In 1955 Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, preached a sermon that became a catalytic booklet for generations. Here's a summary.
Talking Points:
- The first order God gave to man was to be fruitful and multiply. Every healthy person can do it, rich or poor. Every healthy Christian should reproduce by making disciples. Just as kids have parents and grandparents in the physical realm, the same is true in a spiritual sense through mentoring.
- Every child of God should be a reproducer, not just missionaries. If it’s not happening, the gospel is not the problem. Many Christians run in circles and chase things that don’t really matter – failing to be intentional about making disciples.
- One person with a systematic plan can impact billions. If one man would reproduce a reproducer every 6 months, over 2 billion people would be discipled after 15 and a half years. Just do the math.
- Winning souls requires intentional follow-up. It’s not enough to get people to “pray the prayer”. New believers need a mentor to help them live a victorious life and model a reproducing strategy.
Discussion:
- Initial reactions to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- Who discipled you? How did they do it?
- Share the names of three people you have discipled. How did you do it?
- From your list above, have any of those people discipled anyone? If so, how did they do it? If not, why not?
- Why do you think most Christians today fail to make disciples? Make a list of the reasons.
- Do the math on disciple-making. If you reproduced a disciple-maker every 6 months, how many people will be in your mentor tree after 5 years? After 10 years?
- Is there a step you need to take based on today’s topic?
