A Vision for Making Disciples

My Story:

Introduce myself: Music was my life.

“You could maybe write some inspirational songs; but what if you made Disciples of Jesus.”

I still did my own thing after that. But it stuck with me.

We all want to have an impact

There are alot of great things we can do: What are some things we can do to have a positive impact for Jesus?

Give generously.

Serve the needy.

Encourage others.

Volunteer at Church.

Love people radically.

These are great things!

But what if you took some time to lead one person to Jesus, and…

help them to live for Jesus?

Help them lead others to Christ who would live for Jesus.

Then…

Your impact will multiply, as 2 become 4.

Even when you pass away, your impact will be unstoppable.

People’s souls are saved for all eternity!

How worth it is that?!

The Power of Compounding Growth:

With Dollars

Quiz: Which is more at the end 30 days?

$1,000/day

Starting with one penny, and doubling it each day.

Comparison

Day 5: $5k vs $0.16

Day 10: $10k vs. $5.12

Day 30: $30k vs. $5,358,709.12

If you kept doubling it for a year, the number would be so large it would exceed th total money supply in the world. That’s the power of compounding growth.

With Discipleship

Mr. Addition: Lead 1 person a day to Christ.

Mr. Multiplication: Only leads 1 person to Christ per year, but spends time teaching him all that Jesus commanded, and how to in turn, do the same with another man. .

Comparison:

Year 1: 366 Converts vs. 2 Disciples

Year 20: 7,300 Converts vs. over 1 million

Year 33: Over 8 Billion Disciples (world population)

This illustration shows that the power of training up multiplying Disciples of Jesus is a far superier strategy than just shooting to see conversions.

Don’t hear me wrong: I’m not saying we shouldn’t be sharing the gospel a ton like Mr. Addition did. I’m just showing you the astronomical impact you can have if you take intentionally make one Disciple a year who in turn will make Disciples.

Additionally , if you are going to lead even one person to Christ, you will likely need to share the gospel with many people. It will likely take some work to find that one person willing to spend the time needed to really grow in their faith. But it is well worth.

Pauls Example

Paul was a great example of this! 2 Tim. 2:2

2 Timothy 2:2 ESV

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

How many generations of Disciples are represented? Answer = Four

Generation 1 = Paul

Generation 2 = Timothy and many witnesses

Generation 3 = “entrust to faithful men”

Generation 4 = “who will… teach others”

Timothy was expected to teach others who would teach others.

How many generations of Disciples are represented here?

He wanted Timothy to be a multiplier.

Jesus’ Command to Make Disciples

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

3 Parts of Making Disciples:

Going - Going to places and people with the intent of sharing the gospel. It is not going to happen on accident. We will learn about how to do that.

Baptizing - Conversion and marking.

Teaching - Helping them learn to obey Jesus. This is the training part. (There are people at our church who are waiting for someone to do this with them.)

I want us to be able to do all 3 of these things.

Will you commit to using your life to be a Disciple Maker?

It’s not quick at first. Results seem really slow.

It often doesn’t seem like it’s working.

People are messy.

They have problems.

They may be flakey or hard headed.

You may feel like you have messed up.

It takes effort to find someone to Disciple.

You may feel like you have shared the gospel so many times, and no one is responding.

You may question whether or not this Disciple Making stuff even works.

You will pour yourself into people and they might hurt you or end up falling away.

There will be spiritual opposition. When you become a Disciple Maker, you get a target on your back. Because you are now determined to start a chain reaction that will advance the Kingdom of God for all eternity.

But all this is so worth it…

For the sake of the lost (Luke 15:7).

For the sake of Jesus.

For the eternal reward.

For the harvest that will eventually come (Gal. 6:9).

Galatians 6:9 ESV

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Though it may cost you, are you willing to be a Disciple-Maker?