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!
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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