"When Jesus had called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick."

So far in this series we have covered:
-Engaging with people and culture
-Establishing people in Biblical foundations
-Equipping believers for minister

Today we conclude this series as we discuss - "Empowering Disciples to Make Disciples".

Jesus modelled an empowering leadership style. He was never content for the disciples to simply follow Him as spectators but was intent on empowering them to do what He had been doing. He went so far as to say that they would do even greater works after He had gone back to the Father.

“So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…”

The Biblical job description for professional ministers— apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—is to EQUIP believers to minister, then get out of their way.

“It is not enough to engage the lost. If we want to make disciples, we must ESTABLISH people in biblical foundations.“

If we want to make strong disciples, we must establish them into what Jesus has done (Jesus’ work) into how to follow Jesus (Jesus’ way) and into Godly relationships (Jesus’ community).

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"

When Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, none of them thought He meant for them to gather up all those who already followed Jesus and help them do it better. They were under no illusion that they could obey Jesus’ command without actively engaging nonbelievers. 

“Discipleship is Jesus’ last command and our first priority”.

The Great Commission is great in size, great in challenge, and great in outcome. This is the very core of God’s heart and central to our mandate as believers. 

"We are unafraid to believe for and attempt great things with God".

There are many cultures in Gods kingdom, but we believe if we concentrate on these 5, we will be a whole lot closer to becoming who we believe God wants us to be as a church.

The culture that we want to discuss today is Faith.

Faith activates miracles, salvation, the ministry gifts, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a move of God's spirit.

"We choose best over good".

We have discussed four Kingdom cultures that are important to us a church: Influence, Passion, Joy, Faith, and today we are speaking about the Kingdom culture of excellence.

Excellence is not just a cool business idea, or a modern Church concept but a Kingdom culture. It is a virtue of the Kingdom of God.

"We love what we do and who we get to do it with".

In the previous episodes we have laid a foundation of the kingdom cultures that we want to carry as a church - influence and passion. Today we are discussing the very important culture of joy. 

There is nothing more attractive or contagious than JOY!

“We are responsive, passionate, and alive to God, people, and the lost.”

Culture carries the vision that God entrusted to us in our ministries. In this second podcast episode in the Kingdom Culture series, we want to begin drilling down on 4 kingdom cultures that we desire to cultivate at Gardn Church.

The first kingdom culture we want to highlight is PASSION.

"Culture is a garden to cultivate not a battle to win".

In this episode we begin a new series of discussions called “Life-Giving Kingdom Cultures”. What we want to do in these discussions is define the Kingdom cultures that we are called to cultivate at Gardn Church. These cultures will grow you and your ministry, glorify God and build a dynamic flourishing Church.

Why is culture important? Culture carries the vision. Train tracks carry the train, and culture is the train tracks that carry what God has called us to. The vision will follow where the tracks lead.