Diaspora Ministries

8 Disciple-Making Principles

Lorna Johnston / Monday, March 27, 2023

 

A few years ago, I spent several months reading and re-reading the book of Acts. I was trying to understand how the Church had gone from a handful of people hiding out for fear of the authorities, to a bold and fearless community growing at an exponential rate.

As I read, a pattern began to emerge:

Prayer preceded Holy Spirit empowerment,

which led to bold, public witness about Jesus Christ,

accompanied by affirming signs and wonders,

resulting in many coming to faith AND

active opposition from others,

which then caused Jesus’ followers to go back to prayer …

… starting the cycle all over again.

Some disciple-making principles have become crystal clear to me from the Acts accounts:

1. Everybody is involved

While it’s true that the first sermon, recorded in Acts 2, was given by Peter, and the early stories in the Acts record are of Jesus’ disciples, pretty soon we read “those who had been scattered preached…” (Acts 8:4).

Jesus’ disciples had made disciples who were making disciples. Everybody was obeying Jesus’ last command to “go and make disciples”.

2. Prayer precedes activity

A very small sampling:

  • Acts 1:14 – They all joined together constantly in prayer…
  • Acts 2:42 – They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
  • Acts 4:24 – When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God…

The powerful stories recorded in Acts flowed out of prayer.

3. The Holy Spirit empowers; the people respond in courageous obedience

At no point in the accounts recorded in Acts does Holy Spirit empowerment seem safe or logical. The Holy Spirit’s empowerment was so that the ‘impossible’ would be done.  

4. Gospel truth is proclaimed—often publicly.

Bold proclamation that confronted the questions and objections of the individual, group, or crowd, irrespective of the consequences, is recorded in scene after scene.

Sometimes it was well received, other times not.

Receptivity of the audience was not the deciding factor in whether the message was delivered.

5. Their courageous witness flows from an intimate relationship with Jesus

Acts 4:13, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” 

Courage flowed from relationship with Jesus—in person and later through prayer—and that relationship with Jesus (and the courage that flows from it), is accessible to everyone who wants it.

6. God credentials their message with miracles.

Miracles demonstrate God’s power and his presence. Miracles confirmed the words being spoken and the ones who were speaking.

7. Some respond

“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” (Acts 2:41)

Whether in crowds or one at a time, as the message of Jesus’ redemptive work was preached, people responded and joined the community of disciples and became bold witnesses of the forgiveness and transformation they had received.

8. Some oppose

Power structures, whether economic; religious; or political, did not (and still do not) necessarily respond favorably to the powerful and radical message of the Gospel.

Witness may require suffering. We see this evidenced around the world as Jesus’ followers suffer for proclaiming the Gospel.

Make Disciples

It’s easy to discount the stories of Acts as being ‘for their time’ with little relevance or applicability to our context. We look around at our experience of the church in our culture and don’t see the kind of fruitfulness they experienced. But stories emerging from around the world insist that when these principles are practiced great fruitfulness follows.

I invite you to wrestle with me over the implications of these principles, learn from our global brothers and sisters, and count the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Will we obey Jesus’ command to make disciples?


*This article was originally published on the Simply Mobilizing Canada blog, and has been republished with permission. You can find the original article here: 8 Principles for Making Disciples


Lorna Johnston is the Diaspora Ministries Leader at Outreach Canada. She leads two national teams--Simply Mobilizing Canada (SMC) and Loving Muslims Together (LMT). She works with teams of diverse and experienced leaders and ministries across Canada to alert and activate the church in Canada to the changing opportunities to engage God's mission right here in Canada.


print



LMT Webinar: Sharing your Contagious Faith with your Muslim Friend LMT Webinar: Sharing your Contagious Faith with your Muslim Friend

As disciples of Christ, we are called to share the gospel, but few of us are naturally comfortable ...
Read More..

Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting

Loving Muslims Together Network - Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting
Read More..

Kairos Courses 2023 Kairos Courses 2023

Kairos Courses 2023
Read More..

My Dream: Humble Spaces of Connection My Dream: Humble Spaces of Connection

I had a dream recently. I could be wrong, but I think it was a dream from God with a message for me...
Read More..

Rachaels Story Rachael's Story

A story from a Muslim Background Believer and a church who prayed for the mosque in their communit...
Read More..

Space-makers Space-makers

We have a couple of empty bedrooms in our house. At one time they were occupied by our kids, but fo...
Read More..

Night of Powerful Prayer Night of Powerful Prayer

Night of Powerful Prayer, by CCCOWE Canada & Loving Muslims Together, is a CALL TO PRAYER for Musli...
Read More..

8 Disciple-Making Principles 8 Disciple-Making Principles

A few years ago, I spent several months reading and re-reading the book of Acts. I was trying to un...
Read More..

Call to Prayer during Ramadan 2023 Call to Prayer during Ramadan 2023

Ramadan, marked by 30 days of fasting and prayer, is a season when Muslims diligently strive to ful...
Read More..

