Refocus Pt3
Discipleship – the Journey of Spiritual Growth
Sunday, August 17, 2025
I. Refocus
A. (Review) Keep the Mission in the Middle
1. As born-again believers in the body of Christ we all have a common, corporate mission in life and it’s the same mission Jesus had: seek and save the lost.
a. (2 Cor. 5:18-21) We are ministers of reconciliation.
b. (Matt. 5:13-16 MSG) Believers are God’s plan to reach the lost and He doesn’t have a plan B.
B. (Matt. 28:18 NIV) Great Commission – transfer of authority
1. (Matt. 28:19 NIV) Discipleship is the continuing journey of spiritual growth for every believer.
a. Disciple is a learner. A new testament disciple is one who has (1) accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, (2) is yielding to Him as Lord, and (3) is reproducing the lifestyle of a disciple in the life of another.
~Water baptism is a “Next Step” in journey of spiritual growth. Water baptism is going public with salvation. (The wedding band of Christianity)
b. (Matt. 28:20 NIV) teaching them everything Jesus commanded is an ongoing process of spiritual growth.
~(1 John 5:3 AMPC) Keeping God’s word is always only good for us.
c. Discipleship happens one step at a time!
d. (John 15:1-17 TPT) The goal of discipleship is to draw us nearer to Jesus so we are fruitful, joyful and free.
2. (Eph. 4:11 NLT) the 5-fold ministry
a. (Eph. 4:12 NLT) the 5-fold ministry gifts purpose is to equip God’s people:
~To do the work of the ministry=
~And build up the church (Body of Christ)
b. (Eph. 4:13 NLT) until we all come to:
~The unity in our faith
~The full knowledge of Jesus
~And become mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
c. (Eph. 4:14 NLT) the result will be we:
~Will no longer be immature like children
~Will have stability and commitment
~Won’t be deceived by false doctrine
d. (Eph. 4:15 NLT) speak the truth in love:
~Growing in every way becoming more like Christ
e. (Eph. 4:16 NLT) when every member does their part we all grow together.
3. One of the responsibilities of the 5-fold ministry is to create systems and environments conducive to spiritual development and maturity so we can all bear good fruit.
a. Know God, Get the lost – saved
~Our services, work, school
b. Find Freedom, Get the saved – pastored
~Our small groups, Destiny university, our services
c. Discover Destiny, Get the pastored – discipled
~Level Up Membership Class, small groups, our services.
d. Make a Difference. Get the discipled – mobilized
~Serve on a DTeam, host a small group.
