so far The church i attend to has lead around 908-910 people to Christ
we site a tent out in two fairs The trumble fair and Canfield fair and all together we are almost at 1000 souls
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PRAISE THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD!
Hey... WOW!
You are doing really well for a medium sized church!
What is the central fruit of the Church (our is the "temple") AND what is the spirit of the message you hear there?
And how often have you baptized?
And, if you have time, what name of God do you hear most there (feel free to be liberal in your reply)?
Hey... WOW!
You are doing really well for a medium sized church!
What is the central fruit of the Church (our is the "temple") AND what is the spirit of the message you hear there?
And how often have you baptized?
And, if you have time, what name of God do you hear most there (feel free to be liberal in your reply)?
I'm not sure when my pastor has baptized schedule I would have to ask i was baptism in 2004.
The name of God well The name I AM sticks to me alot. or
Adonai
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_o...f_g-d.html
has alot of names of God and also ABBA sticks to me. that means father.
so far my church has about little over 2000 people and growing.
I not interesting on the fact how many attend our church just The fact if somone has made Christ there savior.
it all about souls not numbers
What is the central fruit of the Church (our is the "temple") AND what is the spirit of the message you hear there?
The message at my church is lead as many to Jesus as we can. WE do not care if they get saved and do not go to our church just the fact they accept Christ.
I mean we hope they have a church to go to and if they do not we always welcome them to ours
sugarman wrote:
WE do not care if they get saved and do not go to our church just the fact they accept Christ.
I mean we hope they have a church to go to and if they do not we always welcome them to ours
_________________________________
Congratulations! There is no greater joy than leading someone to a saving faith in Jesus the Messiah, through Whom all of the nations of the world have been blessed.
Jesus never told us to make converts, however; He told us to do something much more difficult: make DISCIPLES. That begins with conversion, but it goes a whole lot farther.
The Billy Graham Association has always understood that, and worked with local churches before crusades to make sure that new converts aren't just dropped into a black hole somewhere, but will be discipled and loved and mentored by a church family.
I think the idea of setting up a booth at a public event and using that as an opportunity to share Jesus is terrific. More power to you! But, as one who has watched many a new "convert" slip away over the years, I also know the importance of discipleship.
Just a reminder. And, again, my most heartfelt congratulations.
sugarman wrote:
WE do not care if they get saved and do not go to our church just the fact they accept Christ.
I mean we hope they have a church to go to and if they do not we always welcome them to ours
_________________________________
Congratulations! There is no greater joy than leading someone to a saving faith in Jesus the Messiah, through Whom all of the nations of the world have been blessed.
Jesus never told us to make converts, however; He told us to do something much more difficult: make DISCIPLES. That begins with conversion, but it goes a whole lot farther.
The Billy Graham Association has always understood that, and worked with local churches before crusades to make sure that new converts aren't just dropped into a black hole somewhere, but will be discipled and loved and mentored by a church family.
I think the idea of setting up a booth at a public event and using that as an opportunity to share Jesus is terrific. More power to you! But, as one who has watched many a new "convert" slip away over the years, I also know the importance of discipleship.
Just a reminder. And, again, my most heartfelt congratulations.
Thanks.
I also think it very imporant to try to stay in contact with new disciples for this mean reason.
When we are born we have our parents to take care of us food and cloth us But when we have a babe in Christ, they get The Milk first before meat. WE are the ones who need to "feed him" help him grow up like a strong christian in The Lord. When he older and knows the scriptures well then it time for the meat and when he can disgust the meat that elders in Christ feed him He is able to lead others and "feed" others The word of God.
Jesus never told us to make converts, however; He told us to do something much more difficult: make DISCIPLES. That begins with conversion, but it goes a whole lot farther.
The Billy Graham Association has always understood that, and worked with local churches before crusades to make sure that new converts aren't just dropped into a black hole somewhere, but will be discipled and loved and mentored by a church family.
