As I studied John 1 again, I noticed a pattern — a progression, that mirrors how someone comes to know God, grow in His love, and go out to make a difference. And I’m not saying this is like The Bible Code to start some conspiracy, but…
It matches perfectly with Ivy’s Discipleship Pathway!
DISCOVER → DELIVER → DEVOTE → DEVELOP → DEPLOY
Let’s walk through the passage and see how this unfolds.
Whether you’re a church leader, part of a congregation, or just someone who cares about family and community, this conversation will inspire and equip you to take steps towards ministering more effectively to older people.
“The Holy Spirit has been made like a drunk uncle at a wedding: still technically invited, but stuck in the corner in case he embarrasses us.”
“You MUST believe in the power of the message…” CH Spurgeon
“You must believe in the power of that message to save people..”
To grasp the power of the blood, we must first grasp the heart of the One who first shed it to cover the sins of Adam and Eve, then on the cross shed it for us.
Playing Your Part: Embracing Fellowship, Discipleship, and Ministry in the local church. The early church, as described in Acts 2:41-42, 46-47, provides a clear model for how believers should engage in church life just as much where you are now as they were then. It highlights essential aspects of a true church such as fellowship, discipleship, evangelism, and ministry. I have talked before about they each ‘devoted themselves’ (nobody but you can devote you) to the Word, Worship and One Another, they shared their Wealth and saw Wonders that made the world say ‘WOW!” As members of the body of Christ today, we cannot settle for less and must pray for and deliberately participate in these areas to ensure a thriving and unified church community. The Power of Fellowship Fellowship is the heartbeat of the church. Acts 2:42 emphasises that the early believers “continued steadfastly” in fellowship. This means they stuck at it, there were no church shoppers or hoppers – they were intentional and consistent in connecting with one another. As 1 John 1:3-4 reminds us, our joy is made […]
We Must Point Everyone to Jesus I am fully convinced that every single person I will ever meet would be better off with Jesus Christ at the centre of their life. This is not a religion I am a fan or follower of – I know the transforming relationship with God that he alone offers will provide forgiveness, healing, guidance, power, purpose, meaning and eternal security. We must share this by pointing to Jesus (not ourselves, our churches or programs) because he is the only Son of God, heaven’s greatest gift to humanity. Do you believe this? I am talking to church leaders here. In 1995 I spent most of the night before I was ordained in the Church of England trying to discourage someone else from taking that step into church leadership too – why? Because over the few days retreat beforehand (which was meant to be spent in silence) he clearly stated that he did not believe Jesus is the Son of God, or that people need a Saviour. I couldn’t imagine what he thought the ‘job’ entailed […]
In this episode we explore the origins and impact of Steiger, a radical missionary movement known for reaching the lost through creative and visual presentations of the gospel. We also get very excited about LAUNCH and THE SEND!
When we ‘give our lives to Christ’ we don’t just give him our past sins, we actually die to the old Βίος (Bios) life in order to receive the everlasting Ζωή (Zoe) life!