) Study 1: Why Make Discipes? goa of mission Read Matw 28:17-20. by Tony Maws awaken What is message that Jesus procaimed to Samaritan woman? Matw 28:17-20 Whie in South Africa, I had priviege of teaching missionary chidren, ages nine through 11. Each morning, we opened our sessions by worshipping our Lord through singing praises and praying. One particuar morning, we asked kids to share ir experiences of iving in various parts of Africa. Keep in mind that some of se kids and ir parents ive in remote viages where many of roads are impassibe or in bush where seeing wid animas is norma. One itte gir enthusiasticay described her home and tough, rough and isoated surroundings in which she and her famiy do mission work. I asked her that if she and her famiy had opportunity to move back to United States, woud she want to go. She paused for a few seconds and said, No. I asked her why. She said that she had a nationa friend who hadn t accepted Christ yet. She furr stated that she coud not even think about eaving unti her friend came to know Jesus and became a discipe of Christ. Excited about Jesus This itte gir epitomizes what we read and what we are commanded to do in Scripture. Let s first take a ook at Scripture. The text reveas that discipes were excited about Jesus, which is evident by ir worship of Him even when ors around m pondered wher or not Jesus was rea dea: When y saw Him, y worshiped Him; but some were doubtfu (Matw 28:17, NASB). Pastors, eaders and churches that are poised to do exciting things in missions for Lord are first excited about worshipping Lord of missions. The missionary kids I met in Africa have a passion for not ony worshipping but aso for teing ors about Christ. Why do you think this itte gir was passionate about seeing her friend come to Christ? Is re a connection between our passion for worshipping and our passion for making discipes? Excited about making discipes Go refore and make discipes of a nations... (Matw 28:19a, NASB). The major directive in this passage is to make discipes. Leading someone to Christ is first step in discipe-making process. Heping person who decides to foow Tony Maws is senior pastor of North Garand Baptist Feowship in Garand, Texas, and has a passion for preaching, teaching and assisting churches with missions mobiization.
Christ grow spirituay is important second step. The awesome truth about this passage is that in addition to being command given to discipes, it is a command given to us. We make discipes because Jesus instructs us to do so. do about it? Since Christ gives us same command to make discipes as He gave His discipes, what shoud we Jesus furr instructs His discipes to baptize... m in name of Far and Son and Hoy Spirit, teaching m to observe a that I commanded you; and o, I am with you aways, even to end of age (Matw 19b-20, NASB). How does this verse hep us understand process of discipe making? What key words in above verse, spoken by our Lord, are essentia to making discipes? Excited about reaching a peope One of days that I was in South Africa, I had a chance to visit Soweto, an urban area of Johannesburg. It was a pace known as a township during years of Aparid. After we toured former home of former President Neson Mandea and met some wonderfu peope whie standing on a street, we went to a market where we encountered some of most taented artists I ve ever seen. One man made amazing wood scuptures. As I waited for Spirit of God to open door for me to share Good News, man began taking about one of anima carvings that he had made, giving great veneration to it as he spoke. I asked him if he was a beiever in Jesus Christ. To my surprise, he said, Yes. In fact, as he pointed to a church on next street, he tod me that he was going to go to church on Sunday. He spoke with me about how he worships many things in addition to Christ. Obviousy, this young man had never been disciped bibicay. Christ outined in Matw 28:17-20 a specific pan of discipeship after a person beieves and repents baptize m and teach m Word of God. When a new foower of Christ is taught what Bibe says, fase doctrines and beiefs are ess ikey to take root, as what had happened to young man I encountered. Let s get excited about making true discipes! Group discussion questions 1. How does worshipping God motivate you to make discipes? 2. Do you think churches have ost ir excitement for reaching peope around word for Christ? If churches have ost ir passion, why have y? 3. What goas have you personay estabished for becoming a discipe maker? 4. What can you do to assist your church with ministering to peope ocay and gobay? (Optiona) Digging deeper Read Isaiah 6:1-8. Isaiah is f ired up about being used to accompish whatever mission God has for him. In verses 1-7, what awakens Isaiah s heart to say, Here am I. Send me!? What are some principes from se verses that wi hep you reach your goa of making discipes?
