This semester we’ll put together a “tackle box” for changing the culture in our church, and change our world! Our goal is to significantly shift our thinking about evangelism and discipleship.
Just as with fishing, there are many approaches to discipleship – some new, some old – but the practice is as old as humans. Right now, we’re inclined to turn our current tackle box upside down and rebuild it from scratch. But don’t worry, we aren’t interested in reinventing the wheel… however, we do want to make sure we’ve got the right hooks, lures, and rods for the type of fish that are in our ponds.
Each week, we’ll post short devotions for you learn valuable information. Those devotions will help frame our discussions for the upcoming Group gathering.
Go Fish – Week 7 – Day 2
Day 2: The Good Samaritan The scripture is full of references towards neighbors. You should take some time to pull out an old fashion concordance or do a key-word search on your Bible app for all the instances of “neighbor.” The Bible has over 100 references to...
Go Fish – Week 7 – Day 1
Day 1: Who Is My Neighbor? If you think back a couple weeks to Day 1 of “Be the Lure; intentionally living a life worth reproducing,” we talked about our life in terms of the places we go: our work, our neighborhood, the gym, school, church, wherever your life...
Go Fish – Week 6 – Day 5
Overview Every teacher was once a student. Every coach was once a player. Every CEO was once an employee. Ever leader was once a follower. When we talk about discipleship, we are not merely teaching someone to fish, so they can be self-sustaining. We have a...
Go Fish – Week 6 – Day 4
Day 4: Follow to Lead Although we are familiar with Jesus’ call to Peter, “Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men,” most of his calls to people were merely, “follow me,” or “sin no more.” We understand and see the “fisher of men” reference, but perhaps...
Go Fish – Week 6 – Day 3
Day 3: Begin at Birth I have the fondest memories of fishing as a young child. We’d go the end of the channel, connected to the lake and we’d throw our lines into the water and hope a sunfish would bite. Our grandfather taught us how to fish. Funny thing is we...
Go Fish – Week 6 – Day 2
Day 2: The Fruit of Jesus and the Fruit of Our Labor. The fruit of Jesus is the church, the people who are filled with His Spirit and baptized in His name. But His fruit is also reflected in them through the fruit of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit. It’s...
Go Fish – Week 6 – Day 1
Day 1: Did Jesus Learn How to Fish? We all know the famous quote, “if you give a man a fish he will eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish he will eat for a lifetime.” Well, the intention of this devotional series extends the parable... “if you teach a...
Go Fish – Week 5 – Day 4
Day 4: Now for the Numbers Kentwood has a population of approximately 50,000 people, and Grand Rapids has a population of roughly 190,000 people. The greater Grand Rapids area has a population of just over 1,000,000 people. Our church has roughly 200 members....
Go Fish – Week 5 – Day 3
Day 3: Evangelism vs. Disciple Making Remember the question from earlier in our devotionals, “Are you a Christian?,” “Are you a disciple?” Well, let’s ask another, “Are you an evangelist?” Evangelism We consider evangelism to be the work of soul winning. We...
Go Fish – Week 5 – Day 2
Day 2: Soul Winning vs. Disciple Making “Many people think soul-winning is the effort that brings people to the obedience of the gospel, and disciple making is the aspect that establishes them in the church.” – Stand Gleason, Follow to Lead Soul Winning In our very...