In the Men’s Discipleship Ministry, men come alongside one another each week to study God’s Word, working together to answer questions that challenge their thinking and their spiritual conditions. The life-change we continue to see is genuinely encouraging and the deepen relationships continue to bear fruit in each person’s lives and in our church overall.
Our purpose is to be disciples and equip disciples.
For individual disciples, prioritizing their time throughout the week to study in God’s Word and then being ready to discuss this with other men, prompted them to be disciples in their personal lives and with their own initiative.
Further, each time we meet as a Men’s Discipleship Ministry, men are selected to facilitate biblical discussions together and in their table discussions. Different men are chosen throughout the year to lead others in discussions of Scripture, further equipping those men to be disciples, and encouraging men to equip one another to be disciples.
Scripturally Rooted.
Relationally Committed.
Sacrificially Minded.
Missionally Driven.
Our men have consistently demonstrated our value of being Scripturally Rooted, as well as being Relationally Committed.
To begin the journey of coming alongside one another and sharpening one another, the Bible was the source of all our conversations. It was the anchor point for what we were learning and how we were going to apply it to our daily lives for God’s glory.
Further, there was an obvious desire from our men to come together and establish deep relational commitments to one another. Men sacrificed their time to know others and be known. They valued the fellowship that comes along with studying and examining the Scriptures with other men, and it was evident that their bonds and relational commitments were strengthened throughout the year.
Next year, we want to strengthen our value of being Sacrificially Minded, getting men to move beyond the walls of a “church” as a building and more into the “church” as a living, moving body that is far larger than one location. We will aim to intentionally serve others and build disciples in homes, with their families, and in their communities.
Life Change:
the result of being disciples and equipping disciples together
We have seen change on all levels through Men’s Discipleship. We had several men who were seeking God's truth for their lives. Some were hearing the Gospel truths of different books of the Bible for the first time, while others were pouring into the foundations of the scriptural depths of their own spiritual maturity. Several men (who have been veteran participants within the men's ministry at TGP for years) stepped up in assisting the leading and guiding of the men at all levels of their faith.
In particular, we are celebrating men like Jesse who has really stepped up since attending church with the TGP family for the past year. He has shifted from a spectator or attender to someone that has integrated very well in the pursuit of being disciples and equipping disciples. It’s not just in our Men’s groups either but in Discover TGP and the Pathway classes, sacrificing to volunteer as an Upward coach, and getting involved in Gospel Communities with his family. He has exhibited humility, a love for Christ and His Word, and a spirit of service for the glory of God. He’s a great example to us all, and to our men, of what it means to be a disciple and to equip disciples in our everyday lives.
What does engagement look like?
In the course of a year, the Men's Discipleship Ministry has had 3 separate Bible study blocks, offering 18 different times to coming together and study God's Word. This has engaged 25-35 men each week, while two different breakfast events saw 40-60 men gather together.
Our core of men who study weekly has allowed for new faces to join in and get in step quickly with our discipleship approach. Further, that core is helping men get plugged into the needs of the church — serving with Upward, on security teams, in children's ministries, ushering, or supporting media and tech on Sunday (not to mention the many other opportunities that arise and we jump to meet!). Overall, the men desire to serve with their time and skills so that they can help in building a church full of God’s family of servant missionaries and which aims to be disciples and equip disciples all around us. We are driven by the message of hope from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and are engaged to the full in spreading that message.