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There are two ways that we can measure church growth. The first and more common way is by numerical growth. A rising number of people in the church. The second way, however, is at least equally important, and that is by depth. Join Reverend Daniel as he begins the new year by speaking on the importance of discipleship.

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Tim Stafford, which is a senior writer for Christianity today, once asked the late John Stout, how would he evaluate the enormous growth of the church since he had been ordained 61 years earlier? John Stout replied, the answer is growth without debt. He goes on to say, none of us want to dispute the extraordinary growth of the church, but it has been largely numerical and statistical growth, and there has not been sufficient growth in discipleship that is comparable to the growth in numbers. Rick Alden, in his book Transforming Discipleship, writes, having taught internationally in Asia, Central America, and Europe, the repeated lament I hear is that we are much better at conversion than we are at transformation of these converts into disciples of Jesus. He goes on to say, my own one-word summary of our current state of discipleship is superficial. This superficiality comes into focus when we observe the incongruity between the number of people, this is in the context of America, who profess faith in Jesus Christ and the lack of impact on the moral and spiritual climate of our times. Church, if what John Stout and Greg Odin say is true of the church, and I believe there's some truth in that, it's not uh perhaps it doesn't paint a total picture, but based on their seasoned experience in ministry, if that is true, then it implies that something must be done to address the lack of depth and growth in discipleship in church today. But unless we see the gap between where we are now, the current reality, and our desired destination, we won't be able to assess what it will take for us to get there. If discipleship as a church together is our desired destination, what are some gaps between what we are now, our current reality, and what we could be as disciples of Jesus? For the sake of clarification, it won't be the focus today. I think I'll need to just uh lay it out to just say what do we mean by discipleship? So uh I thought the definition by Greg Odin uh in his book Discipleship Essentials is kind of captures it quite well. It says discipleship or discipling is an intentional relationship in which we walk alongside other disciples in order to encourage, equip, and challenge one another in love to grow towards maturity in Christ. This includes equipping the disciple to make disciples who make disciples. Think about your own journey of growth as a Christian. Can you recall a time that someone had intentionally invested time with you in building a discipling relationship, whether it's for a period of specified or unspecified time that inspired your growth in Christ? If we do a study of the biography of great men and women, there's always someone behind that has worked with the person and has spurred or encouraged their growth. As I shared before, maybe I'll share this again when I was doing leading a task force in St. John's and Margaret's Church, then uh brought together a team of seasoned uh cell pastors together. We were sitting down and we were trying to crunch and understand how do we make such a difficult concept like discipleship palatable. Then we began to share about our own journey of discipleship. We came to the conclusion that everyone present in the task force all had someone that invested time in their lives to show them, to walk with them, to journey with them, to show them what a disciple of Christ is about. I'm sure many of us, as we reflect on our journey of growth in Christ, can identify at least one person who had made a difference in our lives, who had spurred us to grow in Christ-likeness towards spiritual maturity. If you don't have, it's not too late. We'll be uh in the days ahead trying to find ways that as a church we can engage in more intentional, discipling relationships so that together we can sharpen our focus in this area, which is so crucial in terms of our growth in spiritual maturity. So, over the next 10 weeks, on the first week of our combined family service, we will focus on discipleship. Every first week, which is a family service, we will unfold more as we go along, including what discipleship is in all its details and its implications. So I hope after the 10 weeks we can move on to something practical. After the 10 weeks, we will try to actualize the forming of intentional discipling groups in YCCA. I won't say much, but as we unfold this word across the 10 weeks, I hope that we will grow to say that this is what living the Christian life is about. You know, I need to be more than just a believer in Jesus, I need to be a disciple who follows Jesus. But for today itself, we will we will just be looking at the five marks of discipleship that often forms the discipleship gap in churches. That means these are the areas that often in our journey with Christ we either overlook or take for granted. And therefore we do not grow. Therefore, we remain stunted or we are just so-called uh Sunday Christians. So the first mark of discipleship is what I call every member ministry. Every member ministry. God's desire is that a disciple of Jesus serves and engages in ministry. In the New Testament idea, it is that all of us are priests to God. And all of us have a part to play and a role to fulfill in the body of Christ. This is underlined by two scriptures. The