) Study 2: Key Ingredients for Making Discipes goa Read Mark 1:16-20. of mission by Tony Maws Mark 1:16-20 Our first esson addressed reason why we shoud make discipes. We ooked at Great Commission in which Jesus says, Go refore and make discipes of a nations, baptizing m in name of Far and Son and Hoy Spirit, teaching m to observe a that I commanded you; and o, I am with you aways, even to end of age (Matw 28:19-20, NASB). How does one accompish discipe-making mandate? Part of answer is seen in Book of Mark when Jesus said to Simon and Andrew, Foow Me, and I wi make you become fishers of men (Mark 1:17, NASB). He extended same ca to James and John (Mark 1:19) and to Matw (Mark 2:14). These verses revea one of most important ingredients discipe makers must have initiative. awaken Making discipes requires a high IQ (Initiative Quotient) During a missionvision trip to Montréa, Québec, I visited with church panters who are trying to reach Québécois peopes with Gospe. I was moved by ir enormous dedication, determination and initiative to reach peope for Christ and n train m to become fishers of men. One of panters tod our group that Montréa must be viewed as any or mission fied that is overseas. He tod us about tremendous barriers that resut in sow growth of some of evangeica churches. We earned that one church grew to about 30 members in three years and anor one grew to about 50 members in 10 years. Foowing this, anor panter mentioned that one church ed five peope to Christ in one year. With joy he said, It is huge! It may not ook big to many peope, but it is a great mirace! Can you imagine dedication and dogged perseverance one must have to consistenty attempt to make discipes in a pace where discipe making is not popuar? On a scae of 1 to 10, how woud you rate your IQ (Initiative Quotient) when it comes to discipe making? What can you do to improve IQ of yoursef and or beievers? In Book of Mark, we see a determined Jesus who took initiative to ca and make discipes. He saw m, He sought m and He said to m, Foow me (Mark 1:17). The discipes did not seek Jesus to make Him become a fisher of fishes, but Jesus sought to make m fishers of men. Our discipe-making skis can be honed if we emuate what Jesus did and go after peope for Lord.
Spotting potentia One quaity to pursue is knack for indentifying potentia in ors. Obviousy, Christ s discipes had great potentia, but keep in mind that y were norma, everyday humans ike rest of us. There are a coupe of things to consider, however, when we tak about spotting potentia and being spotted by someone who is ooking to draft ors to participate in God s kingdom agenda. A few things catch my attention about se discipes. Before Jesus caed m, y were aready busy. Simon and Andrew were casting nets (Mark 1:16), and James and John were mending nets (Mark 1:19). A of m were busy working in ir fied of expertise. Churches shoud take initiative and be on ookout for potentia discipes. These can be peope in your congregation, neighborhood, community center, famiy or circe of friends. Can you identify a few peope who are busy doing something but are not foowing Christ? Seek Lord this week, and ask Him to ead you and your church to approach m with Good News of Jesus Christ. One of missionaries in Montréa tod our group severa moving stories. Such stories highight need for a churches to experience an awakening from our Lord that compes m to meet peope with goa of sharing Christ with m. One story invoved a young man who had a serious drug probem. The eaders of this church befriended him and invited him to a Bibe study and church events. Even though he had probems, y sti saw potentia in him. This young man eventuay accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior and began to foow Him. His totay anti-reigious famiy did not appreciate son s decision. In fact, we were tod that when son informed his parents of his decision, y repied, That s it. There s reay no hope for him now. Now that he has accepted Christ, we ve reay ost him. The parents thought that ir son becoming a Christian was worse than him having a drug probem. This story is an exampe of a young man busy doing wrong thing. He sti, however, gave his ife to Christ and stirred things up in his home. I m gad that this church took initiative to seek out this young man who had probems but aso had potentia. Immediatey soued out In many back churches, choirs sing a song entited, Soued Out. The song encourages peope to have ir hearts and minds made up when it comes to foowing Jesus. The discipes of Scripture had ir minds and hearts made up. They were soued out when it came to responding to Lord s ca. Moreover, ir wiingness was immediate. Without any hesitation, without any board meetings, without pause, y eft ir nets and foowed Him (Mark 1:18, NASB). Are you wiing to accept Lord s specific ca upon your ife? What things are keeping you from responding to Him? Group discussion questions 1. What are some barriers that prevent Christians from making discipes? How can such barriers be removed? 2. Why do you think Jesus chose se particuar discipes discussed in this esson? Why do you think he chose ones who were not discussed? 3. Is taking initiative something that can be earned or are peope born with it? Or are both true? (Optiona) Digging deeper Read Mark 10:46-52, which records story of a bind man named Bartimaeus. Identify barriers that Bartimaeus had, and discuss how such barriers did not prevent him from seeking Jesus. How can we hep peope move from just sitting by road of ministry to foowing Christ on road of ministry? 4. How has this esson personay communicated to you? How are you going to respond?
