Last week, we looked at the first mark of an effective church, the church at Antioch, which is individual and corporate prayer. Today, I invite you to wrestle with the second mark of an effective church, which is discipleship. Every church, no matter what its size, is equipped by God for His work. So, when we all are lovingly obedient , the church will be an effective church for the glory of God. This doesn’t happen over night. It happens through a God ordained process called discipleship!In todays church in our country, there are too many professing believers who start out well, but don’t finish well. the drop out rate is astounding. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of effective discipleship within churches.Dr. Luke gives us great insights into this issue in these few verses.God equips a local church with prophets and teachersListed are BarnabasSimeon called NigerLucius of CyreneManaenSaulThe role of a prophetCall people back to God in repentance and faithTell people about their sin and sin’s consequencesAnnounce God’s holiness and man’s sinfulnessThe role of a teacherTeach the ScripturesInterpret the Scriptures rightlyTeach theologyTeach how to apply the Scriptures  to our livesHelp disciples grow in maturity from the inside outHelp them identify their spiritual giftsHelp them recognize God’s calling on their livesHelp them learn spiritual disciplinesStudying the Word of   God2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.All Scripture is God breathedUseful e.g. profitable for teachingRebukingCorrectingTraining in righteousnessServant of God will me thoroughly equipped for every good work.WorshipPrayerFastingHearing the voice of the Holy SpiritBeing obedient to the Word and the SpiritEvery Christ follower is called to be a discipleLook at Elijah and ElishaJesus and the ApostlesBarnabas and PaulPaul and TimothyWhat about us?If I were to ask you to do a self evaluation or a report card on your self, how would you grade yourself on your progress as a disciple?It is never too late to get started.What practical things can you start doing, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to invest in the process of discipleship?