first scripture is taken from 1 Peter 2 9. Peter says, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. So this picture, um, Peter is speaking in a plural, but you are, the you is plural. He's not just addressing uh so-called the full-time staff, the pastors or clergy, but he's saying, all of you, all of you in attendance, church, congregants are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. So the scripture gives us a picture of not, just to put things in in uh a bit of ironic terms, it's not a picture of paid priests hugging ministry to themselves, uh, which uh is often the default mode that we start, you know. Uh everything uh comes to the vicar or the pastor, and we are like uh shepherds of the ministry. We got to hold and keep it, and we are hugging ministry to ourselves. But the New Testament picture of ministry views that ministry is in the hands of ordinary saints. All of us have a part to play in discipleship, to serve God in what He has called us to. So, of course, we are in the Anglican church, and certainly there's a need for ordained pastors or priests as well as parish workers, parish assistants, to lead the church. Someone must take the lead and and to enable all of us as a body of Christ to fulfill the ministry. So that's our role. Our role is not really to do everything, but to enable members, all of you here, to fulfill the ministry God has for you. So that so that is why we can't do everything on our own. God never had made it as such. On a similar note, Romans 12, 4 to 8, which perhaps uh we are familiar with that, Paul says, For as in one body we have many members, members do not all have the same function. So we, though we are many, we are one body in Christ and individually members one of another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. Let us use them. So Paul talks about, I won't elaborate on that, but there are different gifts, different motivational gifts that God has bestowed upon the body of Christ, and until and unless we arise to take our place, to answer the call to serve God in discipleship, it always be uh in some way what we call uh just a staff or clergy-led church. But as much as it is uh so, um it has to be a ministry that is shared among all. It's commonly lamented that churches fight against a barrier where 20% of the people provide ministry for the 80% who are recipients. The church has also been compared to a football game with 22 people on the field in desperate need of rest and 50,000 people in the stance of desperate need, in desperate need of exercise. The 80-20% is reinforced by a spectator mentality, which we bring to our corporate worship sometimes on Sundays. So, speaking in a general sense, we often arrive at the worship service with a reviewer's mentality. Perhaps at the back of our minds, we believe it is the responsibility of those leading the worship services to provide an engaging and meaningful service. As worshippers, we then provide an instant review of the worship service as we exit the sanctuary. No doubt we will all have observations and thoughts about the worship ministry, I mean the worship service, and whether we have been enriched spiritually by the service. And certainly as pastors, we need to be open and take in those feedback. However, what if we come to church with the mindset of worship as our service to God? I mean, we are here not so much to be a critic or a spectator, but all of us, as we watch, we also serve. So that's the idea of what it means for us to engage fully in the ministry. It's a mindset issue. It's a discipleship issue because when we come to church, we are coming to worship God. And worship, uh, another translation uh carries the idea of service. Worship means service to God. What if we come for the worship service eager to serve God as a disciple rather than as a spectator or a critic? What would it take for us to move from a spectator at worship to a participant in worship? I believe the answer lies in us rising to serve God in the area of ministry he has called us or prompted us to be in. A church will be as much active and energized when all of us fulfill God's call to move in the gifts he has endowed, endowed us with. So, how would we, as a church, evaluate our growth in this area? I leave it for us to consider. I believe that we have grown. We thank God for the many of us have stepped up to serve in big and small ways. And certainly we are not a church that is just run by the pastors or the vicar, but we do have people energized and willing to serve. But I believe more can be done in this area of discipleship where all of us, as we come, we have a sense of belonging because we are our worship, it is our service to God. You know, we are here to serve, we are here to worship God, we are here to contribute to the body of Christ. Secondly, the discipline, the disciplined life is something that is very much lacking in Christian circles today. Yet often the discipline of an athlete is used in the Bible to describe what living the Christian life is all about. Athletes follow strict training schedules, which might include a mix of cardio exercise, strength training, and sports-specific drills. Adhering to a routine for an athlete ensures steady progress and maintains a certain level of fitness in their life. I went to check out what is a day like for a student athlete in the in our Singapore sports school. What is their life really like for each day? So I discovered that the day for them starts as early as 6 a.m. They are from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., about three hours, they start, begin the day with training, right? Whatever sports-specific training, they