Read a scripture and sing worship songs.

• (Optional) Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator also between God and man, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all. (Philippians 2:11b; 

  ¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

   1 Timothy 2:4-6a). 

  ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people. 

Choose a way to cast vision for who they can become in Christ or what God can do through them by:

• a scripture that reminds them of the Father’s Heart and of the end vision.
• reflecting on the changes in their life since they started following Christ
• reminding them of what God wants to do through them.

Our vision is: “A church for every village and community, and the gospel for every person.”

The Twelve Apostles

¹² One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.¹³ When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:¹⁴ Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot,¹⁶ Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Blessings and Woes

¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon,¹⁸ who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured,¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

Read More

Jesus is shifting to a new period of the movement. The ministry and momentum were growing and people from all over Israel were believing in Him as Messiah. It is at this crucial time that Jesus issues a call for His disciples to gather. As they are gathering, Jesus goes up on a mountainside to pray, modeling for us the first principle of leadership development – dependency on God. Fresh from prayer, Jesus comes down the mountain to a level place and out of many disciples (maybe 100 or more) He publicly appoints the first 12 movement leaders. He calls them apostles, which means sent ones. This is the second principle of leadership, public appointment. In this principle, leaders are selected from a wider group of disciples who have been trained and have experience in fishing for men. He selected them so that they would be with Him (personal development) and that He would send them out to do the things He had been doing (authority for ministry).