Welcome to the Crash Course
WEEK ONE – THE DISCIPLESHIP PATHWAY:
When someone comes to faith in Christ, the Father first draws them unto himself, and he uses us to partner with him in this divine mission. After someone is justified by Christ alone and by faith alone, all sin has been forgiven and the new person is declared righteous, covered in the blood of Jesus the Messiah.
At the moment of conversion (regeneration), the new creation begins a lifetime of becoming more and more like Jesus through the process of sanctification. We are now set apart for a holy purpose. We have new marching orders in this life. So, let’s take a brief look at what this Discipleship Pathway includes.
Scriptural Focus: What God Wants from Us
Matthew 4:19—(the Great Calling) And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Luke 9:23—(the Great Conversion) And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Spiritual Foundation: Why God Wants it from Us
Matthew 28:18-20—(the Great Commission) And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 22:36-40—(the Great Commandment) “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Specific Function: Ways for Us to Put it all into Practice
Gather: (Meeting Together)
* Worship—(John 4:23-24) But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
* Devotion—(Jeremiah 42:1) As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?
Grow: (Maturing Together)
* Small Group—(Hebrews 10:24-25) and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
* Bible Study—(2 Timothy 2:15) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
Give—Stewardship of our Lives (Supporting Together)
* Time—Everyone has 168 hours each week, how will we use those hours for God’s glory?
* Talents—Everyone who is born again has a spiritual gift, to employ for service to the Kingdom of God.
* Treasure—Everyone has the responsibility and privilege to fund God’s program in God’s way.
Go—Get outside the walls of the building to make a lasting impact in the Kingdom of God (Serving Together)
* Evangelism—Sharing the good news about the message of salvation in Jesus the promised Messiah.
* Discipleship—Investing into others with the goal of developing fully devoted followers of Jesus.
* Missions—Missional living is being on mission with God as we live our lives in the community around us.
THE STORY OF KING’S GRANT:
We started services meeting at Kingston Elementary School until the current property was purchased and buildings were constructed by those who believed that a Baptist church needed to be established in the new growing King’s Grant community. The church was founded back on October 5, 1969. The Rev. Jerry Holcomb was the first pastor of the newly incorporated church and spend 39 years investing his life and ministry into this community. We celebrated our 50th anniversary in October 2019 and expect God to continue working through us to make an impact on our community.
OUR VISION:
We exist as a community of faith to extend the love of Christ and His Kingdom in Virginia Beach and to the world.
THIS STATEMENT IS OUR WHY: Why do we do what we do? There are three steps in this visionary process.
1. It is here that we emphasize and exercise our first core value of COMMUNITY, in God’s forever family as well in the local family at King’s Grant (Hebrews 10:19-25).
2. It is here that we emphasize and exercise our second core value of FAITH. We step out in faith to do the things that Jesus calls us to do, mainly growing in faith and serving others in Jesus’ name (Acts 1:8).
3. It is here that we emphasize and exercise our third core value of LOVE. Our goal is for people to live out their faith outside of the walls of the church, making a difference in the community, schools, workplace, and marketplace. Our people are not just committed to serving others but are responding to others out of love for them, over our dutiful obedience to the biblical mandate (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
This is a Godly Goal: When a disciple is living his or her life on mission, he or she constantly asks the question, “What would Jesus do?” People may be members of the congregation, others may even be involved in a particular ministry, but sadly, many Christians never move toward living a life on mission with Jesus.
THE HOW BEHIND THE WHY: How do we carry out our core values?
It is important to understand the difference between our MISSION and our METHODS. Our mission never changes while our methods MUST constantly change to reach an ever-changing culture around us. We will not reach 21st century lost people with methods from the 1970s. Here is a key statement on this: we are married to our mission but we only date our methods.
Everything we do needs to be embraced by one of our three core values of community, faith, and love. We are not here to entertain people on a Sunday morning or even transfer information to people in Bible study classes, but we are called to be missionaries to the places where God has sent us, making an everlasting impact on those in our circles of influence.
NEVER FORGET THE WHY:
Always remember the reason we have life in Jesus, to see people stranded in and enslaved by sin find life and liberty and forgiveness in Christ.
“In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” – Luke 15:10
OUR THEOLOGICAL BELIEFS:
About the Bible — we believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, a record of God’s revelation of himself, written by men moved by the Holy Spirit, and is our only source of faith and practice.
About God — we believe in one personal God who exists eternally in three distinct persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; equal in power, authority, and glory.
About Jesus — we believe that Jesus is the virgin-born Messiah, the promised Deliverer who came to earth in human flesh, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for the sins of the world, was buried, rose from the grave, and ascended to the Father, and will one day return for his followers to forever be with him in heaven.
About the Holy Spirit — we believe in the Holy Spirit who regenerates and indwells each follower of Jesus, assures us of our salvation, guides us in all truth, glorifies Jesus, and convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
About Mankind — we believe that all people are created in the image of God, both male and female, to have fellowship with God, but were alienated from that relationship through sinful disobedience, inherited from the first couple, Adam and Eve. As a result, people are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through their own human efforts.
