[00:00:01] Hey guys, I'm excited for you to check out this week's podcast where my friend Chris [00:00:06] Marlin, he's the pastor at City Church over the Rhine, has agreed to let us share his [00:00:11] sermon on discipleship, to you guys through the podcast, and I absolutely loved what he had to [00:00:16] say here.
I honestly have never heard a pastor, , say some of the things that Chris, says in this [00:00:21] sermon.
he's really challenging his church about the importance of discipleship, how to get to the fourth generation, and he's [00:00:26] really leading them towards creating a movement in our city. if you have, friends that are [00:00:31] pastors, I encourage you guys to share this with them because this is a tough move.
and we're [00:00:36] so excited to, support everything that's happening over there. But I think this is also an awesome example. [00:00:41] And so what does it sound like when a church gets really serious about the, [00:00:46] making of disciples who make disciples check it out? [00:00:51] [00:00:56] [00:01:01] [00:01:06] [00:01:11] [00:01:16] [00:01:21] so Kristen introduced this idea last week of [00:01:26] triads, and I want to, I want to really dig deeper into that. Um, this [00:01:31] morning, um, I'm gonna start actually with a, uh, last summer I [00:01:36] read an incredible book, uh, and an incredibly long book, like longest [00:01:41] book I think I've ever read called Dominion. Uh, anybody read Dominion?
Speaker 7: [00:01:46] Yeah. Where my nerds at? Yeah. A little bit. Audio. Okay. It's me and a bunch of [00:01:51] homeschool moms. I'm pretty sure. Because apparently those are my people and we're reading all the same things [00:01:56] and I've talked to a couple of them here about this book. It is so long. It is [00:02:01] so good. And it's written by a guy named Tom Holland, not Spider-Man.[00:02:06]
Speaker 7: And uh, he's a secular historian. So this is [00:02:11] not a Christian book, but it's looking at the effect that, uh, Jesus' [00:02:16] life has had for the last 2000 years in the world. Incredible take again, [00:02:21] not from a Christian perspective. So, um, one of the things I found interesting as I just read through this book is [00:02:26] Jesus died in about 33 ad and at that time, depending on, you know, [00:02:31] where the metric is, Corinthians says there were 500 believers.
Speaker 7: Uh, probably there could have been [00:02:36] a thousand or a couple thousand that were really following Jesus. We only know that there was 120 at the prayer [00:02:41] meeting wherever you put that number, like what was the Christian population in 33 ad [00:02:46] it is easily less than 1% of the Roman Empire at that time. [00:02:51] And so, I mean a, a vast, vast minority in, in the [00:02:56] course of 300 years and just reading kind of what the church did and where it went after this, in [00:03:01] the course of 300 years, uh, Christianity had become legalized.
Speaker 7: [00:03:06] Jesus, instead of being persecuted and his followers persecuted, Jesus was now a man that was [00:03:11] celebrated and nearly one half, nearly 50% of the [00:03:16] empire that killed Jesus now believed and followed him. [00:03:21] That's crazy. 300 years, which I know sounds like a long time, and it is, [00:03:26] but they went from less than 1% to almost 50% of people believing in Jesus.
Speaker 7: Now [00:03:31] there are two appropriate responses in order that we should have to [00:03:36] that fact right there, number one. Wow. Everybody say, wow. Wow. [00:03:41] Say it backwards. Wow. Very good guys. That's crazy. [00:03:46] Wow. We should be in awe of some kind of awakening or revival or whatever. You [00:03:51] want to call that 1% to 50%. That's what we're after.
Speaker 7: That's what we're going [00:03:56] after. So number one, first response. Wow. Number two, [00:04:01] how? How did they do that? [00:04:06] What did they do? What? What strategy did they use? [00:04:11] How did a Jesus movement without ever picking up a weapon, conquer [00:04:16] the empire that actually killed him? And the answer, of course, is complicated [00:04:21] and nuanced and all kinds of different thoughts and patterns that we can look at.
Speaker 7: But if I had to sum, [00:04:26] summarize it in one word, it would be this discipleship. They [00:04:31] took discipleship incredibly serious. They took [00:04:36] Jesus's final words, very serious. Before he ascended into heaven, he, he [00:04:41] gave the great commission, right? All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all [00:04:46] nations.
Speaker 7: So there is something about obeying Jesus's final [00:04:51] words. Now we are, and this is good news, we are in a much better position than the [00:04:56] early church was. We got, we got more than 1% of people in [00:05:01] Cincinnati that are really following Jesus. And different stats, say different numbers of where we are. [00:05:06] We're, we're probably in the high single percent, eight, nine of people that are truly [00:05:11] following Jesus and making him Lord in Cincinnati.
Speaker 7: So we have a [00:05:16] big headstart on what the early church had, who would like to [00:05:21] see, and I, I'm gonna ask for some participation. Just a raise of hands. I know we're not a talkback church, but we're just [00:05:26] gonna ask for motion. Who would, I got one already. I see that hand. You don't even know the [00:05:31] question. Who would like to see that kind of explosion happen in your city in Cincinnati, right.[00:05:36]
Speaker 7: Like single digit percentage to 50, maybe even beyond. [00:05:41] That's what we're after. That's what we're, that's part, I mean, a faith that's just looking inside of [00:05:46] ourselves is not the true faith that Jesus asked us to, to walk into. [00:05:51] We want to see kingdom expansion. Now, I've said this phrase before and I love it [00:05:56] because it's super catchy and it's convicting.
