Oakwood Church
The Character of a Disciple-Maker
Locations & Times
Oakwood Community Church
11209 Casey Rd, Tampa, FL 33618, USA
Sunday 8:00 AM
2 Timothy 2:2
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
Making disciples is less about your competence and far more about your character.
“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.”
~ Billy Graham
~ Billy Graham
Character is measured by your likeness to God’s character.
Ephesians 4:12-14
“to equip the saints for ministry until we all attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
“to equip the saints for ministry until we all attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
“The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life , not good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly.”
~ Oswald Chambers
~ Oswald Chambers
Character is gauged by general tendencies, not by a few isolated actions.
Genesis 4:7
“Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
“Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
Unrepentant sin is unruled sin. It turns isolated acts of disobedience into habits of disobedience.
Psalm 51:10
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me…Restore to me the joy of my salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me…Restore to me the joy of my salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
A month of temptation. Satan and the flesh have been on me hard on the dreadful old level of breasts and bodies. How God holds my soul in His life and permits one with such wretchedness to continue in His service, I cannot tell. Oh, it has been hard. I have been really low inside me struggling and casting myself hourly on Christ for help. But though the flesh conspire, Lord, let the Spirit conquer!” ~ Jim Elliot
What are the character qualities of a disciple-maker?
• Above Reproach
1 Timothy 3:2
“Therefore an overseer must be above reproach.”
• Above Reproach
1 Timothy 3:2
“Therefore an overseer must be above reproach.”
"Take heed to yourselves, lest your example contradict your doctrine, and lest you lay such stumbling-blocks before the blind, as may be the occasion of their ruin; lest you unsay with your lives, what you say with your tongues; and be the greatest hinderers of the success of your own labours.… One proud, surly, lordly word, one needless contention, one covetous action, may cut the throat of many loving words, and blast the fruit of all that you have been doing." ~ Richard Baxter
What are the character qualities of a disciple-maker?
• Self-mastery
1 Timothy 3:2&3
“sober-minded, self-controlled, … not violent but gentle.”
• Self-mastery
1 Timothy 3:2&3
“sober-minded, self-controlled, … not violent but gentle.”
Ephesians 5:18
“Don’t be intoxicated with wine but be filled with the Spirit.”
“Don’t be intoxicated with wine but be filled with the Spirit.”
Proverbs 7:6 & 21
“For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.”
“For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.”
Proverbs 4:23
“To keep his heart with all vigilance, because from it flows the springs of life.”
“To keep his heart with all vigilance, because from it flows the springs of life.”
What are the character qualities of a disciple-maker?
• Hospitality
Luke 14:22
“When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment comes to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
• Hospitality
Luke 14:22
“When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment comes to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
“Those who live out radically ordinary hospitality see their homes not as theirs but as God’s gift to use for the furtherance of his kingdom.”
“We live in a post-Christian world that is sick and tired of hearing from Christians. But who could argue with mercy-driven hospitality?”
~ Rosaria Butterfield
“We live in a post-Christian world that is sick and tired of hearing from Christians. But who could argue with mercy-driven hospitality?”
~ Rosaria Butterfield
Making disciples is less about your competence and far more about your character.
Ezekiel 22:30
And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”
And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”
Give me a man of God—one man,
Whose faith is master of his mind,
And I will right all wrongs
And bless the name of all mankind.
Give me a man of God—one man,
Whose tongue is touched with heaven’s fire,
And I will flame the darkest hearts
With high resolve and clean desire.
Give me a man of God—one man,
One mighty prophet of the Lord,
And I will give you peace on earth,
Bought with a prayer and not a sword.
Give me a man of God—one man,
True to the vision that he sees,
And I will build your broken churches,
And bring the nations to their knees.
~ George Liddle
Whose faith is master of his mind,
And I will right all wrongs
And bless the name of all mankind.
Give me a man of God—one man,
Whose tongue is touched with heaven’s fire,
And I will flame the darkest hearts
With high resolve and clean desire.
Give me a man of God—one man,
One mighty prophet of the Lord,
And I will give you peace on earth,
Bought with a prayer and not a sword.
Give me a man of God—one man,
True to the vision that he sees,
And I will build your broken churches,
And bring the nations to their knees.
~ George Liddle