The Pursuit

Yesterday I went on an adventure with one of my fellow SWEAT Leaders. We had a special invite night in place of the Wednesday night service this week. This faithful leader made personalized posters and goodiebags for every visitor who came to service on Wednesday. Then, we made a plan to deliver them to each visitor's house Thursday morning. First house, no one was home so we left it on the porch. Second house, we heard a piano playing so we knew someone was home. As soon as we rang the doorbell, the piano player stopped playing. No footsteps. They didn't answer the door :-). That's ok...we left it on the porch. I was a little discouraged but little did I know the real pursuit was just getting started...

We were literally in the middle of nowhere in Archer looking for the third house. We had mapquest directions and a GPS that couldn't save us out of brown paper bag. We kept making u-turns on these skinny dirt roads looking for signs we couldn't even read. We stopped and enjoyed the country view...the hay, the cows and the horses. Then finally decided to call the visitor. The conversation went something like this...
"Hi, this is Sara from SWEAT youth and me and another youth leader are trying to deliver a goodie bag to your house to say thank you for visiting. Is there any chance you live in the middle of the woods. We're lost."
Her response: "Actually, yes we do live in the middle of the woods. Where are you?"
Me: "Not sure, we were on this road that turned into another road. Our directions told us to make a left on train tracks...all we know is we're lost."
Her response: "Ok, well I'm not good with directions, let me get you my mom....(pause)....Oh we have goats that have been giving us some trouble so we're selling them and the people who want to buy them are here now, can my mom call you back?"
Me: "GOATS?? Are you serious?? Yes she can call me back"

So me and the other SWEAT leader tried to go back to where we started to see if we can try to find her house again. Since we knew she was home, we wanted to make sure we delivered the treats. We were on a pursuit and we weren't going to give up. Her mom called me back a few minutes later and of course had no clue where we were. We didn't either! We finally talked to her dad that pointed us into the right direction. If anybody has ever driven with me they know I'm horrible at following verbal directions if I'm lost. I just said ok to everything he said hoping it would make sense when we saw the landmarks he mentioned. He told us at one point we would reach a gate that we would have to open and that would tell us we were really close to the house. Ok a gate, no problem. Sike. BIG PROBLEM! We reached the gate and it wasn't a "push these 3 buttons and the gate will slowly open" kind of gate. It was an old, rusty gate with a pad lock on a chain. Me and my faithful youth leader friend tried all the pushing, pulling, and yanking we could and could not get this gate open. We called the family several times, but kept getting their voicemail. So, sadly we decided to leave the posters and gifts by the gate for them to pick up. As soon as we were about to turn around, the dad called us back and directed us how to open the gate. It was crazy! There was a padlock wrapped around a chain that had a combination scroll on the bottom of the lock (like the ones you use to open old briefcases). He gave us the code, we yanked the lock, grabbed the gifts, drove through the gate, got out of the car, and locked the gate and on we went to our destination.

We found the house...and laughed with the family. What an adventure...that was well worth it. The girl who visited came with her brother and said something along the lines of...I really enjoyed the service. It was great! My brother and I are definitely coming to that retreat you guys are having in a couple of weeks. We're really excited! And that's when me and the other youth leader looked at each other and we knew...The pursuit was well worth it!

In this B1M1 campaign, you may have some difficulty in finding that "1"you are supposed to disciple. Maybe schedules conflict, maybe phone calls or texts are never returned, maybe you feel like just giving up, but something inside of you tells you this is the One. I would encourage you if you really believe God has led you to disciple this person, PURSUE them!! You may even get really close to forming a discipleship agreement and then run into an obstacle, something like a gate that you have no idea how to open! Just know, when you finally start discipling this person, you'll look back and remember- The pursuit was definitely worth it. I can't wait for that girl and her brother to come to our spring retreat and get discipled!!

JESUS IS RAW!

It's the truth! Jesus really is raw! For those who may be confused, I am not comparing Jesus to sushi! It means that Jesus is awesome!! He's just ridiculously amazing at saving people and transforming their lives. As we move deeper into our "Be One Make One" initiative, I want to simply remind you all of God's unfailing love and His REALLY good memory!

