"Who Is Your Paul?"
December 12, 2010

Senior Pastor Dr. David Craig

Date:  December 12, 2010 - WEFC

Sermon Title:  "Who Is Your Paul?" - Sermon 3 of Colossians Series

Text:  Colossians 1 : 1b

Sermon Notes for "Who Is Your Paul?"

( Click here to download or open the Word document file for these notes. )

Who Is Your Paul? (Philippians 3:1-18)

(Christ – Centered Living Part 3 - Colossians 1:1b – December 12, 2010)

 

Mentoring: What it is and Why it’s Practice is Crucial

 

“Mentoring is a relational experience in which one person empowers another by sharing God-given resources.” - Paul Stanley & J.R. Clinton

 

“Discipling is a relational process in which a more experienced follower of Christ shares with a newer believer the commitment, understanding, and basic skills necessary to know and obey Jesus as Lord.” - Paul Stanley & J.R. Clinton

 

“A discipler is one who helps an understudy (1) give up his own will for the will of God the Father, (2) live daily a life of spiritual sacrifice for the glory of Christ, and (3) strive to be consistently obedient to the commands of his Master. A mentor, on the other hand, provides modeling, close supervision on special projects, individualized help in many areas—discipline, encouragement, correction, confrontation, and a calling to accountability.” – Ted Engstrom (The Fine Art of Mentoring)

 

“Mentoring is a process of opening our lives to others, of sharing our lives with others; a process of living for the next generation.” – Ron Lee Davis

 

• If you are planting for a year, plant grain.

If you are planting for a decade, plant trees.

If you are planting for a century, plant people. – Old Chinese Proverb

 

• More time spent with fewer people equals greater lasting impact for God. – Principle of Mentoring from the Life of Jesus

 

• Some Biblical Examples of Mentoring: Moses mentored Joshua, Naomi mentored her daughter-in-law, Ruth, Ezra mentored Nehemiah, Elijah mentored Elisha, Elizabeth mentored her cousin Mary. Barnabas mentored Paul and John Mark, Paul mentored his spiritual son Timothy. Paul also mentored Priscilla and Aquila, who in turn mentored Apollos.

 

 

 

 

THE JOB DESCRIPTION OF A MENTOR

(Adapted from Ron Lee Davis, Mentoring, pp. 50-51)

 

1. A willingness to spend the time it takes to build an intensely bonded relationship with the learner.
2. A commitment to believing in the potential and future of the learner; to telling the learner what kind of exciting future you see ahead for him or her; to visualizing and verbalizing the possibilities of his or her life.
3. A willingness to be vulnerable and transparent before the learner, willing to share not only strengths and successes, but also weaknesses, failures, brokenness, and sins.
4. A willingness to be honest yet affirming in confronting the learner’s errors, faults, and areas of immaturity.
5. A commitment to standing by the learner through trials—even trials that are self-inflicted as a result of ignorance or error.
6. A commitment to helping the learner set goals for his or her spiritual life, career, or ministry, and to helping the learner dream his or her dream.
7. A willingness to objectively evaluate the learner’s progress toward his or her goal.
8. Above all, a commitment to faithfully put into practice all that one teaches the learner.

 

·         “Be what you would have your pupils to be.” – Thomas Carlyle

 

·         “A mentor is not a person who can do the work better than his followers. He is a person who can get his followers to do the work better than he can.” - Fred Smith

 

·         “In truth, the deepest dimensions of the Christian life cannot simply be taught in a classroom or a book. They must be heard, seen, studied intently, handled, lived, and experienced in order to be proven and assimilated.” – Ron Lee Davis

 

 

 

 

Who Is Your Paul or Elizabeth?

 

·         Do you have a spiritual mentor who is pouring his/her life into you the way Paul poured his life into Timothy or Elizabeth poured her life into her cousin Mary?

 

·         Do you have someone you can go to for wise counsel?

 

·         Do you have someone who is a godly example for you and a model worth imitating?

 

·         Do you have someone who lives out biblical values and spiritual maturity?

 

·         Do you have someone with solid skills that can help you improve where you are weak?

 

 

 

 

 

Guide for Community Discussion and Further Study

 

1)      What do you wish someone would have taught you or modeled for you in your teens, twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties (etc.) in the following areas: a) Spiritually (e.g. - how to study the Bible; share your faith; pray, etc.); b) Financially, e.g. - spending, saving, investing, tithing; c) Life skills (e.g. - decision making, what to look for in a spouse; management of people; sales; using tools; cooking, etc.)?

 

 

2)      If you knew you only had three months to live what do you think are the three most important truths that you would want to pass on to your best friend’s, children, grand – children, employer’s, employees, co-workers, neighbors, etc. Why?

 

 

3)      If you had one hour with someone who didn’t know Christ and they asked you, “Why should I become a Christian?” What would you say to them?

 

 

4)      Out of all the things that Jesus could have had us do, and focus on until He returns, why do you think being and making disciples is the most important? How strategic and focused are you on being and making disciples?

 

 

5)      What are the most important values, skills, and convictions that you have been taught? Who taught these to you? Who are you passing these on to?

 

 

6)      This is a hard one to answer, but think and talk about how your life would be different without mentors, disciple makers, teachers, etc. In other words what would life be like without education, modeling, or anyone investing in your future? What are some practical things you can do to invest in one person this week (especially with relevance for that which will last for eternity)?

 

 

7)      What are the three most important Scripture passages (can be chapters or verses) to you? Why? What truths from these verses have you passed on to others? Read Deuteronomy Chapter 6. The Israelites were to pass on God’s truth and works to their children. What are you passing on – teachings, values, skills – what difference do you hope that this will make in the world that you leave behind and on into eternity?

 

 

8)      Reread Philippians 3:1-18. What does Paul identify as a waste of time, and what does He make a priority in his own life? How can you apply these same principles in your own life?

 

( Click here to download or open the Word document file for these notes. )

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