About Salvation — we believe that the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross, provides the only way for forgiveness of sin. God freely offers salvation to those who place their faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus as sufficient payment for their sin. As a gift from God, salvation cannot be earned through human effort.
About the Church — we believe in the universal church, the body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The members of the church consist of all true believers from all times and locations over the earth. The local church is an organized body of baptized believers, united in purpose, to bring glory to God, and to spread the message of the gospel, and to extend the love of Christ and his kingdom around the world. The local church exists for those who are not yet members of the universal church.
About Eternity — we believe in the personal, visible, and bodily return of Jesus to call home his followers, in a bodily resurrection from the dead, to forever be with the Lord, receive their rewards for faithfulness. Those without Christ will be raised in the last day for final judgment.
OUR LIFESTYLE BELIEFS:
These are the things we put into practice because of what we believe as Baptists. Beliefs don’t mean much is we don’t put them into action.
Bible — this book is God’s revelation of himself to mankind. Al that we know of God comes from what he has chosen to reveal to us. This book is living and active (Hebrew 4:12) our only source of faith and practice.
Autonomy of the Local Church — we are not a part of a hierarchical organization whereby a synod or diocese tells us what to believe, how to worship, or who will be our pastor. We are autonomous as a church yet we voluntarily cooperate with like-minded partners, guided by the Holy Spirit, to carrying out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8) and the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). Baptists operate under congregational rule guided by the Holy Spirit.
Priesthood of the Believer — each follower of Jesus has direct access to God the Father through the Son (John 14:6) and does not need an earthly mediator like a priest (1 Timothy 2:5). We confess our sins directly to God and he is faith to cleanse us (1 John 1:9).
Tithing — followers of Jesus are to support and fund God’s will and God’s work in God’s way. We don’t raise funds but expect God’s children to support the church’s operation and ministries through tithes and offerings, giving regularly (1 Corinthians 16:2) and cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7) to fund the church budget.
Immersion — the proper mode of baptism is by immersion, not sprinkling or pouring. Baptism is only for believers, so we don’t baptize infants or children who don’t understand the gospel message. The proper order of salvation is faith first, then as an act of obedience, one experiences believer’s baptism by immersion.
Sanctification — this is a fancy word for becoming more and more like Jesus over a lifetime. While we never reach perfection this side of heaven, but we are called and set apart for a purpose, to conform to the image of Jesus himself (Romans 8:29). Our sanctification is God’s will (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Testimony — as followers of Jesus, each believer has a story to tell. One is YOUR story about how Jesus has changed your life, and the other story is HIS story about what Jesus did to bring salvation to sinful and lost humanity. It is the responsibility and privilege of every believer to bear witness of how Christ has changed your life; telling this story is not only reserved for professional pastors and missionaries.
These beliefs challenge us to modify our behavior. Notice the first letter of each of this Lifestyle Beliefs… if you like this teaching, you’ll like being Baptist!
CLICK HERE to see our statement of faith and principles adopted in 2006.
YOUR JOURNEY:
When you make the commitment to follow Jesus, you begin your lifelong journey of becoming more like Jesus…
“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” Colossians 2:6-7
The progression of this journey consists of four steps (details are found HERE):
1. Reconciliation with God: “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord…”
2. Reconciliation with Others: “…having been firmly rooted and built up in him and established in your faith…”
3. Discovering your purpose in life: “…so walk in him…”
4. Living a life on mission with God: “…just as you were instructed, overflowing with gratitude.”
This goal of this Crash Course is for you to discover how God has designed you, and how you fit into what he is doing through this local congregation. Once you find it, you are ready to live your life on mission, destined to make an impact on eternity. Finding fulfillment in your spiritual life is available to those who tap into God’s calling on our lives.
YOUR NEXT STEPS:
Show up for session TWO, and bring with you…
1. Your written testimony. Consider including these points.
* What your life was like before coming to faith in Christ.
* How did you know God was drawing you toward himself?
* What did you do to begin your journey with Christ?
* What difference does it make to have Jesus in your life? (this is the most influential part).
2. Find out your personality type and your spiritual gift; basically discover how God has uniquely wired you with a gift, talent, or purpose so that you will rely upon his power (Acts 1:8) to utilize the gifts has given you.
Visit these websites to discover the REAL YOU.
kgbc.us/gift — free spiritual gift inventory; this is the PRIMARY inventory we’d like you to take this week. The others are for fun and for self-awareness. You are NOT asked to support the makers of these inventories.
Write out your observations and insights now that you have this information about yourself…
kgbc.us/mbti — free personality inventory measuring introversion/extroversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving.
Write out your observations and insights now that you have this information about yourself…
kgbc.us/test — free online Enneagram inventory. Very good information and remember, you do not have to purchase anything!
Write out your observations and insights now that you have this information about yourself…