) goa of mission by Tony Maws awaken 2 Timothy 2:2 John 20:21 Study 3: Mutipying Discipes Read 2 Timothy 2:2. Within ast 21 years at our church in Garand, Texas, we ve had numerous preachers on staff. When some of se ministers arrived, y were young in ministry, so we spent time training m and giving m opportunities to perform various ministry tasks. It is very rewarding to see our ministers preach, conduct Lord s Supper, supervise various ministries, perform major and minor executive duties and most importanty, ead ors to Christ. Simpy put, we are reproducing work of ministry. It is even more rewarding to watch those trained to find or peope and begin training m. Years ago, one of our former ministers, who became ead pastor of anor church, said to me, I m so gad that you gave me an opportunity to serve in ministry by aowing me to do things such as preaching, supervising peope, heping with funeras and conducting Lord s Supper. It makes transition into my new pastorate much easier. This pastor is now disciping many ors at his church and those whom he has trained are training ors. The mutipication process There are numerous bibica passages that describe how eaders mutipied mseves, estabished ministry teams and motivated ors to get on board in order to accompish Lord s pan. In this esson, I wi point to a few of se passages. Our first exampe is found in 2 Timothy when Pau says to Timothy, You refore, my son, be strong in grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in presence of many witnesses, entrust se to faithfu men who wi be abe to teach ors aso (2 Timothy 2:1-2, NASB). Timothy is instructed to pass on information that he earned from Pau to ors. How does this make process of making discipes a itte easier? Are re any fears or concerns that church has when it comes to bringing peope into eadership? How does a eadership team at a church evauate gifts and skis of potentia eaders? This text aso instructs Timothy to entrust what he heard to more peope. When foowers of Christ are not being mutipied in oca church, two things possiby are responsibe. First, Timothys of today are not passing on what y heard to ors; instead, y are hoding it to mseves. Or second, bibica truths and mission mandate are actuay being passed on, but y are being passed on to individuas who are unreiabe. Coud re be or reasons? Sure. And re probaby are many ors. One shoud, however, consider se two possibiities when evauating what can be done to strengn mutipication process of discipeship.
What process do you have in your church to identify and train ors for work of ministry? A continuation of Jesus ministry Read John 20:21. Jesus tod His discipes that He was sending m into word even as His Far had sent Him. What do you think this means? How does this mode impact mutipication process for missions and ministry? Whatever ese this passage teaches us, it reveas how Jesus wanted to ensure that His mission continues. Churches that are experiencing a stirring of Lord s Spirit to more missions invovement are part of continuation process that Lord estabished. Finding your niche Anor passage that motivates ors to foow after Lord and His mission is found in John 1:43-45: The next day He purposed to go into Gaiee, and He found Phiip. And Jesus said to him, Foow Me. Now Phiip was from Bethsaida, of city of Andrew and Peter. Phiip found Nathanae and said to him, We have found Him of whom Moses in Law and aso Prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth... (NASB). How many times do you see word found in se passages? The church shoud prioritize what it does best. Part of church s DNA is abiity to find or peope, share Good News and n train m to become strong foowers of Lord. The above passage motivates us to embrace, foow and seize our niche for finding and mutipying foowers of Christ. Prep work It is important to have a strong spiritua foundation in order to buid and maintain mutipication process. The foowing are some fundamenta discipines that shoud be considered for impementation: 1. Estabish a prayer team that prays for Great Commission to be fufied in your church. 2. Create a 24-hour prayer whee where members can easiy foow instructions reated to praying for missions, ministry, goba and oca needs and new peope to ead to Christ. 3. Be on guard by incorporating spiritua discipine of fasting into ife of your church aong with praying. Remember Ephesians 6:12. The enemy wi not be happy about your church s motivation to have increased outreach to continue what Jesus started. 4. Estabish teams that wi assist with training new beievers. This wi keep your eaders we rested, and work is shared by entire body. 5. Use printed materias to highight what God is doing in ife of missions in your church.
Group discussion questions 1. Why is it important to reproduce onesef in ministry? 2. How has process of mutipying discipes benefited you or someone you know? 3. What new measures wi you incorporate into your ife to hep this process? 4. Are you more ike Pau or Timothy in your ministry right now? What do you ove about it? (Optiona) Digging deeper Read Book of Ezra. What was Ezra s mission? What obstaces did he face? How did God hep him accompish mission?
