OUR HEARTBEAT
"To leave a Legacy Of A Movement; Not A Monument."
Five Cries Of The Church
- Too many programmes
- Too few volunteers
- The leadership vision is not clear
- The leaders are not united
- The members are not spiritually fed
The Critical need Today
The critical need of the Church today is for spiritual depth and authenticity. It has been rightly lamented that although we have the largest Church in history, we also have the shallowest! Doing supersedes being. Goals supersede growth. Accomplishment supersedes authenticity.
Many local churches include the terms “making disciples” or “disciple-making” in their mission statements. However, few go beyond mere rhetoric to actually engage in international disciple-making. Fewer still have an established track record of reproducing disciples of spiritual depth and maturity.
Real spiritual depth can only come about when we return to the biblical blueprint of authentic discipleship and intentional disciple-making in the local church!
We thank God for strong, vibrant churches. However, for every strong church, there exists many weak and struggling churches. Something must be done about this!
Let’s join hands and work together!
The Challenge Before Us
The complacency is staggering… The modern church is struggling to reproduce disciples of spiritual depth, yet too little is being done about it. This is a critical concern.
Studies have identified three critical concerns:
1. Many church leaders fail to assess the spiritual health of their congregation.
2. Many church goers and church leaders struggle to articulate a biblical understanding of spiritual maturity. This is crippling to true discipleship.
3. Many church leaders want to guide their congregation towards spiritual wholeness, but few are clear and intentional about the processes and their outcome.
Intentionality: The Missing Ingredient
A senior pastor of a mega-church once commented, “We have disciplemaking in our church. But one thing is missing. Our disciplemaking is not intentional.”
He echoes the exact sentiment of many pastors: “We need to be more intentional.” Intentionality is needed to build a people of depth. It doesn’t just happen!
Our Philosophy Of Disciplemaking
The compelling question is: “What kind of disciples does God call us to reproduce?” (Remember the power of questions!)
Our philosophy of disciplemaking is summed up in the words “A Certain Kind”:
It is time we re-examine our assumptions and disciple our congregation to grow spiritually through a biblical discipleship from the inside out!
The biblical key to church growth and church health is biblical discipleship. The impetus for such a discipleship is anchored upon four biblical convictions:
Jesus Christ is coming again soon.
Revelation 22:20
The urgent task is world evangelisation.
Mark 13:10
The key to evangelisation is
intentional disciplemaking.
Matthew 28:18-20
At the heart of intentional disciplemaking is authentic, biblical discipleship to Jesus Christ
Matthew 4:19
A Faith Worth Having
Understanding the heart of the Gospel
A Master Worth Following
Understanding the heart of Jesus
A Cause Worth Pursuing
Understanding the Cross and Missions
A Life Worth Living
Understanding our Kingdom Destiny in God
Restoring Catalytic Leadership
To champion the Vision while personifying the Values
To master the Success while mentoring the Successors
To expand the Ministry while enlarging the Soul
Optimising Consecrated Stewardship
Cultivating a network of shared resources
Cultivating excellence through best practices
Deepening Covenental Relationships
Developing a friendship network of kindred spirits
Promoting mutual learning and support
Leveraging Creative Partnerships
Encouraging broad-based disciplemaking through different models
Advancing Kingdom agendas together through joint efforts
God’s Word and Promises for this Disciplemaking Movement
GOD’S WORD AND PROMISES FOR THIS DISCIPLEMAKING MOVEMENT
I dare not lead without the promises of God. Over the years, the Lord has given me His precious and magnificent promises (2 Pet 1:4) for life and ministry. Some of these promises apply both to my pastoral leadership in Covenant EFC as well as to the IDMC Global Alliance.
There are many but let me just list ten biblical encouragements:
- Think big. Start small. Build deep.
- Kindred-spirit friendship is the key to a unity movement.
- The Kingdom of God is larger than our own local church.
- The church rises and falls based on its leadership.
- Size does not measure health.
- Disciplemaking is the key to the long-term health of the Church. There is no success without successors.
- Life-change happens best in small groups.
- A church that does not reach out will rust out.
- Spiritual transformation precedes spiritual multiplication.
- Spiritual growth takes time.
- We reproduce after our own kind.