GOD'S GREATEST BLESSING

Welcome back to the Discipleship blog series. If you haven’t read the previous posts, you can find them here.

Last time we learned about baptism and how to baptize a disciple.

In today’s post, we will learn about God’s Greatest Blessing.
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In this session, we’ll talk about God’s GREAT, GREATER and GREATEST BLESSINGS and how you can share them with others.

When someone chooses to follow Jesus, how do you help them move down the right path? How do you help them become a producer in God’s kingdom and not just another consumer? How do you help them receive all the blessings that God is willing to give?

I start by telling them this…
• It is a blessing to follow Jesus.
• It is a great blessing to lead others to follow Jesus.
• It is a greater blessing to start a new spiritual family.
• It is the greatest blessing to equip others to start new spiritual families.

You have chosen to follow Jesus and so God has blessed you. I want you to have God’s great blessing, greater blessing and greatest blessing, too. Can I show you how?

If they want to know more, I ask them to make a list of 100 people they already know.

Then I ask them to choose five people from that list - five people who do not know Jesus - five people they want to share with right away. It is a blessing to follow Jesus. Who else do you want to share this blessing with?

I teach them to share their TESTIMONY - the story of what God is doing in their life.
I teach them to share the GOSPEL - the story of what God is doing in the world.
I teach them how to share about God’s great, greater and greatest blessings.
I have them practice these things one time for each of the five people they’ve chosen to share with. First their story. Then God’s story. Then God’s blessings.

Each time, I pretend to be one of the five people from their list.

Each time, they share their story. They share God’s story. They invite me to become a follower of Jesus, too. They teach about God’s great, greater and greatest blessing.

Each time, I ask them questions or make comments that I think that person might make. After we’ve practiced, I ask to meet them again - just two days later if possible - to see how this sharing is going.

I want to give them enough time to meet with the five from their list, but I don’t want to give so much time that they put it off or forget.

I always ask for a phone number or email address or another way to keep in touch.

I pray with them that God will give the right words just as they’ve shared with me. Two days later, we meet again and talk about how the sharing is going.

If they haven’t shared, I offer to practice with them more. I offer to go with them right then to any of the five who might be available. I do everything I can to help them begin sharing.

But I won’t talk about new things. I want to give them the best opportunity to be faithful with what they’ve already learned.

If they refuse or make excuses, I ask God if this is really “good soil” that will be fruitful for His kingdom or if there is somewhere else where I should be investing.

But, if they have shared - we celebrate! Even if none on their list believed, I’m excited that they HEARD, OBEYED and SHARED. That’s being faithful.

And since they’ve been faithful with a little, I’m glad to share more. I share about BAPTISM and give them another tool they can use.

I ask them to choose some other people from their list of 100 - people who don’t know or don’t follow Jesus. And then I practice with them - just like before - with their story, with God’s story and with God’s blessings. And we pray.

Now if they shared AND someone on their list believed, we really CELEBRATE! God’s family is getting bigger!

I always ask if they shared about the great, greater and greatest blessing, because this is what keeps God’s family growing. If they didn’t share about God’s blessings, we go over it again -- the blessings, how a new follower of Jesus can make a list, how they can share their story, share God’s story and share the blessings -- all so that new followers of Jesus can learn to share, too.

After we’ve practiced, I send them back to that new believer so they can continue sharing.

But what about those who have shared AND someone on their list believed AND they shared the blessings?

When that happens I am OVERJOYED. This person is what God’s word calls “good soil” -- someone who may grow God’s family in ways that are greater than I’ve ever seen!

Whenever I find someone like this, I make plans to meet with them often. I invest heavily in their spiritual development. I share new lessons like BAPTISM and how to start a THREE-THIRDS GROUP.

Now they can begin to grow a spiritual family - starting with those same new followers of Jesus. Since they are so faithful, I’m excited to share as much as I can and see what God does next.

Always a step at a time.
Always giving them a chance to LEARN, OBEY and SHARE what they know.

I also pray for this person - as often as I can - thanking God for allowing me to share and learn with them and always asking Him to give them His GREATEST BLESSING.

Is this the pattern you were taught when you first began following Jesus? IF not, what was different?

After you came to faith, how long was it before you began to disciple others?

​What do you think would happen if new followers started sharing and discipling others immediately?