Skip to content Session 2 - Understand the Biblical Strategy Sep 7 · 44 min ...more
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:06 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? Hallelujah. I hope you got something out of the first session. And I pray that as a team that you will sit together and in your notes we have given you an0:17 essential checklist for IDMC Church that you will go through systematically the different areas where we need to focus on as an IDMC church and evaluate0:29 together with your pastoral team, maybe your leadership team and go through it and God will bless you in your conversation. This session we're going to talk about understanding biblical strategy.0:41 There are 4 key sessions in this conference. First, to see the critical need and second is to understand the biblical strategy. Now you and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ gave us a great0:53 commission. Is that right? Matthew chapter 28 and verses 18 to verse 20. Let's read it together. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to1:05 me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and1:17 behold I'm with you always to the end of the age. Someone wise said, let's focus on keeping the main1:29 thing the main thing. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Why? Because as a church we tend to major on minors. For example, if I call a1:41 plumber into my house and I say to him, I have to rush to work at 9 am, so come in and I give you the keys to my house, go in and fix the plumbing because the plumbing needs to be fixed. And then I go1:52
2:04 coat of paint. And I look at him and go, what have you been doing the whole day? He says, no, I looked around and I saw that the walls are dull and it needed a fresh coat of paint so I
2:16 started painting. And I asked him, did you fix my plumbing? And he goes, no, didn't. Will you be happy? No. I want you to think about this. The Lord Jesus Christ left us to do something that is
2:28 of greater importance but we get distracted. So that's why we need to understand what are the vital things that he wants us to focus on. In Matthew chapter 28 and verse 18 to
2:39 20, he gives us the great commission as a church to focus on making disciples. But this is a misunderstood scripture and I want to give you 7 misconceptions of the great
2:51 commission from this text. The first 1 is missing the main focus. What is missing the main focus? Not we but Christ. See many times we
3:03 ask ourselves this question, how can we fulfill the great commission? Can we the church fulfill the great commission? Now I want you to think about this. It never starts with
3:15 man as the focus. It is not a man centered commission. It is actually begins with Christ and it ends with Christ. Christ says all authority is given to me and then he says,
3:26 behold, I will be with you always. It begins with Christ and it ends with Christ. In other words, this is something that Christ wants to accomplish not only in us but through us. That is why you and
3:38 I cannot just function on our own. We cannot carry this burden by ourselves. See the magnitude of our task. Many times we don't realize the urgency of the times that we're living in and the magnitude of the
3:50 task at hand And that's why we need Christ. And 1 of the core things I want you to capture in this conference is it is not advancing the kingdom that comes first. What comes
4:02 first is abiding in the king. When you and I abide in the king, he knows how to use you and me effectively for the kingdom cause. Therefore, by end result, we will
4:14 advance the kingdom. The first call of a believer is to abide in the king. So therefore, we can advance his kingdom. Hallelujah. So not we, but
4:25 Christ. That's the first thing that I want you to capture. Second thing, missing the main essence. Many times when we look at the Great Commission, we always think it is a message to
4:36 broadcast. Are you witnessing to people? Are you sharing the gospel? This is a message that we need to proclaim therefore we need to go tell the message. See many times we focus
4:47 on transmitting a message and many times we fail to realize it is not just a message to broadcast but a life to live. See even the impression we give to the
4:59 pre believers is this, do you believe you will go to heaven if you die tonight? We always phrase it with a transportation question. It's like the whole gospel
5:11 is centered around taking a person from here, from earth to heaven. It is not about transportation. It is about transformation. It is not about going some place. It is about becoming like someone.
5:23 That is the whole gospel. The whole gospel is about you and I learning from Jesus and following Jesus, learning from him, loving him, serving him, following him, and becoming more and more like him and helping
5:35 others to love him and follow him and become like him. That's the whole point of the great commission. But what do we do? We only want to proclaim the message. But can I humbly say this, what we
5:47 need to understand, it is not a message to proclaim but a life to live? You know in Matthew chapter 5, 6 and 7, Jesus brilliantly summarized the kingdom life and 1 of the things that he
5:59 emphasizes there is that you and I are the salt of the earth, the light of this world. What did he mean by salt of the earth? You know, many times when we consider the word salt,
6:10 we always consider it based on the usefulness of salt. In other words, salt is used as a preservative. It preserves and not only that, it add taste. We always think about the usefulness
6:22 of salt but can I humbly say that Jesus was not talking about the usefulness of salt but the uniqueness of salt? In other words, there is nothing like the sodium chloride that comes together and forms a substance called
6:34 salt and that salt is so stable even if you leave a sack of salt for 500 years and you come back that salt will still remain salty. You know why? Because salt is a
6:46 stable compound. It's a unique compound. A chemistry that is a chemical compound that is so stable. So I want you to listen to me. Carefully. Jesus was not just talking about you are the salt of the earth as though you
6:58 are just someone who is useful for the kingdom of God but he was talking about your uniqueness. What does that word mean? Unique. It is that word distinctive. You
7:10 and I, we are distinct. Don't you understand that you and I, we are distinct from the rest of the world? You know when the Bible says that God is holy, therefore you and I should be holy. What does that word mean,
7:21 holy? Holy means to be set apart. God is on his own category. He is set apart from the rest of creation because he's not a creation. He's the creator. He lives in a category of his own. In other words,
7:33 he's set apart from the rest of the human beings. Rest of all creation. In the same manner, the people of God are set apart from the world. You don't belong to this world. You belong to God. And you are part of
7:45 an eternal kingdom redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus. And therefore you and I are called to live distinctly. That's the call of the gospel. That's why long before we go and witness to
7:57 others our life ought to be a witness of the distinctiveness. If you and I bring the world into our lives and our lives are filled with carnality and worldliness There is no
8:09 difference between you and the world. Then we don't have a message to proclaim. Listen to me carefully. The message of the cross the Bible says is foolishness to the world. In other words
8:20 you and I live such distinct lives, holy lives that the world looks at us and says they are mad for denying the world and embracing something that they cannot see.
8:32 Submitting to a God who is invisible, Living by a book that is so old and in their eyes it's outdated. I want you to think about this. The second emphasis he brings is missing the main
8:44 essence, not a message to broadcast but a life to live. Thirdly, it is missing the main agent. In other words, many times when we think about the Great Commission, we always think of some
8:56 missionaries. God is calling someone as with a missionary calling and therefore we are happy to send them into a missionary field and support the missionaries. But can I humbly say this great commission was given
9:08 to every believer? That's why it is not some missionaries but all members. In other words, a church ought to realize that it's not just focused on sending missionaries, only those
9:20 especially people who are trained and qualified, but it is something for every believer to do. That's why as a church, we need to disciple our members. We need to mature our members so that we can mobilize our
9:31 members to reach the lost and to build the disciples. Hallelujah. The Bible says that you and I are part of the agent that God has called us to build. That's why
9:43 in a local church, I truly believe if they focus on intentional disciple making, 2 things will be present. Spiritual maturity will come in the lives of their people. People's lives will be transformed and people
9:55 will be walking with depth. Depth of character, depth of theology knowing who God is and firmly being anchored in it. And as a result of them growing in maturity they will learn to multiply.
10:08 See I want you to capture this principle. Spiritual maturity precedes spiritual multiplication. You cannot just simply multiply. See many times churches focus on just
10:19 growth. Can I humbly say this? Many times when we are focusing on growth, we are focusing on just adding people to the church. We are focusing on the principle of addition. But when you truly
10:31 disciple people and mature them, they will learn to multiply individual lives in others and therefore as a result it's not just spiritual addition, it is spiritual multiplication. And the kingdom of God
10:43 functions by kingdom advances by spiritual multiplication. But can I humbly say this, don't focus on spiritual multiplication first, focus on maturing your people first because each and everyone
10:54 should gather to each and everyone should be grounded in the scriptures? They should be empowered by the Holy Spirit. They should come under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ and they should surrender their life to
11:05 live an authentic life and they should embrace the vision of intentional disciple making. Therefore, they can grow in maturity and also intentionally disciple the nations around us. Hallelujah.
11:17 Can I say take a moment to talk about that many times we have the right intentions but as pastors many times we fall into this trap? When we
11:29 are rallying people towards a vision, we sometimes become so cost centered, Cost, c a u s e, cost centered that we forget to be cross centered.
