A Strategy for Making Disciples

A lesson about how to intentionally make disciples within our sphere of influence.

As you read this lesson, be sure to hover over the the Bible verses to read them or look them up in your own copy of the Bible. When the Bible passage is longer, you need to click on “more” in the bottom right corner of the pop-up window.

Introduction

Welcome! The Bible has much to say about this interesting topic. You may find it helpful to invite a mature Christian from your church to study this topic with you. You may have a lot of questions that are not answered here. Maybe there are ideas here that seem hard to understand. Do not get overwhelmed! You can contact us with any questions that you may have. The elders of your local church can help you as well.

Remember that learning the content about this topic is helpful, but knowing the information will not truly change you. For you to benefit fully from this topic, you must…

• Become born-again by securing a personal relationship with God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, through faith by grace. This information cannot change you until the Holy Spirit of God gives you a new heart that is able to apply it to your life. To begin a personal relationship with God, it is imperative to understand and believe the following:

  • God is separated from you, because He is good, pure, and holy. 1 John 1:5-6

  • You are sinful, impure, and unholy because you do not measure up to God’s holiness. Romans 3:10-12 You are a descendent of Adam and Eve who rebelled against God. Romans 5:19

  • Your sinfulness provokes God’s anger and separates you from Him because He is holy. Romans 5:12 As a result, you deserve to be thrown into the Lake of Fire forever. Revelation 20:14-15

  • God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth. Jesus is God in the flesh. He lived a sinless life. He was nailed to the cross, shed His blood, and died in your place for your sins. He was buried, rose again, and went to Heaven to prepare a place for all who believe. He will return one day for those who believe. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

  • Only the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is enough for you to be accepted forever by God the Father the moment you believe. John 3:16 God does not accept you on the basis that you try to be a good person and do good works. Romans 4:5 He accepts you fully and forever the moment you abandon your sins and call on Jesus to save you. John 3:36

• As you understand, meditate on, and believe the information presented here about this topic, you must also do what the Bible says. James 1:21-22 Only by trusting and obeying God’s Word regarding this topic will you experience the full benefits of this information. James 1:23-24 Trusting and obeying God’s Word will change you as you learn this. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 You will be happy as a result of your obedience. James 1:25

• Seek and heed the advice of your church leaders regarding this topic. Hebrews 13:17

• Depend upon the Holy Spirit to change you. Galatians 3:1-3 You cannot change without Him enabling you. John 15:5 He will change you in His time and way; but not apart from your faith and obedience to God’s Word. Trust Him to do His work in your heart. Philippians 2:12-13

• Allow the joy that you experience from obeying God’s Word to transform how you interact with others. James 2:12-20

The Goal

• Our goal before God is to glorify Him by representing Him well in our character, actions, and words as we interact with people.

• Our goal in each of our interactions with people is to help them to obey the Gospel to the best of their ability according to the understanding that they have in that moment.

• For unbelievers, we want them to see the Gospel more clearly so that they will become convinced that they need to embrace the Gospel through repentance and faith.

• For believers, we want to remind them of the Gospel so that they will be motivated to continue to believe and obey the Gospel by keeping in step with the Spirit.

• With each interaction, we want every person to experientially know Jesus better by believing and obeying what they already know about Him.

The Basic Plan

• Pray daily.

  • Pray for opportunities to evangelize and disciple.

• Share the Gospel regularly.

  • Take opportunities to the share the Gospel.

• Build relationships intentionally.

  • Make opportunities to get to know people.

• Teach believers patiently.

  • Seek opportunities to teach believers what you already know about the Gospel and the Bible.

• Encourage them to do what you have been doing (pray, share, build, and teach).

  • Find opportunities to encourage them to obey what they have learned.

• Help them to encourage their church to do the same as a church.

  • Consider opportunities to help their church to prioritize making disciples.

Pray Daily

• Pray that God will use you to love others with a pure heart, a clean conscience, and a sincere faith.

• Pray for God to give you an opportunity to share the Gospel with an unbeliever.

• Pray for God to give you an opportunity to encourage a believer.

Share the Gospel Regularly

• Find someone new with whom you can explain the Gospel.

• Look for strangers to whom you can tell the Gospel.

• Strategically plan to share the Gospel with everyone that you already know over time, one person at a time.

• Prioritize one-to-one conversations.

• Utilize pamphlets, organized events, and public preaching to spread the Gospel.

Build relationships Intentionally

• Recognize that some people may be more open to hear the Gospel from you after they know more about you.

• Get active in the community in order to build relationships, as you represent Christ to people you meet. Invite believers and unbelievers from your community into your home for coffee or dinner. Consider frequenting parks, sports events, festivals, and local businesses.

• The idea is for them to observe how and why you live the way you do. As they observe the Christlike character in you and your family, this will soften their heart. They will likely begin to want to model their lives after yours.