they do that. That is followed by breakfast, and after, and after that they begin uh academic uh lessons and staggered lunches, and from 2 p.m. to 4 30 p.m. is a rest time for them. They call it active rest, right? So you're not supposed to do anything, you're supposed to rest from 2 to 4.30 p.m. And then training continues from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for another two hours. So after dinner at 6 p.m., uh student athletes are expected to do a supervised self-study revision for the day, right? What they have gone through in terms of their academic studies. And after a time of supper, they return to bed at 10 by about 10 p.m. So lights off is by 10.15 p.m. So if you look at the life of an athlete, it's usually about probably four or slightly over four hours of training a day, yet there is so much more at work, right? And something like adequate rest and sleep is built into the daily routine of an athlete so that with rest and sleep, along with good nutrition, uh an athlete can stay healthy and fit. So comparing the Christian life to a race, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24 to 25 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. He goes on to say, every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we imperishable. So if athletes put themselves through a rigorous regime to get a crown that will not last, how much more should Christians, should all of us, exercise and discipline ourselves? Because our goal, Paul says, is a crown that will last forever. So how would we evaluate our growth in discipline in our discipleship to Jesus? If you ask me, I would think that as uh Protestants and evangelicals, we are rather soft or too casual in exercising practices or disciplines in the Christian life. We say, I we are all saved by grace, right? So it's a one-time decision after that. Yeah, I just come to church, uh, join a connect group, and yeah, I just live my life. No need to be so, you know, uh, you know, if I exercise myself to discipline too much, it'd be like the law. Some of us say, you know, God has set us free. Come on, let's throw aside all this discipline and you know, uh need to subject ourselves to strenuous exercise. You know, we are saved by grace. Let's relax and prepare ourselves for a good party in heaven. Sometimes we uh subconsciously we have that kind of mentality and understand. And it's very common in uh Protestant and evangelical traditions. We make a decision to receive Jesus, then attend services on Sundays and perhaps join a group for fellowship, but that is not all in the Christian life. Discipleship implies that we need to exercise ourselves and subject ourselves to the discipline of putting in practices, or in some circles we call spiritual disciplines that will deepen our relationship with Jesus. One of the indispensable disciplines which I pray and I hope that all of us will not lose, is what we call in Protestant circles our quiet time. Right? Our quiet time. That's something we always talk about, but do we practice that? It must be a daily practice that we observe. Other kinds of practices would be uh denying ourselves of certain pleasures or even of evil desires to follow Jesus. It's also part of exercising discipline. It's not just something we do, but it's also something we refrain from. Flee from the temptations of the flesh, walk by the spirit. When was the last time you had discipline yourself to keep spiritual practices such as reading the Bible or prayer as part of your routine to keep spiritually fit? When was the last time you took the words of Jesus in Luke chapter 9, verse 23 seriously? Luke chapter 9, verse 23, Jesus said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross. Luke says, daily, and follow me. So this is an area which I pray that we will grow. Because until we discipline ourselves, we will not grow in discipleship. And unless there will be like a fattened calf and uh overweight and yeah, and not um fit spiritually. You know, and I'm quite amazed how even Christians today or we are so obsessed with our body, uh the world today, sorry, not Christians, like we will do anything to look good and keep fit, right? And yet when it comes to spiritual things, we are somehow uh lackluster, and we are saying that uh it's okay. Anyway, we are saved by grace, you know, we're going to heaven. So I think we need to start to get fit spiritually, and that involves discipline. The discipline of an athlete is needed. So uh, of course, those of us who were in the army before, whether we are full-time or not, we know that all these are not, it's not a new thing, right? We know that we are subjected to routines and drills and a certain way of life for two years or two and a half years. And that formed and shaped us to deal with life. What more our spiritual life? Let me move uh quickly to the third area, which is Embracing Jesus' Lordship in our hearts, our homes, our workplaces, our attitudes, our thoughts, our desires, our relationships and decisions. You see, a lot of times we have the problem of a bifurcated existence. Bifurcated meaning divided into two. That means it deeply, this bifurcated existence, where we think of self as physical and spiritual, and yet separate these two is what often makes us not fully embracing Jesus as Lord over our lives. This happens when we adopt a thinking that we give our Sunday time to God during worship services, and that is a sacred time. But after that is circular time, and it's all up to us what we decide, what we want to do. So the lordship of Jesus is confined only to what is spiritual. I think that is more common uh perhaps for the uh boomer generation or those