Equipping

Equipping the saints is the work of the church.  We see it plain in scripture all over but here are two places:

"He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine."  Ephesians 4:11

and again in Matthew,

18    "And Jesus came 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 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

I wanted to share with you a recent testimony of a dear sister in our church who has benefited from connecting with 180 through our equipping process, which includes topical Bible study, one on one committed relationship and accountability to a small group of believers in Christ.

"i was saved when  i was 9....and at about 14 i began to crave direction...in the church i was going to there wasn't teen groups or discipleship books. I had no real teaching on how to follow jesus or how to b a christian. I just knew what was right and wrong. I ended up lost and living life with no purpose and getting into a lot of trouble. I was so far away from God only to realize how close he was to me 2 years ago. I came to 180 2 years ago and was introduced to "becoming and making disciples of jesus christ". I got a discipleship partner and started going to womens group. It so impacted my life just the motto of becoming and making disciples...never thought of christianity as being christ's disciple.  i am naturally a runner and a quitter so i was challenged with going thru a workbook and meeting with an accountability partner. I think it was amazing from day one. I was pointed to the word of God...to truth. I felt God speaking to me thru the books and though difficult at times God always showed up in my accountability time. I realized i was being equipped and trained how to walk this out with the Lord and with the church the way He intended it to be. Learning to hear god's voice and spend time with him daily...how to fight off the devil's atacks, being trained how to recieve correction and how to serve, how to be humble but make a stand for the things of God, how to walk in unity with the body. Through obedience God has restored my family and even given me a new family. My whole thought process has changed. I used to be always thinking about myself...now i have a heart for reaching out to others who r hurting and need jesus. "

Be Equipped-  Stuart