by Pastor Jeremy Vaccaro
It was just less than a year ago that our church’s Session voted to approve our Purpose Statement. Some of you have begun to memorize it, and most can at least identify the primary themes of the statement. Nevertheless, just in case you can’t remember it in full, here it is:
Right at the core of our purpose is an activity that is absolutely imperative for a local church seeking to be obedient to Christ. What is that activity? It is making disciples. Jesus’ closing words in Matthew’s gospel include the command to make disciples. It is the commission that He gives to every disciple.
Unfortunately, there is a temptation to believe that only some are called to be disciple makers, and there is a temptation to believe that disciple-making is beyond the reach of normal Christians. If we fall prey to those temptations we will never reach our God-given potential as the people of God; if we fall prey to those temptations we will miss our Purpose Statement by a mile. We’ve got to figure out ways to truly “engage together in Christ’s work of making disciples.”
That’s why I love the discipline that many of us took up during Lent. I invited the congregation to find one or two people to become their Discipleship Partners during the seven weeks of Lent. Did you accept that invitation? Once the Discipleship Partners were identified they had simple instructions. They were to pray for each other every day and have a conversation every week. In that conversation the Discipleship Partners were asked to focus on three questions:
- In what ways has God made His presence known to you this week?
- In what ways have you been impacted by your time in the Scriptures this week?
- In what ways do you need the Holy Spirit’s help this week?
Some of you who took on this discipline have shared with me the blessing it has been to walk intentionally with another Christ-follower this Lenten season. You’ve been encouraged, stretched, used for God’s purposes, and built up in Christ. Thanks for those reports; they have encouraged me. I, also, have benefited from time spent with my Discipleship Partner. In fact, I’m hoping we can continue meeting beyond Easter.
One of the things that I’m praying God grows strong in us as a church is our passion, energy, persistence, and ability to engage together in making disciples. I’m convinced that Discipleship Partnerships can help us get there. Can you imagine the impact it would cause if every member of FPC Fresno was meeting regularly with a few Discipleship Partners? Can you imagine if every member was paying attention to the powerful presence of God throughout their entire week, and listening for the Spirit speaking through the Word each day, and submitting their whole lives to the Holy Spirit’s leading? Can you imagine if every member of FPC Fresno was engaging toward those ends with a few other disciples in their daily lives? I don’t know about you, but when I start to imagine that, I get REALLY excited. I get excited about the way God could use those kinds of relationships to grow First Pres deep and wide. So, may God use your Discipleship Partnership – even if you only meet for the seven weeks of Lent – to grow something new in you.