At the ripe young age of 27 I accepted the call to serve as the solo pastor of a struggling 26 member suburban church. It was a small church. Over the following five years the Lord blessed with many conversions to Christ and 26 baptisms. Our church grew to 60 in size with a variety of family ministries, but it was still a small church.
For a young, passionate, and driven pastor, ministry just didn't move fast enough. Our church was surrounded by larger churches with more programs and far better "bells and whistles". We would lead people to Christ, baptize them, and disciple them, only the see them move on to bigger churches. Yep, we were still a small church.
I came to learn more in that small church than any seminary class could ever provide. The one lesson that kept my wife and I on point and pressing on was the following: God's call for every pastor and ministry leader is simple - "make disciples". The promise of Jesus is: "I will build my church". So, we focused on God's call - building people.
Over the years we have watched with great joy those people who we spent time building. Some went on as active church leaders, others followed God’s call to missions and still others went on to become pastors. Church buildings come and go. Some grow big and some stay small. But, growing people for God lasts forever and makes all the difference.
“But making disciples is far more than a program.
It is the mission of our lives.
It defines us. A disciple
is a disciple maker.”
― Francis Chan, Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples
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