There is Strength in Numbers

Robby Gallaty
January 11, 2015

Message, Robby Gallaty, Senior Pastor

We are continuing our series through the Marcs of a Discipleship Group – Ways to Gauge Effectiveness – Ways to Gauge Spiritual Maturity in Your People. And today we are talking about the second marc which is Accountability. The second marc is accountability and the subtitle is, “There is Strength in Numbers.” There is strength in numbers.

One of the fastest ways that a business owner can waste a marketing budget is through what is called Hope Marketing. Hope marketing is the idea that you rent ads or you take out advertisements or you buy time on television and you produce these adds in the hope that people will buy what you are selling. You do no follow up, you do no split conversion marketing testing, you do no web copy evaluation, you do no advertising analysis. You just hope that people will buy. And sadly, a lot of people run their businesses that way.

What is even more tragic is that pastors lead their churches that way in the area of discipleship. They just say, we are going to make disciples, but there is no follow-up, there is no evaluation, there is no investigation. There is no way to determine if you are growing in your groups.

And so that is why the Marcs of a Discipleship Group are essential for spiritual growth, not only in the group as a whole but you as an individual. And this one, I want to submit to you, is probably the most important mark of all the marks that you could be a part of. Here is the principal: What doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get accomplished. That is the principal. Let me say it again. What doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get done. Or let me say it another way, what gets measured, gets done or accomplished. Right?

Accountability is essential in the discipling relationship. Now, I know what you are thinking. You are saying, well, Pastor Robby, I would love for you to show me where accountability is in the Bible. Well, I can’t because the word is not in the Bible. But the concept is everywhere. In fact, all the way back in Genesis Chapter 3 you see it with Adam and Eve. They have to give an account for what they did to (who? — audience participation) God, right? We see that in the life of Samuel and Saul. I Samuel Chapter 13 where they give an account to one another. They are accountable. We see that in the life of Nathan and David after Bathsheba: II Samuel Chapter 12 Verses 1-14. We see it in the life of Jesus and Peter when Jesus holds him accountable in Matthew Chapter 16 Verse 21.

So what is accountability? Accountability according to Chuck Swindoll is the opening up of one’s life to a few carefully selected individuals who are trusted and loyal confidants who will then speak truth, who has the right to examine, the right to question, to approve and to counsel you.

Every one of us in here is accountable to someone. In fact, we are accountable to three different entities, the Bible says, three different areas of our life. The first thing is, every believer is accountable to God. Everybody. Unbelievers are accountable to God, but as a believer, you are accountable to God. Hebrews Chapter 9 Verse 27. We will be accountable to God.

Secondly, we are accountable to spiritual leaders. We get this from Hebrews Chapter 13 Verse 17, Honor your leaders. We are accountable to them in a sense, although we are accountable to God, we are accountable to our leaders.

We are also accountable to other believers. Proverbs Chapter 27 Verse 17. Now within a discipleship group context, accountability is the difference that makes the difference.

I would suggest to you that accountability is what sets apart discipleship groups of three to five from every other group that you can be involved in in the church, because, lets be honest, you cannot be accountable to me in this gathering. And we are thankful that you have come to this gathering. But as you know from the pathway, it doesn’t stop here.

The next level of intimacy is a Life Group. But even a Life Group. We have smaller Life Groups of ten to twelve in a Life Group. It is hard to be accountable in a Life Group because you and I both know, we can put on an outward appearance that everything is fine, but deep inside we are struggling and hurting and we need someone to speak truth in our life. It is just hard to have that level of accountability.

So the platform for that type of intimacy is that discipleship group of three to five. This is why, friends, it has to be gender exclusive.

People ask me, should we meet with our wives in a discipleship group? It is great to do that, but you will never have a deep level of intimacy with a person of the opposite sex in the discipleship group with you. You just won’t. So that is why we encourage you to form these groups of three to five gender exclusive groups for the purpose of accountability and reproduction.

Rod Hadley said this, “Accountability will not remove sin or even keep you from sinning. But it will help you become aware of your sin and helps you focus your attention back on Christ.” You see, being accountable to another person takes honesty. And if it doesn’t exist, it will be a meaningless experience.

