Watermark Bible Church, Portsmouth, Virginia

This Sunday we are wrapping up our Defining a Disciple series. We’ve defined a disciple based on how Jesus called and then commissioned his disciples. So, we’ve said a disciple worships Jesus daily, is consistently being changed by Jesus, and is increasingly committed to the mission of Jesus. This week we’ll discuss how to move from a clear definition to a practical plan for being the disciple-makers we were saved to be.

The Bible tells us that we were saved for good works that God prepared for us. Chief among those good works is the disciple-making mission that we’ve been called to. It’s really the Jesus mission. This week we’ll see that a disciple is increasingly committed to the mission of Jesus, and we’ll explore some strategies to increase our commitment to his mission.

You’ve probably heard the joke never pray for patience, because then God will give you situations that will really test your patience. The truth is we all have areas in our life where we need to grow or where change needs to take place. One of the marks of a disciple is that we are consistently being changed by Jesus. This week we will study from Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy some common areas where Jesus changes all of us.

Dr. Ron Minton, a missionary to Ukraine and Bible scholar, will be leading a seminar titled, How We Got Our Bible.

As followers of Jesus, the command we are perhaps most familiar with is the great commission. We know that as we go, we are to make disciples. However, as energizing as that is, so few Christians actually make disciples. One of the reasons for that is if you ask 20 different people what makes a disciple – you will probably get 20 different answers. During our next series, Defining a Disciple, we will partner clarity with strategy so that we can all take the next step as effective disciple-makers.

We’ve all had times when we know we should do something, we even tell ourselves we’re going to do something, but for whatever reason we don’t do it. As we finish our series, In Between, we will be talking about living in between knowing and doing. We’ll discover that while that’s a dangerous place to live there is a key that takes you from one place to the other.

God is our ultimate authority, but we live with worldly leaders. Often times earthly leaders and God have entirely different world views. How do we live between God and Caesar? We’ll explore what Jesus said in Matthew’s gospel to gain a healthy perspective on this important topic.

Have you ever been promised something, but you have to wait a while for it to come? We’ve all been there. The promise of marriage, the promise of Christmas, the promise of a vacation or a new job – big promises and great anticipation for their fulfillment. As Christians we live with a promise and we await the promised land. So, how do we live in between?

Life is full of questions. We all have lots of things we’d like to ask God that we believe one day those questions will be answered. But how do we live now – between the questions and the answers? That’s what we’ll be talking about this week.

Have you ever been in one place when you were supposed to be in another? As Christians, we are called to live in the world but not of the world. Because of Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross we are free from the power of sin, and yet still not free from the presence of sin. We are called to depend wholly upon Christ and at the same time to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. On this earth, we live with this holy tension. In many ways we live life in between. In between what is already positionally true now, but still not yet practically realized.

In this next series, we will explore how to live in between. We’ll study through how to live in between sinner and saint, in between the questions and the answers, in between the promise and the promised land, in between God and Caesar, and in between knowing and doing. This practical series will serve as a guide for how to live life now, in the in between.