Speaker 7: If we want what they [00:06:01] had, we have to do what they did. If we want what they [00:06:06] had, we have to do what they did. So what did they do? [00:06:11] They made disciples. They were fixated on pouring [00:06:16] what they had learned into the next generation so that they would do the same. [00:06:21] They called it the catechumenate. Okay. That's just a long word that you've probably not [00:06:26] heard.
Speaker 7: That's their discipleship process. That's what it was called back in the early church. And it [00:06:31] literally means like truth spoken repeatedly until it resonates in your heart. That's where this [00:06:36] like the, the ethos of this word is the catechumenate, what was it? [00:06:41] Great question, but warning, it's intense. [00:06:46] So this is the process that helped the [00:06:51] early church go from less than 1% to almost 50% in just 300 [00:06:56] years.
Speaker 7: The process was this, and this is a, a, a, [00:07:01] a vast summary, but, um, first of all, inclusivity was like not [00:07:06] really the highest priority of the early church. They very much were like, oh, you want to join the church? [00:07:11] We'll see, like you can, you can hang around some of the things that we do, but we're gonna ask you [00:07:16] to leave at some parts because there are some things that we just can't trust you with [00:07:21] until you are fully baptized and a part of this thing.
Speaker 7: And now that sounds crazy and I [00:07:26] don't think that's exactly how, um, I would do things. And yet what they were doing really [00:07:31] worked. So there would, I want you to just imagine at, at some point in this service, when we really got into like the [00:07:36] meat of today, like some worship and specifically communion. If I was like, Hey, if you're not baptized, we, we need you [00:07:41] to leave.
Speaker 7: We're gonna do the really powerful stuff right now. That sounds crazy. Or [00:07:46] imagine if I was like, Hey, anybody in this, in this, uh, building, you can come to Meat Fest or Cheese Fest [00:07:51] or Turkey Bowl. You can't come to Holy Spirit School. You can't do Holy Spirit nights. Like that's too [00:07:56] much. And what it was, was a a, an almost a like, Hey, we need to, and part of it was [00:08:01] protection, like we don't know if you're a Roman spy.
Speaker 7: But the other part was like, we want to be careful with who we pass [00:08:06] this onto. We want to make sure that you are really, really serious. And so, [00:08:11] um, you'd have a sponsor or someone that walked with you through this process, someone that [00:08:16] was pouring into you and that sponsor. One of the things that they would do is they would almost try to talk you [00:08:21] out of this.
Speaker 7: Are you sure? Are you sure that you want [00:08:26] to die to your whole self? It. I mean, and even back then, are you sure [00:08:31] you might die if you choose to follow this man? Are you sure you want to give up everything [00:08:36] to follow him? Are you really sure that this is something that you want to give your whole life to?[00:08:41]
Speaker 7: And for one to two years, that process would go on and [00:08:46] your sponsor and the whole church would examine you. Now, this would not fly in the [00:08:51] west today, but they would say, Hey, open up the books. Let's see. You say you give, you say you're generous. Lemme see [00:08:56] what kind of debt you have. Where are you spending your money?
Speaker 7: Tell me about your morality. What do you believe? What [00:09:01] do you know? What are you doing? Tell me about, tell me about your sexual history and, and what's going [00:09:06] on in your sexual present. Tell me about your sexuality right now. Nothing was held back [00:09:11] and at the end of this one to two year process, finally the [00:09:16] church said, okay, you've made it.
Speaker 7: You can become one of us. You can be [00:09:21] baptized. Who wants to bring the catechumenate back? Yeah, that's, [00:09:26] I see a few hands. I actually thought there would be, so you get baptized and then you were [00:09:31] given communion for the first time, and they would put honey on your lips because they wanted you to taste what it was finally like to [00:09:36] be in Christ.
Speaker 7: Really sweet. And then after [00:09:41] that, you were part, you were full in with the church [00:09:46] now around three 80 AD the church had a problem. Now, this [00:09:51] doesn't sound like a problem, but it was a problem in three 80. Um, around three 80 Christianity [00:09:56] becomes legalized and all of the sudden that nearly 50% number jumps to like [00:10:01] 80% and the, and a few decades.
Speaker 7: And so the, the line to get baptized all of a [00:10:06] sudden was really clogged up. Like they couldn't baptize people fast enough. They couldn't go [00:10:11] take people through this process. Um, in, in a quick enough rate. And so [00:10:16] some well-meaning, and I really mean this, they were well-meaning church leaders said, we gotta do something.
Speaker 7: We [00:10:21] gotta fix this problem. We gotta shorten the catechumenate process. We [00:10:26] gotta take it from two years to 40 days. Let's just do it during Lent and we'll baptize [00:10:31] them on Easter. Now, when they shortened it, they solved the problem. [00:10:36] All of a sudden people are moving through the, the process a lot faster. But also, uh, a [00:10:41] few other things happened like cultural Christianity.
