I received the mandate to make disciples directly from the Lord Jesus. In the well-known text of Matthew 28:19, the Lord Jesus said: “…Go and make disciples of all nations.” This is a mandate, a commandment for every believer.
In Bethel Church this mandate has been put into practice for years, in various ways. In this way, many generations of disciples or disciple-makers grew and were formed, who applied the truths learned from Scripture and passed these truths on.
Our vision
Our vision is based on this mandate from Matthew 28:18-20 and we desire that every member of the church grow and become a true disciple of Christ. We want all those involved in the ministry of the church to learn and be trained and equipped in discipleship groups, forming themselves as workers who know and respect the norms of Scripture, but alongside them, we want this equipment for all the young people and active members of our church.
In the past
Being the first Romanian church in the city, Betel Church was the place where students came to worship during their studies. With the arrival of Brother Pitt – Petru Popovici to Timișoara, Bethel became a true training center for future ministers of the Gospel. The pastors who followed also encouraged the involvement of young people and students in preaching and village missions, with the aim of training them for ministry. Many of the students who came to our city’s colleges and who later became pastors preached for the first time in our church. Youth classes were true opportunities for interactive training of young people, with students occupying an important place in both organizing and leading the studies presented. In this way, our church has created a framework for decades in which 2 Timothy 2:2 has become a reality.
~ Petru Bulica
At present
Putting our vision into practice in the field of discipleship can be achieved by creating this context in which the youth of our church, and especially those involved in ministry in various departments, can develop their character and abilities and thus serve the Lord, in society in the place where God has placed them, but also in ministry in the church. Character and skill development can be achieved very well through personal Bible study, active participation and learning in church services, and also through the equipping done in small discipleship groups.
Our vision is also that those who visit our church, being students, will find at Bethel the place to be formed as future servant-leaders, who will be light and salt in the secular context in which they will operate and at the same time instruments in God’s hand used to build the churches of which they will be part.
It is our generation’s turn to put into practice what the Lord Jesus teaches us in Matthew 28:19 “Make disciples of all nations…”.
Currently, in our church, we have organized discipleship groups starting from a group that constitutes the basic nucleus, together with which we have gone through an equipment and training material. During the meetings with the core group, we addressed the equipping aimed at several directions:
– Mastering a method of studying the Bible effectively and that would be helpful for reading, studying and applying the Bible in our personal lives.
– We reviewed a material that was to be taught to the discipleship groups, material inspired by the life of Joseph.
– Reviewing, together with the core group, the material “How to Lead a Small Group”.
After training the core group of leader-teachers, the young people were assigned to these discipleship groups, the discipleship work being addressed especially to groups of high school students, young students and young adults.
The materials studied together with the discipleship groups were: The Life of Joseph, Women of the Bible, Identity in Christ, The Purpose-Driven Life, etc.
In parallel, homiletics courses began for the training of young people who will serve with preaching. These young people are given the necessary assistance in their preparation, and during the church’s evening services, they are given time to proclaim the Word of God. The example of past generations and the real need in our churches for mature lay leaders in faith have led us to make discipleship, mentoring, and the training of workers in the gospel field a growing priority within the work of Bethel.
Further, other young people join the discipleship groups, studying and preparing to be perfected and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
~Elder Ionică Olariu – coordinator of the discipleship ministry