Perhaps you heard the report from PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment. This assessment looks at 15-year-olds. China increased their score by 21 points. The United States score dropped by 15 points. The testing period is every five years. So, over the course of the last five years, China increased their score by 21 points, and America’s score declined by 15 points.
Now, I am not writing to debate whether this test is a valid tool or measurement. I am not writing to suggest that America needs to follow a Chinese formula of education, government, or anything else. My purpose is sharing this news is to cause you and me to ask the question, “Are we preparing disciples to be sent?”
The sending of a disciple requires preparation. Every young person who comes to our church, every adult who is part of our church is someone the Lord is sending into the world with the commission to make disciples. How can you make something if you have not been trained yourself? Disciples are made when a person is first evangelized. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” (Matt. 28:19). Baptism is the signal that a person has professed faith in Christ and is being affirmed by a church that their profession is sincere.
The next part of the Great Commission states, “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;” (Matt. 28:20). We have a responsibility to prepare them in all that Jesus has commanded. This includes knowledge of the Old and New Testament, moral formation by law of God, ethical commitment to the words of God and the life of Christ and behaving in accordance with the will of God and the Word of God.
We are responsible to prepare a disciple in what they should know, be, and do. This can happen over a period of time without much intentionality, or it can happen through intentional attention, prayer, and ministry. It is the desire of Capitol Hill Baptist Church to prepare disciples intentionally. The primary strategy for CHBC is:
- Corporate Worship Gatherings which emphasize scripture, prayer, sacred music, the ordinances, attention to confession of sin, scripture memorization, and global missions.
- Sunday School classes for all ages. Bible study that is appropriate to every age level beginning with babies all the way through the end of life, where application of the Bible can be made through committed and prepared teachers.
- Wednesday Night programs for all ages. There are qualified, loving, and committed nursery care workers for children under two years of age. AWANA begins with those over two years of age and trains children in the Word of God until they have completed 6th Our student ministry is equipping students from 7th grade to 12th grade. Our adult Bible study is focused on equipping believers in essential doctrines of the faith in a relational and discussion-based setting.
- Weekday Bible studies focused on college students, young adults, men, and women. Discipleship takes place throughout the week at a variety of times through these special focus Bible studies. It is in these environments where much of the life-on-life discipleship takes place.
- Discipleship is not all learning. Service projects at the church, serving with local ministries, outreach opportunities throughout the year, mission trips, and church wide fellowships are all part of the way the church is intentionally training disciples.
We know that God saves people to send disciples. To send a disciple requires preparation. We are working to be a disciple-preparing church.
