Discipleship and Education

At BMBC, we aim to magnify the glory of God in all we do. But it's clear from Scripture that glorifying God is not just about what you do, but who you are. Therefore the aims of our church cannot be stated merely in terms of activities, but also in terms of who we are as a people, and the heart from which the activity comes. As a result, we must first of all aim in all we do to be and to beget a certain kind of people -- a certain kind of heart.

The essential qualities of a heart that magnifies God's glory are faith in God and love for our neighbor grounded in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Love springs from faith (Galatians 5:6), and faith comes from hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

Therefore, the aim of Education and Discipleship at Bush is to facilitate encounters between individuals and the Word of God with all its power to produce faith and love. It is meant to support and supplement the pastoral preaching and teaching which takes place every week with a two fold role:

1. to present each individual with the opportunity to be directly influenced by the Word in such a way that he or she can ask questions and share insights; and
2. to develop relationships with others around the Word of God for the mutual building up of faith and stimulation to love.

 Jesus' Great Commission to the church is to make disciples of all nations. An essential element of making disciples is teaching them to observe all that he has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). Thus to be obedient to Jesus' commission, we seek to be a church that places importance on the ministry of teaching through a variety of ways, such as our Education Ministry, Discipleship Ministry and Spiritual Growth Events.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.                          Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.                                  Psalm 78:1-7