A Mature Disciple
At CrossPoint, we use the acronym “GRACED” to help us remember what a mature adult disciple looks like. While more could be said, we want to keep it simple and memorable.
G – Gospel Identity; our identity is not our past or accomplishments or what others say about us, but what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. God’s grace permeates everything about who we are and what we do. (Gal. 2:20)(Phil. 3:7-11)(1 Cor. 1:18-31)
R – Relationship with Christ daily through study of Scripture and Prayer (Ps. 19; Phil 4:4-7). A mature Christian regularly engages in a relationship with Jesus.
A – All – the willingness to surrender everything in one’s life to Christ daily (Luke 9:23-24) and give all the glory to God (1 Cor. 10:31)
C – Community of Christ – a mature disciple lives out the “one another” passages of Scripture with other Christians. (John 13:34-35)
E – Evangelism in all spheres of life (Matthew 5:13-16; Eph. 6:18-20; 1 Cor. 10:31)
D -Disciple maker–a mature disciple makes disciples of others who makes disciples (Matthew 28:18-20)
Strategy to Make Disciples:
1. Weekly Worship Gatherings: we gather every Sunday morning at 10:30 am as the Body of Christ to sing praises to God, hear God’s Word taught and preached, and connect with one another. Our primary preaching strategy is to preach through books of the Bible from beginning to end. While our services are mainly designed for Christians, we seek to conduct our worship gatherings in a way that unbelievers will understand. For more info about Sunday mornings, see our ministries page.
2. Prayer: our church has a weekly prayer gathering (every Tuesday at 7 am and 6pm), and every worship service and D group contains prayer. Through prayer, we are reminded that God is the king of the universe, and that we can humbly depend on Him. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing.
3. Discipleship Groups (D Groups): our D groups are groups of 3 – 20 people who meet regularly to live out the “one another” passages of Scripture. Each group studies God’s Word together, prays together, serves together, and some even eat together. Each D group meets 2x per month. They are safe places to ask hard questions and share sensitive, personal information. Each group also develops and executes an outreach project to serve Lima and our neighbors (i.e. raking leaves, serving meals). While we cannot require anyone to be a part of a D group, we highly recommend that everyone be a part of a D group. For more info on D groups, see our ministries page.
4. Community Engagement: everyone who attends is encouraged to be a vibrant part of the local community (such as coaching little league, serving at the homeless shelter, serving your neighbors). We intentionally try not to overschedule people with church activities so they can build relationships and serve their family, neighbors, friends, and co-workers.
5. A Commitment to keep a simple church calendar: life is busy, and churches can add to the hectic pace of life! Therefore, we seek to provide a simple church calendar and schedule. We hope this frees up people to enjoy Jesus more, spend more time in relationships, and be active in the community for the sake of the Gospel.