Outreach Canada Ministries

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 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 ...

MAWL: Model, Assist, Watch, Launch

Why did I fail to teach my youngest daughter to ride a bike? Why did I keep failing to make disciples who multiply? Simply, I didn’t use the training cycle of Model, Assist, Watch, Launch (MAWL).

Jon shares about teaching his youngest daughter to ride a bike, and the principles that also apply to making disciples who multiply.

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 and to our neighbourhood--there is no question that it represents both challenges and opportunities.

For those of us who love and follow Jesus Christ, what should our response be to those from differing religious worldviews; to those who've chosen to follow Jesus; to Christ-following communities; and to those who are sent?

40 Disciple Making Quotes

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

How the Church can Make Disciples in 2023

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 ...

5 Discipleship Attributes

How can you recognize a disciple of Jesus?

In some circles, discipleship is measured by activities such as reading the Bible and praying; attending church and participating in religious programs. These can be valuable, but is discipleship determined by such activities?

John B. MacDonald proposes that Jesus is the source, the substance, and the goal of true discipleship.

Here are five attributes that distinguish disciples of Christ from others...

4 Ways to Make Disciples Like Jesus Did

In the Great Commission, the remaining eleven are commissioned to make disciples just like Jesus made disciples - despite their failures and hesitancy.

How do disciple-makers model themselves after Jesus, and how do disciples identify with the first disciples? Here are four ways we can learn from Jesus and the Twelve for making disciples ...

Making Disciples of All Nations in Canada

Statistics Canada has just released the CENSUS 2021 data on population and reported that “millions of people from all over the world have chosen, and continue to choose, Canada as their new home. In 2021, more than 8.3 million people, or almost one-quarter (23.0%) of the population, were, or had ever been, a landed immigrant or permanent resident in Canada.”

It is clear to me that God has created a huge opportunity for Christians to share the gospel with the world in Canada; the nations of the world are in our neighbourhoods.

Have you ever considered that those of Muslim faith who live among us might have been sent by God to Canada in order to find Him?

Here are 5 ways to be intentional about making disciples in your neighbourhood among those of Muslim faith ...

Wasting Seed

Anybody who has visited my house knows I like to garden. A few years ago, my husband and daughter built me a greenhouse so I can start my plants from seed. Each precious seed is carefully placed in prepared soil and carefully nurtured to grow strong before being transplanted into the garden to grow up and produce a harvest.

Recently I’ve been rereading the Parable of the Sower (or maybe better called the Parable of the Soils) from Matthew 13.

What is startling to me in this parable is the complete disregard of the sower for all the seed that is wasted. No gardener deliberately throws seed on the path, or amongst weeds, or on rocky ground. Seed is reserved for fertile soil.

So why is this sower apparently happy to waste so much seed?