Proverbs 27:17 says that a person needs another person in order to be sharp, that is to say that a person is not an island. A person can only know so much. When two persons come together they have the benefit of two sets of study, two sets of experience, two sets of background, and two sets of experience. But greater than this added inventory of wisdom and knowledge is that two people can hold each other accountable.
As humans we are profoundly proficient at lying to ourselves. Some people are very good at lying to others. But very few people can lie to someone that they have a deep connection and relationship with. We often refer to this arragengment as accountability.
With that being said many of you may have noticed through this discussion on the purpose of the church that these purposes are not mutually exclusive. In many ways the progression holds community as the foundation and worship as the end goal. The progression might work something like this: Community provides the relationships that enables Discipleship, Discipleship provides the training that empowers for Outreach, which brings together the worshipers to glorify God. But everything is dependent upon discipleship. Discipleship makes us better friends to build stronger community. Discipleship trains us to share the gospel and the love of Christ in Outreach. Discipleship informs us to the gloriousness of the God which we worship.
Adult Discussion:
- How are you being discipled? Books, seminars, sermons are all great and do provide discipleship but nothing beats relationship with discipleship.
- Who are you discipling? Are you reinvesting back into the kingdom what God has invested in You?
- Do you truly desire a deeper walk with Christ?
- What relationships are you building to strengthen community to enable discipleship?
Family Discussion:
- How does being more like Jesus help our friendships?
- How does being more like Jesus help us include people in our Church family?
- How does knowing more about Jesus help us tell people about Jesus?
- How does knowing more about Jesus help us worship God?
Thoughts For New Life 