11:41 In other words, we can rally them around social justice and feeding the poor and looking after the marginalized and become more cost centered. But can I humbly say this, just outward
11:52 activities of good works doesn't necessarily change anything? You and I, we need to come and transform our inner lives and until a point where we are authentic in our own walk with God and we are cross centered
12:04 and therefore when we embrace a loving savior in our lives we know how to transmit that truth to others. Hallelujah. Praise God. Now this is key. He says missing agent not
12:16 some missionaries but all members. Number 4, missing the main product. What's the main product? The main product is not make converts but make
12:27 disciples. I've heard pastors sometimes talk about, oh, we had a harvest rally and we had a or evangelistic rally and we had so many decisions for
12:39 Christ. In fact, 1 of my friends 1 day said to me, we had last year we had 11000 decisions for Christ in our church. My humble question to him was, it is not how many that made
12:50 a decision but how many are truly being discipled because Jesus did not call us to make converts. He called us to make disciples. In other words, he didn't just ask them to bring them, lead them to a point
13:02 of decision to follow Christ, but help them to observe all things that they teach them to obey all things. In other words, there is a process in which the people mature and grow in the ways of
13:14 God That needs to be the focus. Otherwise, we will dilute everything and we just settle for numbers. That's why many times when we ask the pastors, you know, do you have a discipleship?
13:26 Do you emphasize discipleship? They usually say, yeah, we have a discipleship class and x number of people attended our class 1 0 1 or 2 0 1 or 3 0 1, 4 0 1. Can I humbly say this?
13:38 Classes don't disciple people. It is what people do as a result of those classes. Isn't it? It's not just the acquisition of knowledge. It's not just acquiring knowledge. It is not just appreciating knowledge. But at the
13:50 end of the day it's the application of knowledge that transforms and changes lives. That's why we don't just settle for making converts. We settle for making disciples. Hallelujah. And Jesus says, make
14:01 disciples. Many times we we don't get this and that is why we compare 1 another with just numbers. You know, we are so impressed.
14:13 The success in the church world today is measured by bodies, bucks and buildings. How many people can you assemble together on a single Sunday in
14:25 a single place? Is the measure of success in many places. So if you can have thousands, in those days they used to say that Korean church is the largest in the world
14:37 until they start measuring the African church. In the African church there are millions of believers but the measure of success is always about how many people can you bring
14:48 into 1 place and to how many people can you have in 1 single place in 1 single event then you are successful. Can I humbly say this? It is not how many but in an intentional disciple making church
15:00 we don't ask how many but we ask what kind are they becoming because the focus here Jesus said it's not just purely leading them to decisions and make converts, but lead them to obey, teach
15:12 them to obey, baptize them and teach them to obey. And when you're teaching them to obey, you're making disciples. That's the key product that we want to focus on. Next 1, missing the
15:24 main emphasis. Many times we focus on not the manner but the mission. I want you to listen to me. Many times I've heard pastors preach on this text and they always say,
15:36 go is the keyword. So therefore, you got to keep going. You got to go as you go, as you go, when you're going to work, as you're going to mission field or mission trips. So the key action word here is
15:47 go. But that's not how the text reads. In the text the main verb is actually make disciples and the reason why Jesus says go is
15:59 that word go there is a participle and this participle takes meaning, the context gives it meaning. So it's like go. It's it's not so much go as as you're
16:11 going in a manner but it's the method. Go. Meaning there's such urgency. Go make disciples. And in fact in the Greek there is no make disciples. It's just go disciple the nations.
