Disciples Making Disciples
Jesus has given his church a very clear mission – GO and make disciples! The objective is clear. However, how we go about accomplishing it isn’t always as cut and dry. At least it’s not as easy as it is clear.
I wish everyone I shared the gospel with came to faith in Christ, but that’s not reality. I guess this shouldn’t be surprising. After all Jesus explained that not everyone who hears the word of God will accept it. According to the Parable of The Sower, the gospel seed has a one-in-four chance of taking root and growing to maturity.
While the chances of rejection are high, we’re still called to go and share our faith. As our disciple-making friend Bill Smith likes to say, “Wherever there’s dirt, throw seeds.” Think of your community as soil. It’s made up of people who desperately need to hear, see, and experience the good news of Jesus.
God’s given your church the mission to make disciples where you live, work and play. If you’re a church leader, he’s called you to equip your church family to be disciple-makers. We’re not experts at how you do this, but we’re learning. As we do, we want to share with you some disciple-making tools and ideas. That’s why we’ve filled this newsletter full of content to help your church make disciples no matter your context or ministry model. Enjoy!
-Dale Spaulding, Director
March 2019 – Contents
- Starting A Movement
- A Curated Blog
- Disciple-Making Fuel
- Social Media Strategy Template
Starting A Movement
When Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John he called them to a new mission in life. He called them to a transformed vocation. He called them from being fishermen to being fishers of men.
Now it’s on us to continue this movement of disciple-making by obeying Jesus’ call to fish for people, but how do we do this? How do share God’s truth with people in a way that helps them see their need for Jesus, take next steps in their faith journey, and make more disciples? If you’ve wrestled with those questions, consider the tools and resources like The 3 Circles available free at movements.net. It seems like today’s emphasis is on church-planting movements when it should be on disciple-making movements which will in turn result in church planting movements!
A Curated Blog
At Passion for Planting we believe that a leader is a reader. That’s why we’ve designed our curated blog so you can learn from other church planting leaders as share wisdom on current topics facing the church such as disciple-making, assimilation, reproducing leaders, conflict management, technology, and worship planning to name a few. Thought-provoking leadership ideas and searchable resources all in one place. How great is that!
Check it out here: Passion for Planting Blog.
Disciple-Making Fuel
Before our churches become effective at disciple-making, we need to help our people realize what’s at stake. According to a recent Barna study, nearly half of Millennials believe it’s wrong to evangelize (Read the report here). Why is that? According to Trevin Wax it might be because too many churches haven’t accurately or consistently described what’s at stake. His article published by the Gospel Coalition sheds light on why Millennials so often have an aversion to evangelism and what the antidote to this aversion might be.
Do you know someone who is fearful of sharing their faith? Are you? Years ago magician and self proclaimed atheist Penn Jillette shared his thoughts on how you should respond to this fear. You might be surprised at what he says. Watch the short video here.
Finally, you may want to check out our Disciple-Making Strategy Template to help jump start and fuel disciple-making in your church.
Social Media Strategy Template
Trivia time. What 15th century invention revolutionized communication? If you thought of Gutenberg’s printing press you would be correct. The printing press revolutionized the way people communicated. It accelerated the rate at which information and ideas could be shared, not least of which was the Bible which began to be printed and distributed in mass quantities.
What the printing press was to the 15th century, the internet and social media are today. With billions of users around the world Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are revolutionizing the way people interact and communicate with one another. Is your church capitalizing on these free and dynamic communication tools? Are your social media efforts yielding fruit?
Don’t settle for mediocrity when it comes to your church’s social media presence. It’s a huge opportunity missed if you do. Instead develop a comprehensive strategy for your team to create and implement together. Like we always say at Passion for Planting, we don’t want you starting with a blank sheet of paper. Use our brand new Social Media Strategy Template to get your team heading in the right direction.