Discipleship

Introduction

One of my passions is building up the Body of Christ and its ministries, especially and particularly in our church. Anything that builds up the saints into their calling, I'm in favor of it. Maturity of faith as it operates within the house of God is a broad umbrella, including Holy Spirit-led worship, Holy Spirit-informed prayer, Holy Spirit-filled preaching, Holy Spirit-directed ministry to the lost and hurting, and Holy Spirit-connection between the saints. 

It's all about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 

If we are to be the grown ups He wants us to be, if we are going to be the men and women of faith He calling us to, if we are going to be the church He wants to make us, we need Holy Spirit.

This call to maturity of faith weighs heavily upon me personally and for our church. So much of (C)hurch is ritual, habit, superficiality, routine, and status quo. So many Christians simply do their duty. Year after year, they show up on Sunday, sit quietly and attentively, sing some songs, write their tithe checks, and go home. 

Now I'm not saying that's automatically bad, since any sort of church is better than no church at all. But sadly, that's all a lot of church people expect, that's all that's expected of them, and for too many that's all it means to be a Christian.  

Not for me. Church ought to be all about people getting saved, getting filled, getting healed, getting free, getting trained, and getting released into Holy Spirit ministry according to their spiritual gifts. The job of Christians is to become, and do the Jesus stuff. The job of the church is to make sure that happens. And the job of church leaders is to make sure the church is doing its job. 

When I think of maturity, some words come to mind:

• Stable
• Trustworthy
• Confident
• Unwavering
• Reliable
• Secure
• Deeply rooted

You'll notice that I did not say anything about miracles or spiritual gifts or spectacular sermon delivery. Your gifts are not related to your maturity. So if this list speaks to personal maturity, what about the maturity of a church? A mature church is

• Life-giving
• Powerful
• Enduring
• Worthy of someone's commitment
• A place to belong
• A place where God can be found
• A place where worship, prayer, service, and preaching break new ground

Called to Disciple

Which brings me to my topic, discipleship. Because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we've become a church where fellowship has arisen as one of our gifts. 

Here is the key point for today: I believe Holy Spirit wants this gift of fellowship to grow into discipleship. I could stop right here by just telling you to get going on both being discipled and being disciplers.

But of course I won't.

What is discipleship, what does it mean to be a disciple, what is a dicipler, and why would we would want to be disciples and disciplers? Now, we are all disciples in the sense that we follow Jesus. Some of the things we do as disciples of Jesus:

• We study the Scriptures
• We pray with faith
• We devote ourselves to faith and obedience
• We serve one another
• We give and bless
• We received and get blessed

All for the pleasure of our Savior. This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

But there's more to discipleship than this. As I mentioned, one my passions is the ministry of the Body. Discipleship is or ought to be a primary ministry of the Body. Those bullet points I just mentioned are carried out in the context of the church.

Discipling is a church ministry... with a view to becoming a better Jesus disciple.

There are four kinds of discipleship that comes out of the local church. Each one develops out of the one before. So think of the first as being the basis for the second, which needs to exist in order for the third to come out, and so on. From the ministry of the Holy Spirit come four areas from where discipleship develops:

1. The Ministry of the Leadership 
2. The Ministry of the Body 
3. The Ministry of Peer Relationships 
4. the Ministry of Individual Discipleship

Each of these is crucial, each should be done, and each has its own strengths. Understandably, the hardest one to do is the most effective, and that's the one I want to spend the most time on. But first, let's look at

1) The Ministry of the Leadership

The first kind of ministry is our leaders in the gathering of the church. This most happens on Sunday, but any official church event is this. 

Our leaders are models of faith and maturity. They have walked down the spiritual paths of faith and made discoveries and have grown from these faith experiences. They are always coming back to us to report on what they have seen and experienced. 

They want to take us down those paths also, so that we can see for ourselves what awaits. But even more, there are realms of the Spirit where no one has ventured before. We need our mature and experienced leadership to help us negotiate those paths safely.

So, church leadership is charged with pursing the church's God-vision. They build and protect the church. They instruct, they model Christ, they rebuke, they encourage, and they are worthy of emulation:

He. 13:7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

They have a big responsibility, one which they take very seriously: 

1Pe. 5:1-3 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

Examples to the flock. It is a sign of confident leadership that can say to us that we should be like them. That we should imitate them. That we should do what they do.