Now, let me just say from the gate, accountability requires you to be honest. And we can be as honest as we want to be because I have seen pastors who have been in accountable groups and discipleship groups who have fallen to immorality or greed and they were still in accountability groups. It is because they weren’t honest. So you are only going to be honest as you want to be.

But accountability is essential and that is why I want to show you today that the importance of an accountability group is a non-negotiable in your life for spiritual growth. So if you are in a place and you are saying, I am kind of stuck in my spiritual growth, then I would question, do you have someone in your life that is holding you accountable? And nine times out of ten, you probably don’t. And I am not talking about a friend you eat pizza with and watch football. That is cool. That is not the kind of accountability I am talking about.

So when I think about accountability, I have combed the New Testament and the Old Testament, our sermon prep team, we have thought of different texts. There are a lot of good texts.

I want to take it from a different angle and I want to highlight a text you may not think about in the area of accountability and that is the book of Ecclesiastes. So if you have your Bibles and I hope you do, turn with me to the book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 and I want to talk about a Scripture that is pretty familiar with many of you, particularly in the context of weddings.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 Verse 9. I will show you a secret I learned in seminary. As a new believer, I was only a believer for a year and I would go into seminary classes and the Professor would say, turn to Obadiah. There was no way I was finding Obadiah. I would flip for it and the guy would tap me on the shoulder and said, “Hey, Bro. Turn to Page 2 of your Bible.” I said, “Okay. What is there?” He said, “It is the contents.” There is no shame in looking at the contents. Amen?

So Ecclesiastes in my Bible is 607. I don’t know about yours, but that is a good way to find it. Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 Verse 9. When you are there, say “word.” The Word of the Lord.

“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to life him up. Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”

Solomon just came off the heels of explaining that compulsive working is a tragic waste of one’s life. You see, he is trying to find out – Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes is exploring all these options of trying to find happiness and satisfaction. He is just coming off the heels of this idea of person who works their whole life compulsively. And he said it is a tragic waste of one’s life. It is a miserable task. It is a grave misfortune, if you will.

And so then he comes to this area of the text where he talks about relationships. And he says, off the heels of compulsive working, that it is better for you to have meaningful relationships than riches in this world. That is what he does here. He contrasts meaningful relationships with riches in the world.

These verses have been used as an encouragement for the institution of marriage where the couple is two together in a three-cord strand with God being the third is not easily broken.

It is used also in the context of work, for collaboration where people work together in a team, and that is important. And all those things are good.

But what I want to do today is show you the importance of discipling relationships where there is a discipling context of three to five. And you get this intimacy and accountability that you don’t have when you are journeying alone.

So if you are taking notes today, there are three insights I want to make you aware of. Here is the first one. Accountability supports your work! Accountability supports your work!

Now, Verse 9 is alluding or reiterating what he just said in Verse 8, so back to Verse 8 and notice what he says. “There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches.” So what he is doing here is, he is contrasting a man who is doing it himself with someone who has friends on the journey with him. They key word there is “companion.” This is someone who has partnered together with you with a common interest. It is a covenant relationship which is why people attribute this text to marriage. It is a friendship. It is a bond of fellowship. It is an intimate relationship.

And I think what Ecclesiastes is showing us and what Solomon would say is, you were never created to live alone. Never. We were all created to be in community. You were created for a community group. No pun intended with encouragement to the video. But we are created for community, right?

God looks at Adam and He says, “It is not good for man to (what?) to live alone.” And so, thank God, He creates Eve. So the purpose we see in this text of working together is a great promise. Look at what he says. “When you work together, you will receive a great reward for your efforts.” And you can take this to the bank. This is not just a physical reward or even a spiritual reward. This could be an emotional reward or all three.

And so he is saying, when you work together, there is a blessing there. There is a response for me. And you can write this down. I wrote this: Companionship is always better than competition in the Christian life. Companionship is always better than competition in the Christian life. You will never find a Jewish Book of World Records. You won’t find it. Why? Because they never competed against each other. Why in the world? That was a Hellenistic idea. Why in the world would I compete against my neighbor? This is someone in the same battle with me. We are not fighting each other. We are fighting unforeseen forces and powers and principalities from another world. Why am I going to compete against him? This is my brother. So competition was frowned upon. Companionship was not.

