About Us

This Discipleship Ministry is focused on Senior Adults who may be struggling with their spirituality or with understanding the promises of God.  This ministry means to come alongside of disillusioned Seniors and encourage them to continue in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The ministry is not one of assisted living, per se, i.e., cooking, cleaning, bathing, etc.  Just the service of teaching Bible one-on-one, prayer, and exhorting faith in God during the "winter" years of our lifetimes.

Pastor Gaines emphasizes the simplicity of the Gospel, especially as the Bible declares the "whole duty" of man - trust God and obey His Word. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

 The SAGES ministry of The Center Cross Baptist Church is a way to help seniors finish strong. Those of us who are in the “winter” of our years (roughly 65+) sometimes feel as though we are losing our grip on God’s purposes for our lives. Sickness, pain, and general misery all have their toll on everyone. But God has told us these things were coming (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7) and that we can endure and continue to live the lives of obedience (vv. 13-14) that He intended for us from the beginning.

Faint not Sages but be reminded that we are, by faith, disciples of Jesus Christ and we must intentionally maintain our commitment to follow Him as learners and doers of His word and will.  ALL DISCIPLES – young and OLD. The Bible consistently tells us (Sages) that we are a valued – even treasured – part of the Body of Christ. Psalm 92:12-14 says “The righteous shall flourish… They shall still bring forth fruit in old age”.  Our wisdom and experience, when thoughtfully and lovingly shared, can make a positive difference in the lives of others (no matter their ages) and may even save their souls. Hallelujah!

I discovered some years ago in a discipleship process (“MasterLife” by Avery Willis – more on this later) that loyal disciples follow a pattern of behavior that expresses itself in six principles/disciplines: consistent time with Jesus, reading/study of the Bible; prayer, fellowship with believers, witness to the world, and service to others. As we travel this journey of winter years, let’s walk together through these principles of discipleship. You’ve probably been doing these very things all your Christian life but now we’ll strengthen them together and be better equipped to share with others. The ultimate goal of these principles is to develop (and maintain) a personal, life-long, obedient relationship with Jesus in which He continuously transforms our character into Christlikeness; changes our values into Kingdom values; and involves us in His mission in our homes, the church, and the world.
The first principle is FAITH. By faith we put our absolute trust in Jesus for everything. Everything! He becomes the center of our lives and we come to live in Him.  Living in Christ means, in part, that we intentionally spend time with Him. Even in the busiest of lives there is no reason that we cannot spend some quiet, quality time with Jesus – the earlier the better. A few minutes focused on Jesus and what He has done – died for our sins – will almost certainly lead us to confession. We almost certainly will come to a point of worship and praise which is the “key to the throne room of God”. Which almost certainly lead us to ask Him “What would You have me to do today/” Psalm 143:8 says: “Cause me to hear your lovingkindness in the morning; for in you do I trust: cause me to know the way (path) in which I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto you.” Jesus said in Luke 9:23 “…If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (See also John 15:5) Do this everyday and see your life change! But wait…There’s more!!
The second principle is Living in the Word – A committed disciple/learner of Jesus will need to know what He says to do. That can best (almost certainly) be found in the Bible. So, a disciple has to live in (by) the Word of God. John 8:31-32 says: “Then said Jesus…If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The Lord says “If you love me (in a deliberate, self-sacrificing way) keep my commandments.” John 14:15. Jesus puts much emphasis on knowing and doing His will which is explicitly revealed in the Bible. I encourage you to read some Scripture everyday. Even if it’s only one verse. Read it, memorize it, say it to yourself several times during the day. Live in the Word and see your life change.
The third principle is Pray in faith. John 15:7 says “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.” To abide in Jesus means to see Him as the primary source in and for your life.  If He is our primary source and we trust Him absolutely then we will want to pray for what He wants (“according to His will”) and the way He wants us to pray.  So much has been written and preached about prayer that all we want said here is how. If He is our primary source and He tells us how, then perhaps we ought to be obedient to that. Matthew 6:9-13 tells us how to pray. Jesus graciously tells us in Luke 11:2-4 that if we want, we can use His words. But, in both instances there are “elements” of prayer that we ought to include in our personal prayers. Matthew 6:9-10, for example, is the element of praise – for His heavenly dwelling, His holiness and our submission to His kingdom and will. Verse 11 is our petition/intercession(for ourselves and others – “us”) for daily sustenance. In verse 12 Jesus tells us to confess our trespasses against God’s holiness. (A careful reading of Psalm 66:18 will show us that if we have unconfessed sin in our hearts God will not listen to our requests.) Verse 13 says to us that God protects us in all tests. Those He directs are for the purpose of showing us that no matter what the test He will not abandon us (1 Corinthians 10:13). Those He allows by the enemy God shows us (and the enemy) that the enemy cannot prevail in our lives; for God’s is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever!!  AMEN.  I like to pause here for a few minutes for additional praise and thanksgiving and a little time for listening (quietly). God may answer now and I want to be paying attention.

