The Master's Plan, Part 1...

It turns out you can learn a lot when you read the instructions...
This week we read about Jesus and His plan for evangelism and discipleship. Looking at these Scriptures, it is easy to see that we need to mentor and be mentored, and that the calling of Christ is not an easy social club. This should be appealing to all of us: A relational Jesus and a relational church.

To sum it up, this was the Master’s Plan to create disciples:
1. He purposefully selected them.
2. He invested heavily in them by spending a lot of time with them.
3. He challenged them to a higher calling that included sacrifice.

(More to come next week.)

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In-your-face, mess-up-your-little-plans, take-away questions:

1. Is God calling you to the next level of commitment? What do you need to do, give up, to get there? Have you crafted a 10-year plan with no input from God? (or maybe just asked for his casual rubber stamp?) Are you drifting idle with no plans? Or maybe you are on the right path, but it is still good to check in with the 'Pilot' every once in a while.

2. Who in your life is heavily investing spiritual principals into your life? If you don’t have someone, start praying for someone. This world is dangerous-don't try to tough it out alone.

3. Who are you investing in? Who will help you carry on the work of the Lord? The best way to learn is to teach, and we are left on this earth to pay it forward.

For full Bible Study, click here or here.

For more information, see The Master Plan of Evangelism, by Robert Coleman.

Servant Leadership

What is True Leadership?

This Wednesday we had an excellent discussion about leadership. What is it? How does it work?

Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

Too often we feel that leadership is best exemplified by today's high-flying CEO's or power-wielding senators. But that's not even close to Jesus' framework for successful leadership. He wanted us to be excellent leaders, but He had an upside-down strategy to get achieve that noble goal. In order to be first, you have to be last.

God wants us to be leaders. Not necessarily paid ministers or somebody standing up on stage, but leaders in His service, nonetheless.

Be a servant. Lead.

Challenge Questions:
· In what areas could God be calling you to leadership?
· What will you have to give up in order to answer the call?
· What hinders us from serving others? Are you 'too busy'? Do you not want to get out of your comfort zone?

For entire Bible Study, click here or here.

Adapted from Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders