Studies show that less than 1% of evangelical church members are involved in one-on-one discipleship. Therefore, it should not startle us that so many church members can come to church for ten, twenty or thirty years and never really grow. It should not surprise us that sin is so easily tolerated and overlooked by a people called by God to be holy. Where is the accountability? Where is the zeal for spiritual growth? Billy Graham once said, “Mass crusades in which I believe and to which I have committed my life, will never finish the Great Commission; but a one-by-one ministry will.” We need solid preaching, but we need more than that. We need Sunday School classes and home bible studies and small groups, but we need more than that. For discipleship to be balanced and healthy, every Christian and every church must have an intentional one-on-one discipleship plan so that every individual Christian is challenged and encouraged in their personal walk with God. I hope you will follow Christ in the Great Commission charge to “make disciples of all nations.” What better place to start than in your own local church through a one-on-one relationship?
In addition to some theology on discipleship, this message is intensely personal for me. I am nothing apart from the grace of God and the labor of godly men in my life. I have been taught, instructed, encouraged, rebuked, grounded and made joyful by the diligent labor of other men who invested themselves in me personally. This message is also the story of how God took a rebellious soldier and molded him into a passionate preacher and a loving shepherd. You will hear about the legacy of great men in my life – men like my father, Max Barnett, Dave Edwards, Ronnie Rogers and many others. You will understand your pastor much better when you have understood the difference that one-on-one discipleship has made (and is still making) in my life. In fact, there is so much of my testimony that I had to leave out part of my message! Check the manuscript for the theology and the mp3 for the testimony. I pray you will be convicted and will join me in the labor of making disciples, one person at a time. Soli Deo Gloria!
“Here the reformation must begin.” Those were the words of Matthew Henry on April 16, 1704 when he preached an abundantly practical sermon entitled, “A Church in the House, A Sermon Concerning Family-Religion,” as an encouragement to fathers to develop the spiritual life of their families in their homes. Henry exhorted that “every house should be a little church.” His point was not that the home should replace the church, but that the home should become a fountain of blessing for both the local church and the community at large.
His precedence is thoroughly biblical:
“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7
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For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments (Psalm 78:5-7).
Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
It’s time that modern fathers listened to the ancient words of Scripture and the wisdom of godly men of old who raised their children in the ways of Jesus Christ. Let’s stop pointing fingers at the public schools, the fractured government, and weak youth ministries. Parents - God has called YOU to be the primary disciplemakers in your home! I urge you to look at the attached document, Family Worship Resources, and begin the journey on leading your own wife and children in the worship of Jesus Christ. Let’s band together and encourage one another to live and lead worship in our own homes. Let’s make “every house a little church.” Soli Deo Gloria!
The final question that the abortion debate ultimately hangs on is this: when does human life begin? This message seeks to establish three lines of testimony which prove that life begins at the moment of conception. You will hear the testimony of medical science, the testimony of history, and the testimony of Scripture. All speak unequivocally to the beginning of human life at the moment of conception. This means that every abortion is an act of murder and is a direct attack upon God, who creates every individual person in His image from the moment of conception. And that is why every Christian must use every legal means possible to oppose abortion and strive for a culture of life. I implore you to turn conviction into action in 2010 and support pro-life agencies in your city this year by service, donations and prayer.
Here in Norman, my prayer is that our church will be sending volunteers and donations all year long to the Eden Clinic (http://www.edenclinic.tv/). There are many ways we can help save lives. Let’s create a culture of life at Berry Road. Soli Deo Gloria.
Abortion - The New Civil War: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Abortion - The New Civil War: Download
This passage in Mark 10:35-45 should humble us daily as we seek to serve God. It commands that we put every other person ahead of ourselves. It demands a resolute and steadfast commitment to self-sacrificing service. It calls us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus in abject humility. In short, it tells us that we are last. Join me in the daily struggle to put God first, others second, and ourselves last in humble service to God’s kingdom. Oh how desperately we need churches filled with saints who become “slaves of all.”
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” Luke 9:23-24
The great irony of the Christian life is that real life – abundant life, joyful, fulfilling, eternal life – is gained in personal death. If we are to experience eternal life in Christ, we must die to self and live for God. This is the gospel. These words of Jesus will transform your life a thousand times before you ever approach a full understanding of it.
must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever wishes to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save
it.”23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”
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