Master Class - wk2

"Gather"

Matthew 16:13-20

Dr. Gary Singleton & Chris Havard

If you’re a parent, you have probably encouraged your child to get involved in a group activity like sports, or band, or ballet.  These activities help your child get some exercise and develop social skills.  But if most parents are completely honest, they know these activities also help keep kids out of trouble.  Is that why God commands us to gather together?  Is He afraid that if we don’t gather on Sunday mornings we’ll get in some kind of trouble?
 
We believe God’s purpose for gathering goes much deeper than just keeping us out of trouble.  We see His purpose clearly when we look at a day in the life of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 16:13-20.  On this day, Jesus gathered a small group of men around Him – His twelve disciples.  During the course of His ministry, Jesus spent time in groups of all sizes.  But as we look at the groups that gathered around Him, we see that those most impacted by His ministry were the ones who gathered closest to Him.  This week we look at the second of our 5 G’s – Gather.  We will learn from Jesus that believers are produced in large gatherings, but small gatherings produce disciple-makers.