What is the process our church will use to help people become mature disciples? Today we will reflect on 4 steps to review in the disciple making

Making Mature Disciples

Making Mature Disciples

What is the process our church will use to help people become mature disciples?

Today we will reflect on 4 steps to review in the disciple making process.

Step 1: Articulate Christ’s Mission For Our Church

Our Savior gave us our marching/sailing orders – His Great Commission.

Mark 16:15 (ESV) 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

Acts 1:8 (ESV) “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV) “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”


In Matthew 28:19-20: The intent is to make (evangelize) and mature (edify) disciples.

The process is moving people from whenever you find them (lost or saved) along a continuum toward maturity. The final goal or “finished product” is not just a disciple but a ‘mature disciple.’

We say “mature” but other terms can be used, “Christ formed in you /Christlikeness (Gal. 4:19); “complete in Christ” (Col. 1:28); “perfect / fully developed / full-grown / adult” (Mt. 5:48; Phil. 3:12; Col 1:28); “grown up” (Eph. 4:15); “holy” or “sanctified” (Rom. 6:19-22)


We should have developed a broad, brief, biblical statement of what our church is supposed to be doing in our community. It should be short enough to fit on a t-shirt, personalized to the congregation and memorable – if we haven’t done so already, we shouldn’t go any farther.

Good News we have! Does anyone remember our mission statement?

“To lead all people to be devoted followers of Christ”

Step 2: Identify The Characteristics Of A Mature Disciple

After identifying the characteristics, we must decide how to communicate them to our church.

If a fully devoted follower of Christ were to walk through the doors of the church, what would they look like? Thoughts?


Characteristics found in scripture, mature disciples: Worship (Romans 12:1-2) Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Evangelize (Colossians 4:3) Know and apply Scripture to their lives / Biblical

Instruction (2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 5:11-6:3) Serve the body / Ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13) Partake of

communion (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) Display the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) Give of their finances (2 Corinthians 9:6-15) Love of others /fellowship (1 John 4:7) & bear fruit (John

15:5)


Once the characteristics have been identified, we need to communicate them in such a way that 1.) our people will know what they are, 2.) recognize them when they see them in others, and 3.) remember them for their own spiritual benefit.

The characteristics should be synthesized under just a few general terms. Each term must be broad enough to actually contain and represent characteristics found in the scriptures.

Suggestion: choose at least two but no more than five, characteristics. People tend to not remember more than five.


A memorable way to accomplish this is to use one of the following: Alliteration (Conversion, Community, Commitment, Contribution), Acrostic (Glorifying God through meaningful worship, Relate together in biblical community, Apply God’s truth through discipleship, Cultivate a lifestyle of service, Expand God’s kingdom through evangelism), Diagram (along with parts of the body such as the heart, head and hands.)

Step 3: Design A Disciple-Maturing Process

Once the church has identified the characteristics of spiritual maturity and a way to clearly communicate them to the congregation so that people know and remember them, the next step is to design a process that will help your people adopt or integrate them into their lives.

This is the sanctification or spiritual transformation process that leads to maturity and involves the action steps that will accomplish your character goals.

Step 3: Design A Disciple-Maturing Process, 1.Role of God

1.) God, 2.) the individual believer, and 3.) the local church must all be involved in the process.

1.) The Role of God One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is the progressive

sanctification of the believer. (2 cor. 3:18, “…and being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”)

We can NOT do this on our own. (Zachariah 4:6, “this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” We are dependent of the Spirit to transform us into the very character of Christ (Gal.4:19; 5:22-23) This is what our sanctification is all about.

Step 3: Design A Disciple-Maturing Process, 2.Role of the Christian

2.) The Role of the Christian Paul instructs us in Rom. 6:12-14 to present

ourselves to God that we might serve as his instruments of righteousness.

Christ broke the power of sin at the cross (v.6) and we no longer have to serve sin. Before our conversion to Christ, we had no choice. Sin said jump and we did. Christ has changed all that through his cross. In Christ we now have a choice. We can choose to continue to serve sin. (vv. 12-13a) or to serve God (v. 13b).Consequently, it is now our decision to present our bodies to God.

Step 3: Design A Disciple-Maturing Process, 3.Role of the church

3.) The Role of the Church The Christian’s role is personal and individual. The

church’s role is public and corporate. WE mature together in community (acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35) We need each other within Christ’s body (1 Cor. 12:12-31).

The church’s role is to design a disciple-maturing process that the Holy Spirit may use in concert with a community of believers to accomplish this process.

The church plays a vital role and is one of the primary means God uses to mature his disciples. If a Christian is to mature then they must be committed and participating in a local church.

Step 3: Design A Disciple-Maturing Process, Role of the church

59 times in the bible exhorts believers in the body to minister in some way to one another.

