Challenge for Discipleship Group
The world we live in - family breakdown, immorality, dishonesty, corruption, injustice
The basic problem - Romans 3:23 - sin; Mark 7:21-23 - the heart of man
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 3:23
21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.
Mark 7:21-23
The solution - Matthew 28:18-20 - go and make disciples; John 15:16 - promise of fruit
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
John 15:16
The power - Acts 1:8 - the Holy Spirit
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8
The strategy - 2 Timothy 2:2 - spiritual multiplication
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
2 Timothy 2:2
GOD’S WORD TELLS US TO SPIRITUALLY MULTIPLE IN ORDER TO REACH THE WORLD (2 TIMOTHY 2:2)
A. Paul was discipling Timothy, and Timothy was discipling fruitful men who would then teach others. The following diagram illustrates the principle:
The training and maturity of one disciple (Timothy) was being “multiplied” into the lives of many others. The effect was one that Timothy could never have brought about alone.
B. The world cannot be reached through addition, but only through multiplication.
ADDITION: If you shared Christ with 1,000 people per day, it sounds reasonable that you would eventually reach the world. Actually, it would take you about 11,000 years if the world population stopped growing.
MULTIPLICATION: However, if you disciple those who responded to your witness, the world could be reached in your lifetime. If, in one year, you discipled two new Christians to share their faith and teach others, and then they did the same thing for the next year, and so on, in the 28th year there would be enough disciples to share Christ with over six billion people. This would occur if each disciple shared Christ with only one person per week.
Because of the unbelief and unwillingness of Christians to carry out the vision, we have yet to see the world reached for Christ.
C. What is your objective?
The objective of discipleship is to develop a movement of Spirit-filled Christians who are obedient to God’s Word and are actively involved in helping to fulfill the Great Commission in this generation.
D. Our aim is three-fold:
To win men and women to Christ.
To build those we win to be disciples.
To send them to win, build, and send others.
To accomplish winning, building, and sending, we have a strategy for spiritual multiplication.
Evangelism → Follow-up 1-6 → Agape Discovery Group 1-6 → Agape Inner Circle 7-12
E. Your part
I am challenging you to be in my Cell Group and to develop your own ministry of spiritual multiplication through winning, building, and sending.
F. Benefits of Involvement:
Christian growth
Deep friendships
Confidence
Multiplying in the lives of others - an impact on the world
Involvement in the most important cause, the cause of Christ