Greetings from the Pastor’s Study. If you have been a steady reader of Tower Topics you know that we have been taking a hard look at how we 
“do church” and how we can do it better to be more effective in reaching our community with the message of the Gospel. In conjunction with this effort, we have adopted a new mission statement to help us focus our energies in meeting our goal. It reads as follows:
The First Baptist Church of Endicott exists that all people . . .
KNOW the love of God in Jesus Christ;
GROW as followers of Him;
GO share the love of God in our community and world.
The concept that we “Grow as Followers of Him” will be the topic this article. Below are the stages of a disciple and the characteristics of each.
| STAGE |
CHARACTERISTICS |
| New Believer |
With the aid of more mature believers through the process of small group ministry or 1-to-1 discipleship, you need to learn the fundamentals of the Christian faith and to discover your unique giftedness through a spiritual gifts discovery.
As many of your friends are probably not Christian, you also need to learn how to share your new faith with others.
|
| Growing Believer |
Periodically you will need to refresh your understanding of the fundamentals of the Christian faith, in addition to expanding your biblical understanding with specific life application through personal devotions and small group gatherings.
You need to be intentional about identifying and helping the younger believers grow in their understanding and application of biblical principles through 1-to-1discipleship.
You should be actively using your spiritual gifts in service.
Increasingly more of your friends are probably believers, you need to be more conscious of unbelievers/unchurched in your sphere of influence and be prepared to answer their questions that pertain to spiritual matters.
|
| Mature Believer |
Much of the what applies to the Growing Believer applies to the Mature Believer. In addition you need to be training the Growing Believers in what you have learned and applied concerning 1-to-1 discipleship, leading small groups and helping others in their
quest to become Mature Believers.
Increasingly God is using your experience and godly wisdom [due to your many years of faithful study and application of God’s word to your life] to be a source of comfort and guidance for the New Believer and the Growing Believer.
Also, by this time most of your close friends are probably believers, so you too need to be more conscious of unbelievers/unchurched in your sphere of influence and be prepared to answer their questions that pertain to spiritual matters.
|
Hopefully after reading through this brief article you can identify where you are currently and what you need to be doing as you grow as a follower of Him.
God bless you in your efforts.
Pastor Jim
