Joe Wittwer
Joe Wittwer

If we are going to reach our communities and the world for Jesus, it will require enlisting an army of disciple-makers.

We must equip our believers for the work of the ministry. Our goal should be to make disciples who make disciples.

Years ago, I taught a 12-week course on evangelism at our church. I gave attendees a thick notebook full of instructions. I didn’t equip them—I paralyzed them! I made discipleship so complex that only an expert, a professional pastor or scholar, could undertake it. So, they left it to me.

Then, I discovered a very simple method of evangelism in the Bible. In John 1:41-42, I read that “the first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ … And he brought him to Jesus” (NIV).

Find, tell, bring. Find someone you love; tell them what you know; and bring them with you.

Making disciples involves building relationships in love, sharing the gospel and including people in community. When our church made it simple, lots of people joined the program and brought their friends to Jesus, too. With God’s help, we can turn our churches into armies of disciple-makers.

Prayer + Reflection

  1. Pray that the Lord will empower us to be more effective as disciple-makers. Ask God to help you be more intentional to equip others for the work of the ministry, not paralyze disciples with information and instructions.
  2. Think about lost friends, or friends who have been distant, and pray for them to return to Jesus. Ask the Lord how you can actively reach out and disciple them.
  3. As you adapt to where your church is in this season, pray for leading to find new ways to equip your congregation to equip others.
  4. Pray for our 11 Foursquare Missions International (FMI) area missionaries, who oversee FMI work in 147 nations among diverse people groups and in many languages. Ask God for their safety, and praise Him for the work they’ve been able to do in those communities amid a global pandemic.

Share your thoughts. See comments below, and add your own.

is the senior pastor of Life Center (Spokane Foursquare Church) in Spokane, Wash.
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