21 times they exhort us to love one another. Other directives are the following:▪ “be at peace with one another.” (mark 9:50)▪ “be devoted to one another (rom 12:10)▪ Honor one another (rom.12:10)▪ Have equal concern for each other (1 cor 12:25)▪ Serve one another (gal 5:13)▪ Be kind and compassionate to one another (eph. 4:32)▪ Consider others better than yourselves (phil. 2:3)▪ Admonish one another (col. 3:16)▪ Encourage one another daily (heb. 3:13)▪ Use whatever gift…to serve others (1 pet.4:10)

Step 3: Design A Disciple-Maturing Process, Role of the Church

Simply Put: “We do not give the Body of Christ enough emphasis.”

It could be because many are disappointed in general with the ineptitude of so many churches today.

Regardless ,God has neither given up on nor removed his blessing from his church.


The ministry a.) Ends &, b.) Means

a.) The ministry end is Spiritual maturity It’s helpful to create a maturity matrix to evaluate

where our people are at in the spiritual maturity process.

Along the top, running along the horizontal axis , you would place the characteristics of other disciples. Along the side of the matrix , running along the vertical axis, you would place the ministry activities that are the means to accomplish the immediate ends (characteristics) and the ultimate end (spiritual maturity). We will do this later.


b.) The ministry meansThe ministry means are the church’s activities or action steps that God uses to implement the characteristics of maturity in the believer’s life. This includes:▪ The activities (what we do). ▪ The staff (who does them). ▪ And setting (where they take place – facilities & location).

Currently we will focus on activities. Other areas will be discussed in future meetings


We should never take this lightly. Detail about this concept: While the church’s leadership

does its best under God’s guidance to develop its ministry activities, there is no guarantee that people will actively, willfully purse them. Some could be involved in all the church’s ministry processes but merely be going through the motions and not maturing. There will be some who won’t.

The purpose for activities: every ministry activity (means) must have a purpose (end). It answers the question, why are you doing what you are doing? We do nothing for its own sake. Ex. If one of our activities is a small-group ministry just to say that we have one in place. That makes no sense. The purpose must in some way lead back to and contribute to the church’s mission.


The ministry means also includes:

Various ministries, services, group meetings, events, seminars, programs, personal relationships, and so forth.

In all humility, we are asking God to take these ministry activities and use them as means to accomplish his ends.


If your church sponsors an activity that has no end and therefore does not contribute to its mission, you or someone needs to explain why you started this ministry and why you should continue it.

There are two kinds of activities – primary and secondary. The primary activities are the ones that are most important in helping our church embrace the characteristics and become mature.


Assimilation refers to how people move from outside the life of the church into its life. If a person desires to connect with your church, how would he or she do so? What activities or relationships would he or she experience, first, second, and so on? Would it be a large-group worship service or small-group setting? The answer reveals your assimilation process.


A small group is becoming more popular in Europe and with the younger generation in America as an entry point. (It is vital to create community). If they like the experience, they may next attend a Sunday school class. Then they may begin to attend a Sunday night preaching-fellowship service or some other primary activity such as a midweek prayer meeting or Bible Study.


Willow Creek Assimilation Process: Consists of 7 steps.1. Build an authentic relationship with a nonbeliever2. Share a verbal witness3. Bring the seeker to a service designed especially

for them4. Regularly attend a believer’s service5. Join a small group6. Discover, develop, and deploy your spiritual gift7. Steward your resources in a God-honoring way.


You may have as little as two steps or as many as seven. (remember: the more you have, the less likely it is that people will comply with them. Regularly and passionately you must emphasize them and their importance to the church. Repeatedly communicate to our people that these are the primary events, that they must pursue to become mature disciples.


MUST then distinguish between your primary form and secondary ministry activities. You will staff and budget mostly around the primary

activities, because your primary activities will be staff-driven, in a sense that the staff or gifted layperson will lead them. (more on this next time).

Most of your funding will be poured into them, and so you will budget around them. (they will also supply much of your income- especially the worship service and some have been known to refer to it as the church’s “cash cow”. (more on this in March-April)


Secondary activities are those that support in some way the church’s primary activities. They are not essential but are supportive of the congregation’s embracing the characteristics of maturity. (ex. Men’s and Women’s meetings, counseling, pregnancy resource center, various support groups, a twelve-step program and so forth.


Application of activities. SHOW A MATURITY MATRIX . It helps us apply and develop the very best activities for our people in the context of our church and its leaders and people. (draw a matrix on the board.) Fill in your characteristics along the top on the

horizontal axis. Fill in your current primary ministry activities along

the side of the vertical axis in assimilation order. Next…


Ask: Do all the activities focus on and serve as means to accomplish the characteristics or ends? If not, you need to consider their

appropriateness. If they are doing it poorly, you need to

consider how to correct this. Are there other activities that you need to

modify or drop? Do you need to design a totally new activity or

several new activities?


In Randy Frazee’s book “The Connecting Church”. He has a 4 steps/ordered activities: worship service, large community group meeting, home group meeting and individual component.