Speaker 7: It just became culture. All of [00:10:46] a sudden you're being born into the faith and not baptized into it. And, and the process [00:10:51] used to be you learn about Jesus, you change because of Jesus, you're repenting to [00:10:56] Jesus, and then you're baptized into Jesus. And now instead you're being baptized as a baby. And [00:11:01] hopefully you're taught all of these things later.
Speaker 7: And then after that came the Dark [00:11:06] Ages, which sounds like the punchline, but it's like real, like the Dark Ages came right after this. [00:11:11] Now is all of that because they shortened the process of the catechumenate. [00:11:16] I don't know. I have a degree in finance. Come on. Like that's too hard of a [00:11:21] question. However, I did take a stats class and I think [00:11:26] my statistics teacher would tell you that there might be enough there for [00:11:31] causation, but there certainly is correlation.
Speaker 7: If we can just make this thing easier, [00:11:36] then all of a sudden we'll move people through it faster and yet it did not [00:11:41] yield all of the results that they were hoping. Why was it [00:11:46] so intense? Why would the early church do that? Well, it's [00:11:51] because of a number of passages that they would've been reading the same passages that you've read.
Speaker 7: We actually read [00:11:56] this one last week. Colossians 1 28, he Jesus is the one we [00:12:01] proclaim. Admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we [00:12:06] may present everyone fully mature in Christ. Now, Ephesians says the same thing [00:12:11] talks about maturity. It says, the goal is that we present everyone as mature in [00:12:16] Christ.
Speaker 7: The goal is maturity, not passivity. The goal is maturity, not just converts. Which [00:12:21] that begs the question, why would we not do that? Why are, why are we not working as hard as we [00:12:26] can to present everyone as mature? Why are we all not trying to make sure we all present each other [00:12:31] as mature? It's because of Colossians 1 29, the verse right after [00:12:36] Paul says, look, in light of the fact that the go, the goal is maturity and we've gotta do this to this end.
Speaker 7: Or because [00:12:41] of that, I strenuously contend with all energy, with all the energy. Christ [00:12:46] so powerfully works in me. And that right there, that's where [00:12:51] we in the West tend to say, ah, strenuously, contend. [00:12:56] Is there more of like a moderate energy option? [00:13:01] Where's the sustainable, where's like the, you know, three out of five [00:13:06] strenuously with all the energy?
Speaker 7: I don't have that much energy left [00:13:11] to give after all of the other things that I've gotta give my life to. And you know, I'm only sleeping six hours [00:13:16] anyway. And so I don't really have, like, I can't do that. [00:13:21] If there's a moderate option, I would love to sign up for for this one though. And Paul says, no, no, [00:13:26] no, no.
Speaker 7: The goal is maturity. And if we are going to actually [00:13:31] present the bride each other as mature, we're gonna have to strenuously [00:13:36] contend with all the energy that Christ so powerfully [00:13:41] works in me. Now remember, if we want what they had, and guys, [00:13:46] I want what they had, I [00:13:51] desperately want what they had. I want to look back on my life and say, man, there was [00:13:56] something that I was a part of in the city of Cincinnati that awakened faith in a good percentage of [00:14:01] people.
Speaker 7: If we want what they had, then we have to do what they did. [00:14:06] If you want to know more, a lot of people say, Hey, what are the resources? [00:14:11] I don't know if it's 'cause you don't trust me or what. Um, there's a couple books. So put the first book up there, [00:14:16] resilient Faith by Gerald Spitzer. It talks a lot about this process, the catechumenate process.
Speaker 7: Next [00:14:21] one is Dominion. And of course I've got a lot of this from John Tyson because what would a sermon of [00:14:26] B be without a reference back to John Tyson? So these are a lot of the resources, but [00:14:31] this is what the early church did, and it was met with wild success. [00:14:36] Now, um, someone's final words. We know this, you've probably heard this before.
Speaker 7: [00:14:41] Someone's final words are often the most important thing that they've been thinking about. And I [00:14:46] wanna look at the final words of two different people. Um, this morning. Uh, last week, ironically, Kristen [00:14:51] talked about three disciple makers. Remember that Jesus, Paul and [00:14:56] Kristen. We're gonna talk about the first two.
Speaker 7: Um, and their final words. Kristen, I don't know her [00:15:01] final words yet. I hope she has many more years. It probably has something to do with protein though. [00:15:06] If you don't get that joke, lemme tell it to you. I made time for [00:15:11] this little rant. The girl puts protein and [00:15:16] everything. In the last month, uh, she started this little fitness cult [00:15:21] and uh, and she drug my sweet, sweet, [00:15:26] sweet, innocent wife into it.
Speaker 7: And, uh, and I've been eating couscous for [00:15:31] the last month. Do you guys know what couscous is? It's so bad. They named it twice. [00:15:36] And in the last month, I have, I have seen Welcome to church by the way. Uh, I've [00:15:41] seen her put, I've seen her eat a protein Pop-Tart. Do you know that existed? I have [00:15:46] seen her, uh, drink a protein latte.
Speaker 7: And here's the worst one. Wait for it. [00:15:51] Protein water. You. Yeah, I know. [00:15:56] And so I just want to like, take a moment and intercede, [00:16:01] not on behalf of her because I was, she can do whatever, but it started to invade my family and, uh, [00:16:06] and I'm having a hard time with it. Where was I? [00:16:11] Final words? Not Christ's, Paul.
