hebrews 12:1 ‘run with perseverance’

transformationtrack

Welcome to Nairobi Chapel. We are a faith community intent on "Growing

D.E.E.P. to reach W.I.D.E.!" Our desire is to see that each and every person

that God brings through our doors has a life changing encounter and begins

to live a life of purpose. That they grow in their relationship with God, and

become more Christ-like as his disciple.

Daily Devotions :

E-Group :

Engagement :

Pulpit :

Nothing causes personal spiritual growth like developing the discipline of reading

God's word daily and listening to his leading and direction for the day. So we work hard at helping our

members learn how to listen to God for themselves on a daily basis.

Spending time with others who love the Lord, studying his Word, praying for each other and

growing together is one other sure way to grow rapidly in our walk with God. Our desire is that each

member of our church be in a small, home fellowship bible study, which we call an E-Group (E stands for

Ecclesia which is the Greek word used in the bible for "church").

God has given each Christian a special mix of gifting to uniquely bless his people with. The

Bible calls these "Spiritual Gifts". You have one, I have one, and when you use yours, God specially

empowers you to bring about results that will blow you away. Just that also grows you as you see God

using you among his people in his own unique way.

The pulpit symbolizes Sunday gatherings for us - the place of celebration, worship, gratitude to

God, teaching from his word, friendships, joy. Sunday service is a weekly event to look forward to . . . and

boy does the Chapel pulpit grow you!

DEEP for us means

D

E

E

P

Witness :

Impact :

Discipleship :

Establish

to 1 million people. To do this we have to creatively engage different avenues, media,

crusades or whatever means possible to get the task done.

Social impact that will change the lives of our people significantly, especially of the poor

and needy around us. We can bring about social impact via two different ways; firstly is by working

closely with the poor to alleviate poverty; and secondly is by each being faithful disciples of Christ

in the specific sector of society he has placed us. We talk about the six sectors of society being the

arts and media; business and commerce; governance and politics; church and religion; science and

medicine; and finally family and education. Everyone works in one or more of these sectors, and if

we were all faithful disciples shining for Jesus and justice where he's placed us we would change

this world.

Our commitment being to disciple 100,000 people outside of Chapel into maturity.

That means we would have to publish materials, books and curriculum that others can use to grow

people.

and plant 300 churches.

WIDE is our vision for where we want to go by the year 2020.

W

I

D

EThe Transformation Track (T-Track)

The Transformation Track is our strategy for fulfilling this vision. It's a simple step by step process that shows

you where you are in the process, and how much further you have to go to be the sort of disciple God uses to

expand his kingdom as he has called us as a church. Imagine what would happen if we all run the track with

purpose, intent on changing the world around us. What great impact we'd have. The bible call us in Heb 12:1 "

... to run with perseverance the race marked before us . . ." Are you in? Are you running?

The Transformati

Networks

on Track (T-Track)

This part of the track focuses on reaching out to our social

contacts, friends, family and the world in need of Christ.

God has given us many relationships that we can redeem

for him. We are like a bridge between Him, and our friends,

Ambassadors to reach them for Christ.

Each of us exists within a network of friends, family and

colleagues. These points of contact with society are who

we want to invite to come and worship God with us. If each

one of us invited a friend to church each month, we could

reach 12 friends for Christ in a year . . . sounds small, but

that means our church could grow by 1,200% in one year!

And those friends would invite their friends and so forth.

Amazing! Talk about explosive growth! In the gospels that's

how Jesus disciples came together . . . one invited the next.

So our first strategy to grow as a church is to invite our

friends to church.

Another strategy is to go out and present the gospel to

people who would not normally go to church by first

inviting them to a social event, a musical concert, play,

outing, gathering that they feel comfortable going to, and

presenting Christ to them there before we invite them to

church. Some people need that half-way house before they

venture into a church. So we create as many such events

and opportunities as is necessary to invite friends to.

A third is to go out into the community and introduce

ourselves. Geographical communities is one, but social

internet networks are another - on Facebook, Twitter or

MySpace or a host of others.

All these are intended to get our friends to visit church with us so they can see a church with a difference, and

can get to hear a clear presentation of the gospel of our Lord. The bible says in Acts 2 that all the disciples in

Jerusalem were filled with AWE when they went to church, and we want this to be our guests experience. This

happens through our 5 WOWS:

1. By the way we receive and greet them in a friendly, caring way. We want them to say , "Wow, these people

really appreciate my visit".

2. By the way we worship in a God inspired way. We want them to say "Wow, these people really love the

Lord".

3. By the way we share stories of faith showing how a real God acts in real lives in real situations. We want

them to say "Wow, these people really know and connect with God".

