See Part 1 Here for the First 2 Convictions that have grown stronger over the past 10 years.

Click Here for Audio of Sunday’s Message

Conviction #3: MAKING DISCIPLES IS OUR DUTY AND DELIGHT… AND STARTS AT HOME… BUT EXTENDS TO THE NATIONS

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I have always been the “missions guy.” Missions is in my DNA. But making disciples is more than mission trips and missions partnerships… it is a lifestyle.

My greatest moments at OPBC have been baptizing those that I have had the opportunity to lead to Christ and to continue to disciple. I have loved watching fathers baptize their children and I’m overjoyed when whole families have come to Christ together.

OPBC has a long, rich history of training up and sending out young men into ministry. I am blessed to have had an opportunity to be a part of the ministry of several young men serving around the Commonwealth of Virginia and continuing to serve in our local church.

Who are you discipling? Parents… start with your children. Then find someone who needs to know of Christ and grow in Christ. Invest in them… it is of eternal significance.

Conviction #4: BIBLICAL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IS ESSENTIAL TO OUR HEALTH AND GROWTH

Romans 12:1-8 Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function, so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If someone’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Followers of Christ need the Body of Christ… the local church. And the Body of Christ needs followers of Christ to be committed to serving and building up the body. Each part is essential. This is just as true as ever… and I believe it more than ever.

Conviction #5: BIBLICAL LEADERSHIP IS NECESSARY FOR US TO GROW AND GO

Ephesians 4:11-16 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Understanding that the Church belongs to Jesus and that the Word of God dictates what leadership looks like… we MUST follow God’s blueprint for His Church. Training, growing, utilizing gifts… serving, praying, building others up. Biblical church leadership will grow the church the way God wants it grown… into Christ-likeness.

Later in the week… 5 more convictions… ones that are new or have changed over the past 10 years.