Building a Discipling Culture
by Mike Breen
– We were not told to build His church, we were told to make disciples. He builds His church.
– Disciple making starts first by information, then imitation and then innovation.
– We must model our lives after the Master. He lived His life in three relationships: Up with his Father, in with His chosen followers and out with the hurting world around Him.
– We were never made to be lone-rangers. Jesus showed us by His example the importance of close relationships.
– You cannot model to others what you are not currently living.
– We cannot let hurt be an excuse to disciple others.
– It may not come naturally to us to have close relationships with others, but it must become intentional.
– From the very beginning God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply. We were never intended to just exist, we are to bear fruit.
– Just as in nature, growth must happen first before fruit can be produced.
– Before Jesus chose His disciples and did ministry, He set aside time to be alone with His Father – and we need the same thing.
– Jesus did not ask His disciples where they should go or take a vote on things, He led them because He knew where He was going.
– The Lord delegated and gave them both competence and confidence.
– His leadership style adjusted accordingly. He started off with saying come follow me and ended ministry by saying go into all the world.
– We do not grow by staying in our comfort zone, we have to be moved away from our preferences.
– God takes what He is doing in our lives and multiplies it through others.
– When we stop growing, we die. We must grow in order to disciple others.
– We must pray, wait and watch for the disciples that God has for us.
– Jesus told His disciples that when they go in a city to look for a worthy man, and if not, shake the dust off their feet and go find someone else. We should be looking for a worthy man as well — a person we can pour into and disciple. If they don’t want to listen, they are not a worthy man, so move on.