4. By the way we preach and address real, day-to-day issues. We want them to say "Wow, these people really

receive clear guidance from God, and I didn't even know the bible talks about such practical issues".

5. And finally by the way we enjoy each other after the service as we mill around, greet one another and just

enjoy the fun of being a community together. We want them to say "Wow, I want some of this, they're so

friendly and joyful. I want friends like these".

After such a service, it's our hope that our guests and friends would say "I'll be back”.

Once a person visits us, they have prayerfully began the

journey towards Christ. Our next desire for them is that

they settle down with us, and call this their church. We are

intentional about reaching out to them beyond the first

visit. So here's what we do.

Karibu tent : Our hospitality tent is where our visitors go

after the service to meet with other guests and chapel

members. Our pastors are also in attendance so the guests

can connect directly. At the Karibu tent they receive a

special gift that will begin them on their journey to

connecting more deeply with God - it's a surprise that

changes from month to month. The Karibu tent is also a

place for laughter, fun, friendship, bonding and a soda or a

hot 'cuppa-tea' for our guests.

Our pastors keep contact allowing our guest to again

connect directly with a pastor after their visit. We invite

them to guide us on how to pray with them, and re-invite

them back to church the following Sunday. There's another

surprise for our guests after this call!

The next Sunday we invite our second time visitors to join

us at the "Rudi" tent after the service. The return visitor is

very, very important because they show in their second

visit that they really are thinking of settling down with you,

which is exactly what we want them to do. So we receive

our return visitors as extra special guests! We answer their

questions and we connect them to other church members.

Most important of all we discuss where they are in their

spiritual journey, and how we can help them progress.

‘run with perseverance’

Connect you with God (help you understand God and your Christian faith better)

Connect you with community (help you know and bond with 10 other people)

Connect with your church(help you know your spiritual gift and how you can serve your church)

Connect with your destiny (help you know what God's call on your life and destiny is and how you can serve his kingdom)

At the Rudi tent we point our guests to Plug-in. Plug-in is designed to:

Powerful stuff this Plug-In is, but boy you should hear the testimonies of those who have gone thru it, how it

changed their lives, how it gave them real friends, how it awakened their love for God, and how it

completely caused them to fall in love with Chapel!

At the end of Plug-In you'll be able to say with conviction "This is my Church!"

In Colossians 1:28, the Apostle Paul said "We proclaim him,

admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so

that we may present everyone mature in Christ." His

biggest life goal was to help each Christian become mature

in their faith. That's what the church ultimately exists for.

Jesus commanded us in his very last words to us, what we

call the great commission (Mt 28:19) ". . . go and make

disciples . . . teaching them to obey everything I have

commanded you.”

That's what the church exists for - to make disciples. So the

third part of our T-Track is where we make disciples.

Our small groups seek to accomplish four objectives

outlined as the A, B, C, D of E-Groups.

A - Accountability Being a Christian has more far reaching implications than

merely attending church on sundays. The home setting

provides the ideal environment for transparency and

openness. A person is able to find real friendship, intimacy,

counsel and accountability. Many people have testified

how a small group of friends stood by them in times of

need or how their advice helped them make Godly

decisions when faced with a crisis. This includes openness

about relationships, work, areas of weakness, devotion to

God and all other aspects of life. Members are to counsel,

remind, admonish, pray and provoke one another to Godly

deeds

B - Belonging

In our fast paced society, life is becoming more and more

individualistic. E-Groups seek to draw people into

community where faith and life will meet and grow. We

want each of our E-Group member to come to the place

where they can confidently say “This is my family” when

they refer to their E-Groups.

C - Care With the church growing at a fast rate it is easy to feel alone and uncared for when we go through some of life’s

challenges. The E-Group is best placed to give pastoral care to its members in different life stages e.g. birth of a

new child, bereavement, weddings etc

D - Discipleship

E-Groups are our strongest avenue for discipleship and transformation. They complement our Sunday services

by providing an informal and relaxed atmosphere conducive for growth that allows people to actively live out

the gospel. This is where the DEEP part of our mission statement happens in the childrens’, teens and adult

ministries. Members are able to ask themselves as a community, “how can we apply these teaching in our

homes, Ekklesia and work places?” The intent is to see people actively living out the gospel - disciples making

disciples.

That's what the focus of our E-Groups is. When one completes the Plug-In study, and joins an E-Group, they also

become a "Chapelite Member" of the church. A chapelite member is someone who believes in and supports our

church mission, and is involved in serving in the church. They are therefore known to the pastors and leaders of

the church, and can proudly say, with conviction, "This is my church!”

A Chapelite Member makes 6 commitments to their church :1. Has completed Plug-In and attends an E-Group

regularly.

