I just got the new numbers for our discipleship roll in November and we set a new record! Here are three reasons why I post these kind of “behind the scenes goodies’:
1. To encourage God’s people to keep loving Jesus and people- great job Metro Praise International!
2. To encourage other Christians to keep making disciples- it works!
3. To make the devil mad because he nor his followers can stop what God has started!
Matthew 28:18-20, “18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
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Sidenotes for those Interested in more details:
1. MPI doesn’t do a stagnant membership roll- like “once you’re on- you stay on.”
2. MPI does a rotating discipleship roll- if you’re not in good standing or do not check in with your disciple-maker in 60 days you’re taken off the roll and have to be put back on when you re-join.
3. On average we take off 6-10 “former disciples” each month, and so to keep growing we have to replace those we lost and regain new ones. Hence the popular phrase in our church is, “If you don’t want it; we’ll get 10 more to take your place with those who do.”
4. Around 95% of our total Sunday church attendance is in discipleship when you remove the 50+ children we have attend our two services.
5. For example, in November we had an average of 225 people (including the 50+ children under 11 that are not able to join the program) in two services without more than 10 doubles (me and the worship team). We used to have around 50-60 doubles on any given Sunday because we had one team serve in both, so if we were still doing that our numbers now would be around 275-300 per Sunday. However, I wanted everyone, including my family to only attend one service (Nancy Wyrostek and I drive separate).
6. Therefore, out of the potential 175 youth/adults that attend each week on Sunday (not counting visitors) we have 169 disciples!
7. Note we have so many deacons because they are the biblical word for “servant leaders.” Thus they are in high demand. However, it takes an average of 2-3 years just to make one deacon at MPI. Therefore, there is no quick trip to leadership in our church, hence another popular mindset with us is, “We don’t need your help, you need to be a disciple first.” Therefore, everyone must be tested and approved to serve- even to be a greeter or janitor. It’s character over gifts at MPI. Plus, we even have to ask some deacons/elders from time to time to go back to the 201 when they do not live correctly, thus, no one is exempt from living like a disciple- including me.
8. To God be the glory!
If you’re a pastor/leader and you’d like help with making disciples at your church please contact Lauren Scienski. We’d love to help you in any way we can. Also, I have a free book that is helpful, “Discipleship Based Churches” you can get here; along with all the materials we wrote, https://mpichurch.net/our-books/
