It is hard to believe I have been in my role at the MBC for almost a year now. I could not be more excited about how the Lord is working in and through Missouri Baptists to make disciples.
The Making Disciples group’s overarching objective is to assist Missouri Baptists in developing biblical strategies and processes to make disciples who make disciples. Our areas of expertise in making disciples include evangelism and age-graded ministries such as children, students, and Sunday school.
To help facilitate our responsibilities, the Making Disciples group has developed a biblical discipleship initiative called L.I.F.E. or Life-Cycle. The Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) is our Lord Jesus’ mandate to the church to make disciples that make disciples.
When taking a closer look at the Great Commission, we see four main distinctives. The LIFE acronym helps identify these four distinctives.
L – Leading people to Christ
All disciples are to regularly practice relational evangelism and equip others to share the gospel boldly.
I – Identifying people to Christ
All disciples are called to connect to a new community and culture through baptism and church membership.
F – Fully maturing in Christ
All disciples are to grow into the likeness of Christ through Bible study, prayer, service, and the exercise of spiritual gifts.
E – Equipping others to equip others
All disciples are to be equipped to make disciples who in turn make disciples.
With this in mind, we offer three levels of assistance to Missouri Baptists:
Level 1: Consulting
Consulting could be a great starting place for most churches. The LIFE distinctives can be used to help evaluate a church’s effectiveness in making disciples.
Level 2: Consulting and Equipping
Level 2 not only includes consulting for evaluation, but an opportunity for churches to get training from an MBC Making Disciples specialist.
Level 3: Regional MD LIFE Strategy
Level 3 would not only include consulting and equipping, but a community-wide evangelistic outreach event. The pre-event training and the community outreach event can be a powerful springboard for a major disciple-making push.
Already, we’ve had the privilege of working with several churches in level 1 and 2. To date, we are implementing the level 3 LIFE initiative at the following locations around our state:
Mountain Grove – March 25
Versailles – May 11
West Plains – September 23
Springfield – November 4
You also may be interested to know we are holding a one-day Life Conference March 24 at High Street Baptist Church in Springfield. Life Conference 2020 is an equipping event to help your church build disciple-makers.
Many individuals and churches are struggling with disciple-making. This equipping event will address how to effectively make disciples who make disciples.
We invite pastors, staff, deacons, Sunday school leaders, small-group leaders, and everyone else. The March 24 conference begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. Cost is $10 per person and includes lunch.
The Missouri Baptist Convention and Greene County Baptist Association are partnering to sponsor the event. Register online at gbaptist.org.
If your church or community is interested in implementing any one of the three levels of the LIFE initiative, please contact the Making Disciples office at 800.736.6227 ext. 328.