Missions
Personal Disciple-Making
The Bible teaches that every Christ-follower is not only a disciple but also a disciple-maker. In other words, the responsibility to make disciples is not just reserved for the so-called spiritually elite or select few. It’s not relegated to those with a formal title or spiritual gift. Instead, every disciple of Jesus Christ, without exception, has been entrusted with the joyful task of making disciples. As C.T. Studd says, "The light that shines farthest shines brightest nearest home."
We understand the Bible to teach that disciple-making involves the following 3 non-negotiable elements. Here are some practical resources and tools that we have found to be helpful as you seek to be engaged in the disciple-making process.
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Verbally proclaim the gospel (Living with Gospel Intentionality)
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Baptize those who believe
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Teach them to obey all that Jesus has commanded (Personal Disciple-Making Helps)
Global Disciple-Making
Our ultimate goal in Global Disciple-making is to equip and mobilize world-impacting disciple-makers to reach the nations for the glory of Christ. Our global priorities include the following:
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Unreached/Unengaged: People groups around the world who have little to no access to the gospel.
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Persecuted Church: Believers and churches around the world who are experiencing physical and emotional abuse because of their allegiance to Jesus Christ.
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Under-equipped Church: Churches around the world who are in need of further equipping and strengthening.
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Marginalized/Afflicted: The poor, orphaned, oppressed, and sick throughout the world.
To achieve these priorities, we will concentrate our efforts on :
Praying
Prayer is essential to the accomplishment of the mission of making disciples of all nations. John Piper has said, “Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the power of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den…Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for: Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission.”
Recommended Prayer Resources:
Giving
We desire that our overall church budget reflects our vision, mission and goal. We don’t want to be consumers, but want to sacrifice our resources for the sake of the glory of Christ among those with urgent spiritual and physical needs throughout our city and world. We gladly renounce the treasures of this world, since we have a better treasure in Christ and a better possession in heaven.
For more information about how to give to either the general Global Disciple-Making fund or to a specific trip or participant, contact Jared Chasteen.
Going
Our prayer is that we would be actively and consistently involved in going to the nations on three levels:
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Short-term Missions: This includes identifying like-minded field partners who we can partner with by sending short-term mission teams for 1-2 weeks. The primary purpose of short-term mission trips would be to: 1) Engage the lost in partnership with the local field partner and 2) Equip the local church on the field through biblical, theological, and practical ministry training.
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Mid-term Missions: Often, after participating in short-term missions, individuals or families feel the Lord leading them to serve for longer than a week or two. Therefore, mid-term is for those who want to give a summer, a semester, a year, or two and serve the Lord in a cross-cultural context. Mid-term serves to better expose, equip, and encourage those that have gone short-term and are prayerfully considering planting their lives long-term.
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Long-term Church Planting: In dependence upon God our desire is to train up and commission out from our local church those individuals and families that God is leading to plant their lives among the nations. This includes domestic and international church planting.
For more information on upcoming trips, contact Jared Chasteen.