Chuck Swindoll said this: “In a day of tarnished leaders, fallen heroes, busy parents, frantic coaches, arrogant authority figures and egg-headed geniuses, we need mentors like never before.” I love this. “We need mentors like never before. We need guides not gods. We need guides not gods. Approachable, caring individuals who help us negotiate our way through life’s labyrinth.”

Friends, it is not a question of whether you need to be in a discipleship group or not, the question is, which one are you in? It is not a question of should I be in a Life Group? The question is, which one are you in?

I want to grow closer to the Lord. That is the next step for you. So what he says is, accountability supports your work. And not just your physical work in your work place, but your work for the Lord.

Second, accountability strengthens your walk. Accountability strengthens your walk. Look at Verse 10. “For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; for how can one person alone keep warm?”

Here is the idea. If you fall into a crevice or a rock traversing the mountains of Israel, you are in trouble if you are by yourself. How in the world would you ever be able to pull yourself out of a crevice? And so what he says here, it is important to never travel alone.

So when you and I were in school, grammar school, elementary school, the buddy system was a precursor to the Christian life, right? Remember when you went on field trips? I had two people on me because my Mom called ahead. He is going to get away. So you need two eyes…in fact, I will go. It is like Kandi and I. Kandi and I can never let our kids go on field trips because we are scared they are going to get lost, okay? And so that is the buddy system. The buddy system is, you are always watching someone, get this, and someone is always (what?) watching you.

It is amazing. We learned these simple truths years ago. It is this idea of always having someone looking out for you as you look out for someone else.

Do you remember the old ‘90s commercial? It actually started in 1989 but it was popular in the ‘90s. You remember the scene. It was Mrs. Fletcher. She was in the kitchen rummaging around as she normally did. She slips and falls. She is in trouble. Do you remember this ‘90s commercial? If you are from my generation, you know this very well. Now luckily for her, she has around her neck a lifeline medical alert pendant. And she immediately presses the pendant and speaks into the intercom and says these words: “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” Right? Remember that? That commercial was so popular, it was irritating in the ‘90s, right? And the lady responds back and said, “Mrs. Fletcher, we have help on the way,” immediately, right? That is the idea here.

A companion in the Christian life is a life-line for you. It is someone you can call out to for help when you are knocked down and beat down by the world of today. It is someone that can help you.

Now, trouble on the roads came in a number of different ways. There was trouble from wild animals. There was trouble from robbers, as we know form the New Testament in the gospels, Jesus gives parables of that. There was trouble from the cold. You see, there were only two ways to travel in order to beat the frigid conditions of traveling through the mountains of Israel. You could pack extra bags with blankets and clothes to keep you warm at night. But the problem with that is, you didn’t want to do that because if you pack extra clothes, it is more weight. And so the other way to combat the cold was to travel with a companion.

Remember, the Eastern Culture is a little different than today. Men didn’t have a problem sleeping next to men. Why? Because they were more concerned with saving their life than being cool, right? And so what Ecclesiastes is saying is, when two lie down next to each other…look at the text, the warmth from each body will preserve life. I would submit to you that some of you, that is the reason you are cold in the Christian life. You may not be physically cold, but you are spiritually cold.

And it is easy for us to grow bitter and angry in the Christian life when we live it separate and apart from the community of faith, right? And so, don’t let yourself grow cold by being isolated and alone from other Christians. You need accountability in your life. We all need accountability in our life. We all need someone that you can be accountable to and someone that can be accountable to you.

Thirdly, accountability not only supports your work, it not only strengthens your walk, but it safeguards your well-being. It safeguards your well-being.

Look at Verse 12. “If someone overpowers you, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” If someone attempts to attack you, you have a more…you are more likely to respond to them and win victoriously if you have another person helping you than if you are alone. And what he is saying here is, there is strength in numbers.

You remember the story of the Good Samaritan. The problem is, he was by himself, right? You remember the story of the men walking on the road to Emmaus. Remember that one? How many people were walking in Luke Chapter 24? Two. And then they were joined by (who?) Jesus, which was three. So it gives us a beautiful picture here.