16:23 So I want you to listen to me. Go disciple the nations. In other words, go has a sense of urgency. You and I, we need to capture this. Otherwise, we will belittle it by saying, it's just a manner of going, not the
16:34 manner, but the mission. The mission is you gotta understand the urgency of the times we are living in and the magnitude of the task that we have been given to do. That's why there is a sense of urgency. Go. Don't waste
16:46 time. Don't focus on trivial things. Go after this. Make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and the holy spirit and teaching them to obey all things. Hallelujah. So
16:58 the manner, not the manner, but the method. Number 6, missing the main yardstick. Not numbers, but obedience. Missing the main yardstick. See many times
17:10 we measure by numbers. Like I said to you earlier, it's bodies, bucks and building. I'm not against us counting. I'm not against us keeping track of
17:21 metrics or numbers. Indeed, God measures everything. That's why he has a book of numbers in the Bible. And in that he took census again and again, right? At least 3 times. So I want you to listen to me
17:33 carefully. Numbers is not necessarily a wrong thing to do, but it's only 1 of the gauges. How much offering you collect is 1 of the gauges of a health of a church. How many
17:45 come, how many come for a prayer meeting? All these things are good for you to measure so that you can keep growing but not numbers but obedience. So we need to move away from this whole mindset that
17:57 if I can get people into a room and make them listen to a teaching that means we are doing well. See success is not equal to just mere attendance. You and I we need to recognize people
18:09 attend meetings for various things. Maybe they got nothing else to do. Just because they attend a meeting doesn't necessarily mean they are so hungry for application of truth. Listen to me carefully. Some people have an
18:20 insatiable curiosity to learn but doesn't necessarily mean they apply. So listen carefully. You and I we cannot just take the numbers for granted. You and I we need to recognize that people need to be
18:32 led, to be taught, to be challenged, to be pushed to that place where God works in their hearts until they obey the word of God. The Bible says there was a wise man and a foolish man. The
18:44 wise man and the foolish man both heard the word of God. The wise man heard the word of God and applied the word of God in his life. The foolish man heard the word of God and did not apply. The Bible says they both faced
18:55 the same storm in life. And when the same storm happened 1 was able to withstand and the other 1 crumbled. That's why you and I we need to recognize what gives you the base,
19:07 the footing in life. What gives you the anchor to be able to root yourself and to be able to withstand the storms of life. It is application of scripture. That's why don't wait till
19:19 too late. Don't wait till the fault lines start to appear. Cracks start to appear in the marriage or crack starts to appear in the ministry. Start the focus on obedience leading
19:31 people towards obedience to the word of God. Hallelujah. And the last 1 missing the main concern. Missing the main concern is not disciple but disciple the nations. I love
19:42 how Jesus said that. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. I want you to catch this. This is the heartbeat of God. That word nations there can
19:54 be 2 things. 1, it's the nations, the ethnic groups, isn't it? That that the Lord says it's not just 1 ethnic group but go into the world just like I shared in the in the previous session in
20:06 my biblical reflection. Just as the Lord just as Moses raised the serpent in the wilderness. Likewise, in the same manner, God so loved the
20:18 world. That he loved the nations of the world. He loved all the Gentiles and the Jews and he sent his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You and I have been given this
20:29 mandate to go and disciple all nations. And can I humbly say this? It means community transformation. That God is interested not just in changing 1 individual. Not just changing the
20:41 individual's family, but also the individual's church and community and the city that he's in and the nation that he's in. And that's why you and I, we need to embrace that. If you're a church leader, can I humbly say
20:52 this? Nothing short of a global vision is worthy of a global God. We have a global God. He is a global God who has a global vision. So catch this today that God is
21:04 calling you. You may say but pastor, I'm a I'm in a small village. Doesn't matter. Wherever you are, you can still affect what goes on in the nation. Hallelujah. Why? Because you have a global god. You have a god
21:15 of all nations with you. Therefore, you believe that the our commission is given to you. All authority belongs to god and he has called you to make disciples. So be faithful to do that. And as we do
21:27 that we will rise up and affect the nation. Hallelujah. Shall we give the Lord a clap offering? Hallelujah. We worship you Lord. We thank you. But I want you to catch this church. This whole conference
21:39 is not so that you can grow your church in numbers. This whole conference is designed so that you will evaluate your church and you'll evaluate your ministry so that you grow
21:51 in-depth and grow in the true understanding of what it means to be an intentional disciple making church. I don't want you to miss the concern that God has. God is not concerned about
22:03 the largeness of your ministry. God is concerned about the lostness of this world. I want you to recognize this. The urgency of the times that we are living in and the magnitude of the
22:14 great task that has been given to us. That is why we can't do it. Only he can. That's why I want you to go back to Matthew chapter 28 and I want to look at 4 key convictions that I
22:26 see here when it comes to disciple making. Look at this in Matthew 28 and verse 18. The first 1 is the source of great commission. All authority Jesus says. You know that's 1 word that is
22:38 repeated at least 4 times in this in this passage. It is that little word all. And I want you to not miss this because it is the source of great commission. All authority. See many times we
22:50 as believers we think we we have all authority. We have some authority. But you know who the 1 who has all authority and the 1 to whom all authority in this world submit to. It is the Lord
23:02 Jesus Christ. So we gotta recognize that he is with us in this journey. The source of great commission is the Lord Jesus Christ. All authority. It begins with him. It ends with him. Hallelujah. That's
23:14 why if you're a pastor, can I humbly say this? Don't get discouraged because god is with you. Jesus is with you. The 1 who has all authorities with you. The 1 who can close the doors and open the doors is with you. The 1
23:25 who can overturn all negative circumstances is with you. The 1 who is with you and he is for you. Hallelujah. That all authority is given to Jesus Christ and he is the 1 who
23:36 gives us the commission. He is with us. The second thing is the scope of the great commission. It is all nations. Jesus says go into all the world. Go to all the nations. All the people
23:48 groups and disciple them. In other words you and I have a mission field. And the scope of our calling is all the world. So John don't just look for 1 ethnic group.