This is very true. But speaking as one who was saved all alone at home, apart from any "revival meeting" or "crusade"...
God is faithful to complete the work He has begun in us.
So, when He places that hunger to know Him more in us, we will LOOK and SEARCH for a Bible-believing church. Plus, we HAVE the Holy Spirit guiding our understanding when reading scripture on our own, like we did not have before.
My own experience was that first I looked in the Yellow Pages. Started going to a church that was not biblical, and the Holy Spirit showed me that pretty quickly. Then, the Lord lead me to my "home" church, when reading a newspaper article about it.
Also, keep in mind
The Parable of the Seeds -CJB. 3/4 of the seeds sown do not grow to fullness. But that 1/4 that does! WOWIE, PRAISE GOD!
What a wonderful testimony, Ripley's! Thank you for sharing.
I agree: God can and often does mature Christians without outside discipling. My experience is similar: I first heard the Gospel in 1965 when I was 18, and I immediately fell head over heels in love with Jesus. I was overwhelmed with such an awesome and wonderful Lord. My parents thought I had lost my mind and ridiculed my beliefs, but I just wanted more of Jesus. I sought out Christian fellowship, in spite of my family's resistance, and dug into the Bible. Somehow it "took," praise the Lord! All these years later, I am in awe at God's faithfulness in my life. I delight in singing His praises everyday for such a great salvation.
However, I have been a partner in ministry for many years, and I have seen so many people slip away because they have the "conversion" experience, but never get to the meat. It reminds me of the parable of the Sower, and it can be heartbreaking. There are many distractions in this evil world, and the enemy of our souls is relentless. Christians need to be equally relentless. Those who think about getting converts and then walking away have missed the whole point. That's the EASY part. Making disciplies for the long haul is time consuming and very costly. But that's what we have been called to do.
Blessings and peace to you,
Anne
P.S. ~ And I would add a "Wowie Praise God!" to yours for the one fourth (give or take) who do manage to stay the course. They make it worth it all.
sugarman wrote:
WE do not care if they get saved and do not go to our church just the fact they accept Christ.
I mean we hope they have a church to go to and if they do not we always welcome them to ours
_________________________________
Congratulations! There is no greater joy than leading someone to a saving faith in Jesus the Messiah, through Whom all of the nations of the world have been blessed.
Jesus never told us to make converts, however; He told us to do something much more difficult: make DISCIPLES. That begins with conversion, but it goes a whole lot farther.
Well I have to disagree with Ripley and jgrbal on this issue.
Yeshua told us very clearly to preach the Gospel.
Jesus told us to get people saved so don't tell me Yeshua only told us to make disciples.
This will not wash with me.
Have you not understood the Gospel yet or will you begin to quote me scriptures out of context.
The Samaritans that Yeshua preached to... how many became disciples according to the New testament? Did Yeshua waste His time? No He became their Savior to all those who believed and some may have progressed further if they humbled themselves to the Apostol's interpretations. The new birth is most important but if you do not make disciples among the nations this salvation work will not be completed. This is why discipleship is important.
Salvation is the cry of the heart for His works (His creation) while disciplship is our cooperation with Him (that you make with Him).
To be a disciple requires personal dedication. This requires discipline but to be saved requires the humility to call onto Yeshua the Son of G-d as Saviour.
Your idea of getting someone stuck in church means one is a disciple is flawed.
By the way a single person can not disciple more than 12... if you disciple one person you have done well and giving someone some doctrine is not discipleship. I don't think you guys ever took discipleship seriously at least according to the biblical definition and the pouring of ones life for another requires.
I haven't read the earlier posts yet and don't have a lot of time today but I will return and must confess that I feel a holy indignation to the direction of some of the words here.
Please guys get people saved according to confession and leave the rest to G-d and disciple a few people in your life with all you strength. Don't judge others according to your own obedience or you will make grace inoperative.