Now I love what Solomon is doing here and he is doing it Hebraicly. He is building up this progression to a crescendo. You see, the Hebrew language does not have exclamation points. They don’t have quotation marks. They don’t have colons and commas and semi-colons. They use the language to paint a picture.

Now watch this. He starts in Verse 8 with how many individuals? Read it. It is pretty simple. There is A person, one! Then he gets to Verse 9 and he introduces what? A second person. Do you see the progression here? And then you get to Verse 12 and how many people? Three people. Friends, two may be a dynamic duo, but three is always a holy trinity, right? There is strength in numbers. That is what he is saying here.

Now according to the Rabbis, this three-fold cord was used to imply advantages of strength when you were trying to teach the Torah or learn the Torah, which I would say discipleship groups, and also matters of living. So if you wanted to live in a way pleasing to the Lord and study the Word of God together, they were encouraged to do it with a three-fold cord in community.

D. L. Moody was trying to explain to a prominent citizen of Chicago the importance of Christian community. This man was trying to tell D. L. Moody that he didn’t need to go to church. He didn’t need to be around other believers. The idea of a Lone Ranger Christian. And he was in this man’s parlor and it was cold outside and they had the fire going and he had some coals there. And Moody was trying to think of a way to explain it to him and he simply walked over, took the tongs, reached into the fire, took out a burning coal, place it on top of his mantel and he watched it. And the man walked over and he said, “Come, here, I want you to watch this.” And they both watched this thing smolder out and cease to be on fire. And Moody didn’t have to say a word. The man looked over at him and said, “I get your point.”

That is your life apart from the community of faith. Friends, that is your life trying to live it in your own power and your own strength. A Christian by himself will not make it very long.

So let me help you here. Let me give you some practical ways to experience accountability in your discipleship group and in your life in general. I mean, obviously, this is directed toward discipleship but these are all practical principals we all could use.

So here is the first one. Here are three walking points for you. A walking point is a way for you to take it home. Lets walk home with it.

The first one is this: You need to meet in a discipleship relationship or a discipleship group for encouragement. You need to meet together with some people for a discipling relationship for the purpose of encouragement. One of the purposes is encouragement. And remember, what doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get done. So if you don’t plan it on your calendar, it is just not going to happen.

So what is the text for that? Turn with me to Hebrews Chapter 10. Go to the New Testament. Hebrews Chapter 10 Verse 23. When you are there, say “word.” “And let us be concerned about one another,”…actually 24. I am in 24. “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” I love what the Holman is trying to do here and I think they are on it, but I think the better idea for you is, don’t neglect the gathering of yourself, the New King James translates it that way.

And I think what he is saying here is this: There is a benefit when we gather together. And here is the purpose. Two-fold. Write it down. To stir one another up, in the text. So we gather to stir one another up.

We just had our retreat on the mountain this past week with our staff. We got to stay at some of our members homes. We just stirred one another up. It was awesome. We had a mini worship service every night, we hung out. We just stirred one another up.

What does it mean to stir someone up? It means to motivate them. It means to spur them along. That word can also mean to provoke unto good works. To agitate someone so they will do something with their life. Do something different, right?

The second word that I want you to see is the word “encourage.” So stir up and then encourage. And encourage is the idea of coming alongside of someone, to give instruction, to give admonition, warning and consoling. Every one of us is beat down week in and week out, tempted by the enemy and discouraged by the world. Why would you not come worship with the saints every single week? Friends, there is so much garbage in this world that is influencing you and infecting you, why would you not come here for a place of solace and refreshment every single week. And not only here, but a Life Group and a Discipleship Group. We desperately need encouragement.

A Discipleship Group provides the context for that. Can anybody amen to that? I know so many times I go into my group beat down or discouraged at things in life and the guys just lift me up and it is such a refreshing time.

Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron as one man sharpens another.” What do you hold someone accountable to? How do you sharpen someone? Through encouraging them to read the Word of God, to journal through the Word of God, to memorize the Word of God and to apply the Word of God to one’s life.

Michael Ballister was a pastor and evangelist who went over to Poland and he took a Bible in their language and gave it to one of the locals there who had professed faith in Christ. There weren’t many believers at the time. He gave this man a Bible. And he simply gave him this instruction. He said, “I want you to read this Bible, but more importantly, I want you to memorize the Bible.”

