Disciple Making in a Healthy Church
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
Submitted to Dr. Rodney Dempsey
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500 – D01
Discipleship Ministries
by
Kimberly C. Robinson
November 20, 2022
DSMN 500
Contents
Disciple Making – Local Church and Christian Community...................................................................3
Overview of the Body of Christ – Local Church Model..........................................................................4
Healthy Church Assessment – Strengths and Weaknesses.......................................................................5
Role in Disciple Making – Pastor............................................................................................................6
Role in Disciple Making – Saints............................................................................................................6
Role in Disciple Making – Spiritual Gifts...............................................................................................7
Bibliography............................................................................................................................................8
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Disciple Making – Local Church and Christian Community
Dr. Jay Sulfridge said, “Christians are called out of the world and are called to a
Savior who calls them to a mission. The church is a fulfillment of the kingdom, and the kingdom
is a fulfillment of the mission of God, and the mission of God springs from his nature and love.”1
As the global church executes the mission God has given, it becomes the ambassador on earth
for this heavenly mission. Christ nourishes and cherishes the church collective as the individuals
within the global church learn and assume their role and the Gospel message is spread
throughout the world.2
Some common traits for disciple-making in the local church which will impact the
Christian community are new member’s orientation which establish expectations of members,
invite members to attend group Bible studies, teach critical doctrines of the church, encourage
members to attend local worship experiences on a consistent basis, motivate members to join a
ministry and become engaged participants, and encourage individual reading and studying of the
Bible for personal relationship development.3
Not only does God expect individuals of a local church to develop into disciples but also
that the church then goes to make other disciples. Matthew 28:19-20 reminds us that we are to
“Go therefore and make disciples of nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And
behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The church has a responsibility to go and
1 Ralph Cone, Jr. “Local Church: The Biblical Model For Church Growth.” Grace Gospel Press, 2016.
2 Ibid.
3 “Six Keys to Disciple-Making in the Local Church.” Research.lifeway.com, 2014.
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make more disciples who will also go and repeat the process for the growth of the kingdom.
Being faithful to both parts of this process, making disciples within the body and then making
disciples in the community to be added to the body, is the heart of discipleship.4
Overview of the Body of Christ – Local Church Model
Discipleship should be modeled after Jesus. He is the head of the church. The chief
purpose of the church is to bring glory to Jesus Christ. God created a plan by which the church
would be able to exemplify this model: giving, equipping, serving, and building up the body of
Christ. This building campaign is to continue until the universal church attains unity of the faith
and knowledge of the Son of God. (Eph 4:13)
Christ gave his life for the benefit of the church. Before he ascended to the Father, he
gave gifts to the church who are responsible to equip the body so that each will mature in the
Word of God and in their relationship with Christ. The goal being to present a mature/perfected
church to Christ when he returns for his church.
After the church is taught and equipped, it should serve the community in which it resides
as well as one another. They are taught to do this because they love God and other believers. As
they grow in this love for God and other believers, they will grow to love their communities and
desire for none to be lost.
Healthy Church Assessment – Strengths and Weaknesses
It seemed appropriate to speak to the pastor of my church about my perception of the
church since the visionary of the ministry would have insight to which I might not be privy. The
4 J. T. English. “Discipleship: A Local Church Responsibility.” Arvada, CO: Phoenix Seminary, 2021.
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pastor agreed with the overall spiritual assessment of the church. As I looked at the results of my
assessment of the ministry for our focus upward toward God, the strengths of the ministry are
that the whole counsel of God is being taught in a simplified but responsible manner, and the
believers in the ministry are constantly reminded that God desires for the church to grow in love
for one another and unity. To help remind us, our church motto is “We do life together.” This is a
new pastor whose focus has also been to look inward and develop servant leaders in every
gathering. Prior to the installation of Dr. Fuller, the previous pastor had been a major participant
in the breakup and breakdown of the ministry. Many cliques formed and families were broken
apart. Pastor Fuller lives and teaches grace and forgiveness. One of the first ministries which
developed was intercessory prayer and includes prayer for the harvest to come and the laborers
who will be committed to this outward focus and bring in the harvest.
The weaknesses I observed as we look up toward God are that the members are somewhat
apathetic individually when it comes to worship privately and when we are all together. We are
not fully active in relational groups that minister to each other as we focus inwardly. As the
church looks outward toward the community, we have not been intentional in occupying any
areas of the city for ministry nor does it seem that if our church no longer existed in the
community that we would be particularly missed. There are the same churches which have been
there for the past 36 years that I have been in Mechanicsville, and there has not been any
emerging churches as a response to any mission work that we have done.
Role in Disciple Making – Pastor
The overall health of any church or ministry depends primarily on the emotional and
spiritual health of its leadership. In fact, the key to successful spiritual leadership has much more
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to do with the leader’s internal life than with the leader’s expertise, gifts, or experience.”5 Bill
Hull asserts that unless those leaders who are able to lead the church to renewal come forth, the
church will not be a position to change for the better. Unfortunately, this puts an even heavier
burden on pastors. Somehow the fulfillment of the Great Commission has been mistakenly
incorporated into programs and membership growth campaigns. This is not how Christ setup the
church. The laborers are to be out among the harvest demonstrating the love of God and
intentionally making disciples in every nation. The relevancy of Christ’s command has not been
dismissed by him. It is being disregarded by the church.6
Role in Disciple Making – Saints
Peter Hubbs states that, “Who you are (essence) defines what you do and how you live
(existence).” From our Creator, we are made in his image. He defined our essence. We are
created beings in covenantal relationship with the Creator.7 “You are on this earth to continue the
mission that Jesus left for you: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’”8
5 Peter Scazzero, Warren Bird, and Leighton Ford, The Emotionally Healthy Church: A Strategy for
Discipleship That Actually Changes Lives - The Expanded Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013).
6 Hull, Bill. The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others On The Journey of Faith. Grand Rapids, MI:
Baker Books, 2007: 9-10.
7 Pierce Taylor Hibbs. "A House Built Upon the Rock: Finding Our Identity in Christ." The Journal of
Biblical Counseling 28: 53-58.
8 Francis Chan and Mark Beuving. Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples. Colorado Springs, CO: David C
Cook, 2012.
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Role in Disciple Making – Spiritual Gifts
The five gifts Christ left to the church – apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and
teachers – have the incredible responsibility to be intentional and authentic as they work to equip
the believers to go forth and make other disciples, encourage others in the ministry, ensure that
no believer or potential believer is left behind, and to encourage and empower these disciples to
continue the work God has begun in them. If the spiritual health of the church is going to
improve, these spiritual leaders must know how to clearly articulate God’s plan and will in their
lives which must include getting to know Christ, growing in Christ, and going for Christ on the
glorious mission to save the lost in every nation, every tongue.
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Bibliography
Chan, Francis, and Mark Beuving. Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples. Colorado Springs, CO:
David C Cook, 2012.
Cone, Jr., Ralph. “Local Church: The Biblical Model For Church Growth.” Grace Gospel Press,
2016.
English, J.T. “Discipleship: A Local Church Responsibility.” (Arvada, CO: Phoenix Seminary,
2021).
Hibbs, Pierce Taylor. "A House Built Upon the Rock: Finding Our Identity in Christ." The
Journal of Biblical Counseling 28.
Hull, Bill. The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others On The Journey of Faith. Grand Rapids,
MI: Baker Books, 2007.
Scazzero, Peter, Warren Bird, and Leighton Ford. The Emotionally Healthy Church: A Strategy
for Discipleship That Actually Changes Lives - The Expanded Edition. Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 2013.
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