Speaker 7: Jesus, Jesus'. Final words. I already said that. [00:16:16] Right? The great commission. We know that all authority in heaven and earth, and he says, go and make disciples. We don't [00:16:21] talk a lot about ge, uh, about Paul's final words, and they're less [00:16:26] popular. But, um, most scholars believe, and I I'm in this camp that the final, [00:16:31] um, book that he wrote is Second Timothy.
Speaker 7: It's almost unanimous that that was the final [00:16:36] one. He wrote it probably on death's row and uh, and in prison. So these are [00:16:41] almost like the final things. This is the last message that we have from him. Uh, a [00:16:46] lot of scholars actually call this his last will and testament. Second Timothy [00:16:51] is Paul writing in the midst of a Crisis.
Speaker 7: And, and Timothy was Paul's [00:16:56] guy, like Paul planted Ephesus, this incredibly influential church that was thriving. And then he said, I'm gonna leave [00:17:01] my guy Timothy in charge. Timothy is, you know, my son in the faith, he calls [00:17:06] him, um, his beloved child in second Timothy, which just tells you how [00:17:11] close they were.
Speaker 7: I mean, that comes after years of intimacy and suffering and ministry and [00:17:16] discipleship. And so Paul's writing in the midst of a crisis, two crises. There's [00:17:21] a crisis in Ephesus and there's a crisis in Paul's life. I'm about to die [00:17:26] and things are not going well there. It seems like heresy's running amuck.
Speaker 7: Timothy doesn't know what to do. He's like, Hey, [00:17:31] help me. And so what happens in, in second Timothy, if you read it in chapter one, [00:17:36] Paul basically summarizes his situation and then the situation in [00:17:41] Ephesus, and he says, look, in light of both of those, chapter two is when he really starts to say, and [00:17:46] here's what you're going to do.
Speaker 7: In light of all that, you then. [00:17:51] My son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the [00:17:56] things that you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable [00:18:01] people who will also be qualified to teach others. So first of all, Paul says, look what [00:18:06] I'm about to ask you to do. Verse one.
Speaker 7: It's going to take strength. [00:18:11] It's going to take strength for you to do this. And secondly, I need you to pass [00:18:16] this on to others. Now, what kind of people put verse two back up there. What kind of people does he [00:18:21] say to put a to, to pass it on to reliable, reliable [00:18:26] people or other translations. Say, faithful.
Speaker 7: Now, Paul could have said any adjective there, [00:18:31] he could have said, influential, rich, powerful, strong. And he says, I want you to pass this on. [00:18:36] Make sure you pass this thing on to faithful people, [00:18:41] because what do faithful people do? They pass it on again. [00:18:46] Paul's last words in a crisis are, pass this [00:18:51] thing on.
Speaker 7: Put verse two back up there, but put it with my [00:18:56] notes. All right, we have four generations here. [00:19:01] Paul says, my son. So the father here is Paul, and he's writing all of these [00:19:06] things to you, Timothy, that you've heard me say. So all of the things I've [00:19:11] said to you, Timothy, I want I, I want you to take them and I want you to pass them or entrust them [00:19:16] to reliable people who will then also be qualified to teach [00:19:21] others.
Speaker 7: Paul is saying, we have got to get this thing. So look how many circles there [00:19:26] are. We have got to get this thing to the fourth generation. [00:19:31] Things like this often die out in the second, maybe the third generation, first [00:19:36] generation passes it on and either they're like not. They're not feeling it or they try, but they are not trained [00:19:41] to take it on.
Speaker 7: And at best we get to the third generation. But Paul says, no, no, we've gotta get this thing to [00:19:46] the fourth generation. That's when we start to see multiplicative kingdom impact. [00:19:51] We have to get there. Everybody repeat after me. We must [00:19:56] get Must get to the fourth generation. To the fourth generation. We must get, [00:20:01] we must get to the fourth generation.
Speaker 7: Fourth generation. Alright, that's enough starting to [00:20:06] sound a little culty. We must get to the fourth generation. And [00:20:11] the gospel has primarily worked its way from 33 a D to [00:20:16] now through relationship and discipleship is simply that. It is a deep relational journey. It's [00:20:21] not an event. It's a deep relational journey with somebody else.
Speaker 7: The early church called this process the [00:20:26] catechumenate. Today, it's called the buzzword is discipleship. What we're calling it is triad. [00:20:31] What's a triad? It was introduced to you guys last week, but I've got a really long, wordy two [00:20:36] sentences that I'm gonna walk through for a lot of this morning. A triad, which is what we're putting [00:20:41] so much of our effort into because we really believe what the early church experienced is something that we [00:20:46] can experience is this faithful passing along of what we have learned in the gospel that's been [00:20:51] entrusted to us.
Speaker 7: A triad is a leader living one year of [00:20:56] life with two to three disciples that has relationship and teaching. It [00:21:01] is both organized and organic, focusing on passing along what the leader has [00:21:06] to guide their disciples towards maturity and Christ with the expectation that [00:21:11] they'll do the same. Now, those two sentences are not gonna win me any literary awards.
