Chapter 7 "The Body of Christ"
- It is biblically, spiritually, and practically impossible to be a disciple (let alone make disciples) of Christ apart from total devotion to a family of Christians
- Isn't the church the bride of Christ?
- to come to Christ is to become part of his church
- planting a "church" these days has almost become only associated with erecting a building
- instead of a building, the New Testament has a different picture of the church, you see a body made up of believers/family, brothers/sisters of Christ who have died together & our living in Christ
- church discipline is fundamental and essential
- handled biblically, church discipline & restoration is one of the closest expression of the love of God on earth
- nothing shows more compassion than to rebuke a brother/sister away from the path of sin
- we reflect grace when we care for brothers/sisters in Christ caught in sin
- people use Matthew 7:1 (speck in your brothers eye, while plank in your own) to not get involved but if you read further in verse 5 Jesus says "First take the plank out of your own eye, & then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye"
- in church we long to love one another, and care for one another in such a way, that we are responsible for one another
- responsible for helping brothers/sisters around us to grow as disciples of Jesus
- we can spend our time and resources on doing what we think is best or spend our time and resources trusting that God knows what is best
- God grows his church through holiness in Christians
- God's grace is at the heart of church discipline
- when people in the world see the life of Christ in the church, they will believe the love of God for the world
- his plan is to take people like you and me, once objects of his wrath, and transform us into objects of his affection
-Chapter 8 "A Vision of the Possible"
- His commission becomes our consuming ambition
- the spread of the gospel in book of Acts took place primarily because ordinary people who where encouraged by extraordinary presence were proclaiming the gospel everywhere they went
- persecution is often a sign that the gospel is progressing
- making disciples involves baptizing them & teaching them to obey everything Christ has commanded
- sewing Gospel threads (putting pieces of gospel story in all of our everyday conversations)
- pastors teach his word formally, He has commanded all of us in his church to teach his Word relationally
- Bible teachings should cut to the heart of American Christians, by all measures we are the richest people to ever walk the earth
- God has given his people wealth on purpose, to spread his world-wide worship
- every disciple is a disciple maker
Chapter 9 "Born to Reproduce"
- every person who is born into God's family is to "Multiply"
- life of a disciple, is a life of a learner
- look for verses, paragraphs, or even chapters that seem significant to you, and commit to them to memory
- disciples read the bible not just for information but for transformation
- we are not only to hear the truth but we are to apply the truth
- consider what things you can do as followers to build up the body of Christ (local church)
- plan to deliberately pray significantly for unreached people groups
- plan to sacrifice & spend for the sake of the nations
- Jesus spent his life sharing gospel to many, but investing in a few
the call is worth dying for
the king is worth living for
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