) goa of mission by Tony Maws awaken Acts 1:8 Matw 28:20 Acts 16:22-34 Luke 24:13-35 Study 4: Becoming a Missions Story In previous essons, we addressed why we make discipes aong with key ingredients for doing so. We aso ooked at importance of mutipying discipes. In this esson, you wi be encouraged to become a missions story. What does it mean to become a missions story? Simpy put, it means to directy participate in goba missions in some shape, form or fashion. When this occurs, your story of mission work, sacrifice and commitment to obeying Great Commission wi be observed and even imitated among peope groups, Christian nationas, your church famiy and your bioogica famiy. Most importanty, you wi pease our Lord by your obedience to His command. The work you do wi become a story that ors and you can te. Your work wi be a spiritua egacy that you can eave. To become a missions story, a you have to do is go. Why is it important for ors to observe and tak about what you personay have done on mission with God? Can you imagine impact on peope and ir sphere of infuence both ocay and gobay when y hear what Lord has done through you to touch ives and hearts of peope across word? Read Acts 1:8; Matw 28:20. In passage in Acts, Jesus informs His discipes that y woud be witnesses. What are geographica dimensions that Christ gave to se discipes in Acts 1:8? According to Matw 28:20, is re an impication on how ong we shoud be witnesses? Around bock and around word Severa months ago, I was sharing my faith with neighbors. A few days ater, I was in Bangaore, India, on a mission trip, ministering to and communicating with peope from various socio-economic, reigious and ethnic backgrounds. Our South Asian host, to this day, continues to inform me about spiritua impact Lord made through our service. The morning after I anded in Bangaore, we drove three hours outside city where I had a chance to preach to a group of peope who had very itte materiay. I wi never forget meeting pastor and his famiy, which incudes three adopted daughters. Severa years ago, when pastor converted to Christianity, he was bady beaten, at east three times, and one of those times, he was eft for dead. After service, we went to pastor s home. He tod me about his adopted daughters. The odest was around 6 years od. Her mor gave birth to her and eft her in hospita simpy because she was a gir. The second itte gir was found in a trash bin, and third itte
gir was found covered with ants in a corn fied. This is where mor, a prostitute, gave birth and eft baby. Whie at coupe s humbe home, y cut coconuts from a tree and gave me coconut water to drink. I never wi forget ook on two of itte girs faces as y watched me drink that coconut water! I had a chance to share from God s Word, hug entire famiy and be a guest in ir home. They sti tak about pastor who came a way from America to meet m, preach and visit with m. Why do you think going on a mission trip impacts Christian nationas? Why shoud we go to remotest parts of earth and share Gospe? Is it enough to ony share Gospe around our neighborhoods? Don t et stocks depress you Read Acts 16:22-34. During Pau s second missionary, he encountered tough times that ended up being a bessing for ors. When you are awakened by God s ca and mission for your ife, you know that He causes a things to work toger for good... (Romans 8:28), even when what you are doing is not accepted by those who oppose Gospe. At times you can become discouraged when you serve Lord and are met with chaenges, trias and tribuations. However, God s eyes are aways upon you (Psam 33:18), and He is your heper (Hebrews 13:6). Because Pau and Sias invested ir ives in mission work, God handed ir stocks and bonds. Can you identify some spiritua weapons that Pau and Sias used during ir tough time? What mission investment are you now making that might become a story that ors wi te? In addition to Pau and Sias, what or peope received a bessing in this story? Nobody can te it ike you can Read Luke 24:13-35. When you wak with Jesus, you shoud have a story to te. The story in Luke 24 reveas a few things about missions and our Lord. First, Jesus desires to trave with you on this (caed ife) in order for you to te ors about Him (Luke 24:15). He aso wants you to have a soid Christoogica understanding (Luke 24:27), and He wecomes feowshipping with you (Luke 24:29-30). These men s ives were transformed, and y were pumped when it came to sharing ir stories about ir time with Jesus (Luke 24:35). Embrace missions, te ors about missions and pray that greatest mission story wi continue to be tod around word unti our Lord returns. Group discussion questions 1. Have you ever experienced a form of persecution for sharing your faith? Expain. 2. Why is it important for ors to hear stories reated to missions? (Optiona) Digging deeper What were some primary missiona and reationa setbacks in Acts 15:1-18? How did eaders hande this confict? 3. Briefy share a memorabe moment reated to evangeism or missions. 4. What part of this esson motivates you most to become more invoved with missions? Scripture taken from NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.