The fourth principle of discipleship is Fellowship with Believers. It is here that we old folks do ourselves some significant harm. We think somehow that if we cannot go to church (Hebrews 10:25) that we are hopelessly out of fellowship. Nothing can be farther from the truth!! Jesus says to us in John 13:34-35 that we stay connected to one another by our love for one another. “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”   We must understand here that Jesus is NOT talking about emotion. The love He commands is the same kind of love He showed for us all. He sacrificed His life for us! That doesn’t mean we have to die for each other in a physical sense as He did, but in the intentional subjection of our will to that of another. This is fellowship; this is love. It’s great (and obedient) to be in church. Our physical presence is beneficial to our brothers and sisters – and to us. But when we can’t be physically present we CAN love. Bathe the congregation in prayer!! Call somebody just to say hello and pray for them individually.
Our fifth principle is our witness; our witness to the world and to the kingdom of God. Witnessing is telling what you know.  All that we know about Jesus, we need to share with others. Every disciple has an obligation to proclaim the Gospel – the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins and justification before our holy God. That doesn’t mean that we all have a “pulpit ministry” but we do have a preaching/proclamation ministry of the Gospel. Tell everyone you can. Sages – older Christians have seen Jesus’ many works in their lives. Their experiences can be uplifting to maturing Christians as they endure trials and afflictions. Encourage them with kingdom principles and prayer. So often we wait for Christians to pray for us and well they should. But we can still get a prayer through and we ought to pray for them. Jesus said we shall all be witnesses (Acts 1:8). Question is: will we be good witnesses or not. Remember Sages; when you received Jesus as Savior you also received the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. When did He leave you?? He hasn’t!! You still have the fruit of the Spirit: love joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness faithfulness and self control. Psalm 92:14 says you will still yield fruit in old age!!
So, in our sixth principle it follows that we should minister to others. To minister is to serve. The Greek word that translates to “minister” is diakonos – servant.  Certainly you remember what Jesus said in Luke 9:23 – anyone who chooses to follow me has to deny self, and pick up his or her cross daily.  For believers, cross bearing is voluntary, redemptive, sacrificial service to others. As I have said before, Sages, you are the wise, the experienced, the strong in faith. You are not the needy – they are. You are the powerful in prayer so pray for them!! No pity parties – prayer and petition purposes!  God has made you many precious promises. Claim them and use them in service to others.

Over time we will expand our treatment of these principles. Remember – as older saints we are not excluded from God’s goodness, mercy, and holiness. And, we don’t get a pass on living godly lives. We still have to live holy, Spirit-led lives! We must maintain our integrity (strength of character) and press through our circumstance (Job 2:3).

FINISH STRONG!!

In the meantime, if you want to discuss anything further contact me at 

pastorrob@thecentercross.org.       
MasterLife by Avery T. Willis and Kay Moore is a masterful discipleship series that has the potential of changing the character of God’s people and His Church for the good. There are four, six-week, modules to the series. The first of these modules, The Disciples Cross, is the basis for the Discipleship portion of this ministry. I have no specific permissions to reproduce MasterLife materials so, what is provided here, and whatever I share later, is my understanding and use of the information as I learned it. The material presented here is by no means the entirety of the life-changing teaching of this series – doesn’t even come close.  As of this writing the MasterLife Series is still available but out of print (I think).  Contact Lifeway Christian Resources at lifeway.com for additional information.