• Get active in your local church. Invite believers and unbelievers from your church into your home.

• Shop and eat routinely at the same places and represent Christ well to the workers. Give a decent tip. Eventually invite them to have dinner with your family or have a cup of coffee.

• Share your testimony with them and why you live the way you do.

• Ponder who might be open to you sharing the Gospel with them or discipling them. Ask them to meet with you so that you can talk about it with them.

• Introduce them to your friends. Let them see how other believers live as well.

• Deliberately look for ways to encourage them.

• Invite them to some special church services.

teach BelieverS Patiently

Under the guidance and encouragement of the elders of your local church:

• Meet with them regularly in your home or their home.

• Begin to informally disciple them.

• Eventually offer to formally disciple them and seek to work through the weekly meetings together.

  • Seek counsel from the elders of your church to help you answer the disciple’s tough questions and to assist you in counseling them through difficult circumstances.

• As you perceive they are ready and willing; strongly encourage them to:

  • Attend church.

  • Be baptized if they believe the Gospel.

  • Become a member of that church.

  • Serve in that local church.

• With the blessing of the elders of your local church, consider if the person whom you are discipling wants to host a bible study in their home. Maybe one of the elders of your church, you, or they could teach it. Or maybe you could simply teach the same discipleship material from your weekly meetings.

• Remember that you can only teach them as fast as they are willing and able to understand what you teach them. This all takes time.

Encourage them to do what you have been doing

• Pray daily.

• Share the Gospel regularly.

• Build relationships intentionally.

• Teach other believers patiently.

• Encourage them to do what they have been doing (pray daily, share the Gospel regularly, build relationships intentionally, and teach believers patiently).

• Help them to encourage their church to do the same as a church.

Help Your Church to do the same as a church

• Brainstorm with your elders/pastors how the church can adopt this method together as a church as well.

Disciple-Making as a Church member

The following are further suggestions about how a church member can be engaged in the disciple-making process. These suggestions can vary depending on the size and dynamics of your local church.

A New Believer:

• For the Spiritual Welfare of the New Believer

  • The believer could meet with a maturing believer/elder/deacon once a week to be discipled.

• Serving Others

  • The believer could model another mature believer/family.

• Evangelism

  • The believer could attend evangelism training.

• Caring for others

  • The believer should engage other church members by attending church services.

• Discipleship

  • The believer should invite others to church and to bible studies to learn together.

• Building relationships

  • The believer should attend any special services the church has.

A Maturing Believer:

• For the Spiritual Welfare of the Maturing Believer

  • The believer could meet with a mature elder/deacon once a week to be discipled.

• Serving Others

  • The believer should serve in the local church using his/her spiritual gifts.

  • The believer should encourage other believers with what he/she is learning.

• Evangelism

  • The believer could join an evangelism team on the streets once a week.

• Caring for others

  • The believer should engage other church members by attending services.

  • The believer could invite people to church services.

• Discipleship

  • The believer could meet a new believer once every other week to disciple them; intentionally helping them to discover and use their spiritual gifts.

  • The believer could consider hosting a bible study in his/her home in which an elder or deacon would teach.

• Building relationships

  • The believer could invite new families/individuals into his/her home once every other week.

  • The believer could invite another maturing believer and his/her family in his/her home once a week.

  • The believer should follow up with those who make professions of faith on the streets.

A Deacon:

• For the Spiritual Welfare of the Deacon

  • The deacon could meet with a mature elder once a month so that the elder can check on the heart of the deacon and his family.

• Serving Others

  • The deacon could pour into widows, orphans, and poor of the church.

  • The deacon could make sure the church has adequate evangelism literature on hand.

  • The deacon could meet once a month individually with the ministry leaders who use the resources of the ministry that he oversees (the physical needs of) to equip them for ministry.

  • The deacon should serves in the local church using his spiritual gifts.

• Evangelism

  • The deacon could join an evangelism team on the streets twice a month to stay sharp and encourage the team by his example.

• Caring for others

  • The deacon could meet individually with each of the elders once a month to check on their heart and the welfare of their family.

  • The deacon should check in on some of the deacons once a month.

• Discipleship

  • The deacon could meet a new believer once a week to disciple them; intentionally helping them to discover and use their spiritual gifts.

  • The deacon could meet with a maturing believer once a week to disciple them; intentionally helping them to discover and use their spiritual gifts.

  • The deacon could consider hosting a bible study in his home in which an elder/deacon would teach.

• Building relationships

  • The deacon could invite new families/individuals into his home once every other week.

  • The deacon could invite an elder/deacon and his family in his home once a week.

  • The deacon could visit the elderly/sick once every other week.

