Daily Devotions - Entries tagged "Mark 4"

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world. 

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade” (Mark 4:26-32, ESV).

The prevailing image throughout most of Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God is growth. Just as a tiny mustard seed is transformed into an enormous tree, we come from insignificant beginnings but God is constantly at work, bringing forth amazing results in those who have placed their trust in him.

From the first faltering attempts of a few disciples in Jerusalem God has brought forth a movement that has changed the world. Having talked about what a disciple is, we now turn to the important question of how we make disciples who then make other disciples. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the details of this process, but to keep things simple, we’ve broken this down into three key parts: Love, Lead, Launch.

God calls us first and foremost to Love Himself and to love others. It’s a dual command that governs everything we do. Secondly we are to Lead people to Jesus, helping them take that next step forward in their faith journey. Finally, we are to be a multiplying people, Launching others to replicate their discipleship experience in the lives of others. Throughout this week we’ll explore each of these areas in more detail.