Two Sundays ago, during the 11:00 service, Pastor Robbie came up at the end of worship and invited people to come share words they felt they had from the Lord. If any of you know me well at all, at the end of worship, I am usually caught up in the Spirit and completely undone for Jesus, if you know what I mean! When Robbie made the call and cued for people to come forward, my eyes were too blurry with tears to see who walked up. As soon as I heard her voice, it hit me... Wait a minute... This voice sounds really familiar... NO WAY!! YOU?!??!?!? It was a classmate from high school that I had been praying for since Fall 1999!! Though she had been to our church, accepted Christ and got baptized, seeing her up there giving a word that edified the entire body months later reminded me that God doesn't just barely save, He saves to the uttermost! (Hebrews 7:25)

After the service ended, we started catching up in the lobby and talking about all the amazing things God had been doing in her life. Honestly, though I had faithfully prayed many years for her, I had completely forgotten about it all at that point. Thank God He is faithful to complete everything He starts in us and in the people we pray for! Disciples are followers of Jesus who never forget that!

Your Disciple-Makin' Homeboy!! ;-)

George Dumaine

Relationships

Every youth ministry has a flavor to it. A worship style, an atmosphere, a certain kind of people, and a certain message. If I had to guess the strength of SWEAT Youth Ministy, I would have to say it is the adult volunteers who have committed hours each week to mentor these amazing students. All of us are focusing on the B1M1 emphasis our church is doing. Each leader in SWEAT is discipling 1, 2 or sometimes 3 or 4 students through weekly 1-on-1's and reading through a discipleship book together. Before the service tonight, I walked up on 4 different leaders around the campus meeting with, praying with, and talking with students. It was awesome!

We really do believe: Relationships are the highway the Holy Spirit most travels on to change a heart.

Before each SWEAT service, all these amazing leaders gather to pray and find the plan for night. Tonight was cool. Many of the leaders were sharing the HIGHS and LOWS of trying to make a disciple. So good. No one said it would be easy and predictable, but there is no better journey. I am so thankful tonight for passionate followers of Jesus who are inviting others along!

Missional Communities

I have been leading a small group for over 2 years now. People come and go due to the transient nature of Gainesville, and sometimes building real, authentic, Biblical community can be tough. It wasn't really until the last two months that I really feel that everyone in my small group is now truly bonded together by a common missional pursuit.

About five months ago, a couple in my small group ended up foster parenting a newborn baby. She is absolutely beautiful and they really fell in love with her. The long story short is that she was taken away about three weeks ago due to an injury that did not happen under their care. The situation seemed completely unjust and they were left helpless to do anything about it. All the people they were consulting about the case said to give up and basically kiss your chances of getting her back goodbye... but they refused to give up.

Our small group got together and brainstormed for hours about what to do and really came up with nothing. After a fruitless effort of trying to figure out what to do, we prayed and cried out (literally) to God for Him to intercede. For two weeks and slowly but surely, hearts started to change. People who were completely against them getting the baby back started to have their hearts changed. CEOs and people who are "untouchable" because they are said to be so busy started taking personal interest in the case. Doors were opening, God was moving... the next court date is March 18th so more to come but it is looking good! This mission to get her back has opened up our hearts and passion to pursue orphan care as our small group's missional focus. Getting her back is just the beginning of this Kingdom story...

If you want to BE a disciple, you need two things: to get in a Biblical community (i.e. small groups at First Assembly) and GET ON A MISSION. Nothing brings disciples together like being on a common mission. Don't try to just "do ministry", get in touch with the mission of God (seek and save the lost, love the least, make disciples) and how He is calling YOU and your community to act that out. That might be evangelizing together, serving the least, discipling your unchurched friends, or finding something like orphan care (which is my small group's mission) to pursue.

Now don't get discouraged if your community is not on mission yet... start praying and seeking the Lord for what that mission is and let this be day 1 of that journey! There is a distinct difference between a community that meets just to meet and a community that meets because they are on a mission. I challenge you to be a part of the latter one! BE part of (or start!) a missional community!

