Basic Training
A Men’s Discipling Ministry of Grace Community Church
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Col. 2:6 ESV)
holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, (1 Tim. 1:19 ESV)
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16 ESV)
Concept: A basic training course of the Christian life for men. The course will challenge men to become rooted, built up, firm in faith, trained in righteousness, fully complete and equipped for every good work.
Elements: There are two basic prongs to discipleship in scripture that come up repeatedly. Christians need to know what they believe (often called “the faith”) and how they are to live. Consider Colossians 2:6. We want Christians who can walk in Christ (life) and be established in faith (the core beliefs of a Christian) as they were taught.
Goal: To help men grow deeper in the basics of the Christian faith and life and do so with a special attention to the issues confronting men, e.g., being a Christian man, godly sexuality, being a godly leader in the home, how to love one’s wife, raising children in the faith, a theology of vocation, and so forth.
Manner: One monthly meeting with a lesson related to the two prongs mentioned above. Meet bi-monthly in an elder-led small group to further flesh out the topics of the monthly meeting and to provide life-on-life fellowship.
Fellowship Events: God has called us to one-anotherly-ness within the church. (The phrase “one another” occurs 100 times in the NT). To encourage and strengthen male relationships we will also incorporate special “men-oriented” events throughout the year. This can also function as a kind of “fishing pool” to invite people to who are not part of a church. These could be fun “cook-out” style events but also practical, male-oriented topics like “car repair” or “proper gun safety”, “basic plumbing”, “basic home maintenance” etc.
Material: There are two books that will inform our time together. One is The Masculine Mandate: God’s Calling to Men by Richard D. Phillips. The other is Do You Believe?: Historic Doctrines to Change Your Everyday Life by Paul David Tripp. You do not have to purchase the books but having them would be helpful.
When: We will meet on the third Saturday of the month at the church (exact location to be determined). Our meeting will run about an hour. Start time is 9am.