An Elder:

• For the Spiritual Welfare of the Elder

  • The elder could meet with another mature elder or the pastor once a month so that the pastor or elder can check on the heart of the elder and his family.

• Teaching Others

  • The elder should teach ministry leaders how to teach/lead.

  • The elder could meet once a month individually with the ministry leaders who are under the ministry he oversees to equip them for ministry.

  • The elder should teach/lead a ministry when the church is gathered.

  • The elder should serve in the local church using his spiritual gifts.

• Evangelism

  • The elder could join an evangelism team on the streets once a month to stay sharp and encourage the team by his example.

• Caring for others

  • The elder could meet individually with each of the elders once a month to check on their heart and the welfare of their family.

  • The elder could check in on some of the deacons once a month.

• Discipleship

  • The elder could meet a deacon once a week to disciple them; intentionally helping them to discover and use their spiritual gifts.

  • The elder could meet with a maturing believer once a week to disciple them; intentionally helping them to discover and use their spiritual gifts.

  • The elder could consider hosting a bible study in his home in which he or another elder/deacon would teach.

• Building relationships

  • The elder could invite new families/individuals into his home once every other week.

  • The elder could invite an elder/deacon and his family in his home once a week.

  • The elder could visit the elderly/sick once every other week.

A Full-time Pastor/Elder:

• For the Spiritual Welfare of the Full-time Pastor/Elder

  • The pastor could meet with another mature elder once a month so that the elder can check on the pastor’s heart and the pastor’s family.

• Teaching Others

  • The pastor could meet individually with each of the elders once a month to equip them for ministry.

• Evangelism

  • The pastor could join an evangelism team on the streets once a month to stay sharp and encourage the team by his example.

• Caring for others

  • The pastor could meet individually with each of the elders once a month to check on their heart and the welfare of their family.

  • The pastor could counsel two families once a week.

  • The pastor could check in on all the office staff once a week

• Discipleship

  • The pastor could consider hosting a bible study in his home in which an elder/deacon would teach.

  • The pastor along with the elders could consider accepting interns from within or from without the church. These interns would enter into a intensive discipleship with the elders for a period of time. The idea would be to eventually send the intern out as a missionary.

• Building relationships

  • The pastor could invite new families/individuals into his home once every other week.

  • The pastor could invite an elder/deacon and his family in your home once a week.

  • The pastor could visit the elderly/sick once a week.

  • The pastor could meet with a pastor from a different church for mutual encouragement, once a month.

Additional Thoughts:

While partnering with the elders and deacons of your church:

• Consider how members of the church can use their spiritual gifts, talents, time, and resources to collectively and strategically make disciples together.

• Consider developing a team of church members who will encourage one another to regularly go out into the streets to share the Gospel with strangers.

• Consider developing a team of church members who will encourage one another to regularly pray for your evangelistic and discipleship efforts.

• Consider developing a team of church members who will encourage one another to follow up with strangers who make professions of faith on the streets. Those who have the gift of hospitality may be a great help in this area.

• Consider researching other bible believing churches that are located closer to the home of the person who made a profession of faith on the street for him to attend.

• Consider brainstorming with the elders of your church how they might partner with other bible-believing churches in your town and other cities in making disciples.

• Consider how God might use you and your church to bring the Gospel to a different city or country where there is not a bible-believing church that is making disciples in that location.

• Consider contacting one of us to come and train your church in evangelism.

REPRESENTING CHRIST in Our Disciple-Making

• Remember that we do not exist simply to live for ourselves. We were created to represent God.

• When we make disciples it is not about us primarily. It is about God being represented well in our disciple-making. His reputation is on the line because we represent Him.

• God wants us to enjoy fellowship with Him. We must demonstrate the importance of enjoying fellowship with God by our disciple-making.

• If we make it a priority to make disciples regularly and in a biblical way, then we will be more like Christ and represent Him well.

• When we share the Gospel it shines a light on our lives. If we are not making disciples, we will be tempted to shrink back from sharing the Gospel with others.

• When we make disciples it gives us boldness in our faith. This boldness will enable us to be transparent with anyone and let other believers into our lives to disciple them as well.

• We must let the reputation of God and His love for people motivate us to grow in our ability to make disciples.

• The love of Christ is enough to motivate us to prioritize making disciples.

Conclusion

Now that you have studied this topic, we encourage you to...

• Ask us or any of your church leaders about any questions or concerns you still have about this topic.

• Pray for yourself to grow in maturity regarding this topic.

• Do your best to practice what you have learned.

• Tell someone else about what you have studied.

• Ask one of your church leaders to help you overcome your weaknesses regarding this topic.

• Teach this subject to others.

• Consider reviewing this topic once each year.

• Commit to growing in this area together with other members of a local church.

• Trust the Holy Spirit to change you as He uses His Word, others, and circumstances to make you more like Christ.