Making Disciples Through Home Assemblies

Dwight, Patrice Gillespie

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781638744382
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Education

Statistics on church growth reveal some startling facts:

Overall church attendance in America is declining.

The number of those who claim they are done with churches is growing.

Those who list "none" as religious affiliation are increasing.

After COVID-19, some are reluctant to return to church services in buildings.

What if you had a way to make disciples for Jesus in your neighborhood? Is there a way to reach those who have left the churches or who will not go back to a church building? Yes. Making Disciples Through Home Assemblies can show you how.

The book is based on the biblical patterns of the first-century disciples who were highly effective in disciple-making in obedience to Jesus' command to make disciples and be His witnesses (Matthew 28: 18–20 and Acts 1: 8). Studying Acts and other New Testament verses, the authors show that those disciples believed that making disciples and growing the Kingdom of God was the number one priority. The authors also show that individuals met in homes in the absence of church buildings and that any believer can become a disciple-maker for Jesus.

Making Disciples Through Home Assemblies contains biblical rationale for home assemblies, material that can be used for training yourself and others to lead a home assembly, and the biblically based study guide for your home assembly meetings is included. The material in this book has been extensively tested for over two years with audiences of diverse ages, and many individuals have been successful in creating their own home assemblies and making disciples for Jesus across the United States. Now you too can start a home assembly and teach others how to become disciples for Jesus.

Chapter 1

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20, Acts 1:8)

The Great Commission was Jesus’ primary purpose of His command to His disciples. Our purpose in this book is to reinforce Jesus’ teaching and provide material to host and facilitate home assemblies. A discussion of the Great Commission will explain the importance of following Jesus’ command to make disciples and train disciple-makers.

A key to being an excellent home assembly is obedience to the Great Commission, one of the most explicit teachings of Jesus as is found in Matthew 28:18–20. This command of Jesus was given just before His ascension (and His call to be witnesses in Acts 1:8). He explained and commissioned His disciples to carry out His purpose. Thus, this commission becomes the mission, purpose, and expectation of Jesus’ disciples. That is why the purpose of this commission must be the heart and purpose of every home assembly. Though the Bible does not specifically use the word commission, it is not inappropriate. A commission is an authorization or command to perform some duty or action as an agent working on behalf of another. Even in the home assembly, we honor Jesus as the Head and His purpose as the central driving force for giving the assembly meaning and purpose.

The Great Commission contains two critical actions—the imperative to go and the implied movement of do:

• Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world or to the nations. The word translated world in this verse is the Greek term ethne from the root ethnos. We get the English word ethnic from this, suggesting God’s people are to make disciples of all persons in all nations on earth. We are to go to them, not sit and wait for them to come to us. Disciple-making is an action to be shared by all disciples.
• We are to do Jesus’ purpose of making disciples. Jesus called His disciples to make sure the redemption message through Jesus Christ is spread through our community.

When Jesus gave His disciples the command to be witnesses (see Acts 1:8), He instructed them to witness for Him beginning in Jerusalem, into Judea, into Samaria, and throughout the world. Not all the disciples left Jerusalem even after Stephen’s death in Acts 7 when the diaspora of disciples occurred. Beginning in Jerusalem suggests the disciples were to work in their own neighborhoods and community to witness Christ. We do not accept a modern argument that Jesus only commanded His apostles to be witnesses. While the initial instruction of Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:18–20 was given to His apostles, the apostles, in turn, taught the other disciples how to be witnesses as evident in a study of verses such as Acts 8:4 and Acts 11:19–21. In a later chapter, we will outline several examples of ordinary disciples who became witnesses for Jesus, obedient to His command to go and to do the task of making disciples.

Paul is an example of one who was willing to go and do. As documented in Luke’s history of Acts of the Apostles, it has been estimated throughout his three (3) missionary journeys and a trip to Rome, Paul may have traveled over ten thousand miles in his work of preaching the message of Jesus and establishing and strengthening churches. Paul gives an insight into how he viewed his role, and that of his associates, as servants of Christ. In his second Letter to the disciples at Corinth, Paul writes that we are “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). An ambassador is one who is an official representative of the country to another nation, delivering the official message of the king of the government he represents. In Greek, the term translated ambassador means to act as a diplomat or a trusted and respected emissary authorized to speak on behalf of his nation’s ruler. In Philippians 3:20, Paul declares his citizenship is in heaven, meaning that the kingdom he represents is the Kingdom of God. Paul was called by Jesus to speak on His behalf before “the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Paul’s message was a message of reconciliation between God and mankind (2 Corinthians 5:19). Reconciliation (restoring people back to God) is the message of making disciples for Jesus.

