Ministry and Missions

Ministry and Missions

During Week 3 of "Be a Disciple and Make Disciples" we talked about what ministry and missions are.

Each week, we will look at a leadership principle from Lead by Paul Tripp.

Here are some quotes from the Achievement chapter.

"Fruit in ministry is the result not of our wise planning and diligent execution but of the loving operation of God's rescuing and transforming grace." (48)

"Prayerlessness in a leadership community is always a result of putting credit where it is not due.  Your leadership community is in trouble if your leaders are more excited about a strategic planning meeting than a prayer meeting. "(48)

As we continue this study of ministry and missions, we must remember both are dependent upon God and His work.

What is essential for spiritual growth?

Contemporary church culture tells us there are so many different things.  Many "silver bullets" are being promoted through the mail and online.  The reality is the essentials for spiritual growth are the Gospel (Romans 1:16 - 17), the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:15 - 17), the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), the church (Hebrews 10:23 - 25), prayer (Philippians 1:9), and time.  

Many things can be helpful but are optional for growth.  Books other than the Bible can be beneficial, but they must point you to God and His Word.  Many people believe finding the right program is necessary.  The problem is that some people think the program must be "new and exciting," while others believe the "old and familiar" is needed.  

The Trellis and The Vine summarizes disciple-making with the following statement.  "Disciples are made by the persevering proclamation of the Word of God by the people of God in prayerful dependence on the Spirit of God."  

Another way to think about developing a disciple-making culture is developing a Biblical counseling mindset in which members share their hope in Christ with one another.

Below are specific prayer points in purple related to these levels of Biblical Counseling.

ATMOSPHERE OF GRACE & SOUL CARE CULTURE

Pray that God's Word will be faithfully preached and God's people will lovingly care for one another.

Biblical counseling in a local church setting allows the church to offer real hope to church members, regular attendees, and the surrounding community.

The Sunday preaching and teaching are foundational in helping people understand and live out this hope. The BIBLICAL DOCTRINE taught and the ATMOSPHERE OF GRACE experienced during the church meeting time is essential because this is a standard meeting time for everyone. Throughout the Pastoral Epistles, Paul reminds Timothy and Titus to teach and live the truth before people. Specifically, in 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul tells Timothy to share what he has learned with faithful men who will share it with others. The preaching and teaching prepare a congregation of "mini-preachers" to proclaim the Gospel to their families, neighborhoods, and workplaces. The church's ministry on Sunday is so much more than just the pulpit ministry. It is also a "pew" ministry. Each member is a minister.

The ATMOSPHERE OF GRACE goes beyond Sunday meeting times. A church body with a growing biblical counseling mindset also has a CULTURE OF DISCIPLESHIP and SOUL CARE that is marked by a love for one another (John 13:14, 34, 35; 15:12, 17; Romans 12:10; 15:14; 16:16; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 5:21; Hebrews 3:13). This CULTURE OF DISCIPLESHIP is Spirit-led, relationship-driven, not program-directed.

This ATMOSPHERE OF GRACE, CULTURE OF DISCIPLESHIP, and DIRECTIVE COUNSELING is an every-member church ministry.

DIRECTIVE COUNSEL

Pray that EACH MEMBER OF TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH would be a disciple-maker/biblical counselor by speaking biblical truth into one another's lives.

"The body of Christ is built up because the men and women in a church family openly acknowledge their pain, hurts, and struggles. There is mutual edification. This is biblical counseling." Biblical counseling is not a silo ministry. It is not a ministry that is isolated from other ministries. The counseling ministry and discipleship ministry are two separate areas of ministry. The biblical counseling ministry of a church is interwoven throughout its disciple-making mandate.

A church will never have enough highly trained, certified counselors to meet all its counseling needs. If we genuinely believe in biblical community and the priesthood of believers, then EVERY MEMBER of the church needs to be equipped to "speak the truth in love to one another at every level in the body of believers." Every disciple is a disciple maker.

Every growing Trinity Baptist Church member needs to be involved in DIRECTIVE COUNSELING. This is counseling that is life-on-life. It happens through friendship, Sunday School classes, small groups, conversations before church, after church, and throughout the week. DIRECTIVE COUNSELING aims to encourage and obey by speaking the truth in love. Each member is a counselor. The question is, "What kind of counselor are you?"