And so two years later, he came back, a few years later, two or three years later, and there were 200 believers in this Polish church, if you can imagine. They were excited. They were on fire. Never seen anything like it. And he got up and he started preaching and before he preached, he said, “Hey, let me just stop. I gave you guys a Bible a couple of years ago. Can anybody quote a few verses as we get started today?” And one man stood up and he said, “Let me just clarify. Do you want us to quote verses or chapters of the Bible?” I don’t need that. Or pages. Do you want us to quote verses or chapters of the Bible. Those are actually drawings from Rig a couple of weeks ago when he got to sit in the service and he drew me a picture of me preaching. But anyway, that is what that is. So, just for those who are me, ADD distracted. Okay, lets get back on track.

The guy stood up in the church and he said…because I am thinking of that, too. What is that? That is what I am thinking. What is that? Do I need to get down and get that. But anyway. So, the guy clarifies it. He says, let me ask you a question. Are we supposed to memorize verses or chapters? And he said, “I just wanted you to memorize the Bible. He said, “Well, we started memorizing whole books of the Bible.” There were 13 people out of the 200 in there that had memorized half of the book of Genesis, all of the book of Matthew and all of the book of Luke. 13 people. There was one person in there who took their time to memorize in three years the entire book of Psalms. And out of the 200 believers collectively, they had the entire Bible memorized. There is no wonder why that place was on fire when this man got up to preach, amen?

Let me ask you a question? How will you ever do that or anything close to that if you don’t have accountability in your life? You see, it is hard for us to take the responsibility to be in the Word every single day if we don’t have someone asking us if we are in the Word every single day? And it is hard for us to memorize Scripture if we are not accountable to a group where we show up week in and week out and we have to recite that to the group and they have to recite that to us.

Friends, I think it is time for us to stop being stagnant in our Christian life, right? And it happens through accountability.

Now, I want you to hear what I am saying. I am not implying learning for the sake of learning because there are a lot of people that have a lot of Biblical facts in their mind, but they look nothing like Christ. And we know a picture of that in the New Testament of the Pharisees. You see, it is important for us to learn in order to apply to our lives. And we are not applying to our lives so we can check spiritual boxes, because it is easy for us to be man-centered and self-sufficient with our obedience where we are checking performance boxes, self-absorbed in legalism. It is hard to balance that.

Tullian Tchividjian, Billy Graham’s grandson, said this. He warned against moralistic accountability. He said, “I am all for accountability, but a certain kind of accountability. The accountability we really need is the kind that corrects our natural tendency to dwell on me, my obedience or lack thereof, my performance, good or bad, my holiness instead of Christ and His obedience and His performance and His holiness for me. It sometimes seems that we can’t help ourselves from turning the good news of God’s grace into a narcissistic program of self-improvement. We try to turn grace into law and we need to be held accountable not to do that.”

And so we see in this text that I think what the idea here is that the three-fold cord is held tight because there is an environment of accountability and encouragement, right? We need that. But more so than that, a Discipleship Group gives you a platform for confessing sin. It gives you a platform for confessing sin and urgent prayer.

Go to James Chapter 5…just go to the right. James Chapter 5 Verse 16. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.” I can’t tell you how important a discipling relationship is when your life falls apart and these guys you know are praying for you or these women are praying for you. Can anybody amen that? I mean, just like a life-saving environment for you. Life giving environment.

Pray for one another that you may be healed. That is a key word there. “The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” You see, within the confines of a trusting relationship, you will begin to feel comfortable confessing your short-comings and your sins and your transgressions to people. And the reason we do that is, look at the text, so that we may be healed.

Discipling relationships also give us an opportunity to pray for one another. Friends, whether you are struggling with sexual sins, financial setbacks, sickness, relational struggles or just emotional strain, we can all benefit from confessing our sins to someone we can trust. It is liberating at times in our life.

When we think about the devil, do you know what the devil always wants to do? He always wants to keep your sin secret. That is how he wins. You see, if he can keep your transgression in the dark, he wins. And I would submit to you today that if you have not seen victory…don’t miss this…if you have not seen victory in your life over a consistent persistent sin, I bet you are battling it alone. You haven’t told anyone. And the devil wants to keep it that way because that is how he wins.

