Outreach Canada Blog

I remember sitting in a seminar once hearing the presenter ask, "If your local church disappeared, would anybody in the neighbourhood notice?"

Stinging words. Sobering. Sit with that question and chew on it. Let it disturb you the way it disturbed me.

Christian community is intended to be noticeable, and it’s intended to be transformative to the surrounding community—light in a dark place. And what makes us noticeable and transformative, according to Jesus, is our good works.

So what good works is your church offering your community that are being seen and noticed by your neighbours, bringing light to the surroundings, and causing them to give glory to our Father? What are you offering that would be missed if you stopped?

In the first two parts of this blog series, we shared Teresa’s story of introduction to Discovery Bible Study (Part 1) as well as stories of Teresa’s missionary journey through Asia (Part 2). 

In this final installment, we asked Teresa to share wisdom for Canadian ministry leaders and also to address a common concern with the Discovery Bible Study method.

We pray that these four stories about disciple-making & disciple multiplication (from Simply Mobilizing Canada) encourage your heart and inspire you to action!

• The Letter - the story of just one letter and how God used it to bring many to Himself.
• Why I love doing Discovery Bible Studies with my Muslim friends - the story of a woman who is studying the Bible with her Muslim friends.
• From Stone to Soil - Once upon a time, a seemingly uninterested man participated in a Discovery Bible Study in a cafe around the world, and then everything changed.
• Living and Active - the story of how the Scriptures made it to a remote village through text message.

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.

Here are 8 disciple-making principles that have become crystal clear to me from the Acts accounts ...

Here is a collection of 40 quotes about Disciple-Making -- words of wisdom from Christian thinkers, including Outreach Canada team members ...

We, as followers of Jesus, are called to prioritize inviting others to follow Him.

Why? Because Jesus did.

Making disciples was demonstrated to be the priority of Jesus. He said, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:21)

In light of this, how do we, as disciples, make disciples?

In recent years, while the church has been in decline in the west, much has been learned about making disciples in Asia and elsewhere. Disciple Making Movements (centered around a 7-step process commonly known as “Discovery Bible Study”) are multiplying disciples-who-make-disciples. Surprisingly, these movements are multiplying disciples throughout diverse cultures and through ordinary lay people.

The process is simple, focusing on allowing the Holy Spirit to apply the Word of God to us personally, inviting us not only to knowledge, but also, in response to insight, obedience.

Here is the simple 7-step process for facilitating Discovery Bible Study ...