Practicing Christian Leadership, Mentor's Guide, MG11

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P R A C T I C I N G C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

Effective Christian Education Incorporating, Parenting, and Discipling

Welcome to the Mentor’s Guide for Lesson 2, Effective Christian Education: Incorporating, Parenting, and Discipling . The overall focus of this lesson deals with the responsibility of the Christian leader to bring newly converted believers into the body, and spiritually parent them for the purpose of their own edification and establishment in the faith. G. W. Icenogle makes this clear in his fine book on the biblical foundations for small group ministry: In a real sense, your goal is to help the students learn that accepting their responsibility as Christian leaders involves their commitment to walking with believers from birth to childhood to maturity. To be a Christian leader is to be a spiritual parent. Jesus designated the Twelve to be apostles. An apostle is ‘one who is sent forth.’ The etymology of the word implies ‘one who is sent from.’ Jesus first called the small group to come and follow, then to go and minister. In relationship with Jesus, this inner group of twelve grew out of discipleship into apostleship. The following and learning flowed into them being sent and ministering. Implied in the life-cycle of the faithful small group is the process of journey, growth, transformation and progression into ministry. Mission is always the fulfillment of learning. In his overwhelming bestseller The Master Plan of Evangelism , Robert Coleman described this small group movement as eight stages of discipleship: selection, association, consecration, impartation, demonstration, delegation, supervision and reproduction. Coleman asserts the overarching importance of the Twelve as a small group community in their discipleship with Jesus. ~ G. W. Icenogle. Biblical Foundations for Small Group Ministry: An Integrative Approach . (electronic version). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994. The truths within this lesson are designed to get your students thinking critically about the need to take responsibility for incorporating (i.e., bringing into the family) new believers into the Church, and once incorporated, taking responsibility for their care and feeding as newborn babes in Christ. Please notice again in the objectives that these truths are clearly stated. As usual, your responsibility as Mentor is to emphasize these concepts throughout the lesson, especially during the discussions and interaction with the students. The more you can highlight the objectives throughout the class period, the better the chances are that they will understand and grasp the magnitude of these objectives.

1 Page 47 Lesson Introduction