Being an ambassador for Christ is an apt description for today’s disciples. We represent Jesus wherever we go. We also carry a message of reconciliation that God wants to forgive sin and restore people back to Him. We have positive news we can share with those who live around us. We may never go throughout the world, but we can be ambassadors of Christ and His kingdom in our neighborhoods and community.

The purpose and mission of Jesus

We have seen many churches who spent thousands of dollars paying consultants to create pithy mission statements for their congregation. Some of these make little sense. We saw one that read, “We are the Church in Motion.” What did that mean, and how did that describe the purpose and mission of that congregation? We saw another church reader board that advertised, “We have Way-Cool Worship.” We are not sure what that is, but it does not tell anyone what your congregation’s mission or purpose is. In the New Testament, Jesus issued His purpose and mission statement for His disciples to obey.

The Gospel writers included more than one commission statement made by Jesus to His disciples. The most concise of these commands is what we call the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18–20. The Great Commission is not only Jesus’ command to His body but His expectation. Verse 18 shows the authority by which Jesus could issue this command for His disciples, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.’” The term authority refers to someone who has earned the right to exercise power. Jesus earned the right to have power and authority over all things about His church. Paul writes in Colossians 1:15–20 how Jesus came to have this authority. Jesus holds all authority over His disciples because

• He is the creator, the very image of God (verses 15–16): “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Paul writes here that all things have been created for Him, that is for His glory, for His use, and His purpose. So one reason Jesus holds all authority is that He is Creator.
• Jesus holds all authority because of His power (verse 17): “He is, before all things, and in Him, all things hold together.” Jesus is the glue that holds His body together; even more so, He is the force that holds His creation together. None of us has that kind of power. His eternal power gives His authority over all things. Jesus holds all authority over His church because God has given Him that authority: “He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead so that He will come to have first place in everything.” Paul writes something similar in Ephesians 1:22: “And He [i.e., God] put all things in subjection under His [Jesus’] feet and made Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
• In other words, Jesus is the only one who can have authority over His body. He is the King of His kingdom, which includes His church. God gave Him the right to have this authority. Since Jesus is God, what Jesus commands is what God commands. Look at the last part of verse 19: “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.” Jesus is God and holds the same power and authority as God does.

Finally, Jesus has the right to hold all authority because He died for His church (verses 19–20): “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” We should not refer to the church in any other way than to say it is Jesus’ church. Often, church leaders have claimed to be elder-led congregations or pastor led. It is not an elder-led church or preacher led or any other led because you did not die for it—Jesus did.

In Matthew 28:18, what Jesus is saying to His disciples is that He alone earned the right to have total authority over all things about His body. He also has earned the right to establish His purpose and expectations for what His church (His disciples) are to do. Jesus’ right to hold all authority over His body, by the fact that He is the Head of His body and He is the Lord over His church, makes the next two verses Jesus’ command His disciples are to do. This becomes the Great Commission, not the Great Suggestion for His disciples. The word commission is a command to perform some purpose or task on behalf of someone else. Matthew 28:19 is the purpose statement Jesus gave His disciples: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Mark 16:15 (NASB) puts this simply, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

Notice that one of the first words in Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:15 is the word go! Jesus told His disciples they are to go on His behalf and by His authority to make disciples of all people. We are to make disciples; we are to teach people how to live as disciples of Jesus and become disciple-makers themselves. This is the implication of Matthew 28:20, “Teaching them to follow all that I commanded you, and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” There is a promise in the last part of verse 20 that He (or the Holy Spirit) will be with us as we make disciples. When we talk about the Great Commission, we should think we are part of a Great Co-Mission as if we are on a co-mission with Jesus to make disciples for him. Often in today’s church, it is common to sit inside a building or build a structure and wait for people to come to us. Our effectiveness in fulfilling Jesus’ commission and purpose statement is diminished because we are not obedient to His word. He told His disciples to go, not sit and wait for people to come to you.

Another pertinent commission verse is Acts 1:8. Shortly before His ascension, Jesus again reminded His disciples He had a purpose or mission for them. Acts 1:8 is not only a command but also a plan for Jesus’ disciples. Jesus told His disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” The command in this verse is that you will “be MY WITNESSES.” A witness is one who has personal or direct knowledge of something they know to be true. The testimony of a witness is based on truth. The disciples of Jesus knew the truth about Him and what He taught and were willing to testify to others what they were able to see and understand (Acts 4:19–20). They also introduced this truth of Jesus to other disciples so they could be witnesses to others. Today’s disciples can likewise be witnesses of Jesus willing to share testimony about Jesus found in the Word of God, which is an eyewitness record of what Jesus began to do and teach (Luke 1:1–4, Acts 1:1–3). Today’s ...