Speaker 7: They [00:21:16] were like Paul sentences there, but I wanna break them down and just say, okay, here's what we're going [00:21:21] after. If you were here last week, you heard a little bit from Kristen about this. This is [00:21:26] the thing that we are putting our energy into, and it's not going to be the thing that grows [00:21:31] city church the most.
Speaker 7: But it is going to be the thing that I think has maximum kingdom impact in the [00:21:36] city of Cincinnati. So next slide with the first part highlighted. It is a leader living [00:21:41] one year of life with two to three disciples. Two to three. There are some advantages to [00:21:46] one-on-one, but the multipli multiplication is harder.
Speaker 7: And also there is something really [00:21:51] sweet when you are discipled with a peer. It brings in this level of peer discipleship. [00:21:56] So it's one on two or one on three. There's something amazing that [00:22:01] happens when you're being discipled with someone that you might be hanging out with on a Friday night. It is [00:22:06] one year.
Speaker 7: It's not forever. That might sound mechanical, but I [00:22:11] promise you there is something in terms of the law of diminishing returns. Uh, my guy [00:22:16] that raised his hand earlier, it's, I discipled him for three years, him and, and Brandon. And [00:22:21] uh, the first year was amazing. Second year was good. Third year I feel like, man, you guys should have been somewhere else.
Speaker 7: [00:22:26] I gave you almost all that I had to give. There is something about the law of diminishing [00:22:31] returns. And there is something about even getting to learn from different people at different portions of your life. So it [00:22:36] is two to three people for one year. Next slide that has [00:22:41] relationship and teaching. Now, this is one of the many, many tensions that we hold in this [00:22:46] church.
Speaker 7: Is it just hanging out? No. Is it just teaching and passing along information? No. It [00:22:51] is relationship and teaching. You should actually click with the people that you're being discipled by or [00:22:56] you're discipling and the people that you're being discipled with. Next slide. It [00:23:01] is both organized and organic.
Speaker 7: This will be where I get the most [00:23:06] complaints, and this will be where we tweak, uh, the most things over the next, I hope, [00:23:11] 30, 40, 50 years of doing this. This is the tension that [00:23:16] causes mega churches, small churches and house churches to not be able to get it to the [00:23:21] fourth generation. And so the, the, the tension we're holding here, we [00:23:26] believe is where we can best make sure that this thing keeps going.
Speaker 7: So on one [00:23:31] side it is organized. Put up that next one. [00:23:36] You're meeting biweekly. Here's the guardrails we're putting in. We're saying, Hey, this is what we [00:23:41] hope. If you break the rules, it's fine. It's okay, but we're really saying these are the [00:23:46] things that we're saying, ah, this is gonna meet. Make sure that there is something about it.
Speaker 7: Meeting biweekly for [00:23:51] one year. What are we gonna cover? Uh, there are a number of things that I hope your, your triad [00:23:56] leader or you the triad leader pass on. There are seven essentials that we're like, Hey, make sure these are [00:24:01] covered. And if anybody is like, no, I don't wanna cover prayer, like, we should talk, [00:24:06] like, these are essentials and, uh, and it's, it ends, although I'm gonna recommend that it [00:24:11] starts and it ends, but it ends with a 24 hour getaway.
Speaker 7: I just did mine like two weeks ago. I had [00:24:16] some 27 year olds crying in the back of my car as we were in the first hour of it. And I'm like, this is [00:24:21] what I want my life to be about right here. Like, oh, this has been so good. I'm not gonna tell you which [00:24:26] ones were crying, but. I did that getaway, and I'm like, this is, this is [00:24:31] maybe the most effective thing I've done all year.
Speaker 7: This is [00:24:36] where we're putting our energy. It has to be organized and, and the, [00:24:41] the, the anti-institutional people among us are gonna say, I [00:24:46] don't, I don't want it. Don't tell me what to do. And look, there are things even on that list right there [00:24:51] that if I was doing this only by myself, I would not do it that way.
Speaker 7: But this is what [00:24:56] we've, after talking with a bunch of people and seeing it work for a couple years, that we've said, [00:25:01] this is probably the best way that we can make sure this thing gets passed on. It's organized, it's [00:25:06] also organic. Now this is gonna be the part, the first part, the organized part's gonna challenge the [00:25:11] house church people among us.
Speaker 7: The organic part's gonna challenge the pastors among us, the [00:25:16] church leaders among us, because this thing has to be decentralized. It's gotta be organic. [00:25:21] It cannot be, well, here's all 26 of your lessons over the biweekly thing, and we need you to just read this [00:25:26] script and then make sure you pray at the end.
Speaker 7: No, no, no. There is a passing on of what that [00:25:31] triad leader has to the next generation. This is why it does not often [00:25:36] work in churches because this will challenge, this is gonna challenge me. It is [00:25:41] giving away influence. We have to give away influence if we're going to see this thing [00:25:46] break outside of the four walls.
Speaker 7: So it's organized and it's organic. Next slide.[00:25:51]
Speaker 7: Focusing on passing along what that [00:25:56] leader has. So it's teaching, but it's not just a curriculum. There's seven things we want you to cover, [00:26:01] but you're gonna meet 26 times. What does that leader have that they can pass [00:26:06] along to you? I know I've done some like structured lessons in my triad, [00:26:11] but the best one that, that Catherine and I led with these three couples that we've [00:26:16] been discipling was just out of our own experience of, Hey, here's what we went through a couple years ago and [00:26:21] this is how we've seen God meet us.
