I’m not trying to disparage or dismiss biblically grounded programs that can help build a culture of discipleship and manly servanthood, but they should align with and reinforce what is proclaimed on Sunday mornings.
What concerns me is that many churches and their ministries to men overlook the core discipleship program the New Testament prescribes: the corporate worship gathering. In fact, few churches see their men’s ministries as an extension and derivative of the Sunday assembly.
Sunday worship service is more fundamental to Christian growth than any grafted-on program. The Sunday gathering is the primary tutor and discipler of a local congregation, particularly its men because of what it proclaims and the pattern it sets.
The “gathering” is what gives fuel to anything else we
do. It is the launching point. It must be prioritized that way. And if the
gathering is done right, it makes far more than attenders.
We gather on Sundays to worship God and to be grown by Him through His Word—His life-creating, life-maintaining, life-sanctifying Word (John 1:3-4; Heb. 1:1; John 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:16). Scripture regulates the service as it is read, sung, and preached (1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:1–3), we proclaim its truths (Col. 3:16), pray its hopes (Eph. 6:18), visualize its message through the sacraments (1 Cor. 11:26; 10:21); and learn to see and savor Christ.
A Sunday morning gathering isn’t a production or show. It’s not marked by entertainment, pageantry or sophistry. There is but an audience of One – the only true God worthy of our praise, trust and allegiance. It is the place where we are served the most important, nourishing meal of the week.
In other words, the corporate worship gathering prepares and equips us to be ambassadors of God’s Kingdom called, empowered to disciple, evangelize and love one another. Other gatherings within the church during the week supplement and deepen what we hear, say, and do on Sundays.
Discipling flows from the pastors to the people from Sunday to every other day of the week. Every discipling conversation, every Bible study, every counseling appointment, and every evening of family worship echoes the Word as its taught and modeled on Sundays. This is the basic shape of biblical ministry: the church gathers and then scatters; the saints rest and then work; the pastors preach and then the people present, portray and protect the gospel. One discipling event leads to and orders the rest.
Prioritize the Sunday gathering. Read Scripture there knowing that God uses it to save souls and sustain faith, and model what ought to be done when they leave the building at home. Do multiple readings. Read whole chapters. Recite Scripture corporately.
Pray in your gathering. Pray knowing it increases our trust in God and intimacy with him. Pray with and for one another: praising God, confessing sin, pleading for the lost, lifting-up neighboring churches, and interceding for our brothers and sisters by name.
And preach. Preach knowing God speaks through His Word to raise the dead, stir the idle, encourage the weak, feed the hungry, and mend the wounded. Exposition of Scripture will leave us better equipped to teach one another. Interpret Scripture with Scripture.
How does a church begin to make disciples? Through its corporate gathering. While the gathering isn’t sufficient to bring believers to full maturity in Christ, it’s the engine that drives all those other good, God-besotted efforts.
Adapted from Foolproof Discipling From Corporate Worship By John Sarver
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