Mere Missions

T he C hurch : E quip • 159

Equipping After Jesus identified the twelve disciples (not converts), he designates them as apostles (Mark 3.14) and begins a three-year apprenticeship program to equip them as apostles. After His resurrection, He speaks to the Apostles for forty days (Acts 1.2) about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1.3). This would complete their apprenticeship as apostles, “sent ones.” Jesus equipped his apprentices for missions. The goal of apprenticeship is to hone – refine, grind, sharpen, file - the disciple, who has the same gift as the one apprenticing, to bring their gift to maturity, in order to represent the Kingdom of God in excellence and confidence for building up of the Body of Christ whether in ministry or missions. We must apprentice them in fanning into flame the vision and the gift that the Holy Spirit has given them (1 Cor. 12.4). So, what are some practical principles and marks to apprentice someone towards confidence and excellence in the gift given them by the Holy Spirit? The thoughts that I share are from a resource from The Urban Ministry Institute: Becoming Like Your Teacher: Developing Effective Church Planting Apprenticeships . There is a wealth of biblical, theological, and practical insights from this resource. For the purposes of this booklet, I’m going to pull out the “four non negotiable principles” that will strengthen the “six clear marks/ targets” so that in partnership with the Holy Spirit, leadership can commission, that is, “to set apart” (Acts 13.2), the individual who has completed their apprenticeship. Equipping in a wise supervised apprenticeship program is an effective means to multiply spiritual laborers for the harvest, and to equip servant-leaders for effective ministry through and for the church. The following four principles are essential for a well-designed apprentice program. Though each has equal