Pastor Bob Fox
Hebrews 10:19-25

God has called us up to much more than we have already experienced with Him. The next steps for all of us are the same ones millions have taken before us.

1. Draw near—dare to approach God as a friend even when the gap between you seems like a chasm!
2. Hope—recall often His plan and promise to return. Imagine it and let it center you.
3. Join—travel with others on the path, and push one another’s faith forward.

Listen to Bob.

Pastor Bob Fox
Matthew 28:18-19

Core Value #5—I will be all in when it comes to making disciples among all the world’s people.

Our Great Transformation begins when we realize that Jesus has authority over everything. Everything then takes on a different value.

Transformation Spreads to Others as we do three things.

1. Going—because they will not come to us. You participate by outward focus in relationships, in prayer, and through finance.
2. Baptizing—bringing people to the point of belief. You participate through loving acts combined with making truth known.
3. Teaching—leading people into the full experience of salvation. You participate through relationships that define, model, and build in truth.

For every disciple made there is a relational venture, an ongoing display of love, a massive prayer investment, many truth encounters, and a financial price tag. That is why all believers must fully participate all the time.

Listen to Bob.

Understanding the Stages of Growth in Core Value #5

Level 1 – The entry level, those who have taken the first steps in the faith.

• Their knowledge of the mission is very limited.
• They have a “local focus” with respect to Christianity.
• They lack a realistic view of their ministry potential.
• They may show great zeal to convert others, but proper motives for ministry may be lacking along with basic ministry skills.

Level 2 – They begin to develop capacity to do God’s work.

• They begin to understand the roll of credibility and begin to work at building it.
• They begin to point others toward the truth.
• They learn how to lead others to faith in Christ, and begin to share their faith with others.
• They begin to pray in small ways for the mission.

Level 3 – Their mindset is increasingly on impacting others.

• They begin to disciple others.
• They pray for the spiritual progress of others, even many they do not know.
• They pray for the ministries of others.
• They develop more of a global consciousness.
• They begin to involve themselves in global missions.

Level 4 – They have become mission-minded.

• They lay aside personal likes and dislikes for the sake of the mission.
• They are adept at discipling and helping others grow in the faith.
• They conduct their personal lives so as to maximize their own efforts and the efforts of others to make disciples.
• They have made disciples who are making disciples.

Pastor Bob Fox
John 13:34-35

Core Value #4—God is calling me to a life lived for the well being of His family, both those who are and those who have yet to be adopted.

The Simple facts of Love in the Church

1. Love is a command not an option, foreign to us, not natural. We must pursue it, inspect it, and refine it.
2. We have a standard of love—Christ and His absolute death to self.
3. Love gives credibility to the family, which results in more adoptions, and more maturity stories.

Practical Challenges of Love in the Church (3 of a myriad!)

1. We embrace it, yet it is incomplete in us. So we will look and feel bad at times.
2. By God’s design we show love in diverse ways. Some things feel more like love than others.
3. We must both structure our love and be spontaneous with it.

Listen to Bob.

Understanding the Stages of Growth in Core Value #4

Level 1—The entry level, those who have taken the first steps in the faith.

• They have no special relationships with other believers.
• They attend Church, but somewhat randomly.
• They do not help promote the welfare of other believers beyond showing a normal human concern.
• They are easily offended and react sharply to the imperfections of other Christians.

Level 2—They begin to develop relationships with other Christians.

• They begin to understand the extent to which fellowship promotes spiritual health.
• They can identify what they think their spiritual gift is.
• They begin to get involved in serving and helping roles in their Church.
• They begin to develop a regular pattern of church attendance.
• They are primarily care receivers rather than care givers in the spiritual growth process.
• They are learning to endure the imperfections of other believers.

Level 3—Where they become care givers in their Church.

• They have supportive friendships, relationships intentionally carried on that encourage spiritual growth.
• Others identify them as care givers. They take personal responsibility for the welfare of others.
• They rarely miss Church.
• They begin to move from helping roles into roles that involve spiritual leadership.
• They have learned to forgive the faults of others and to be peacemakers when a problem arises.

Level 4—Where their commitments allow them to impact profoundly the lives of others.

• They impact the spiritual climate of their Church.
• They are well seasoned in the use of their spiritual gifts.
• They are able to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate needs.
• They minister wisely in delicate situations, providing loving comfort or loving rebuke.
• They have learned to speak the truth in love.

Pastor Bob Fox
Luke 14:27-33

God is challenging me to sacrifice often and repeatedly in order to help bring about salvation in others.

My decision . . .

1. It is about an ending I want for my life—to have fulfilled His will for me in behalf of His family.
2. It usually involves a definitive moment.
3. It is that those things gained from Christ are the things of ultimate value.
4. It is a decision to persevere with and for Him.
5. It will involve a cost I will continually feel to gain what I only partially feel.
6. It is made with no conditions or disclaimers.

The salvation of others depends on many who willingly sacrifice:

1. Their basic personal rights to give greater credibility to the truth.
2. Their material things to establish and maintain a voice for truth.
3. Their time to do the tasks required for effective ministry.

The reality of our sacrifice is that it will not prove to be sacrificial. When God is done, we will have gained the things that really matter (Is 40:10; Jer 17:10; Luke 6:35-38; Eph 6:7-8; Heb 11:26; 1 Jn 8; Rev 22:12).

Listen to Bob.

Understanding the Stages of Growth in Core Value #3

Level 1—The entry level, those who have taken the first steps in the faith.

• They sacrifice only in the sense of the normal use of that term.
• They believe in Christ, but the still manage their relationships in a reactionary way.
• The see material things as material things, separate from any spiritual convictions.
• Their own desires dictate what they do for pleasure.

Level 2—Where they begin to develop personal interest with regard to the cause of Christ.

• They experience the birth of eternal priorities, the awareness that the cause of Christ is greater than their own agenda.
• They begin to open up areas which they thought of as their “private lives” to the test of truth.
• They begin to give financially, and begin to sacrifice some pleasurable experiences.
• They make relational sacrifices for the sake of their new priorities.
• They experience for the first time the pleasurable feeling that can accompany obedience.

Level 3—Where they develop the value of habitual sacrifice for the cause of Christ.

• They give financially in a disciplined and patterned way.
• They sacrifice time by committing to a regular pattern of service in the Church.
• They often refuse to enforce their rights if a greater objective might be gained.
• They will set aside certain pleasures to help lend overall credibility to the faith.

Level 4—Where they develop the unwavering practice of habitual sacrifice.

• Eternal priorities determine all their life pursuits.
• They view sacrificial giving as gain and give beyond the routines they learned earlier.
• They willingly serve at great physical and emotional cost.
• They view relationships as the essence of the cause, and sacrifice personal rights to promote them as a shrewd and mandatory investment.
• Being in the will of God is everything.