Dietrich Bonheoffer said it this way. He said, “Sin demands to have a man or a woman by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over his or her life.”

Now you have to be careful who you entrust your deep dark secrets to. I am not saying you go out and tell someone tomorrow about your personal struggles. But the beautiful thing is, after a four or five month season with a group of men or a group of women and you feel the openness to share, I have seen so many people set free in that environment. That is one of the benefits of a discipling relationship.

Here is the final one. Not only do we meet for discipling relationships and accountability, for encouragement, confession of sin. Finally, to bear the burdens of others. To bear the burdens of others.

Go to Galatians Chapter 6 quickly. “Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens (there it is); in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

A Discipleship Group keeps the fuel on the fire in your life for God. It is a way for you to offer an encouraging word to someone. Maybe an edifying email, a scripture reference or a text message at just the appropriate time. We are called to carry one another’s burdens.

Now men have a problem with this because you and I were taught growing up that men are macho, right? We don’t cry. We don’t show our emotions, right? We are tough. We shouldn’t let people see us break down. Friends, if you comb the New Testament, you realize macho was never a word to describe Jesus. And He was a baddest man to ever walk the planet.

But I will give you two more that were used to describe Jesus: Meek and mild. That is Jesus. That is God. Meek and mild. You want to know what a tough man looks like? A tough man comes in to a group of trusting friends and confesses sin. That is what a real man looks like. A real man meets weekly in an accountable relationship. A real man shares his feelings. A real man learns from other men. A real man is accountable to another man. And a real man puts trust as a priority.

Do you want to know the greatest accountability partner you have in your life, for those who are married? It is your spouse. I have a lot of great accountability partners in my life, but I would never trade my spouse. Kandi is one of the greatest accountability partners I have ever had…the greatest accountability partner I have ever had in my life. Now, it is a trust relationship where I have given her, I have asked her to speak truth in my life. Does that hurt at times? You better believe it! Is it necessary? Indispensable. And guys, if you are not relying on your spouse, your wife and you wives, if you are not relying on your husband to speak truth in your life, you are missing out.

Now, in addition to that, pastors need to have a group of close friends in their life who can speak truth in their life as a feedback loop. Do you know, every Tuesday I ask six guys, many of them in this room, to come in my office. And guess what they do at the first half of our sermon prep time? They critique the message! Is that hard to hear at times? Sometimes. Is it helpful? You better believe it. Does it take putting pride aside? Absolutely. Is it important? Indispensable.

And so we all need accountable relationships in our life. Well, why do we need accountability? We need accountability for a number of reasons. We need it to read the Word of God. You need accountability to memorize Scripture. You need accountability to work hard at the office in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord. Do you know laziness is a sin? You need accountability in your life to avoid lustful attitudes, tempting thoughts, inappropriate conversations. You need accountability in your life to spend time with your family, your children. You need accountability to share the gospel with lost people. One of the reasons you are not sharing the gospel is you don’t have someone asking you if you are sharing the gospel with lost people. You need accountability in your life to show up to the weekly group.

Do you know the beautiful thing about a weekly Discipleship Group is that it has built-in accountability in it because you have to show up! You see, when I know I am going look guys eyeball-to-eyeball and give an account of my week, it does something to me. It changes me. Amen? And we need accountability in our life to live with integrity.

The late Howard Hendricks was the Professor of Dallas Theological Seminary. He talked about the importance of discipling relationships. And he said these words which are as relevant today as they were when he spoke them. He said, “After more than 45 years of working with men in terms of mentoring relationships, I can tell you now without reservation that the men who are making the greatest impact for God in this generation are the men who have placed themselves under the tutelage of other godly men.”

If you care about making any kind of difference with your life, in your work, with your family and your community and your faith, then you find someone who can help you grow and realize your life’s goals.

So let me ask you, what is your excuse now? Every person should be involved in all three of these discipling relationships. The large gathering weekly, the Life Group weekly and the Discipleship Group as well.

Let me pray for you to get started if you are not engaged in that. If you are, I want to encourage you to continue on.