They have a high standard and will be held to account for their leadership:

He. 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. 

Biblical leadership means our elders together are our shepherds, overseers, protectors, and examples for those who call this church home. We honor and respect them. 

But the leadership can only do what Father calls them to. Our church leaders are not to be the go-to guys for every matter or any problem. They should not function as the Bible answermen. They are not Moses who had to be corrected by his father-on-law, Jethro. If you're wondering, you can check out this story in Exodus chapter 18, starting in verse 13.

Our church leaders don't do the ministry of the Holy Spirit, they teach it. They are to facilitate the ministry of the Holy Spirit, invite the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and show us what the ministry of the Holy Spirit is. 

Father has provided mechanisms to build upon this most basic level of church ministry, represented by our godly leadership. The job of leaders is train their replacements. And those replacements are here now, they are in our children's ministry, our youth group, and even in this room. They only need discipleship and some time to grow.

As a church, we are privileged to have this. Our leaders are just what we need.

2) The Ministry of the Body

One of those mechanisms is the ministry of the Body. If we restrict our spiritual interactions to Sundays, with the teaching and examples of the leadership, we might be missing the ministry of the Body. We can never really arrive at the fullness of faith and holiness, even after years or even decades of being Christians, without the fellowship of the saints. We need purposeful connection, one to another. 

The Bible has a lot to say about the ministry of the Body. 

Ro. 12:4-6 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.

You belong to me, and I belong to you. I need you, and you need me. The many become the one Body to grow in faith and maturity.

The ministry of the Body, like the ministry of the leadership, most often occurs in the gathering of the saints on Sunday morning, but these gatherings can happen anywhere. Sunday, though, is our most common connection, and maybe our most consistent. In the gathering of the saints, Holy Spirit speaks prophecies, Words of Knowledge and Wisdom, He gives spiritual gifts, and He moves in our midst when we minister to Him for His pleasure in worship. 

We need to connect with others in the Ministry of The Body, so as to not only receive blessing, but give blessing. Give honor and receive honor. In the gathering of the saints we build up and get built up. We learn and teach. We join together as one to express the corporate purpose of this church. The Bible has a lot to say about this connectedness, this togetherness, this crucial interrelationship of the brethren. 

As a church, we are privileged to have this. Our church is just what we need.

3) Peer Relationships

But the ministry of the Body is not where we should stop. It would be tempting to have great leadership, great fellowship, and great church services, and call it good, but there are other ways discipling must happen. Peer relationships is the next one I want to talk about. 

Peer relationships are where at least two people connect together who are on approximately on the same level. Maybe they're about the same age, or have been Christians about the same amount of time, or have similar life and family situations.  

With two people, it could be what is called an accountability relationship. As peers, their purpose is to develop a relationship together that is intentionally Spirit-based for mutual edification, correction, and exhortation. It would likely be a friendship, but must go well beyond that. 

It is possible for couples to enter into a peer relationships with other couples, but there are things women will tell each other that they will not tell men, and vice-versa. This means couples as peers have some discipleship obstacles. And it is worth noting that once you have four people, you might as well go ahead and have six or eight and have a connect group. 

Connect groups are generally peer relationships. Usually most, if not all, are about the same age and in similar life situations. I would call this a micro church. In these groups the possibility of connection is enhanced over the church's Body ministry. Connect groups have other strengths that make them worthwhile. Although personal ministry and accountability are possible in these groups, this might not be the best way to express discipleship. 

Peer relationships are linked closely to what I would call the "one anothers." The "one anothers" make frequent appearances in the NT:

Jn. 13:34 Love one another

Ro. 12:10 Be devoted to one another

Ro. 12:16 Live in harmony with one another

Ro. 14:13 Stop passing judgment on one another

Ro. 15:7 Accept one another

1Co. 1:10 Agree with one another

Ga. 5:13 Serve one another

Ep. 4:2 Bear with one another

Ep. 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another

Ep. 5:21 Submit to one another

Col. 3:16 Teach and admonish one another

1Th. 5:11 Encourage one another

Ja. 4:11 Do not slander one another

1Pe. 3:8 Live in harmony with one another

1Pe. 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another

We certainly need our peers to encourage, advise, support, and sometimes rebuke and exhort us. This is what is meant by

Pr. 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Your peer relationships will make you better, if you've chosen your peers well. 

He. 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.