Love your Muslim Neighbours this Ramadan: Ways to Pray and Engage Love your Muslim Neighbours this Ramadan: Ways to Pray and Engage

Jesus exhorts us to love our neighbour as ourselves. Are you looking for opportunities to pray for ...
Read More..

6 Prayer Resources for Christians during Ramadan 6 Prayer Resources for Christians during Ramadan

6 Opportunities for Christians to pray during Ramadan.
Read More..

Loving Muslims Together: Inspiring Testimonies Loving Muslims Together: Inspiring Testimonies

You are invited to hear the testimony of a Christian man of Muslim background from Afghanistan who ...
Read More..

Pray, Learn, Engage: A Journey for Christians during Ramadan Pray, Learn, Engage: A Journey for Christians during Ramadan

Opportunities for Christians to pray, learn, love and engage with Muslims during Ramadan.
Read More..

Shaping the Church of the Future: The Diaspora Effect Shaping the Church of the Future: The Diaspora Effect

Many of us have mixed feelings about the changes that diaspora movements have brought to the world ...
Read More..

Prayer & Ramadan Prayer & Ramadan

Easter & Ramadan. Is God's forgiveness given or earned? An invitation for followers of Jesus t...
Read More..

Youre Invited! Praying for Ramadan You're Invited! Praying for Ramadan

You are invited to join us in praying for Ramadan! Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting—a s...
Read More..

Digital Bibles: A Key Discipleship Tool for Multilingual Speakers Digital Bibles: A Key Discipleship Tool for Multilingual Speakers

There are more opportunities today in Canada than ever before to reach out as a local church and we...
Read More..

Lunar New Year: How Should Christians Celebrate Lunar New Year: How Should Christians Celebrate

How should faith impact our celebrations of Lunar New Year as followers of Jesus? Alfred Chui expan...
Read More..

A Vanilla Life: 5 Questions to Consider as you Build Cross-Cultural Friendships A Vanilla Life: 5 Questions to Consider as you Build Cross-Cultural Friendships

  5 Questions to Consider as you Build Cross-Cultural Friendships. Vanilla describes most...
Read More..

Mobi 101 Seminar Mobi 101 Seminar

Mobi 101 Seminar from Simply Mobilizing Canada.
Read More..

Making Disciples of All Nations in Canada Making Disciples of All Nations in Canada

Statistics Canada has just released the CENSUS 2021 data on population and reported that “millions ...
Read More..

LMT Webinar: The Muslims Worldview LMT Webinar: The Muslim's Worldview

In this Loving Muslims Together webinar, you are invited to hear from Dr. Nabeel Jabbour on how Mus...
Read More..

Kairos Promo Video Kairos Promo Video

A short video introducing the Kairos Course.  
Read More..

Wasting Seed Wasting Seed

Anybody who has visited my house knows I like to garden. A few years ago, my husband and daughter b...
Read More..

A Simple Recipe for Making Disciples A Simple Recipe for Making Disciples

When I have a bit of extra time, I enjoy cooking. I especially enjoy cooking for other people, and ...
Read More..

Hand in Hand: Serving Refugees in Winnipeg Hand in Hand: Serving Refugees in Winnipeg

When I first heard what Allan was doing among refugees in Winnipeg, I felt a desire to learn more. ...
Read More..

Scripture Earth: Sharing the Gospel in Diverse Languages Scripture Earth: Sharing the Gospel in Diverse Languages

The website, ScriptureEarth.org, containing one of the largest repositories of Bible resources avai...
Read More..

...

A Worldview Story: Set Free
One of the challenges of interacting cross-culturally with our neighbours is that we understand our own worldview very clearly, but people coming from other cultures come with a different perspective. Each of us is conv...
Read more...
Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting
Loving Muslims Together Network - Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting
Read more...
My Dream: Humble Spaces of Connection
I had a dream recently. I could be wrong, but I think it was a dream from God with a message for me. And maybe it’s a message for you too. Someone was promoting the idea of a coffee shop space. It was a small room—...
Read more...
Rachael's Story
A story from a Muslim Background Believer and a church who prayed for the mosque in their community.  Imagine getting this email: “My name is Rachael*. I am a born-again Christian of 2 years. I actually used...
Read more...
Space-makers
We have a couple of empty bedrooms in our house. At one time they were occupied by our kids, but for the last few years they’ve sat empty except when they’ve been temporarily occupied by visiting family or friends. A qu...
Read more...
Night of Powerful Prayer
Night of Powerful Prayer, by CCCOWE Canada & Loving Muslims Together, is a CALL TO PRAYER for Muslims during Ramadan. Join us online Monday April 17th, 2023.
Read more...
8 Disciple-Making Principles
A few years ago, I spent several months reading and re-reading the book of Acts. I was trying to understand how the Church had gone from a handful of people hiding out for fear of the authorities, to a bold and fearless...
Read more...
Call to Prayer during Ramadan 2023
Ramadan, marked by 30 days of fasting and prayer, is a season when Muslims diligently strive to fulfill the duties that form the basis of their religious practice. As Muslims enter a season of prayer and fasting during ...
Read more...