[0:01]
G'day, I'm Scott Sanders and welcome to the Reach Australia podcast. The vision of Reach Australia is to see thousands of healthy evangelistic multiplying churches. We want to see new churches launch and start and not only survive but see evangelistic growth. We also want to see established churches become healthy, seeing lost people won for the first time and also seeing people spiritually mature and grow. great initiatives that we've started over the last few years is the Reach Australia Development

[0:34]
Program. We want to see theologically driven, spiritually vibrant, evangelistically urgent, practically skilled church leaders and this two-year program is all about seeing all those outcomes. The program includes a comprehensive church consultation, monthly gospel coaching and three leadership development intensives. To register your interest go to reachaustralia.com.au This episode is a recording from the 2021 Reach Australia National Conference.

[1:17]
I'm getting lots of thumbs up. All right. Excellent. We're going to spend some time, I'm just going to do a bit of preamble before we spend some time together with people around us on a reflection exercise. The question's going to come up on the screen in a second. Can I just say, just before we start, I just want to thank people for the messages of support after I heard his comment about skinny jeans last night. I appreciate that. Can I say in my defence, they were just normal jeans a few years ago when I bought them?

[1:49]
So reflecting on this idea of deep in the word building an ecosystem where every aspect of the ministries and churches we lead build towards maturity, not just leaning on or presuming a few structures will do that for us because maturity is the end point we're heading towards, isn't it? That's where we're going. That telos idea, that completeness, that perfection, Ephesians 4.13 incorporates all dimensions of the Christian life, every aspect of it, that we might be mature,

[2:21]
attaining to the fullness, the full measure of the likeness of Christ. mature disciples who are taught to obey everything Christ has commanded us fully formed. So as we begin unpacking these this afternoon, and we'll spend particular time thinking about Sunday gatherings and small groups as well as we do that, I want to reflect on two things for this exercise just before we do it. One is, first question, how do we form mature disciples theologically? That is, what are the inputs to achieve that? And I'll say a couple of things on

[2:52]
that second is how do we implement those inputs practically so that under God they get the most traction so it is both deep and wide most traction and the most scale so very briefly the the touch on the forming mature disciples theologically as Murray has more than capably shown us and we know from the word that is the fountain of all things isn't it the word is the thing that's given to us to build us up, that makes us who gives us inheritance in the saints, the power of God

[3:24]
for starting the Christian life, people coming to know the Lord Jesus, it nourishes, it feeds us in an ongoing way, it doesn't stop. The word is delivered in multi-varied ways as well. It's not monochromatic. It is read, it is preached one-to-one, it's spoken to each other, it's spoken in groups, it's reflected on, it's stored up in our heart, it is the source of wisdom, it informs discussion, it shapes everything that we are. And God uses that word in many and varied ways,

[3:56]
doesn't he, to form disciples. And these other inputs that we see in the New Testament and throughout God's word, they're only effective in so much as they are bathed in the word, understood through the lens of the word. But they're often more than the word as well. So So for example, the sacraments, 1 Corinthians 11. In song, Ephesians, Colossians. In prayer, Philippians 1. Trials and discipline form people as disciples of Jesus, Romans 5, 8, James 1, Hebrews 12.

[4:30]
Engaging in service with others, Philemon 6. The way in which we use our finances and understand them, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. And the whole ministry activity of the body, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, builds people towards disciples of Jesus, fully formed. So, a variety of inputs that God uses. And it's important as we pause and reflect on how it is that we construct our ministries with those inputs.

[5:00]
We don't just run reading groups. We don't just run one-to-one speaking events. We just don't preach. We don't just run Bible studies. They're all engine room key structures. They are important. but they do not constitute the totality of the maturity process, do they? So here's the question, how do we implement this purpose practically? What does it look like? This is really where we're going to start to dig into now to consider and reflect.

[5:30]
Very broadly, two things. First, as we've seen and we've heard just a moment ago, we want to be people and get people who are in the Word people. We need to bathe people. Soak them in the Word. That's the goal. Every nook and cranny. Create a culture where people love to hear the Word, love to engage with the Word deeply, love to speak the Word to each other. And all this has the aim that people love and appreciate

[6:03]
the Word when we preach. We model it when we preach. And so leaders have to be people who love the word themselves, that is where it starts. It has to begin with them so that we and all people can test and prove what God's good and perfect will is. So just think about your public, your corporate meetings for a moment, just run this through the grid of that. So the word filters every aspect of our Sunday gatherings or whenever it might be, every aspect, not just the preaching. so the service leader speaks it and uses it.

[6:37]
The songs are shaped by it. The Bible is read. The sermon is driving towards what the text says. It reflects our convictions that churches are not just learning communities, not just information transfer. We are people who long to hear our God, long to hear the word of our Father. So we're looking for as many opportunities as we can within the ministries we have to see people come in contact, come under the influence of the Word.

[7:08]
Our small groups, weekly, deeper, extra theological input for some, possibly one-to-one, weekends away, wherever it might be. But that's not all, is it? That's not all we do. Here's the second thing. Thinking through the broader ministry structures that bring other inputs to bear that outcome of mature disciples. We need to find ways to bring the Word to bear on people

[7:40]
in our ministries, in our churches, at as many points as we possibly can, as is practical, in ways that reflect our convictions, so that people are soaked in the Word, not just at these moments that we decide, but at every point within our community. and that therefore means we need to pay attention to the whole ministry ecosystem because that whole ecosystem is our ministry maturity structure.

[8:13]
That's what it is. The discipleship structure of church is not our one-to-one ministry. It's not our small group ministry, although we're going to dig into that a little bit more a little bit later. It's not just preaching our small groups together. No, we sell discipleship short when we call one part of church our discipleship structure. And I think we make a similar mistake thinking about the discipleship structure as only those parts that explicitly deliver the word.

[8:49]
So discipleship happens in all parts of church. Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, maturity structures of church are the whole body and life of church, every point. That includes ministry teams, even things that don't seem to be explicitly word activities. Maturity happens as all these inputs come to bear shaping the life of those under our care, growing disciples. Practically, that's going to mean we need to encourage non-word ministries as legitimate activities for truly mature saints.

[9:26]
Unhelpful to create then the assumption that mature disciples are those who eventually will lead a growth group or preach up front. I know. Mature disciples will also lead welcoming teams and Sunday teams and food teams. Mature people who are soaked deep in the word. is the question we're going to pause and reflect on now. What does it look like in our context, in our ministries, in the ecosystems that we work in? Is the word soaking every aspect?

[10:00]
Is the word soaking every aspect? We discuss with those around us and analyse how is it that we are growing fully formed with disciples, not just in these key structures but in all the church life that we have. So we're going to pause. We've got 12 minutes, 11 minutes, we've got 11 minutes. Can you might be your church might be people you you know or don't know have a talk through that question you'll see on the screen they discuss and analyze your whole ecosystem your whole church life to consider even how the word infuses and informs every aspect you've been listening to

[10:37]
the reach australia podcast all through september and october we'll be releasing the talks from the 2021 Reach Australia National Conference. Registrations are now open for the 2022 Reach Australia Conference. It'll be held at EV Church on New South Wales Central Coast from the 16th to the 19th of May 2022. Get your discounted early bird tickets now at reachaustralia.com.au.