In Matthew 16:18, Jesus declared these very important and crucial words: "I will build my church and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it." There are three things we can gather from this statement of the Lord:
1. He owns the Church ("my church").
2. He is the One building His Church ("I will build my church").
3. If Jesus owns the church, and if He is the one building it, then (and only then) the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
It is important to realize that if the church does not belong to Christ because it is not being built according to His blueprint, then the Gates of Hell WILL prevail against that church! Therefore, it is of utmost importance HOW the church of Christ is being built because unless it is built His Way it cannot be His Church!
Jesus did not leave us clueless as to His design for His Church. He left His original disciples the Blueprint for building His Church. That blueprint is found in Matthew 28:19,20 in what we now commonly know as the Great Commission.
The Lord spelled out, in no uncertain terms, how He wanted His Church to be built. And this is how:
"Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them....and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you and I will be with you until the end of the age." This is Christ's blueprint. This is His design for His church! This is how He wants His church to be built!
1. His Church must be built by making disciples of all nations. The Great Commission is Discipleship NOT Evangelism as we have been erroneously taught. Remember, this command was given only to disciples. Only disciples can obey or fulfill this command! Only disciples can make other disciples.
2. Disciples are made by baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything Christ has taught.
a. Baptism is not simply the first step to church membership, it is actually the first step to Discipleship! It's a basic decision and commitment NOT just to attend church and pay one's dues, but to follow Christ and be found to be like Him.
b. Discipleship is the process of teaching new believers to OBEY everything that Christ has commanded. This will result in nothing short of total life transformation for those who submit to the discipleship process!
3. If the church is making disciples of all nations as Christ here commanded, then (and only then) will the promised Presence of Christ be fulfilled in them.
Many Christian leaders try to build the church their own way, neglecting the clear blueprint of Christ for His Church, and they end up building nothing short of sub-standard churches that are powerless to influence and transform the world for God.
Here in the Journey, we are trying to recover the Lost Art of Disciple-making through the G12 System of Discipleship. Every believer in our church is encouraged to (1) go through the discipleship process, (2) gather their own 12 disciples following after the pattern of Jesus and (3) helping their 12 to have their own 12 disciples and so on and so forth. This means that everybody in the church will have a Discipler and their own Disciples. Everyone is responsible TO someone and responsible FOR someone. This also means that every person in the church is well-taken cared of.
We believe this is the intention, the design of Jesus Christ for His Church.
So, if you come to The Journey, we will try our best to help you follow Jesus Christ in Discipleship. At the end of the day, you will be glad you did.
God bless you.
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Must Read
How to Start G12 in Your Church
PEPSOL: The G12 Training Track
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