Core
Curriculum
Discussion
Guides
Married: discipleship and evangelism
This past weekend (Accelerate) at CCC was definitely focused on raising the temperature on loving your neighbor as much as you love yourself. Our Journey Group leadership huddle on Saturday 01/17 was a great environment to discuss how to create a marriage in the Journey Group context between discipleship and evangelism.
Here's a summary of the Journey Group Leadership Gathering this past Saturday:
The BIG Q: Is there room in your JG for non Christ-followers/non-believers? If not, why not? If so, what are you currently doing to foster a great growth environment between Joe who might be the "theologian" and Sally the non Christ-follower?
If there is someone in your JG that isn't following Christ - then you've hit the jackpot for two main reasons:
A) You need it (to push you in your dependance on God for good leadership) and your group members need it to push their own comfort level.
B) Sally, the non-Christ follower needs Jesus!
At the end of the day, people want to BELONG way before the BELIEVE or BEHAVE in the right direction. Church culture and culture in general used to get away with the mantra of: "Believe the right things, behave the right way, and then you can belong." Whether it is good or bad or your preference, one quick glance at the next generation and culture in general clearly indicates that people want to investigate and see if they "belong" at/with a certain group of people way before they jump head first into the DNA.
If this is true, evangelism and disicpleship aren't so divorced. This means that there really isn't a linear approach to "once you get evangelized over here, then you come over here for discipleship, and then so on down the road..." Rather it means, people might be well into discipleship WAY BEFORE they "sign up" for and commit to solid Christian beliefs, doctrine, and ways of life (behavior).
Remember, Jesus said it very plain and bold: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Mark 12:31 (Jesus' subtle and loud way of reminding all of us that we love ourselves a lot - atleast way more than we might think. He didn't say "more" than yourself, just "as much as" you love yourself.)
So, what does it look like for you, as a Journey Group leader, to foster a marriage between evangelism and discipleship in your group?
KILLING 2 MYTHS in every journey group
Recent real-time stories from some of our Journey Group leaders have me excited to slay 2 different giants this coming Saturday that to creep into every living room:
Myth #1) EVERYONE IN THIS JOURNEY GROUP IS A CHRIST-FOLLOWER / BELIEVER
Sometimes we as leaders assume that Christ has been received by the people that sit around the table or living room with us as we discuss God and spiritual stuff. He is Lord, but are they letting Him reign as Lord in their lives? How do we lead that and model it? How are you?
Myth #2) EVERYONE IN THIS JOURNEY GROUP IS MOTIVATED TO LOVE THEIR NEIGHBOR (LIKE JESUS COMMANDED US TO)
Sometimes we as leaders assume that people are as amped up as our leadership culture and pastoral staff are about loving their neighbor as much as themselves. They aren't. In fact, a lot of people in our JGs are simply trying to survive and their motivation for others might not even be on the radar. How do we lead that and model it? How are you?
At the CCC Accelerate weekend breakout our Journey Group leaders will be discussing these 2 things as we apply the accelerate material, and we will reveal the 2009 approach to Journey Group leadership development.
Journey Group leaders breakout info:
Saturday, 2/17
10:50AM to NOON
FLC 141-145
prayin for leaders and open chairs
We are currently working with a few potential leaders that responded to Mark Ashton's Vision Sunday challenge, but making these groups launch is what keeps us at the feet of Jesus (among other things: worship, adoration, the Gospel reality of our depravity, and more).
Loving the ride and trusting God for the connections!
Journey Group leadership development: 2009 fresh approach
HISTORY SNAPSHOT
The discipleship focus, mindset, and structure has been in transition for the last few years (2006 to the present) at CCC.
What does it look like to follow Jesus with a community of believers?
How will CCC respond to the next generation on the realities of their spiritual paradigm(s)?
How do we motivate our congregation to spend just as much time loving their neighbor as they do their Bible study?
How do we rally around needs, crisis, and reality for some of our people who are not yet in biblical community?
Who are the people at CCC that need to step up and trust God for deeper spiritual transformation through leadership endeavors?
These are a few of the questions that staff and elders at CCC have wrestled with in order to reach, respond to, and effectively disciple people who attend CCC with the goal of helping them reach maturity in Jesus Christ.
From classes, to groups, to teachers, to seekers, to creativity, new approaches have emerged. More and more CCC people are discovering life on life with a small pocket of people. More and more church-goers are becoming servants, and disciple-makers; and the spiritual temperature of discipleship and evangelism is on the rise. Today, we are seeing the results of not only a structure shift in ministry philosophy (community primarily through Sunday school teaching formats to living room small groups), but also a transformation focus in what it looks like for the average person to encounter Jesus and rely on Him as they experience life transformation in the process. Classes, events, and groups are all part of the structure, and the goal is always to get people into the best environment for their spiritual growth, and ultimately leading to community rooted in discipleship.
This past two years has led us through a major shift towards a discipleship mindset. On the front end of this transition, fostering a mindset of discipleship was the chief challenge and goal to move CCC from what we were used to, to what Jesus was calling us to. Thus, the leadership development approach for Journey Group leaders has focused on the mindset more than anything.
CURRENT APPROACH
It begins with current leaders leading the charge as well as new leaders who want to be a part of the movement. Our current approach to leadership development has focused on fostering a mindset of biblical discipleship with key leaders who can lead others to this small group approach to spiritual maturity and community. Thinking rightly or correctly about what it looks like to follow Jesus and lead others on the journey has been the pivot point.
We are not done examining the proper mindset of biblical discipleship, but due to the influx of new and emerging disciple-makers we must tweak and mold our current approach to develop the future. New and fresh ways are necessary to not only maintain, but lead into the future.
FUTURE APPROACH
A few questions shape the future/fresh approach to leadership development:
What do CCC Journey Group leaders need?
What do we (pastors and elders) want Journey Group leaders to have?
How do we maximize every minute of every leader and their time?
Depending on the time of (ministry) the year, what should we focus on?
Who is sitting in the living room right now and how do help disciple them?
4 ELEMENTS to the FUTURE APPROACH:
To accomplish effective Journey Group leader training 4 key elements will be present at every leadership gathering:
- Vision: leaders need to know why we are doing what we are doing and how their individual leadership effort plays into the big picture
- Huddle: leaders need other leaders / nobody is alone in discipleship efforts; we will learn from each other
- Mindset: leaders need to have specific time set aside to think about and implement discipleship minded ideas, spiritual formation, and more
- Skill set: leaders need tools for the job / practical tips to lead a healthy small group environment
COMPARING the CURRENT with the FUTURE APPROACH:
Frequency: 1X a month / 1X a month
Day: Sunday AM / various times and places
Duration: 50 mins to 1 hour / 2 hours
Focus: discipleship mindset with Q and A / vision, leader to leader interaction, discipleship mindset and skillset
Facilitator: teacher to leaders / teacher to leaders AND leaders to leaders
2009 JOURNEY GROUP LEADERSHIP DATES:
January 17th / Saturday AM Accelerate event / 10:50AM - NOON
February 20th / Friday PM / 7PM - 9PM
March 21st / Saturday AM / 9AM - 11AM
April 25th / Saturday AM / 9AM - 11AM
May 17th / Sunday PM / time TBD