Why Church Elders Should Be Lead Disciple-makers

Many pastors are working hard to lead their families and flocks to engage discipleship in all of life, but their biggest roadblocks to exponential growth is their own church elders! Oftentimes, these “elders” do not make disciples and have never led another person to faith in Jesus. How could this be so common?!

This week on the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we ask the question: Are your elders discipleship friends or foes? You’ll discover the true history of how church elders emerged, their roles, and why your church elders should be lead disciple-makers in your church.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• Did elders exist in culture before the emergence of the Church?
• How elders were appointed and their role in the early church.
• Why your elders should be THE model for making disciples in the church!
• What to do if your elders are “blocking” discipleship in community.

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Is Your Church Successful? New Benchmarks

Jesus was immeasurably the most successful person in human history. In every way. Yet, if we were to measure his lifetime effectiveness using today’s Church benchmarks of success, Jesus would probably find it hard to get hired on at most churches. What are you measuring?

This week on the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we look at why some of the traditional ways we’ve been measuring church success are not producing kingdom growth and mature disciples. Here are the new benchmarks of a successful church.

Your church or community really can shift toward missional engagement. By changing what you measure, you’ll begin to change your focus to accomplishing the Church’s true mission and its ultimate purpose.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• Why what your church is measuring may actually be toxic.
• How our current standards of success are very different than Jesus’.
• What happens when we begin to measure and fund different goals.
• 10 new benchmarks of a successful, missional church.

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10 Secrets to Growing Deeper Friendships

Building strong relationships of trust is a key factor in discipleship. But many of us are not good at building friendships, or we seem too busy in our lives to make the investment of time that it takes.

In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, join me as I mine the wisdom of author Twyla Franz and uncover practical ways to start growing deeper friendships today.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• How friendships and trust are the pathways for disciple-making.
• Why openness and vulnerability don’t have to be scary.
• How “divine interruptions” are opportunities to connect and share life.
• 10 secrets to growing deeper friendships that transform relationships.

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How to Start Shifting Your Church Outward

The way we gather as the Church has changed. Our once rock-solid pattern of meeting all together on Sundays has been fractured, and statistics show that as much as 30% of people are not returning to our weekend gatherings.

In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, Caesar talks about the need for the Church to start creating new, outward-focused “predictable patterns” that everyone can start in their own families right at home.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• How the change in our gathering patterns may be a blessing in disguise.
• Why new predictable patterns can and must start in our homes.
• How you could double the size of your church this week. Seriously!
• 5 steps that you can initiate in your family and church-wide right now.

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Fighting Our Preoccupation With Self

How you feel, pretty much in every moment, is connected to how you believe things are going relative to your sense of self. It is out of our identity, and perception of self, that our motives and actions flow. The Gospel answers our fallen self-obsession with a great work of grace in Christ.

In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we’ll examine what drives our pride and continual self-focus, and how the Gospel leads us to freedom and relational peace.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• How your understanding of God’s stance against pride may be wrong.
• Why we spend so much time focused on self and what others think.
• Why thinking less of yourself is not the answer to pride.
• How the Gospel leads us to focus more on Jesus and less on ourselves.

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Why You Need More Storytelling In Your Discipleship

Our lives are wrapped up in stories; they are the language of our world. Who we believe ourselves to be is shaped by the dominant story in our lives, and what we believe about God and what he is like will ultimately determine what we believe about ourselves and how life works.

In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, I share why learning, embracing, and teaching the Story of God found throughout the Bible is a key component in discipleship. You’ll learn how we teach the Story in community and the transformation that it brings.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• How stories powerfully shape our lives and worldview.
• Why the Bible stories you may have been taught as a kid were wrong.
• Ways we’ve used narrative and dialogical story-telling in our discipleship.
• Where to get free Story of God resources and training.

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