What can I do to mature?

So what is the church’s local purpose?

I received an understanding from Mark 16 and Matt 28 that Activate church community has a critical local purpose and mission to accomplish:

1) Allow the Holy Spirit within believers to be expressed to others

2) Appeal others to become followers of Jesus Christ

3) Go and demonstrate Father God's love to all

As was previously discussed with mentoring young believers, I start with helping them build a relationship the Holy Spirit within them. Then the second priority with a young believer is on maturing them through disciplines and character development (the focus of Jesus). In other words, asking a believer to grow up is not ultimately for them but the community. The goal is not self-centeredness but to become a mature, responsible member of the society. So success in character development does not puff up the new believer but they understand that they are just becoming more like Jesus and His Bride.

The disciplines that Jesus spoke of for his followers are: 1) praise, 2) thanksgiving, 3) supplication, 4) meditation, 5) communion, 6) fasting, 7) reading/hearing the Bible, 8) studying the Bible, 9) memorizing the Bible, 10) exercising the Holy Spirit fruits and gifts, 11) asking for forgiveness and forgiving others, and 12) acts of mercy and compassion. They are broken down into three areas and based on which one a young believer is struggling with, you can encourage a focus on those disciplines.

With a young believer growing in relationship with the Holy Spirit plus maturing in the disciplines and character of Jesus, Father God can greatly use him/her to reach the world. The gospel preached of Jesus Christ will be relational and appealing to others.