older. I've heard it many, many times. Not in YCCA, but over many, played out in many places where you know you come to church, parents will say, okay, uh let's prepare ourselves, let's make sure, you know, don't do anything wrong, you know, make sure you are holy. But after that, alright, then you can do what you want, you know. Uh don't play your phones in church, but after that, free to do what you want. So that is a bifurcated existence which separates what is spiritual and what is secular. So this understanding is actually opposed to the biblical pattern where God in Jesus has broken into our lives. The kingdom of God is within us. Jesus said that anyone who accepts and receives Jesus into our life, the reign and rule of God is upon us. So the reign and rule of God is upon us through the Holy Spirit in us. So there's no way we can separate the spiritual part of us from the world we live in. Our discipleship to Jesus involves embracing the lordship of Jesus in our hearts, in our homes, in our workplaces, in our attitudes, in our thoughts, in our desires, in our relationships and our decisions. So in a nutshell, it's everything. You know, it's about the lordship of Christ, growing in the lordship of Christ in all of our lives. So uh so when we teach our children, we will tell them, you know, not just in church you have to be holy, but all of your life you have to be holy. What you do in church, what you do at home must be the same, right? So we got to train them to see the church not just as a religious center to look good and to be good, but as a place that they can come, engage with God, discipline themselves, serve and build up the body of Christ together. So, how would we evaluate our growth in embracing the Lordship of Jesus in our discipleship to Him? Is Jesus Lord over your entire life? Or is He Lord only when He we come to church during the time set aside for worship? Are we following Jesus wholeheartedly in all areas of our lives? So this is the third area, which is a gap in perhaps a lot of many of our the lives of Christians. The fourth area is this knowing what God wills and desires through knowing scripture. Scripture is God's self-revelation of who He is. It is fundamental in our discipleship to Jesus that we know his word to us. Otherwise, how do we know him? And this is the fundamental point I like to make. Why is it so important for us as Christians to know Scripture? That is because if our lives are not shaped and formed by Scripture, then what forms us, which offens the case, which is often the case for us who are second generation Christians, or those of us who do not have a personal encounter and uh experience with Jesus, formed and shaped by scripture, is that what forms us will be the world's uh ideology. What the world says is right, what is good to do, we will do. Or the changing views on social media is uh pervasive for our young people today. That shapes them, that shapes their understanding of reality, that shapes their view of what is right and wrong. Or for some others, it'll be not the scripture, but what others say. Some of us who are more uh uh social creatures, we like to gather, talk to our friends. Oh, if you say this, what do you think? What do you think? Okay, if you think that's so, then it must be it. You know, so yeah, so we we get our input from everywhere else. That's why our lives are not changed because it's not anchored and shaped and formed by scripture. So a plumb line is a tool used in construction and surveying to determine a vertical reference line. It consists of a string or a cord with a weight known as a plum bulb attached to the end. When the plum bulb is allowed to hang freely, it aligns with the force of gravity, providing a true vertical line. This is essential in building and construction surveying work to check the verticality of structures, ensuring that walls are upright. So in Amos chapter 7, 7 to 8, uh this is what the God showed the prophet Amos. He says, The Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plum line, with a plum line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A plum line. Then the Lord said, Behold, I am setting a plum line in the midst of my people, Israel. So in Amos chapter 7, 7 to 8, the Lord showed Amos a plumb line, establishing his word of truth and judgment, a standard of truth upon the people of Israel? We need the divine plumb line of scripture as a yardstick and center of our discipleship to Jesus. So how would we evaluate our growth in knowing scripture? Do we really know scripture? Or I ask it another way, do we really know God if we don't know scripture? Because if scripture is God's word to us, then we need to know. We need to make sure that we find ways to engage ourselves with God's word to us daily, whether it's through the lectionary readings, whether it's through uh the lecture 365 app, or there's so many tools, the Alpha Bible reading app. It's all out there. It's just whether we will discipline ourselves to engage in the practice of reading scripture. Are we having a regular intake of scripture in our life so that our lives will be true to the plumb line, to the divine plum line? How can we know God, what he desires, what he wills and purpose for our lives, if we don't soak up in scripture. Lastly, the fifth gap is oftentimes the fact that we do not share our faith actively. A disciple of Jesus will often bubble over with the words of his master Jesus. He will witness to Jesus, sharing his faith actively with conviction without shame. He will draw others to be in, to be disciples of Jesus, who will in turn make disciples. How would we evaluate our growth in sharing our faith