Intentional About Discipleship

I have 3 sons, all of whom I love a lot. They are my disciples. I see this in the ways their behaviors mimic mine. I am a physically affectionate person: hugging, kissing, wrestling . . . my boys share this trait. My voice tends to get so loud in conversation that it will crowd out other conversations . . . my boys share this trait. I get very excited about Florida football and rarely miss a game . . . my four year old is able to articulately explain the play-by-play of a college football game and my two year old (whose vocabulary is limited to less that twenty words) loves to scream, with much excitement, TOUCHDOWN GATORS.

So I have noticed that I am discipling my boys all the time, whether I am aware of it or not. Whether we are sitting down to eat, driving to the store, getting ready for bed, or getting started in the morning, they are watching, listening to, and, ultimately, following my example.

This reminds me of how God instructs Israel in Deuteronomy 6 to be intentional in raising up their next generation:

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
There are two big things that stand out to me in this passage.
(1) Teaching our disciples (children) what it means to be a disciple of Jesus happens by intentionality taking advantage of everyday circumstances (v. 7 - when you sit . . . walk . . . lie down . . . rise). This is not so much about creating a designated "discipleship week" every week. Discipleship is going to happen when you eat together, drive together, work together, or play together, by remaining intentional in those moments to connect your life and your disciple's life to the realities of God and His Kingdom.
(2) Before we are disciple-makers we are disciples. This means that we must ourselves be intentional to live with the realities of God's character and Kingdom always before us (v.6 - these commands . . . shall be on your heart; v. 8 - you shall bind them . . . on your hand . . . between your eyes). A prerequisite to effectively leading someone to grow as a disciple of Jesus is that you yourself must be growing as a disciple of Jesus. You must commit to be one before you make one.

A One-on-One with Jesus

One of my favorite stories/miracles of Jesus is when he walked on water and Peter tried to follow. There is a lot to gain from this passage (Matthew 14:22-33).

Here a couple of thoughts from this passage about BEING ONE and MAKING ONE:

v.23 - Jesus went up on a mountainside to pray by himself. This should be the theme verse for the B1 part of B1M1. Go to the mountain top before you send someone else there. (There is a great chapter in Bill Hybel's Courageous Leadership on this topic)

v. 28 - "Tell me to come." - Peter

Trust. Only time can build it...and it is a MUST for making disciples. Peter had been with Jesus long enough that he knew if Jesus said come, he could.

v. 29 - "Come." - Jesus

A good disciple maker will regularly challenge their apprentice to go further than they think they can...because our God is stronger than we think He is.

vs. 31 - Immediately

I love this word. Jesus never let him sink. When he started to sink...Jesus IMMEDIATELY responded to support him. A great message as we encourage people we love to get out of their "boats" - we will be there with you when you begin to sink.

B1M1

Justice and being a disciple in secret...

I have to share this story of a someone really being a disciple in my small group. Last weekend my small group and I met up at noon and went to do some work for a widow named Ruby that lives next door to me. We helped her out in the yard, cutting some limbs, planting some flowers, remulching, fixing her AC unit, etc. We had a good time knowing we were helping out a widow and loving my (literal) neighbor.

There is one guy in my small group, however, who really stuck out to me during this whole day. He got there at 11:30am before anyone else and started working on Ruby's home. He is extremely handy and had tools and supplies with him so did a few small projects outside. He then went inside (without telling anyone) and fixed Ruby's sink, put in a new drain (with new parts - cost out of his own pocket), unclogged a few pipes, and anything else she needed. He didn't tell anyone he was doing this... in fact, after a few hours he quietly left her house and told me he had to go. The only way I found out about it was because I heard it from Ruby afterwards. He didn't charge her a dime and didn't even tell the group what he was doing. In fact, he will probably be upset I am blogging about this since it points back to him!

He is a perfect model for what is means to BE a disciple according to Matthew 6:2-4. He also is rocking out the call in James 1:27 to take care of orphans and widows. Seeking and acting out Kingdom justice doesn't have to be thousands of miles away. The opportunity could literally be waiting for you right next door.

-P. Matt