Discipling

All the great revivals of church history began with people getting away from the accepted methods of the church and finding more relevant methods to share the unchanging gospel. GCIC is not interested in rebellion; rather we are interested in obeying Jesus’ command to disciple all nations following Paul’s principle of doing whatever is necessary to accomplish it. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23) If people are worshiping false gods we will not condemn them for that, but illustrate the need that activity exposes and how the one true God can fill that need. (Acts 17:22-24) If the people in our community are interested in fast paced music that is popular in the bars we will take those types of tunes and put God’s words to them, much as many of our hymns were developed. If our community is facing great financial difficulties we will apply the Word to those issues and show them how God can help them through this time. Does God’s Word apply to our lives today? Yes! Is it relevant? Yes!

Our society is one that is far from God, but comes from a Christian heritage. This has developed a common perception that to hear from God one must go to church on Sunday morning about 11 am. That is why GCIC uses the 11 am service as an outreach to unsaved people. The service is not about us. It is about obeying Jesus in His command to His followers to disciple all nations. Are we like the group I once heard of: gathering people around for an exciting message of how they needed God and if they were to pray right then, they would be saved - after a head count the evangelizers take off to never see the converts again? Absolutely not! GCIC uses the service for multiple purposes, but for the unsaved it is for connecting them to God and to a discipling group. Discipling is more than just converting people to Christ followers; it is also developing them into leaders/ministers in God’s kingdom. We will have regular training sessions for anyone that wants to become a member, move into a position of leadership and for ongoing development. Our community groups will be led by godly men and women in non-threatening environments with a focus on applying scripture to their lives. (Jesus ministry in fields, parties and other places comfortable to those He was ministering to) Our services will be attractive to the unchurched, but have an undiluted gospel. The primary purpose of the Sunday service at GCIC is to connect the lost with God and plug them into discipleship.