24:00 Mobilize the church to reach out to the people group that are around your church, in your neighborhood, in your city, hallelujah. And if we can do that what a wonderful privilege
24:12 it will be for people who come from different tongues and different tribes that walk into our church. They will get they will experience they will taste the heaven on earth. That diversity and they see the unity in
24:23 diversity. Hallelujah. 3, thirdly, it's a strategy of the great commission. All things. You and I are called to teach people. Teach people what? All things. And
24:34 teach them to obey all things. The focus is the whole counsel of God. Not just 1 aspect but the whole counsel of God from the scriptures. That's why you and I we need to be word
24:46 and spirit disciples. We need to be grounded in the scripture. We need to know the word and we know how to apply the word. We need to learn to reap the benefits in our own lives and we need
24:58 to learn to pass it on to others and lead them in the same pathway towards obedience. Hallelujah. And what is that 1 thing that Jesus wants you to obey here? He wants you to take your life seriously and do
25:09 the walk in authenticity before him and work on intentionally discipling the nations. Hallelujah. And the fourth thing, the season. The season of great commission
25:20 is always. Again, it is all the seasons, all the time. Don't give any excuse, but Pastor, I'm only a young mom. I have babies in my house. Even
25:32 in this season, God is calling you to disciple others. Well, you may say, I'm very old and and gray hair. Even in this season, God is calling you to disciple someone. In other
25:44 words, every season of our lives, God is calling us to disciple people and he has people for us to reach. We need to come before him and say, Lord, I think I
25:56 can't. But even though I think I can't, I know you can and therefore I submit my life to you. Hallelujah. Before I finish, I want to take you to 8 fundamentals that we
26:08 see in a disciple making church. 8 marks of an intentional disciple making church. And I have given some of these things in the slides so you can take a photograph of it and and then take down
26:19 notes. Look at this. The first 1 is purpose driven. Purpose driven is the core mission of the church. See many times we think purpose disciple making is
26:31 a strategy. Disciple making is not a strategy. Disciple making is the core mission of the church. In other words, everything and anything and everything in the church should revolve around
26:43 disciple making. Next slide. That means everything in the church ministry revolves around the purpose of disciple making. From your kids ministry to your youth ministry. From your young adults ministry to your
26:55 seniors ministry. All the life groups, zones ministry, languages ministry, worship ministry, every ministry should be aligned to the purpose of making disciples. I want you to think about this.
27:07 The IDMC is purpose centered. The church does not merely go through the motion of carrying out its programs. Can I humbly say this if you're a church leader listen to me? Evaluate your
27:19 church. Are you a program saturated church? Are you a church that is moving people into a clear direction towards the destiny that God has for the church?
27:31 See sometimes we may think, oh we have all these programs. Programs come every week and so we are running from program to program, event to event. But events do not disciple people. Listen to me carefully.
