Why do we Equip?
30th August 2022
Equip is both the name and the aim of our youth and adult discipleship. The reason for this is found in Paul's letter to the Ephesians:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)
Being equipped is how Paul describes our discipleship. He gives various goals for this equipping, including:
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being able to do the work of ministry and make new disciples
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strengthening the church in faith, knowledge of Jesus, and love for one another
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increasing maturity of faith and Christlikeness
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an ability to look at our world and identify what is righteous and what is not
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a confidence in Jesus and His unchanging Word in the midst of a changing world
By being equipped in these things, we are better able to be disciples who live for Jesus and who make disciples.
Theme for this year
Our theme for Equip this year is '
preparation'. I like to be prepared and whenever I read the account of Joseph in Genesis I get a bit jealous because God told Pharaoh about the trial they were about to face and gave them time to prepare. This isn't the pattern for life though, is it? We don't get advance warning of trials and difficulties however the Bible does tell us that they will come.
Our hope is that through Equip this year, we will be able to become better prepared for what God already knows will come.
Prepared for Growth
We aim to be equipped so we are prepared to be ambassadors of Christ, to be salt and light, to share the gospel, and to play our part in discipling new believers and members. To be those who are prepared to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel and who have been well equipped to work for the spread of the gospel wherever God places us.
Prepared for Hardship
We aim to be equipped so we are prepared for difficulties that may come our way and that our reaction to sickness and death would be different from the world. That we would respond to difficulty with hope and with a desire to alleviate suffering through good deeds and love.
Structure for this year
First Tuesday of the month: This is our whole church prayer gathering. We pray at many different times but this is a focussed meeting for the whole church to gather together for prayer. These are the most important Tuesdays of the year! It is such an encouraging thing to hear others pray and to be encouraged in prayer ourselves.
The first part of our Equip year will be focussing on How to Study our Bibles and we will be continuing to use the Genesis material by Jen Wilkin, entitled God of Creation. This material is excellent at helping us understand Genesis but also to become more confident in how we read and understand the Bible for ourselves. We'll also have a few Basics of Bible Study sessions to help us as we seek to read God's word ourselves.
Then later in the year, we will take some time to work through material that will equip us to follow Jesus in every area of life as we look at God's calling for his people in the world.
Getting involved
Equip is for all adults and young people (S4 and up - although younger secondary-age young people have been coming and finding it very useful) in the church and, along with Sundays, is our primary opportunity to grow together in community. It runs every Tuesday evening at 7.30pm - 9pm. We begin with tea/coffee and cake, have a time of worship, and then move into our teaching and discussion for the evening.
We would love you to sign-up to join a group - there will be a sheet available over the next couple of Sundays and you can enter your details below if you wish to take part.
There is also a Zoom group for those who are unable to get out in-person. This group allows you to watch the material that everyone else is watching and then discuss with one another.
I'd like to sign-up to join an Equip group:
Alan Stirling, 30/08/2022