURTSHIP: WHAT IS COURTSHIP? Courtship is the period during which a man and a woman get to know one another after they have both agreed to start a relationship, leading to marriage. Courtship begins when both parties have agreed to the leading of God in their hearts as future marriage partners. It is the interval between the day of agreement to the proposal and the actual wedding day. The Courtship period affords us a good opportunity to prove and love God more (Romans 5: 8). WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF COURTSHIP? The purpose of Courtship is getting to know one another through a well-nurtured relationship, exposure, and communication in order to prove the proposed marriage convictions within the context of time. “Time is an asset to any relationship". So, time is an asset to your courtship relationship. The focus of courting should not be on the ﬂesh or mere physical attractiveness. You should get to know the person not the person’s body. Adding value to one another should be your foremost priority. The longer your courtship, the better. Don’t be in a rush, but also, it should not be too long. (Except either party is in school or out of town/country). Don’t sleep with yourselves before marriage. There is something sex before marriage takes away from every meaningful relationship; it erodes trust and breeds suspicion and inﬁdelity (1 John 4: 18). Pleasing God should be the focus of every single person, and this should still be your focus after marriage. By the time you are getting married, you are sure that you are the right choice for each other. You have been able to prove God’s assurance in your hearts. COURTSHIP THEREFORE IS THAT PERIOD OF CONSCIOUS PREPARATION OF TWO PEOPLE FOR THE FULFILMENT OF THE CALL OF GOD ON THEIR LIVES IN AND THROUGH MARRIAGE. Parental consent is important in every courtship leading to marriage. (Eph. 6: 2 – 3; Gen. 24: 58 – 61). WHAT TO DO DURING COURTSHIP? COMMUNICATE: What about? Things of God and life in general. Talk about your aspirations and life goals Talk about your experiences and backgrounds Talk about what kind of family you want to have and how you will both glorify God as a family. F. DIVORCE (Matt. 19: 6 – 7). Divorce is not in the plan of God for mankind. Marriage is a lifetime covenant agreement. God hates divorce (Mal. 2: 16). Couples should exhaust all avenues to settle differences. However, in Global Harvest Church, we advocate temporary separation in cases of physical violence, or where the life of one or both couple is/are threatened. Divorce can only be the way out on grounds of unrepentant sexual immorality. Even sexual inﬁdelity can be forgiven. We believe in Global Harvest Church that marriage is forever and only death should separate couples. We encourage couples in turbulent marriages to seek counsel, professionally and spiritually, and submit themselves to therapy, where necessary, to overcome their challenges. With God, all things are possible (Matt 19: 26). CONCLUSION: ︎ Marriage is sweet, if husband and wife intentionally work together with God's help to ensure it is successful. One could experience heaven on earth in a good successful Marriage and experience hell in a failing Marriage. ACTIVITIES: 1) Write down ﬁve things about yourself that is a blessing to other people. 2) As an individual, would you say you are lonely or alone? 3) Do you get along well with other people? In what ways do you plan to make your relationship better? MODULE 3 Topic 5: Multiplying Churches What is a church Essence of church planting Who can lead a church Leading effectively What is a church? The word “Church” comes from the Greek Word “Ecclesia” which means to “call out from”. The Church is a body of people called out of the world to be in Christ (1 Cor. 1: 2; 1 Pet. 2: 9). The word “Church” can refer to the Universal Church – the body of Christ; it can also refer to a local group of believers (Col. 4: 15). The Local Church It is an assembly of people or groups worshipping at a location. Romans 16: 1, 4 – 5; 1 Corinthians 1: 2; 1 Corinthians 17: 19. It refers to a consistent gathering of Christ's disciples. Attributes of a Local Church 1. It will have more than 2 or 3 disciples of Christ coming together with the intention to fellowship with Christ and one another. 2. Meetings can be in a home, park, event place or an elaborate venue. Colossians 4: 15; Philemon 1: 2. 3. The members will be committed to evangelism, discipleship, teaching of the word, prayer, and care for one another. Acts 2: 42 4. The Local Church has a born-again leader. Titus 1: 5 5. It is positioned to plant new churches. What does it mean to Plant a Church It refers to the process that results in a new local Christian assembly being established The Church Planting process doesn’t start with the commencement of weekly services. It includes all activities aimed at setting up a local assembly which includes sharing the vision, evangelism, discipleship, starting small groups, etc. The essence of church planting 1. It has become the most veritable tool for evangelism. In fact, more people are likely to become born again through local churches. 2. Church planting provides an opportunity to disciple nations, thereby shaping the culture of nations and generations. 3. Church planting provides more opportunities for leadership development in the body of Christ Who can lead a church? 1. No one is too young. Timothy was a teenager when he began to lead a church. 1 Timothy 4: 12 2. Male or female can lead a church. Romans 16: 3 – 5 3. A church leader must be born again and be a disciple. That is, he or she must be committed to being with Jesus, loving like Jesus, and going like Jesus. 2 Timothy 2: 2 4. Must be committed to personal growth in all facets of life. Launching a New Church Churches can be planted around various contexts: A. A church can be planted from an existing Missional community (MC). Missional communities are largely mid sized small groups. MCs in themselves should have a vision of becoming a church someday. This is one of the crucial ways we can fulﬁl Christ’s desire in Matthew 28: 19 B. A church can be planted based on the potential to win and disciple souls in a particular location. This might imply that the church planter sees an opportunity for the Gospel and pursues it even if there are no disciples there. Colossians 4: 3 C. A church can be planted as house churches with 5 to 15 members. This is mostly used in areas where large gatherings are difﬁcult or where there are hostilities to the Gospel. D. A church can also be planted as a fresh expression of an existing ministry. This is to cater for speciﬁc people groups either based on cultural or demographic afﬁnities. For instance, the Discovery churches are planted as youth expressions of Global Harvest. While we cannot exhaust church planting models and contexts, Global Harvest is focused on planting missional Churches. Launching a church plant 1. Start with Prayer: The church belongs to Christ; therefore, we must gain inspiration and strength from Him. Matthew 16: 18. The church planter (that is, the person leading the new church plant) should spend time in prayer for clarity and to generate spiritual energy to pursue the work. Jesus started ministry with Prayer and fasting. Matthew 4: 1 – 2 The Launch team should also pray together in order to maintain the unity of the spirit 2. Raise a Launch Team: Churches can’t be planted by an individual. Even Jesus raised a team of 12. The Launch team is a group of people who have come together to see to the successful start of a new church. They don’t have to be high level leaders but must be committed to the new work. As you raise a team, make it clear this is a church planting process while making the vision clear to everyone. 3. Explore: There is a need to prayerfully scan the proposed church plant environment as you seek to understand the area and its people. 4. Preach the Gospel: Ensure you preach the gospel at your meetings. Also preach the gospel within the Launch community. 5. Set timelines: Set a timetable for your Launch process. For instance, set a time the new church will start weekend meetings. Leading a Church Start with a clear vision Lay a discipleship foundation for the church Model the vision Give room for leadership development Create a culture of care and love Build the church around sound doctrine. Be a praying leader CONCLUSION: Church Planting is strong on God’s heart. It is an important way to expand the kingdom and reach more people. He is looking forward to seeing you committed to planting more churches in the coming days. ACTIVITY. 1. Form groups of 3 – 5 members each. 2. Identify 2 new areas Churches can be planted. 3. Design a church planting strategy for the new church plant.

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