Jesus told His followers to “go, make disciples.” This is not only for pastors. This is for all Christians. In fact, the pastors’ job is not to do all the ministry, but to equip you to minister, to help you be a disciple and make disciples.
Many say, “I can’t disciple anyone. It’s too hard. I don’t know enough.” But, here’s a simple definition of disciple-making: “Spending deliberate time with someone in order to help them grow spiritually” (Dever). Every Christian can do that. Parents should do that with their children. Older believers should do that with newer believers. Everyone should be doing it with someone.
IBC provides tools to help you. We make available copies of “First Steps,” a 6-lesson fill-in-the-blank study of the Gospel of John that you can use with new believers (written by Pastor Charles Hanshew).
I’ve written “The Story that Makes Sense Out of Life,” a 5 lesson overview of the Bible presenting the Gospel that you can read through with a friend who needs Christ. This is available in print from our office and is now available at www.ibcwv.org under the resource tab. Here’s the link.
When I share my testimony or witness to an unbeliever, often they say something like, “Hmmm, that’s interesting” or “That’s good for you, but I don’t know if that’s for me.” What do you say next? One thing you can say is, “Would you be interested in finding out more? We have five one-hour Bible lessons that I would be glad to go through with you or that we could do with a teacher from church on your schedule at your convenience.”
Another resource in print or on our website is “Journey: Six Discipleship Lessons to Study with Fellow Pilgrims.” It is meant to be read through together with a family member, friend, or small group. Here’s the link:
Many of us have someone in our life that we would like to see grow spiritually, but are unsure what to do to help. Why not ask them to take the Journey with you. You simply read through it together and follow the instructions.
Few things are more exciting than helping someone know Jesus better and love Him more. Life to life disciple-making is for every Christian. Ask God to show you who He has for you to reach or disciple. He’ll be glad to answer that prayer and put someone on your heart and give you the opportunity to share. Start with your own family or someone else close to you.
We make these resources available free for your growth and discipleship with others.