The quotes and the basic idea of this post have been taken from Biblical Counseling and the Church.

CORRECTIVE COUNSEL

Pray that people would seek help when needed, and pray that members of Trinity Baptist Church would seek training to become even more equipped disciple-makers/biblical counselors.

There are times when more intentional, focused help is needed. Someone may need specific help with parenting, communication, finances, or other ongoing issues. If a church member has been doing DIRECTIVE COUNSEL, he or she may notice the same problems in a person's life. CORRECTIVE COUNSEL is meant to help those "stuck in sin." At this level, the counselor has more specific education and training to help those struggling. Individuals giving DIRECTIVE COUNSEL can come alongside the individual as a helper/advocate at the CORRECTIVE COUNSEL level.

INTENSIVE COUNSEL

Pray that disciples speak God's truth and have Godly wisdom as they help those struggling with complex, intense situations. Also, pray that those working with intense problems will seek the help they need.

INTENSIVE COUNSEL is focused on issues that have become life-dominating or tragic. Some examples include addictions, significant fear, and potential divorce. 

Because of the nature of the problems, INTENSIVE COUNSEL takes more time and requires a counselor with more in-depth training. Most people think of the level of counseling when they hear the word "counseling." The challenge in the local church setting is helping the congregation understand that if people sought and gave more counsel at the DIRECTIVE COUNSEL and CORRECTIVE COUNSEL levels, it would help with how much INTENSIVE COUNSEL needs to be given.

Ministry is NOT programs or events to keep people busy and entertained.

Ministry is the faithful proclamation of the Word of God, knowing that He is the one who changes people and helps them grow.

Plans and programs do not grow disciples, but one path of discipleship is our Adult Christian Education (ACE) classes.  These classes are designed to establish believers in the faith, edify them in their walk, and equip them to do the ministry's work.

This disciple-making mindset and movement should be part of the ministry that occurs in every church.

  

Missions is the church crossing barriers, whether they be linguistic, economic, cultural, geographical, or religious, to share the Gospel (adapted from Missions by Johnson and Understanding the Christian Mission by Sundquist).

Resources

• The Trellis and The Vine
• The Vine Movement 
• Missions
• Achievement video - youtu.be/m-zeszPUxMk?si=jBNIeogO5JYO0Rfr
• Lead by Paul David Tripp—drodgersjr.blogspot.com/search/label/lead
• All class-related posts - https://tinyurl.com/tbc-pray-prepare

 

Advent 2025

 4 minutes, 5 minutes, 6 minutes, and 8 minutes. 

The Advent episodes got longer each week. 
But I promise you the Christmas Day episode will be the shortest of them all.

Key Word:  LOVE
Carols:  Oh Come All Ye Faithful and Oh Come All You Unfaithful.
Verses:  Luke 2:15 - 18 and other verses.
Big Idea:  God is LOVE. We love others because he first loved us.

I want to read part of an OUR DAILY BREAD article on the song "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and then share some additional thoughts related to the article, the song, and the word LOVE.

We are challenged to recognize the lengths to which Christ went to save us.  He travelled the longest distance possible (from holy heaven to sinful earth), bending low to lift us up from the mud of sin.  He stooped down to make us great (Psalm 18:35 - You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.).  C.S. Lewis wrote so aptly, "The Son of God became a Son of Man that sons of men might become sons of God."  This is at the heart of our Christmas celebration.

The quote references the great distance Christ went to save us. 

I think of another great distance he went from

a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger

to an accused criminal wrapped in torn flesh because of the brutal beating he received, hanging from a cross, to a confirmed dead body wrapped in burial cloths and laid in a borrowed tomb.

Thank God Jesus did not stay in the manger.

Thank God, Jesus did not stay on the cross.

Thank God, Jesus did not stay in the grave.

Thank God, Jesus rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death.

Here is the thing, often, at Christmas time, the sentiment is whether you are good enough this year for the gifts you are about to receive.

Romans 5:8 tells us

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

John 3:16 tells us

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1 John 3:16 tells us

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

The reality of Christmas is that we are not good enough for the gift of eternal life. 

Carol:  Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful -youtu.be/b0YgwO_HMn4?si=8zCSfAbkOeIaBoao and Oh, Come All You Unfaithful youtu.be/C-QHbpYjuIg?si=SLhB70ZEq5jJo_IT

The other.three Advent episodes of Trinity LIfe.