The Equipping Ministry, Student Workbook, SW15

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T H E E Q U I P P I N G M I N I S T R Y

The Ministry of Teaching Didache (Part 1)

Welcome in the strong name of Jesus Christ! After your reading, study, discussion, and application of the materials in this lesson, you will be able to:

Lesson Objectives

• Define the various terms given for teacher , teaching , and to teach in the NT.

• Outline the teaching ministry according to the various models offered of it in the NT, including the model of the teacher as a scribe of the Kingdom (one who teaches or instructs in the revelation of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom), the teacher as a master builder (one who builds on the teaching of Jesus, the apostles and prophets to make their meaning clear for others to teach others), the teacher as a master craftsman (one who equips apprentices who will be able to train others also), and the teacher as seer (in modern terms, a color commentator on the game of the Lord, one explaining the working of God in the world, and our response to it). • Lay out some of the major distinctives of the teaching ministry, including its focus on building up disciples in Jesus Christ to maturity, and fulfilling the teaching clause of the Great Commission, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, and to protect growing disciples from the threat of heresy, schism, dead orthodoxy, and spiritual immaturity. • Explain some of the major features of the teaching ministry in Jesus’ clear and compelling teaching of the Kingdom of God, and the apostles’ focus on the teaching ministry in the Messianic community, the Church, and thus how teaching played a critical role in credentialing and empowering leaders, defending the apostolic faith, and offering an apology for the Christian hope. • Highlight some of the central difficulties associated with the teaching ministry, including the tendency to follow modern trends rather than the historic Christian faith, over-dependence on highly analytical and technical approaches to biblical truth, undue focus on methods and gimmicks rather than the heart of the Christian message, and the tendency to substitute academic performance rather than dependence on the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

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