actively in our discipleship to Jesus? A lot of times when our conviction of the gospel of who Jesus is, the words of Jesus is not strong, we will not dare to share or reach out to others because we are afraid we'll say the wrong thing, right? So this is a kind of outflow. If we do not discipline ourselves to read scripture daily, if we don't have God's word in us, there's no way we will share our faith. So uh sharing our faith actively often is the is the is consequential, is the outcome of a vitalized life, vitalized relationship with God. So if we are often inhibited by fear or shame, what others think, um, then we we probably do not have a very strong sense of what the gospel, what the words of Jesus mean to us. So the question is: are we convicted of the words of Jesus the Master, such that we share it boldly and actively? The passage that destiny read for us from Mark chapter 4, verses 1 to 9, in it Jesus tells the parable of the sower, which is, I won't read it again, but it's it's a familiar passage to many of us who have been Christians for a while. So a sower sows seeds on four different types of ground, yielding four types of results. The first one, uh, those that fell along the path, there's no germination. Others fell on rocky ground, right? So uh it's quick germination, but eventually it died. Then there are those that uh fell among thorns, and the thorns stroke it, then it died. So quick termination. And whereas there are other seeds that fall that fell on good soil and produce grain and fruitfulness, so it produced abundant fruit. So if the types of ground represent the state of our discipleship to Jesus, what would the results be for us? Do we see that we are growing at least in two of the five areas, or at least there's some growth in those areas? Or are we merely just active churchgoers? So my first point, every member ministry. The key question I like to uh just in as a form of summary is this are we fully engaged in serving God? Our service to God is our worship. That is biblical, right? When we serve God, we worship Him. So it's not just those leading from the front, but those, even those of us who are counters of the offer tree, those of us who are from the host team, those of us who are playing different roles, it's our service to God, it's our worship. So we come to church to worship, to serve God, and not to just be a spectator or a critic. So I hope, and I pray that we will, I know we will, I have a sense that we will as a church grow so that all of us can be more and more energized at the right time where God will. As the memory verse showed us, when our hearts are stirred by God, right, to rebuild the house of God, to, you know, to step up to serve. Are we fully engaged in serving God? That is the New Testament picture. Everyone is engaged. Everyone, that's why there are less people that say, Ah yeah, I need to change church. You know, it's so boring, you know, I can't find any fans. Because yeah, perhaps they have not been engaged. You know, they don't see worship as service. And there are a lot of people today, you know, from church to church, church hopping, because they are trying to find a good experience. But as experience is important, as the culture of the church is important, it's not the main factor in discipleship. Our service to God is. Second uh area is the disciplined life. Do we discipline ourselves to deepen our relationship with Jesus? Do we discipline ourselves to deepen our relationship with Jesus? It has to be. We cannot just float into Sunday and hope that some God will drop a Rema word into our hearts and suddenly we are energized. As much as that is true in some cases, but God desires us to discipline ourselves. There's no way a disciple can grow without discipline, just as how an athlete has to subject himself or herself to rigorous routines, uh, trainings, drills, so that all for the sake of training to be a better athlete. So similarly, do we discipline ourselves to deepen our relationship with Jesus? Thirdly, embracing Jesus' lordship in our hearts, homes, workplaces, our attitudes, thoughts, desires, our relationships and our decisions. The simple question is this is Jesus Lord over all our lives? Is Jesus Lord over your whole life and everything that you do? Or is he Lord only when you enter the sanctuary? Fourthly, knowing what God wills and desires through knowing scripture. Are we shaped and formed by scripture as our plumb line of truth? Because if we are not, we are always buying into some ideology, some idea. All of us are. It's what fills our mind. If it's not scripture, then it's something else. And if John the Apostle is right, then it likely is the world. Right? The world and what the world desires, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the desires and the cravings of the sinful nature, likely will consume us. So all of us sitting here today have an ideology. We all have something that shapes and governs our lives. So is it scripture or is it the world? So are we shaped and formed by scripture as our plumb line for truth? Of truth. Lastly, sharing our faith actively. Are we bubbling over with the words of Jesus? Are we energized? Are we bold in sharing our faith? Because we can't help, like the early apostles, but share of what we have seen and heard. I'm bubbling over with the joy and with the gospel that I must share it out. It must go beyond me to reach the world, the world in Christ.

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We pray that you've been ministered to by the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about ancient Christian church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.