For Those Who Serve

All of the links below will take you to consecutive chapters of a book by David Servant titled The Disciple-Making Minister. Although written primarily for ministers, The Disciple-Making Minister can benefit anyone who desires to serve in the body of Christ. The second two chapters deal primarily with the subject of house churches, and would be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more on that subject. To purchase a copy of The Disciple-Making Minister, click here.

You are welcome to distribute printed copies of these documents, or copy and paste these documents to distribute via email, as long as the documents are unaltered and kept in their entirety (including copyright notices), and are not sold for profit. However, if you wish to post any of this material on your website or anywhere else online, you must first contact us to get permission. ©2007 by David Servant

Chapter 1: Setting the Right Goal
Unless a minister sets the right God-given goal, he is destined to fail from the start. God has given the same general goal to every minister, and that is to make disciples who obey all of Christ’s commands.

Chapter 2: Beginning Rightly
Christ expected new believers to immediately be His disciples. This stands in contrast to the modern practice of trying to persuade “believers” to commit themselves to Christ and become His disciples, which only results in frustration for ministers. This chapter shows how to begin rightly.

Chapter 3: Continuing Properly
The biblical and modern cultural role of the pastor are compared in this chapter. According to Scripture, what does a minister need in terms of education and facilities to successfully make disciples?

Chapter 4: House Churches
House churches are a biblical alternative to institutional churches with buildings, and they have many advantages for making disciples as Christ commanded.

Chapter 5: Church Growth
There are right and wrong ways to grow your church, and there are limitations to church growth that this chapter addresses. Are you building with wood, hay and straw, or with gold, silver and precious gems?

Chapter 6: The Ministry of Teaching
Many ministers are unwittingly undoing their own teaching by their own example. This chapters takes a look at the disciple-making minister’s goals, motives, methods, audience and subject matter as it relates to his teaching.

Chapter 7: Biblical Interpretation
To be an effective, a minister must be able to interpret scripture rightly. This chapter considers the three most important rules of Bible interpretation and offers many examples of the application and misapplication of those rules.

Chapter 8: The Sermon on the Mount
This chapter is offered as an example of how to teach by exposition (verse by verse) and to help disciple-making ministers teach their disciples to obey all of Christ’s commandments, many of which are found in the Sermon on the Mount. According to what Jesus said repeatedly in this sermon, only the holy will inherit God’s kingdom.

Chapter 9: Jesus’ Favorite Preacher
Jesus’ favorite preacher was not a Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Anglican or Roman Catholic. He was a Baptist! Discover why he was Jesus’ favorite and how you can imitate him.

Chapter 10: The New Birth
Jesus said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). What did He mean? How can one be born again? What happens when someone is born again?

Chapter 11: The Baptism in the Holy Spirit
Scripture teaches that being baptized in the Holy Spirit is an experience that is subsequent to being born of the Spirit. It is when God empowers us to be His witnesses. How is this baptism received? What does speaking in other tongues have to do with this?

Chapter 12: Women in Ministry
Can women be leaders in the body of Christ? Can they teach or preach the gospel? Can they serve as pastors? In this chapter, David considers at a wealth of scriptures that bring needed balance to this controversial topic.

Chapter 13: Divorce and Remarriage

Chapter 14: Fundamentals of Faith

Chapter 15: Divine Healing

Chapter 16: The Healing Ministry of Jesus

Chapter 17: The Gifts of the Spirit

Chapter 18: The Ministry Gifts

Chapter 19: In-Christ Realities

Chapter 20: Praise and Worship

Chapter 21: The Christian Family

Chapter 22: How to Be Led by the Spirit

Chapter 23: The Sacraments

Chapter 24: Confrontation, Forgiveness and Reconciliation