Speaker 7: What does the leader have to pass onto [00:26:26] you? Next slide. To guide their disciples towards maturity in [00:26:31] Christ. The goal is maturity. This is the goal. Ephesians four, [00:26:36] Colossians one, Jesus says, I'd really love, here's what I'd love. I'd love a [00:26:41] mature bride to be presented to me. So the goal is not just converts.
Speaker 7: [00:26:46] However, do you wanna know the best way to reach new people, to have mature [00:26:51] people reaching out in their sphere of influence? This is an evangelism strategy, just not in [00:26:56] the most standard way. The goal is maturity in the next slide with the [00:27:01] expectation that they'll do the same. Um, this is not meant to [00:27:06] be a flex, but I am proud of it.
Speaker 7: So maybe it is. Uh, for the last 16 years, [00:27:11] I've always, I have discipled at least two men in my life every year. And, um, this [00:27:16] is going to be new for me. I have not once said, Hey, I only want to do this if, like, [00:27:21] you're also going to take this on. And a lot of the guys I've discipled have, [00:27:26] um, but this is me raising the bar even in my own life of saying, ah, I don't want to [00:27:31] ask this.
Speaker 7: I don't wanna put like stipulations, but honestly, I'm, I'm feeling the [00:27:36] urgency of the kingdom probably more than I ever have. I'm [00:27:41] 36. I've got, I hope 50 more like really [00:27:46] good fruitful years of ministry. That means I've got only 50 more triads that I can [00:27:51] lead. I want maximum kingdom impact in my life. And maximum [00:27:56] kingdom impact means before I sign up to, to pour into another couple of guys, [00:28:01] I wanna say, Hey, I just wanna make sure, are you, do you want to take this thing on?
Speaker 7: Will you, will you [00:28:06] do this thing next year? Will you find other faithful people to pass it on to? And it's not [00:28:11] a law. If you're not ready, that's fine. But the expectation is, guys, we really wanna see this [00:28:16] thing ripple. And I promise you, at the end of one year, you will be qualified to lead other [00:28:21] people. I'm feeling the urgency.
Speaker 7: I'm, I'm thinking about that rope [00:28:26] and I've been so consumed with this part of the rope. I wanna live this part of the rope [00:28:31] to make sure that I have maximum kingdom impact in the other 299 feet of that thing. [00:28:36] Let's do something significant in our city. [00:28:41] Let's do something significant. Let's see the city changed.[00:28:46]
Speaker 7: Why are we doing this? [00:28:51] Um, specifically why are we doing this and why are we doing it? Now? What's interesting is [00:28:56] our church just turned five, so two years ago basically right when our church had turned three, [00:29:01] it felt like we were hitting a new le level of, um, sustainability or [00:29:06] stability where it's like, okay, this thing feels like it's going to live.
Speaker 7: 'cause you never know what the church plant. [00:29:11] And, and I really felt like the Lord two years ago was like, Hey, it's time to [00:29:16] ease into the next thing. Because we were pretty laser focused on two things, two front doors, right? [00:29:21] And, uh, and so two years ago we had a, a staff offsite. There were 11 of us in the [00:29:26] room.
Speaker 7: And we said, okay, let's, I wanna try this. I want us 11. We're not gonna make a big [00:29:31] deal out of it, but I want us 11 people to pour into two people each. I want it [00:29:36] basically, we didn't know it was called triads then, but we want, or maybe we did. Um, but I want each of you [00:29:41] to lead a triad. So 33 people in that first year [00:29:46] started in the summer.
Speaker 7: And so that was two years ago. One year into, as, as the first round of [00:29:51] triads were ending, where one person was pouring into two people intentionally for one year and then asking them [00:29:56] to, to go do the same. One year into that, uh, last summer, so about 15 [00:30:01] months ago, I was, I was playing golf on my off day.
Speaker 7: Don't judge. I was [00:30:06] playing golf with, uh, a pastor in the city, Matt Massey, who's the pastor of a big, like mega [00:30:11] church in, um, Springdale Vineyard, Cincinnati. One of the biggest churches in Cincinnati, and I was [00:30:16] like, he's a good friend. I'm like, Matt, what's going on? Tell me, you know, mentor me, help me. I was like, what's [00:30:21] happening at Vineyard?
Speaker 7: And he said, we are starting, we started something last year that I [00:30:26] am so excited about. He said, we got some of our best leaders together. And I said, I want you to pour into [00:30:31] two or three other people each. I want you to meet biweekly. And then [00:30:36] after one year, I want you to ask them to do the same. [00:30:41] He described exactly what we had started at exactly the same time, [00:30:46] and we had not talked about it two or three months later.