27:42 Meetings do not produce disciples. I'm a preacher of God's word and I know for a fact that preaching helps but preaching alone does not make disciples. We have to intentionally
27:54 journey with people so create time and energy for those things. That's why we need to be purpose driven. Everything is aligned together. And that is the first thing to be purpose driven that everything
28:06 anything and everything that we do in the life of the church revolves around this 1 core mission which is disciple making. The second 1, the second mark is responsible evangelism. People are
28:17 being led to Christ and conscientiously followed up. 1 of the things that surveys tell us, now this is an empirical evidence. From my observation, I
28:29 realized that more than 60 percent of the pastors do not personally reach out to pre believers. More than 80 percent of the church don't really have a
28:41 strategy to go and reach their neighbors for Christ or share the gospel at their workplace. How sad is that? Why is that? Many times it's hesitation but sometimes we need to develop in an
28:53 intentional disciple making church. We need to not only just tell them go and reach but we need to give them tools and handles and help them to have the bonus and courage in Christ to go and lead. Next
29:05 slide. I want you to think about that the church must pursue the lost with a passion and 1 of the core things that, both Pastor Isa and I realized many years ago is that even in our own lives we are
29:16 surrounded by pastors. Either I'm mentoring pastors and church leaders or within my own local church I'm surrounded by leaders and I'm busy ministering and mentoring and preaching and teaching with all the Christians all
29:28 the time that we are not surrounded by pre believers. So we took an intentionally we took a list of people that the Lord has placed in our world that are pre believers and as a result 1 of the core things that had
29:39 developed the Lord gave us a grace to actually put this blessed strategy in place. Bless, what is blessed? B L E S S. It starts begin with prayer. L,
29:51 listen to their needs. Thirdly, eat with them. Fourthly, serve them. And fifthly, share your story and in light of the Gospel story, share the Gospel story.
30:03 And we have, as a result, both Pastor Isa and I, we developed a list of people and I'm happy to report we have had meals together with our blessed people and when we start to
30:15 love them in the name of Jesus when we start to just share our own lives and share a meal together God has now brought so many into our path who are in the verge of making decisions to follow
30:26 Christ. And I want you to listen to me carefully. That's why we put intentional strategies. Also responsible evangelism, go back to the previous slide, also responsible evangelism is highly regarded in a disciple
30:38 making church that is an excellent assimilation and follow-up of new converts. Even if your strategy is not elaborate, You don't have a 12 week discipleship course for that pre believer or a or a
30:50 12 week course as a follow-up. Doesn't matter. You only have 2 weeks. Just do it consistently and have a process of assimilation. So it is not just you know I always tell
31:02 pastors there are few things I measure when I when I consult with a church. 1 is their attraction. How do they attract a pre believer? How do they attract guests into their church? Attraction. And that is a
31:14 very key factor. What gives the attraction to a church? So that's the first 1. The second 1 is assimilation. When you attract new people, how do you assimilate them into the congregation which is vital. See many times
31:25 new people walk into your church and you don't do anything with them. You know, I have been in churches where people don't even bother saying hi to you. I'm shocked and these are people who go around just welcoming their
31:36 own members and they don't even look for a new person and talk to them. I've been in with my whole family in a in a in a certain church and I'm like our holidays of course. And they look around and they
31:48 don't even come and talk to you. And 1 of the core things you and I we need to recognize is we need to know how to attract but also we need to know how we assimilate. And not only assimilate and bring them on board, but
31:59 we need to know how to shepherd them, how to disciple them into maturity, and how to release them back to go and reach the lost. And this is important. The third 1 is intentional growth
32:11 strategies. People are being transformed through intentional growth strategies. There's something for everyone. I want you to pay attention to this. There is something for everyone. Next slide.
32:23 The the there is an emphasis on mobilizing each believer for ministry according to their spiritual gifts. We always say in our church, square pegs, square holes. In other words, you need
32:35 to help people identify their spiritual gift so that they can continue to serve God there. See, there could be an area of gifting where you serve or it could be an area of passion where you serve. And when you find your
32:46 gifting and your passion together, it is beautiful. You will have a flow, a divine flow. And this is important for us. Everyone in the church needs to be put through a process of helping them grow in maturity
32:58 so that they can not only mature but also multiply. So intentional growth strategies are in place for discipling the entire church. There is something for everyone including the development of the pastors.
33:11 Next 1, we're talking about leadership commitment. Church leaders are committed to model disciple making. The Bible says
33:22 where there is strong leadership, when there is no vision, people cast off restraint. Who gives the vision? Vision comes from the Lord through the
33:34 leaders and we need to model this. There is a critical difference between leadership agreement and leadership commitment. So 1 of the things that we focus on when we consult with churches is
33:45 whether there is a leadership resonance. What is a leadership resonance? A leadership resonance is there is an agreement among the leaders. Secondly, there is a commitment among the leaders. And when there is
33:57 an agreement and a commitment that they agree that this is the strategy or this is the core mission and they are committed to it. They are modeling it. They are doing it. And as a result, there is a
34:09 resonance. So I want you to think about this. You could probably have a board member that says, yes, I agree that disciple making is important. But he never disciples anyone himself.