Love and good deeds. Our "one anothers" must bear this kind of fruit. These peer relationships are good for the health of the body and good for the individuals in them. 

As a church, we are privileged to have this. Our peers are just what we need.

4) Individual Discipleship

In my opinion, a peer relationship is not as effective as a discipling relationship. This is our fourth level.

Maybe if we did not have very many older, experienced, faithful Christians in our church, peer relationships might be all we can do. But I think we have some really good gray-hairs here. 

This is the quintessential expression of discipleship. In my opinion, discipling between a gray-hair and a younger, less experienced Christian is the best way to disciple. 

It's the biblical model. Back in the day, disciples followed very close to their Rabbis. The Rabbi kicked up dust as he walked along the road, which would get on the disciples as they followed behind him. That's how close you stuck to your Rabbi when you were a disciple. This was called being covered with dust. 

We need to be a church covered with dust. 

Individual discipleship is the next great thing Father wants to accomplish in our church.

The word disciple is 

mathétés (math-ay-tes), a learner, disciple, pupil...

So the idea of discipleship suggests that there is an instructor and a pupil, a leader and a follower, or a master and an apprentice. Certainly we need these kinds of relationships in the church. Listening to a person like me stand up here on the stage preaching a sermon is not discipleship. Going to a potluck or a Bible study or a prayer meeting are not discipleship. Watching football with a buddy is not discipleship. Discipleship is an intentional interpersonal interaction with a view to achieve certain results. 

Discipleship implies the progress of the learner via the ministry of the discipler.

I think we all need to seek out and foster these kinds of relationships. There are people right here in our midst who have walked faithfully for years or decades. I am not talking about Christians who have simply spent years going to church. Years does not equal maturity.

By their fruits you will know the faithful ones. 

It's almost an aura they carry, an authority, a depth. I'm talking about Christians who have diligently sought out the truths of the Gospel and pursued holy living; they are bearing fruit, overcoming obstacles, raising godly children, and making a difference in the kingdom. 

They steady, experienced, and weighty. I would call them fathers and mothers, not because they have rugrats at their ankles, but because they have a resume in the Church and treasure in heaven. They are notable by their lives and their testimonies. 

You need to seek out these fathers and mothers. You.

Paul tells us about spiritual fathers (and mothers):

1Co. 4:15 Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

I want to camp here for a minute. That word "guardian" is paidagógos, a leader of boys, a tutor. I would call them baby sitters, or maybe chaperones. They are expected to perform a basic function: Keep the kids out of trouble. We had chaperones when I was in high school band. Yup, band nerd. Kitto would agree, trombone, the king of instruments.

Every year the band director would take our band to a marching competition in Abbotsford, Canada, back when you didn't need a passport and a note from your doctor. On the way back home we would stop at a place called Birch Bay, which is about 30 miles from Abbotsford in northwest Washington state. We would spend the night at a campground where there were cabins. 

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "150 teenage girls and teenage boys overnighting? Not a good idea." 

The chaperones were busy that night, I can tell you that.

That's what Paul is talking about here. unruly little kids needing chaperones. He's being pretty insulting, if I may say so. This does not speak well of the Corinthian church. 

Here's my paraphrase of this verse: 

You have lots of tutors, as if you were little children needing a chaperone, but you do not have many mature spiritual ones...

You might remember that the Corinthian church was powerful in the spiritual gifts, yet Paul disses them as if they were mere children needing babysitters. Paul was an apostle. But he wasn't telling them to make him their father. He's saying that within their group, they have not cultivated mature spiritual men and women. 

So though we, for example, have oversight from the Great Falls church, we are obligated to identify and deploy the spiritual fathers and mothers within our midst.   

Paul goes on to tell the Corinthians they have an attitude problem:

1Co. 4:18-19 Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.

Wow! Arrogant little children! Have yet met kids like this? 

Don't make me turn this car around!!

1Co. 4:21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

The word "whip" is the shepherd's rod, or perhaps a scepter. So either Paul getting insulting again with the Corinthian church by referencing they way shepherds herd sheep, or he's talking about his authority to take action. 

So, right after Paul criticizes them for not having many fathers, he writes this:

1Co. 4:16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

This is key. Spiritual fathers and mothers are worthy of emulation. Paul made this claim for himself. It takes some confidence for Paul to tell the Corinthian church to imitate him, doesn't it? 