Speaker 7: That's a, that's a [00:30:51] megachurch pastor. Two or three months later, I got an email from a guy named Jeremy Pryor and he leads a [00:30:56] group of house churches in the city and he invited me into his discipleship process and he [00:31:01] said, I'm really putting a lot more effort and energy into this. I want to run you guys through it because I [00:31:06] think it'd be useful for you, but also because I want to make sure that this is having maximum kingdom impact.[00:31:11]
Speaker 7: And I went through his thing and, and it was. Almost essentially the same thing that we had been [00:31:16] talking about. And we've borrowed some things from him and Matt and all kinds of things at the same time, [00:31:21] two different people, very influential in the city are saying, we want to, we wanna see [00:31:26] discipleship really blow up in our city.
Speaker 7: And I don't know what your industry is like, [00:31:31] but when a house church pastor and a megachurch pastor are saying the same thing, you listen. [00:31:36] And um, and I listened and I'm like, guys, something's happening in our city. [00:31:41] There is a move towards discipleship that seems to be awakening in our city. And so I don't know if they really [00:31:46] knew each other.
Speaker 7: I'm like, you guys gotta meet. And so I connected them and I see Jeremy's here, and Jeremy had Matt on his podcast. He [00:31:51] didn't have me on his podcast, which is totally fine. I'm not like heard about it or anything. But [00:31:56] Jeremy and Matt become friends and then all of a sudden there's this lunch that's happening a few months later where there's four other, five [00:32:01] other pastors at this lunch that are doing the same thing, talking about discipleship.
Speaker 7: And I'm sitting there and [00:32:06] it was almost like. It felt almost like fight club of, uh, of discipleship. Like, does anybody know [00:32:11] we're meeting here? Uh, except it was not in a basement, it was at Longhorn. And uh, [00:32:16] and I'm there and I'm like doing the math. I'm like, well, you lead that and you lead that and you do this.
Speaker 7: [00:32:21] The math of the influence at this one table for lunch is actually pretty [00:32:26] significant. We could do something in the city. And so my question is, do you want to do [00:32:31] something in your city? Do you wanna be a part of something that's multiplicative and do you wanna be a part of [00:32:36] something that Jesus started 2000 years ago?
Speaker 7: I do. [00:32:41] There is something that the church is waking up to. [00:32:46] Here's why I think this is significant, because at best, [00:32:51] this church, in these four walls, in this place, with this size of room with our parking [00:32:56] and our kids space, I think we could at best grow this thing to 1500 people. [00:33:01] And that would be a raging success in the urban church planting world.[00:33:06]
Speaker 7: We could do it. I mean, we'd have to probably add two services, a Saturday night service, at which point I will [00:33:11] quit. But we'd have to, you know, add two services and like go for extra parking and [00:33:16] really fill this room and, and we would be killing it and we would grow this thing to 1500 people, which [00:33:21] is a drop in the bucket of the city of Cincinnati.
Speaker 7: [00:33:26] And so I'm just saying, okay, I wanna see God [00:33:31] continue to use this church. I wanna see this church continue to grow. I think what we're doing here is really significant, [00:33:36] but I wanna put most of my time in something that's going to impact the city and going to [00:33:41] present each of us as mature to Jesus. Not just grow what's happening in [00:33:46] these four walls.
Speaker 7: We need a multiplication movement if we're [00:33:51] actually going to affect the city. 1500 is gonna be incredible. I mean, that would be [00:33:56] amazing. And it's still not gonna cut it. There's not gonna be [00:34:01] a, a moment where that group of people actually ripples throughout the whole city [00:34:06] without them pouring into other people.
Speaker 7: So here's where we're at. [00:34:11] 33 people at the end of year one, were in triads. A perfect score, if you will, would've [00:34:16] been 99 the next year. Well, this year we're wrapping up our second year and we have 88. [00:34:21] That's pretty good. We have people that are ready to go. They've been through a triad, they're ready to [00:34:26] lead a triad.
Speaker 7: This is the thing that we are doing. This [00:34:31] thing is working with pretty much zero fanfare, and now we're putting [00:34:36] all of our chips onto this. We want to see a disciple making [00:34:41] movement happen in our day. We're still gonna do all the other stuff that we do, but we wanna say, [00:34:46] okay, but what if we really take seriously Jesus' command to make disciples?
Speaker 7: [00:34:51] And here's the beautiful news. If this is getting you stirred up or like, man, I want that. I want the [00:34:56] catechumenate, bring it back. Come on, let's go. The good news is you don't have to talk Jesus into letting you be [00:35:01] discipled. He already wants it. He wants he He is [00:35:06] totally down for you. Aligning with what he is already doing and what he started 2000 years ago.[00:35:11]
Speaker 7: John Tyson says, discipleship is a fight for the freedom and liberation of the human [00:35:16] heart. Do you want more freedom? Do you want liberation in your heart? [00:35:21] Do you wanna plug into the system that Jesus started 2000 years ago? Then guys get discipled. [00:35:26] Join a triad. Let's make this thing happen and then pass it on to others.[00:35:31]
Speaker 7: We must get to the fourth generation, so I'm gonna be wrapping up soon, but if you wanna [00:35:36] like zone out for the next minute and scan the QR code on the pew or open up [00:35:41] the app. We're just sign we're we want to get a list. We've got the list of triad leaders. Now we want to build the [00:35:46] list of, Hey, do you want to be in this thing?