2. Attends Sunday services regularly.

3. Is committed to pray for the church.

4. Is using their spiritual gift to serve in a ministry of the

church.

5. Is committed to tithe to the church.

6. Is submitted to the authority and leadership of the

Pastors and Elders.

Our E-Group curriculum is centrally directed offering

various courses that cover the pillars of our faith. Our goal is

that anyone who completes these courses is really

grounded firmly in their Christian faith.

We have a 10 course curriculum for our small groups,

Once an E-Group member completes this curriculum, then

they become a registered member of the church, and are

called a Shepherd Leader, indicating that they now serve

the church as a shepherd of the flock, and make decisions

that determine the future of the church. We consider this to

be a position of high honor.

So what does a mature disciple, a Shepherd Leader look

like? We define maturity using the acronym "F.A.I.T.H."

which are what we believe are characteristics every mature

disciple should display

F - has a Firm foundation in the Word : displayed by ones familiarity with the Word of God, knowledge of the

bible, its books, their themes, and how to interpret it and apply it to life.

A - has an Active devotional Life - A disciple gives attention to the disciples of worship, bible study, prayer,

tithing, fasting, small group fellowship, evangelism, and service, as the bible teaches us.

I - Is Involved in the church, or a kingdom ministry, exercising the gifts of the Spirit as God has apportioned it to

them, and playing their role in the life of the body.

T - displays and can testify to a Transformed character - evidenced by their behavior, convictions, values and

lifestyle.

H - has a Heart for the World, displayed by their practice and conviction about personal evangelism, and in their

support and involvement in missions.

It is to these mature disciples that the awesome task of leading the Chapel, and seeking the Lord on its vision

and future falls. Shepherd leaders become "Covenant Members" of the church by taking the necessary 6 weeks

Membership Class. Covenant membership enable them to determine the future of the church, vote on

important decisions, and serve as Elders in the church when opportunity arises. The membership class looks at

Chapel's vision, where we're going, our distinctives, God's unique call on us, our leadership structure and the

responsibilities of a member.

Qualities and expectations of a Covenant Member

1. Is above 18 yrs of age.

2. Has accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, completed the E-Group curriculum and attended the

Covenant Membership Class.

3. Is committed to Godly conduct in their day to day life, displaying the marks of a F.A.I.T.H.ful disciple of

Christ.

4. Attends Sunday services regularly.

5. Has embraced Chapel's vision and is committed to pray for the church.

6. Is using their spiritual gift to serve in a ministry of the church.

7. Is committed to tithe to the church.

8. Recognizes and submits to the leadership of the Pastors and Elders.

9. Renews their membership on an annual basis.

10. Attends the Leadership Meetings (AGM, Leaders Day, Special General Meetings) of the church and has

missed no more than two consecutive ones.

This also brings us to our final stage of spiritual growth on

the T-Track, the SEND phase. We begin training Shepherd

Leaders in "The Leadership Principles of the Kingdom",

with the intention that wherever they go, they will be a

force for Jesus. Shepherd leaders serve within the church,

but we want to grow them to become "Frontline Leaders"

who serve beyond the church, whose focus is the world out

there, and who are ready to go and engage their faith in

hands on social change and kingdom impact.

The school of leadership development is called the

"Tyrannus Hall" after the Hall of Tyrannus that the Apostle

Paul taught at in Acts 19:9. Our Kinara Leadership Program

is the Tyrannus Hall track for developing pastoral

leadership and church planters inhouse. Another tract

would be social Justice leaders, Media and Arts mentors,

Governance graduates, and many more. Our frontline

graduates would serve as:

SEND‘run with perseverance’

1. Frontline Initiators, starting up social justice ministries that care for the poor.

2. Frontline Supporters, serving on Frontline boards, supporting, guiding, fundraising, etc.

3. Frontline Professionals, influencing their sector and profession for Christ.

4. Frontline Disciplers, helping us write materials and disciple the 100,000 converts according to our

vision mandate.

5. Frontline Missionaries, going out to plant churches, or going into gospel needy countries

6. Frontline Partners, overseeing our international links with our partners and other churches

worldwide.

7. Frontline Evangelists, out on the forefront of reaching the one million people for Christ.

When one becomes a frontliner, then we consider the task of discipling them done, and they in turn can

begin and guide others through discipleship from beginning to end. Run the race with perseverance so that

at the end of the track you can say "Here am I Lord, send me!"

Nairobi ChapelGrowing D.E.E.P. to reach W.I.D.E.

Tel: (020) 3861103, (020) 6752346, (020) 3871815, Cell: 0725650737

P.O. Box 53635-00200 Nairobi info@nairobichapel.org www.nairobichapel.org

Growing DEEP to reach WIDE