34:21 So, that's the key. It's just because we agree doesn't necessarily mean we commit. So, we gotta bring people on board and help them to not only agreement but also commitment. In an
34:33 IDMC, church leaders are not just talking about disciple making. They are doing it and modeling it for the congregation. And the first person to model it, it starts with the pastor. So listen carefully. Leadership
34:44 commitment starts with me. That's why it is modeling is the key in a disciple making church. What's the key for mentoring? What's the key for discipling? Modeling. Not just informing
34:56 people, not just instructing people, but inspiring people by giving them a model to follow. Next 1, vision casting. Disciple making vision and
35:07 strategy are clearly articulated and adopted in the church. We need to not only know how to develop a vision but we need to know how to cast a vision. And not only know how
35:19 to cast a vision but we need to know how to help people catch it and adopt it in their life. The key to a disciple making church is the disciple making pastor. He champions it passionately. He models it. I want
35:31 you to think about this. You and I, we are called to lead. There are 3 types of leader. There is a servant leader. There is a steward leader and then there is a
35:43 shepherd leader. A shepherding leader is more like a minister. He teaches the word, he prays for people, he does the home visits, do all that. It's a shepherding leader. A steward leader manages
35:55 affairs. He's a manager. He manages the systems. He manages people. He manages things that are happening. So I want you to think about a shepherding leader or a stewarding leader but then there is a servant
36:07 leader, a leader leader. And this leader's job is to lead. Not only lead by just rhetoric but lead by example. You and I we are called to lead by infrastructuring the church
36:18 towards the disciple making vision. But how do you do it? By leading the way. Creating that pathway. And it starts with a senior pastor. In an IDMC, church leaders are not just talking about disciple
36:30 making, they're doing it and modeling it for the congregation. Number 6, vision concretizing. Concrete vehicles are established to facilitate the disciple making vision. Concrete
36:42 vehicles. You and I, we need to think about vehicles, not just enough to have a vision but you need to put the vehicles in place. What are vehicles? I'm not talking about programs. I'm talking about vehicles,
36:53 key things that are steps in helping people mature. So seek to establish strategic vehicles for the IDMC vision. People cannot see the vision unless they are
37:05 actively engaged in activities, in strategic activities as a vital part of the vision. That's why I want you to read, if you're a leader, I want you to read the book Simple Church. And the Simple Church
37:17 philosophy is move people. Be clear on where you're moving the people. First is clarity. Be clear on where you're moving the people. Secondly, move the people. In other words, movement. It has to be step 1,
37:29 step 2, not program 1, program 2, but step 1, step 2 until they reach a certain point. I want you to think about this. Clarity, movement and alignment. Everything in the church aligned together
37:41 with 1 vision. And finally, focus. Stop doing certain things that are distracting you from the main thing. So focus is to develop a no
37:52 policy. We don't do that here. I want you to think about this vision concretizing. And people need to be actively engaged in order for them to embrace the vision. Next 1, number 7, small group
38:04 infrastructure. Small groups are intentional disciple making units. As I consult with various churches, am sometimes very surprised how they don't even have a small group strategy.
38:16 I want you to think about this, next slide. To be a cell church is not at all incompatible with being an IDMC. 1 speaks of the infrastructure while the other speaks of the purpose.
38:28 In small groups are vital part of strategy. The cell church, many times I've visited cell churches who and consulted with them and they some cell churches not necessarily a disciple
38:40 making church. They just structured the church in a cell church manner. That means the cell is the church, right? But at the same time, an IDMC, an intentional disciple making church, it works through the
38:52 cells. So that's why a cell church may not necessarily be a disciple making church but a disciple making church must be a cell structured church with an expanding network of cells. We got to learn
39:04 to grow large and grow small at the same time by focusing intentionally on our small groups. And each small group leader is an intentional leader who creates a relationalShow more
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Paul Jeyachandran
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