Amherst Christian Church

DISCIPLE GROUPS

ACC — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:20:49 +0000

The formation of disciple groups is progressing. These groups focus on the spiritual formation. They do not function as The long-term goal of these groups is to form Christ in the group participants.

(Galatians 4:19) My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you–

Disciple groups are limited in size to 3-4 members. The groups are relational in their nature and provide an opportunity for members to discover their personal starting points for the discipling journey. This permits a customized growth plan to be developed for each member.

We are engaged in the process and are seeing promising results. We have been working with Praxis and Natural Church Development (NCD) resources that provide guidelines, materials and a proven process to develop true follows of Christ.

Truthfully, I am very excited about the path the Lord is leading us on.

Making Disciples

ACC — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:47:12 +0000

DISCIPLE ON THE WAY

In the early New Testament church the followers of Christ were called disciples. The apostle Paul ministered in the church at Antioch it was there that the disciples were first called “Christians”.

(Acts 11:26) and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for an entire year they met with the church, and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Every Christian is called to be a “Disciple”. Becoming a disciple is a “process” which engages us with God and others who are committed to following Christ in carrying out the “Great Commission”. We use the term, “Disciple on the Way,” because becoming a disciple is a process that places us on a “journey” that engages us in living out the “irreducible Core”, or the IC, which is: Love God, Love Your Neighbor and Make Disciples”.

The Discipling-Making Group: A disciple group consists of 3 to 4 individuals who come from different families and experiences who find themselves at different places in their spiritual journeys. Having a group of this size enables us to customize the discipling process. In other words what does the individual need for his/her next steps on their spiritual journey. The journey is a process of spiritual formation that has as the goal of living out the “IC” or being conformed to the image of Christ.

(Romans 8:29) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;

Parents- Grandparents- Meet and Greet- Sunday, June 5th

ACC — Mon, 23 May 2011 20:28:30 +0000

Parents, Empty Nesters and members of the transition team interested in helping us develop a process for disciplining children are in great demand. In many instances new and struggling parents are like Froto who in the Fellowship of the Rings volunteers to carry out the mission but doesn’t know the way.

Discipling Our Children

ACC — Fri, 06 May 2011 22:06:18 +0000

On Sunday May 15th, parents with children ages 2-5 and 6-12 were requested to meet with pastor and leadership teams directly following the service to discuss the process of making our children disciples of Jesus Christ. (A disciple is a person who has come to know and love God, their neighbor and is making disciples.) This will require a radical change from what we and many churches and parents do to train up their children in the admonition and nurture of the Lord.

The presentation will challenge parents and other gifted members of the church to engage in discipling children.

The presentation on the 15th laid out a scriptural process that included incremental steps to accomplish our goal. It will be necessary for the parents and members of the leadership team to develop metrics to guide the process. The metrics will permit us to judge the progress by the fruit that is produced in the lives of our children and parents.

The biblical philosophy was laid out during the May 15, 2011, Sunday sermon.

As we move forward in the discipleship process it would be profitable to consider the following:

Every member of humanity that interacts with our children has the potential of depositing something positive or negative in their lives.
Parents have the greatest influence on their children. In a very real sense God has engaged them in the creative process of forming their character, including manors, philosophy, work ethic, and spiritual formation,(Genesis 18:19) “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”(Ephesians 6:4) And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
It is only logical that parents must be discipled, encouraged and reinforced by the members of the body of Christ if they are disciple their children to be true followers of Christ.
After our initial meeting it became obvious that it would take a concerted effort on the part of those who have successfully raised children and the and those graced with the ministry gifts enumerated in Ephesians 4 to participate with parents to accomplish our goal.