Malphur’s church - build a relationship with an unchurched person, share a verbal witness, invite the person to a large group meeting, encourage participation in a small group.

Small groups serve to teach interactive Bible Study, fellowship, care, ministry involvement, and accountability.


Must determine how often and when your activities will meet per week. Ask: should we meet once, twice, or three times a

week? When should we meet? On what days and times should we meet? Should we have a Sat. night meeting or Sunday morning or both? ▪ Remember: activities are key to becoming a disciple, so

be careful about your attendance expectations. ▪ You don’t want your people at the church every day or

night of the week. ▪ What is reasonable? What best facilitates disciple

making? The guiding principle: Less is more.


Contrary to popular belief you don’t need a plethora of ministry activities that meet every day of the week. You need the RIGHT or BEST activities of your characteristics of maturity.

You will never be able to satisfy everyone’s schedules. Thus you will have to make some hard decisions concerning when to meet and whether to schedule around your believers or the unchurched, unbelieving community. If possible, do both. However…the group that gets priority will say much about your congregation and its mission.

4.) Measure the Church’s Spiritual Progress

Measuring spiritual progress is essential to accomplishing the maturing process.

“What gets measured is what gets done!”

“What you measure is what you get!”


The problem Very few churches measure spiritual progress. We are so

busy measuring the offering, attendance and it’s helpful and good, BUT not the most important. Most churches don’t measure the growth of their congregation toward spiritual maturity, which is vital to every ministry.

Some would argue that measurement is carnal or worldly and has no place in the church or any ministry. “Those who feel this way are themselves struggling with spiritual maturity. This stems to a deeper issue because they might be embarrassed or worse.

The early church measured attendance and baptisms. THE KEY is MOTIVE. – Are they playing ‘spiritual king of the

mountain’ or are they attempting to determine their ‘disciple-making’ capacity in obedience to Matt. 28:19.


The Purpose There is wisdom in measuring how we are doing…▪ One is for the church to know at a congregational

level what is working and what is not. ▪ We must ask which primary and secondary

activities are producing fruit and which are not. ▪ PROBLEM: Every activity has a shelf life. We MUST

continually ask if an activity is still effective or if it has passed its shelf life.

We must avoid doing things because “THAT IS HOW WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT.”


We are able to take a quarterly and annual snapshots of our congregation by means of surveying them on a particular Sunday or weekend. Then using the information in our evaluation and planning meetings we can focus our goals on the spiritual development of the congregation. Should we discover something we are doing is not effective

we need to make midcourse corrections while sailing toward our ministry ports.

We also need to know at an individual level what is and is not working.

Members can evaluate their own personal growth toward maturity and …to evaluate his or her life in relationship to the facets of the Christian Life profile.


The Process (Two methods to measure spiritual maturity). 1.) Progress indicators

These signal progress or lack for the same. Some of the progress indicators for the church in the first century were the following:▪ Baptism – Acts 2:41; 8:12-16, 36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48;

16:15, 33; 18:8 22:16▪ Attendance – Acts 4:4; 5:14; 6:1, 7; 9:31, 34, 42, 11:21,

24;14:1;21; 16:5; 7:12▪ Meeting together – Acts 2:44, 46; 5:12▪ Sharing of possessions – Acts 2:45; 4:32▪ Singleness of purpose – Acts 4:32


A good progress indicator is the SMART progress indicator. (an acrostic for 5 qualities. We use these to determine and measure the quality of your indicators. Specific – they are focused and precise Measurable – there are standards in place to signal

their accomplishment. Achievable – They are stretching yet

accomplishable. Relevant – they apply and are worthwhile to what

you are actually doing. Timely – They fit within your time frame.

Sample indicators

Some general progress indicators for most modern churches are: baptism, worship attendance, new regular attender, new members, Sunday School Attendance, Adult Bible fellowship attendance, percentage of members attending worship, percentage of members attending Sunday School, percentage of members or attenders who are serving in some capacity (mobilized), Percentage of members or attenders who give regularly, the size of the church’s current budget, the number or percentage of leaders compared to followers, the number or percentage of leaders involved in a leadership development program, and the number of people who actively share their faith (evangelism).


THE MEASURING PROCESS, involves matching a progress indicator with each characteristic of maturity. SEE The Ministry Matrix Chart as an example It’s good to review your progress indicators

and ask the following:▪ “How did the church do?”▪ “Which indicators did it accomplish and which did it

miss? Why?”


2.) Congregation-wide survey Pantego Bible Church in Arlington, TX created

a CHRISTIAN LIFE PROFILE. Colonial Pres. Used the Reveal Survey Watermark church asks their people to take it

during the worship services and online. They ask people to evaluate their progress in developing the characteristics of being a disciple.

Lifeway Has Created one called Transformational Discipleship

Let the Evaluation Begin

Bathroom Break and then Let’s Get Started!

Documents

What is the process our church will use to help people become mature disciples? Today we will reflect on 4 steps to review in the disciple making