To you spiritual fathers and mothers - are you willing to say, "imitate me?"

Ph. 3:17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

The word "example" is tupos:

"strike repeatedly", a model forged by repetition; (figuratively) the correct paradigm, based on reliable precedent for others to then follow, (i.e. the right example, a proper pattern).

This is a hydraulic press. In between the yellow jaws are two big chunks of shaped metal, one on the top and one on the bottom. These are machined to fit together with only a thin space between them. These are called dies. A piece of sheetmetal is placed in between, and hundreds of tons of force pushes the jaws together. Out comes a formed piece of metal, exactly shaped like the die. 

This is how Paul viewed his ministry to the churches. He's presenting himself as a pattern to be copied.

This is what it means to be an example.

Spiritual fathers and mothers are worthy of imitation. If you have young kids, you already know they imitate you. Sometimes this is not a good thing, right? If your children imitate you, you would want to be for them a strong example of maturity and faith, compassionate, fair, with high expectations and not easily provoked. Right?

There are people worth imitating right in our church. There are spiritual fathers and mothers in our midst. Right here. You don't need a book on how to be spiritually mature. You don't need a podcast, video, or your former pastor in another church. 

Let me tell you, you can't claim a spiritual father in another church, or someone in another city. It isn't possible, because fathers are close. They are known, and they know you. Right here. Remember what Paul wrote: take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. If you can't take note of the way someone lives day to day, he cannot be your spiritual father.

You can't hide anymore. Get that? You can't hide anymore. God is calling you forth to begin the walk into the deep things of the faith and get off the milk. Get off the milk. Each of us should find someone worthy of being imitated and start learning from them how to walk out our faith with confidence and power.

Do we have any fathers and mothers out there? Or are we simply being herded by chaperones? 

Do we have any disciples out there? Or do you just have buddies? 

You don't have to raise your hands, but:

Who here has the confidence and Christian walk that says, "church father" or "church mother?"

And, who here has the confidence and Christian walk to say, "I need a church father?" "I need a church mother?"

Jesus' Example

When Jesus walked the earth the disciples called Him Rabbi, so He occupied an official position, at least in the disciples' minds, a position of honor which required their undivided devotion and attention. And that is what disciples did; they left everything behind so as to devote their full attention to the Rabbi's teaching.

Lk. 18:28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

The Last Supper is a good example of how close they were to each other. Unfortunately, we think that this is how the Last Supper looked:

We have Da Vinci to thank for this image. However, the reality is quite different:

This is probably how the disciples shared all their meals together. It causes Jn. 13:23-25 to make more sense:

One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” 25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

You can see how easy it would be to lean back and whisper something to the person reclining behind you. It was physical and spiritual closeness.

This was the life of a disciple.

The Disciples Were Screw-ups

But as we read the Scriptures we find a startling thing: If we considered only what the disciples said and did, we would find very little information on how to be a disciple. The Gospels mention the disciples dozens of times, but so much of what was recorded about them was their lack of understanding, their fear, their desire to be first, their failures, their lack of faith, their continual incomprehension of Jesus' teaching, and even their inability to stay awake during prayer.

Probably the best thing we could get from this is how not to be a disciple.

Now certainly there are times when they demonstrate some good characteristics, like when they believed:

Jn. 2:11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Or when they were obedient: 

Mt. 26:19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them...

Or when they saw the truth: 

Mk. 8:29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

These are surprisingly rare, however. Most of the time, the disciples were thick-headed, ambitious, without faith, and competitive.  

Maybe like us.

Jesus' Example

So if we want to discover what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus, we probably shouldn't look at the example of the disciples in the Gospel accounts. Maybe a better strategy would be to look at what the master discipler, Jesus, said about following Him:

Mt. 8:21-22 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Mt. 19:21-22 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Mt. 12:49-50 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Mt. 16:24-25 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 

Jn. 8:31-32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

Jn. 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jn. 15:7-8 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Verses like these give us much insight as to the dedication Jesus requires. Now, it is worth mentioning that we may never faced with death for the sake of the Gospel. We might never be asked to give up our wealth. We might never find ourselves needing to leave our families behind. The relevant issue here is, is there anything more important in your life than your savior? Are you able to keep Him higher than your wealth or your life or your family?

Jesus did some interesting things with His disciples in order to teach them. The first thing we should note is that he modeled how He wanted them to be with each other.