Speaker 7: Do you want to join a triad? They will likely start in [00:35:51] January, but we're building the list now. Scan the QR code on the p. Open up the app at some [00:35:56] point, fill out that form because, um, this, this is how we know and we start to [00:36:01] help you. 'cause this is gonna be partially on you, help you match. Um, who do you want to be [00:36:06] discipled with?
Speaker 7: Who do you wanna be discipled by? [00:36:11] We could actually see something significant in our city [00:36:16] and we are well positioned geographically, but also I think we're well positioned in a [00:36:21] number of ways with how many leaders and influencers we have that go to this church that [00:36:26] I think could see Ripple all throughout the city.
Speaker 7: And [00:36:31] discipleship is hard. Remember the catechumenate, [00:36:36] it's a process. And so I want to pitch you on all of this and say, come on, [00:36:41] do it. Scan the QR code and can I talk you out of this? Because if I can talk you out of [00:36:46] it, I should. It's going to take margin and effort. [00:36:51] At some points you're going to have to strenuously contend.
Speaker 7: To be a part of a triad or lead a tri. [00:36:56] And it's worth it because this is what Jesus asked us to do. [00:37:01] I'm gonna have the band come up and uh, and I want to actually read a couple more verses from [00:37:06] second Timothy. It says this, um, remember Jesus Christ? So this is eight and nine. [00:37:11] Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.
Speaker 7: This is my [00:37:16] gospel. So this is Paul saying, this is the gospel that I've preached for [00:37:21] which I am suffering, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word [00:37:26] is not chained. That's a mic drop right there. God's [00:37:31] word is not chained. But he says this at the beginning and after I've, you know, pitched you on some [00:37:36] math and some, some vision.
Speaker 7: I want to go back to the first part. [00:37:41] Remember Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus Christ, [00:37:46] we are not doing this so that we can start a movement. [00:37:51] We are not doing this just for a movement's sake. We're not doing this because this is the coolest math that works. [00:37:56] We're doing this because we remember Jesus Christ.
Speaker 7: It is all for him. The [00:38:01] math is just for the man. The movement is for the man. This is because we are madly, [00:38:06] passionately in love with Jesus, and we want to be a part [00:38:11] of answering Jesus' prayer. One of the interesting things about the [00:38:16] catechumenate is this, and this is just mind blowing, but there were a lot of things that they would withhold from you [00:38:21] until you were like baptized or like almost there.[00:38:26]
Speaker 7: Like they, they would say, look, we can't trust you with everything that we have [00:38:31] until like right till the very end because this stuff's powerful. And they would literally [00:38:36] withhold certain teachings or prayers from people because they're like, we can't let this fall into the wrong [00:38:41] hand. This thing has the ability to shift nations and change cultures, and so we're gonna, we're gonna [00:38:46] wait until you're.
Speaker 7: One of those things that was given right before you were baptized is [00:38:51] the Lord's Prayer. It was just considered way too powerful to be given to any [00:38:56] person. And so it was withheld to the very end. And, uh, if you know the Lord's Prayer, the first request in there [00:39:01] is, um, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
Speaker 7: Jesus is saying, I want you to ask my [00:39:06] Father for his kingdom to come. Let us [00:39:11] strenuously, contend to bring the answer to that prayer. Thy [00:39:16] kingdom come, thy will be done. Remember Jesus Christ, we are doing this [00:39:21] because of Jesus Christ and because of the prayer that he prayed where he said, look, I really, really want you [00:39:26] to ask for my father's kingdom to come here on Earth, and I'm serious.
Speaker 7: I'm so fixated [00:39:31] on that, that if I thought the best way to bring heaven to earth was through a polished [00:39:36] Sunday service, I would spend all of our money on fog and lights and lasers. And honestly, it's not my [00:39:41] thing, and I would do it because that, that's what we're after. If I thought the best [00:39:46] way to bring the kingdom to earth was a really well polished Sunday sermon, I would lock [00:39:51] myself in an office for 45 hours a week until it was perfect.
Speaker 7: If I thought it was through events, then we'd [00:39:56] hire a bunch of event coordinators. But I am so incredibly convinced through [00:40:01] biblical history, the Holy Spirit and scripture, that the best chance that we have to [00:40:06] start a movement is not any of those things, although they are good, but it's through a disciple [00:40:11] making process.
Speaker 7: This is our strategy to help [00:40:16] Jesus answer his prayer. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done [00:40:21] on earth as it is in heaven. So we are going to wield [00:40:26] that powerful tool right now. So I want you to stand up and the Lord's [00:40:31] Prayer is going to be on the screen. We're gonna say it and then we're gonna [00:40:36] sing it. And, uh, before we say this, I just want you to know the front is open.
Speaker 7: If there's any conviction, [00:40:41] anything stirring, sometimes it's just good. To change your posture. There's gonna be [00:40:46] prayer in all four corners. You don't have to be in a crisis to go get prayer. Let [00:40:51] God do whatever he's doing. We're gonna say it, we're gonna sing [00:40:56] it, and then we're gonna go out and live it. Say it with me, our father, [00:41:01] with me who aren't in heaven.
Speaker 7: Hallowed be thy name. [00:41:06] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is [00:41:11] in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us [00:41:16] our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. [00:41:21] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [00:41:26] For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory [00:41:31] forever and ever.
Speaker 7: Amen.
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