Lesson 8

multiplication every disciple makes disciples

PRAYER

Pray that the Holy Spirit will give you a hunger to not only grow in your own personal life but to multiply the impact of the gospel through your life to others near and far.

STUDY

MULTIPLICATION

We take the great commission seriously, to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). We believe every disciple is called and accountable to that command of Jesus to the Church. We hope to help every person at Sundry to live out the gospel in a way that makes room for even more people to pursue, encounter, and reflect Jesus.

Multiplication: Every disciple makes disciples.

WHAT IS A DISCIPLE?

A disciple is a follower who learns from and imitates their master. In our case, our master is Jesus. We are called to love and live like Him.

Jesus called his first followers to be “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Jesus was talking about the transformation that would not only take place in their life but in the lives of those Jesus would reach through them.

Acts says that the Holy Spirit moved powerfully in the Church and the Church grew in faith and in numbers (Acts 2:47, Acts 16:5). It was God’s desire to see people grow deeper in their faith and grow ever outward in numbers. Each number has a name and each name has a story. Each story includes a chapter where Jesus sent a willing disciples to share the good news.

Think about it. If someone would not have shared Jesus with you in some way, shape, or form, would you know and follow Jesus right now? We all have people who were placed in our life to lead us to Jesus. Likewise, each of us is called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the same for others. Each of us shares in the responsibility and privilege to use our time, giftings, resources, and influence to make room for more people to follow Jesus with us.

We can make disciples in many ways, here are a few…

Sharing the Gospel - Personally telling others about Jesus

Mentoring - Meeting regularly with others to personally encourage and lead them in Christ

Gathering - By gathering we display a visual body of Christ to the world around us

Serving - By serving we build up the Body of Christ to reach out

Giving - Local and global giving enables the church to reach more people

Serve CHALLENGE: REACH OUT

Make a list of a handful of people outside of your regular Christian friends. Pray and allow the Holy Spirit to lay individuals on your heart. Pray for them. Ask them if they would like to meet regularly with you to talk about Jesus. You might not say it that exact way, but that is the essence of it. For them, maybe this means discovering who Jesus is in the first place, or maybe it means going public with their faith and choosing to grow with others. You might do this for one person at a time or a group at once, depending on what you think would work best for you.

This could happen in many different ways. Here are just a few possible examples.

Meet for coffee, lunch, or online and talk about life, pray for each other.
Choose a Christian book to read through together.
Study the Bible together.
Invite them to meet you at church weekly and grab coffee or lunch before or after.
Invite them to Community Group with you.
Invite them to an interest/fun activity that also has a faith element.

Keys

Allow Jesus to lead you to the people that need your influence.
Be patient, don’t be pushy.
Make a real ask. Don’t be afraid to ask them to meet with you to learn more about Jesus or grow in faith. If they aren’t interested in it, that’s fine. Of course you would still spend time with them and be their friend, a real friend, pray for them, and encourage them any way you can.
Always be respectful of people at your place of work, home, etc.

Examples

“Hey, I have been wanting to read XYZ book. I think you would like it, would you like to read it along with me and talk about it? I have an extra copy.”

“Hey, I meet with a group of people weekly to talk about faith and life, I have really benefited from it and wondered if you might want to go with me sometime.”

“Hey a group of guys from my church play basketball, afterwards we take time to study a scripture and pray, would you be interested, I really need you on my team:)”

I think we all worry about that awkwardness that might follow if we reach out to someone and they are offended or put off. However, here are some things to think about.

Maybe we should be willing to experience that for Jesus
Make it less likely to be awkward by loving and leading like Jesus. Build authentic relationships that continue whether they want to know Jesus right now or not. Instead of pointing our finger and telling people what to do, we can joyfully share what we are doing, share our story, and invite others to join us as we humbly and imperfectly follow Jesus.
Pray for “divine appointments.” What we often see in the Bible is the Holy Spirit setting up God driven opportunities to connect willing believers with people God is drawing to Himself. It is reasonable to believe, since God wants all people to be saved, He is trying to do this often. Many times we just are not aware. Daily pray and look for opportunities to partner with God to see lives changed. God goes before us to lead people to Himself. We are just a small link in the chain reaction that the Holy Spirit is initiation and bringing to completion in the lives of those around us.

Jesus did this for us, now it’s our time to help do this for others.

MULTIPLICATION: EVERY DISCIPLE MAKES DISCIPLES.

REFLECT

How do you think God might use you to lead others to Jesus? How do you think you might connect best with others in discipleship?

Have you ever felt like you experienced a “divine appointment”? Share it with the group.

How could the church help you reach out to others?

What are some final takeaways from this lesson and the whole Sundry Grow series?

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