Practice: Multiply 9.5 - May 30, 2010

Practice #9 – Multiply
9.5 – Legacy

2 Timothy 4:1-8 (New International Version)
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
 
What legacy do you want to leave?  What do you want said of you? 
1.    Our legacy should be God-CenteredPhilippians 3:7-11 (New International Version)
 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
 
2.    Our legacy should be Kingdom-Centered
Ephesians 4:11-13 (New International Version)
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

3.    Our legacy should be Others-Centered
1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 (New International Version)
But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

Today: take some time and write down what you want to be remembered for.  Is that consistent with the values of the early church?  Is it consistent with the Bible?  How can you gain alignment with those things?

Practice: Multiply 9.4 - May 23, 2010

Practice #9 – Multiply
9.4 – Biblical Definition of a Friend

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."                    - 

C.S. Lewis

What is Friendship?

1.    Friends are Present – Even in the Hard Times.Judges 11:29-38 (New International Version)
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD : “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon. When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.” “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.” “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry.
 
Romans 12:15 (New International Version)
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

2.    Friends are Loyal – Even when it Costs Them.
Proverbs 17:17 (New International Version)
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 19:6 (New International Version)
Many curry favor with a ruler, 
and everyone is the friend of a man who gives gifts.

Matthew 5:46-48 (New International Version)
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

James 1:27 (New International Version)
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

3.    Friends are Authentic and Transparent – To Bring Out God’s Best for Both of You.Hebrews 3:12-13 (New International Version)
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Practice: Multiply 9.1 - May 2, 2010

Practice #9 – Multiply
9.1 – Being Part of the Movement

John 5:17 (NIV)
Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”

John 5:19-20a (NIV)
Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.”

At the end of Jesus’ ministry, the tune changed.
 
John 17:4 (NIV)
I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
Jesus calls us to be a part of a movement of discipleship. 

What is Discipleship?
1 Corinthians 4:15-17 (NIV)
Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

What does that mean?
The parts of discipleship:
1.    Pastoring
2.    Accountability
3.    Modeling
4.    A Place to Play
5.    Teaching


How do I disciple?
Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

1.    Discipleship must be relational!
1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV)
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

2.    Discipleship must be intentional!
2 Timothy 2:2 (NIV)
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

3.    Discipleship must be reproducible!
Hebrews 6:12 (NIV)
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.