From Informing to Equipping
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· 5 viewsSeptember 21, 2025 // “From Informing to Equipping” // Series: MAKING Disciples
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MAKING DISCIPLES>1. A disciple spends time with Jesus 2. A disciples is transformed by Jesus. 3. A disciple does the mission of Jesus.
Next Steps instead of sitting, hoping, wondering, anticipating people to magically be made into them.
Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men. (common language for rabbis in the Jewish tradition)
Informing focuses on the transfer of knowledge and facts.
The role of the instructor is to dispense information. Disciples of an instructor know information, but may not know how to apply it.
Ted Talk. Sermon. Public Speech. Lecture in a classroom.
Equipping focuses on providing the resources, tools, and support needed for action.
The role of the equipper is to build systems and facilitate the action. Disciples of an equipper are people who can function and apply knowledge on their own.
Jesus was always more than an informer. He was doing way more than jsut preaching or lecturing. He was equipping.
D—Demonstrate so they can see it.
To learn a new thing, you must see it to get it.
To go from informing to equipping, we must be willing to demonstrate to others what that looks like for others to see. NOT US, but how they can FOLLOW GOD.
At one point Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father. Jesus was like, “Anyoen who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9 “9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”) Jesus demonstrated/modeled the loving heart of the Father in everything he did.
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Paul instructs Timothy to be an “example”
12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
Application: When it comes to making disciples, we must realize we have to do what we do for God in front of those we want to make into disciples. Not for recognition. But so they can see it with their own eyes. And know an example of what to imitate.
E—Experience so they can feel it.
To go from informing to equipping people need to experience something to know what it feels like. The best way for people to do what you are training them to do is for them to do it or at least do it with them.
Shooting a gun, catching the fish, hunting in the woods, shaving, learning to drive, trying out for a sports team, . So much of Jesus was him doing something to another person or doing something with someone or having others do something with him.
After a day of catching no fish, Jesus says cast your nets somewhere else. Miraculous catch.
Luke 5:4–6 “4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.”
Miraculously fed 5000.
Matthew 14:13–18 “13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.””
Matthew 14:19–21 “19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”
But they walked and grabbed the kids lunch. They distributed the food. They gathered up the reamaining items. Yes, the miracle was God’s power, but they got to experience it in action.
Jesus created an experience that they took part in.
Application: When it come to making disciples, we must be willing to create the opportunities for do the ministry.
E—Explain so they can hear it.
Even though explaining and communicating is not itself sufficient to fully equip someone, you can’t faithfully equip someone without explaining it. They might know what to do, but not why they are doing it. And doing something without knowing the why behind is not fully understanding something.
Jesus often pulled his disciples aside and explained what he was doing and why he was doing it.
When they asked Jesus show to pray, he told them to pray like this,
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
If they didn’t understand a parable, he explained it to them.
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”
He then goes on to explain the seed, the field, the good seed, the bad seed, the enemy, the weeds. And so on.
Application: This is where the speaking comes in. When you are making disciples, you are going to have to at some point explain what is going on. Who the good guys are, who the bad guys are, when things are right and when things are wrong. Words, like a good pair of glasses, make what is blurry come into focus.
For example: What happened when Charlie Kirk was shot and killed was evil. The powers and principalities have led so many down paths of destruction for them and those around them. The temptations to get back, quip back, post back, and attack back is real and understandable. The church of Jesus Christ should follow the example of Jesus, and NOT respond with more evil.
P—Practice so they can do it.
No one learns something well by doing it once.
John Wesley, would hand preachers copies of 52 of his sermons and say, “Here, preach these before you attempt any of your own.” Practice preaching. Practice preaching. Practice preaching.
Jesus spent more than three years with his disciples in public ministry. He called them to practice what HE was teaching. He told a story once…
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
He sent them out in pairs, to practice what he had been training them to do.
One of the hardest and best things a follower of Jesus can do is get them started in their faith and calling and purpose and then send them out to do it. Let them do it! It means that you don’t spend as much time with them. Which is hard, but it is the best because then they can go and practice it! And get good at it in their own
Application: Make people practice. We have gotten so soft. We are fearful to make people do things. When making disciples we need to not fear making people practice praying, reading the bible, worshipping with full engagement. We are okay when a coach yells, motivates, runs suicides when a player doesn’t perform. And yet we believe making disciples is just going to happen. No, make them practice. To be clear, I am not suggesting verbally assaulting people into prayer, but I am saying lets give people opportunities to practice serving, reading, praying, and more! Celebrate 21 days of prayer.
E—Expose so what’s inside is revealed.
37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Jesus didn’t equip them and then protect them from failures. Failing is allowed in the kingdom of God. Failure is a learning opportunity. Falling short is an opportunity to LEARN…When Jesus made disciples he allowed them to make mistakes and learn from them.
Application: As you make disciples there are going to be times where you MUST talk to someone about where they can improve, messed up, fell short, etc. Without this, they won’t know how to grow.
R—Reflect so they can process.
The clearest example of this is when the 72 in pairs. (Luke 10) When they returned. The disciples tell Jesus all about what happened. While we don’t have the exact conversations that were taking place. I wonder if Jesus asked questions, listened, and talked about the things they learned along the way on their ministry physically away from Him.
Application:
We are all called to make disciples of Jesus.
We are not called to go around and start bossing everybody around in an effort to make disciples.
What will happen is this…you will start to realize that many situations will turn into opportunities to make a disciple. (Waffle House/Workshop/Classroom/Breakroom)
