What is Our Part in the Growth of God's Kingdom

The truth is that very little fruit remains in the church from such efforts. Instead the church is in decline. Lets just look at some of the figures for a minute.

Typically at any Billy Graham crusade from 1 to 3% of the participants come forward to make decisions and pray the salvation prayer. Of those 1-3% how many make it into the church and are still in it a year later? The Billy Graham Society has work tirelessly and innovatively to make sure that the catch gets into the churches by teaming up with local churches and having them do follow-up on the new converts. Still even with all these efforts only 3-20% of those 1-3% (so at most 0.6% and at worse .03% of the original crusade population actually make it into a church and stay at least a year.)

Anyone entering the Kingdom and meeting the King is something to be celebrated... but

are our huge efforts really producing adequate fruit for God?

An American church put on a drama and registered over 18,000 decisions for Christ. Through tireless effort and 120 cells they maintained 900 (>5% which is 10 times as much as a regular church could) of them into the church. They simply didn't have enough cells to contain the harvest for maturation. Still they did manage to absorb 8 people per cell. The truth is we need to make a place for people to enter the church and be built up in the Lord. We need a plan so that the church can expand exponentially.

Let me ask you a question:

What happens to the dropped fruit?

It is a well known fact now that unless the new convert finds about 6 new relational contacts with the Christian church that convert will not remain in the church nor live for Jesus.

Jesus called us to make disciples not decisions!

Along with Nets to Catch the Harvest, we need also Containers to Contain the Harvest, and Disciplers to help new catch become fully devoted followers of Jesus. Without the small group and its relational connections a person will not remain in the church. Without personal help in becoming like Jesus most people will never get there.

So the axiom grows: You can only grow your church in numbers by the amount of small groups you have. Also: You can only have as many small groups as how many Group Leaders you raise and train up.

a second axiom suggests: You can only grow your church in depth by the amount of personal care you have for each new disciple.

What is the GOAL of DISCIPLESHIP anyways?

If this is so we must ask

What was Jesus like?
What did Jesus do?

Jesus raised up a Group of 12 people into whom He poured His life and teaching. Yes He preached to the masses but He chose 12 into which He concentrated His teaching and shared His life and spiritual power. He first raised up 12 to go out in His Power and fulfill His Mission.

Part of the Great Commission:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you -- Jesus, Matt 28:20

So if we want to raise up followers of Jesus we need to empower them to 1. preach to the masses and 2. raise up 12 to do the same in Christ's Love and Power.

The fields are ripe with harvest... pray the Lord for more Harvest Workers -- Jesus

The fields are still ripe. The human heart need for a Saviour and Lover are still as great today as they ever were (if not even more evident.) Everywhere you look you see people hurting or people striving to overcome. These are RIPE HARVEST if only we can be trained into seeing it and harvesting it.

We will only truly help them if can keep them!

We keep them if we provide a small group for them.

We can only have as many small groups as we have LEADERS of small groups.

Training Leaders for small groups is as High a Priority as Evangelism

4. Trained to be Multiply Small Group Pastors

The Harvest is Ready
The Workers are Few
Why are we Training Them
Just to fill a Pew?

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I also highly recommend the Apologetics Index for topical studies

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