Jn. 13:4-5 ...so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him.

This probably astonished His disciples. The Rabbi humbling himself? Such a thing is never done!

Mt. 20:26 ...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant...

Serving one another was something important to Jesus.

Jesus also told parables. Most parables are illustrations of what the Kingdom is like, but some are about 

humility

Lk. 14:8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.

persistence

Lk. 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Faith

Mt. 13:31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field."

Prayer

 Lk. 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Jesus also kept track of what His disciples were doing:

Mk. 6:30 The apostles gathered round Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.

He watched for opportunities to teach:

 Mk. 12:41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.

He sat down with His disciples

Jn. 6:3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.

A typical Rabbi would probably not get down in the grass with his disciples, but Jesus did. Jesus was truly teaching a new dynamic, that position and dignity were not to be important, but rather togetherness and serving one another in love.

Paul's Example 

Paul's letters give us a lot of information regarding how this great discipler discipled. We find him correcting, rebuking, encouraging, striving, interceding and exhorting throughout his letters. But all of it was characterized by his passionate love for the brethren:

2Co. 2:4 For I wrote to you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

Ep. 1:16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

Col. 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Col. 2:1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.

1Th. 3:12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.

2Th. 1:11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfil every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

Conclusion 

So what are we talking about for our church? It is a crucial need for us to connect closely. The typical church out there too often manifests mostly in groups. Sundays are great, fellowship is important, Bible studies and connect groups are desirable, but discipleship isn't necessarily satisfied by any of these. 

Groups serve an important need, but also allow people to hide, remaining insulated from personal encounters. 

And, it's hard to connect individually; but even harder for introverts. We need to make it easy.

There are a lot of ways discipleship can happen. I think that our next spiritual position is to be a discipling church. Discipling will lay much groundwork for where God is calling us. Our ministries, activities, services, worship meetings, and prayer meetings will all benefit by effective discipling. 

It's a kingdom thing. It all descends from relationship.

Effective discipleship grows peoples' faith and character. They discover their spiritual gifts. They gain vision. They start to understand their purpose. They stop being bench warmers.

What would this result in? Just recently I was praying at the church, and typed this into my phone:

You want us to be the most real church in town.

Real church is connection, belonging. It's spiritual power. It's saving, healing, edifying, saving, and sending. I want real church, the most real church in town. How about you?

It feels to me like we are at a crossroads, where we get to choose which path to take: 

Good church,

or,

 

the glory of the Lord.

I have a vision for our church. I preached about it three years ago. It was then I proclaimed our status, “Open for business.”

Look what has happened since then. Worship has been more and more powerful. The participation in the fast was unprecedented. Prayer has increased. People have been healed. The preaching has gotten more real, more powerful. God has been bringing in families with incredible gifts and skills. 

Have you noticed? Have you heard the testimonies? Are you starting to believe? Do you feel expectant when you come to church? 

So three years later, again I say, we are open for business. That’s my declaration: Open for business! 

This is rekindling my faith again as I reconsider what I said to this congregation three years ago:

My vision is for a 24/7 kingdom center. Services every day of the week, and multiple services on Sunday. Prayer rooms continually filled, where people always get their prayers answered. A dedicated praise room overflowing with worshipers. A healing room where everyone who walks in, walks out healed. Crowds every night and day. A full parking lot at 3 am. Salvations by the thousands.

People getting delivered from addictions, defeat, discouragement, and diseases. People grabbing hold of us and asking, what must I do to be saved? Marriages restored. Families healed. Our businesses prospered. Missionaries sent out overseas, as well as into the halls of government, bars and restaurants.

Worship teams sent out to churches to assist them and teach them worship. I believe that this move of God will be carried by musical worship. 

We will be the ones other churches emulate. 

Do you realize how much of this is happening right now? 

Do you think it's a coincidence that there's a thing called 406 United, whose primary goal is combine churches together to express worship using locally written songs?

Do you know what Mark and Elizabeth and our prayer ministry are planning? They are gearing up for a prayer and worship time that they want to eventually expand to 24/7. 

Are people getting healed by accident? 

Do you realize what's happening right now? Right here in our church? This is why discipleship is important. 

This is the bottom line: We need to get ready for what God wants to do. We need to prepare ourselves for revival. We need to get healed, get filled, get set free, get past our limitations and problems and start getting some faith.