Dan Jarms and Joe Swanson discuss the process of discipling people toward baptism, emphasizing the role of disciple makers in guiding new believers. They highlight the importance of understanding the gospel, genuine repentance, and the willingness to count the cost of following Christ. Joe suggests that children should understand the gospel and demonstrate repentance before being baptized, typically around ages 12-18, though Faith has no hard age limits for baptism. They stress that baptism is a public declaration of faith and should not be seen as a hoop to jump through. Parents are encouraged to have open, honest conversations with their children about their faith journey.Recommended resources: Discipleship ToolboxSoul Diagnostic: How to Know if You Are a ChristianStop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved by J.D. GreearAm I Really a Christian? The Most Important Question You're Not Asking by Mike McKinleyUnderstanding Baptism (Church Basics) by Bobby Jamieson

Foundations of Faith Day 3 Who is the Holy Spirit? Imagine God’s Spirit hovering over the face of the earth. Everything is dark and without form until God breathes out the words, “Let there be light.” In an instant, everything changes. The light pierces the darkness, and what was once invisible is now seen clearly. This is what God’s Spirit does. He is always close, always near, always bringing to light what was once covered in darkness. There’s evidence throughout Scripture that the Holy Spirit empowered particular people to take part in His plans and to remind others of His purpose. But Jesus’ sacrificial death and miraculous resurrection changed everything. For the first time in history, anyone who chose to believe in Jesus could receive His Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is still available. No matter your situation or background, when you belong to Christ, His Holy Spirit is with you at all times, empowering and strengthening you, and praying on your behalf. He understands your needs because He understands you. And because God understands you, He is always working on your behalf for your good and His glory. This doesn’t mean you won’t endure suffering or encounter hardships. But even in the midst of those trials, God, through the power of His Holy Spirit, will continue to draw you closer to Himself. But having access to the Holy Spirit and going through life with the Holy Spirit are completely different things. Living a Spirit-filled life requires intentionally seeking God every day. It’s through intentional time with God that you discover how to love Him, love others, and make disciples. It’s through getting to know God’s character that you become familiar with His Spirit’s power, presence, and authority. And it’s through the power of the Holy Spirit that you become aware of how your actions and choices affect your relationship with God and other people. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit is available to everyone who becomes a follower of Christ, and He wants to empower you to live in a manner worthy of the calling God has placed on you. Action Step: Spend some time meditating on today’s verses. Repeat them slowly and pay attention to any words or phrases about the Holy Spirit that stand out to you. Ask God to show you how He has equipped you with His Spirit, and allow Him to reveal any areas of your life that still need to be transformed by Him.

Faith Matters with Brian and Andi Hale Listen in as we review Chapter 10 in Dr. Jeremiah's Book of Signs. Tonight, it's Spiritual Warfare. Are you ready? LISTEN IN on www.diggingdeeper.us If you are a disciple of Jesus, then you are in a spiritual war. And if the idea of knowing one's enemy makes sense in a conventional battle, it makes even more sense in our spiritual battle because our enemy is stronger and the stakes are higher. We don't have to live in fear of Satan, our enemy. Nor do we have to live i n fear of the demons at his command. All we must do as soldiers in God's army is take our place in the spiritual battle to which we have been called - and stand.

“Christ’s Plan for Us” Loving Jesus enough to radically follow and obey him leads to radical new priorities in our lives, including making disciples (Devotional Day 3) and giving sacrificially to the poor (Devotional Day 4). First, picture Jesus in the upper room as he prepares to go to the cross. Praying to the Father, he begins, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). What is shocking is that when Jesus summarizes his work on earth, he doesn’t start reliving all the great sermons he preached and all the people who came to listen to him. He doesn’t talk about the amazing miracles he performed—giving sight to the blind, enabling the lame to walk, feeding thousands of people with minimal food, bringing the dead back to life. Instead he talks repeatedly about the small group of men God had given him out of the world. At the end of the Son of God’s time on earth, he was staking everything on his relationships with twelve men. In the middle of his prayer, he even mentioned that one of them (Judas) was lost. So now we are down to eleven. Those eleven guys were the small group responsible for carrying on everything Jesus had begun. One of his final moments with them is captured in Matthew 28. The eleven gathered around him, and Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” That was Jesus’ plan for them. And for us. If we were left to ourselves with the task of taking the gospel to the world, we would probably begin planning innovative strategies and plotting elaborate schemes. We would organize conventions, develop programs, and create foundations. We would get the biggest names to draw the biggest crowds to the biggest events. The plan of Christ, in contrast, is not dependent on having the right programs or hiring the right professionals but on being the right people—a community of people who realize that we are all enabled and equipped to carry out the purpose of God for our lives: making disciples. Whose life can you build into, nudging him or her nearer to Jesus, this very day?

It's day 1 of 5 in our daily devotional called Radical by David Platt on youversion read by Andi and Brian Hale “The Shocking Truth About Following Jesus” At the end of Luke 9, we find a story about three men who approached Jesus, eager to follow him. In surprising fashion, though, Jesus seems to have tried to talk them out of doing so. The first guy said, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus responded, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” In other words, Jesus told this man that he could expect homelessness on the journey ahead. Followers of Christ are not guaranteed that even their basic need of shelter will be met. The second man told Jesus that his father had just died. The man wanted to go back, bury his father, and then follow Jesus. Jesus replied, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” I remember distinctly when my own dad died, and I cannot imagine hearing these words from Jesus. A third man approached Jesus and told him that he wanted to follow him, but before he did, he wanted to say good-bye to his family. Jesus wouldn’t let him. He told the man, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Plainly put, a relationship with Jesus requires total, superior, and exclusive devotion. Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of these would-be followers of Jesus in the first century. What if I were the potential disciple being told to become homeless? What if you were the one who was supposed to let someone else bury your dad? What if we were told that we couldn’t even say good-bye to our families? This is where we come face to face with a dangerous reality. We do have to give up everything we have to follow Jesus. We do have to love him in a way that supersedes our closest relationships in this world. For that’s what it means to live out the biblical gospel rather than our cultural assumptions of what it means to follow Jesus. Let us determine not to spend our lives on anything but radical abandonment to our Savior. What should you cut out of your life, starting today, if Jesus is your overriding priority?

God wants you to grow up. His goal for you is to mature and develop the characteristics of Jesus. Discipleship always begins with a decision. We become whatever we are committed to. "Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God - what is good and pleasing to him and is perfect." Romans 12:2

This week on Faith Matters Dan interviews Paul Funchess and Dave & Jen Gamon on the topic of Critical Race Theory and where true hope for unity is found. Plus Nathan shares about the future of discipleship and Growth Groups here at Faith.

Paul talks with Faith Bible Church elders Toby Rainbow and Walt Takisaki about how to live is disciples of Christ in the workplace.S:4 E:4

What is Biblical Counseling, and why is it important in the life of the church and the families that make up the church? At its root, it is simply a form of discipleship—and therefore it is integral to the mission of our church and our job as parents. S:2 E:30

What is the vision for Family Ministry at Faith Bible Church? We want to equip families to do discipleship and develop a culture of disciple-making within the family and the church.Show Notes:Article from last spring: The Mutual Commitment of Family Ministry: https://fbchurch.org/resource/mutual-commitment-family-ministryS:1 E:17