 Welcome everybody to our webinar, not just Disciples, but DiscipleMakers. My name is Marvin Lorenzana and delighted to be able to facilitate a brief conversation with you all about how DiscipleMaking contributes to the well-being of our local communities. In my mind, the only thing that can bring back our local churches in line with God's reconciling mission is intentional, relational DiscipleMaker. The content of this webinar is based on the Micio Day written by me and edited by James Crable. This work is part of the work I did for Mernonite Mission Network as Director for Discipleship Initiative for a number of years. In this brief pamphlet, I tell my personal story growing up as a disciple of Jesus in a morbidiente church in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Hopefully you have been given a copy of this booklet. If not, you can get one at Mernonite Mission Network. In this work, I basically explained how after just a few years of being launched as an organic DiscipleMaking movement among young people in Tegucigalpa, the original strong impulse towards an intentional, relational and mostly organic DiscipleMaking experience began to fade away. In essence, Discipleship becomes institutionalized when it is co-opted by human methodologies. Somehow, we seem to believe that our methods are better than Jesus' methods for DiscipleMaking. I would like to suggest to you, my brother and sister, that we go back to Jesus' way of doing things. And this is why Jesus says of himself, I am the way. Meaning, not just the way to the Father, but also I am the way, the model you are to follow in the Kingdom. So in this brief presentation, I would like to suggest to you three crucial factors that will enable your local congregation to develop biblical Disciples of Jesus. Even if you are not the pastor of a local congregation at the present time, the fact that you are a follower of Jesus is enough reason why reflect on these three elements of the DiscipleMaking process. The three factors of a healthy, multiplicative and organic DiscipleMaking process are head, heart and hands. Biblical Discipleship takes place at the intersection of these three foundational elements, elements that we find in the example modeled by Jesus with his own Disciples all throughout the Gospel narratives. Let us begin with head. Head has to do with delivering the right knowledge to our Disciples. This is important because he, Jesus, was a teacher, a rabbi, to the Disciples. Someone who wanted to make sure they knew how to think rightfully about what the Kingdom of God was all about. His Disciples were so impressed with Jesus's teaching style that they were amazed at his teaching because his message had authority. According to Luke chapter 4 verse 32, in our local churches, we primarily think of discipleship in terms of head knowledge. We tend to do this well, I should say, in most cases. We offer believers biblical instruction in a systematized sort of way, and that is all good. Head is all about classroom space, sermons, seminars, even higher theological education fits in this. Head is definitely important. This is why we have the teaching ministry or the Das Kalos in the church, within the church. Head knowledge, however, will never be enough. If we want to develop effective Disciples of Jesus that know how to multiply the Kingdom of God everywhere they go, everywhere they work and where they live. Number two, heart. Heart is all about offering caution, mentoring to our disciples in the making. This is important because Jesus tested his disciples' heart's motivations by asking the disciples thought-provoking questions. Jesus knew well that the human heart deceives by nature, and he wanted to make sure the disciples' actions were driven by God's purposes and not by their own selfish desires for glory, fame, or power. So for example, in Mark, chapter 8, verse 17, Jesus asked them, why are you talking about having no breath? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? And in John 21, verse 16, part A, he wants to know of them specifically as the question directly to Peter. Do you, do you truly love me, Peter? So these are hard questions. Jesus would ask hard questions to his disciples to help them understand their heart motivations. And this is really crucial for the disciple-making process. Delivering the right Bible knowledge is truly important. Yet working with the heart of our disciples' information is absolutely necessary. Jesus knows well that he needs to intentionally work with the undergirding motivations of those he is discipling. For this formational process to take place, disciples of Jesus need to be accountable to one another in love and grace. This is part of the reason why Jesus' disciples' people are part of a community. But the question is, how are we holding each other accountable of our faithfulness or lack of it in our following Jesus? How is this happening in our local communities? Who is disciple in who? Who is mentor in who? How are we following others and imitating them as they imitate the Lord? As the apostle Paul would say. Heart then is about motivations, it's about human nature, it's about character, and it's about our personal sin. Number three, hands. Because it is never enough to have right thinking or right motivation if these do not move a disciple to action. Hands is about putting necessary traction to everything we're learning here and here in our following Jesus in life. It is not only about being good, but about being good for something meaningful. The gospels are full of instances where Jesus invites the disciples to get their hands dirty with the work of ministry. We find him directing them in Matthew 14.16 to give them something to eat when faced with hungry crowds who had followed Jesus to a deserted area. We also learn from the gospels that at some point Jesus was baptizing more people than John the Baptist himself. But upon closer examination, we are told that it wasn't Jesus who was doing the work, it was in fact his disciples who were baptizing the multitudes who had come to Jesus, according to John chapter four, verses one through three. This is the discipling pattern that Jesus used. And it is not difficult to imagine that he also expects us to follow his example today in order to continue the ministry of reconciliation that he began. In short, to give people the right theological formation here and the brain is truly necessary. Also, working quite intentionally, shaping the heart character of those we are discipling is vital. But finally, knowing how to mobilize disciples of Jesus to their local harvest field is a must. Brother and sister, we need to learn how to use this tridimensional model for disciple making, a model that involves head, heart, and hands. All of these three are absolutely necessary. There is nothing more missional than teaching common believers how to become disciples of Jesus who in turn master the art of teaching others how to do the same. There will never be, and in fact, cannot be a missional church without reproducing missional disciples of Jesus. In the Missio Day booklet, you can also find information about MDGs, missional discipleship groups. These are simply groups of two or three people of the same gender who meet on a weekly basis for an hour and a quarter approximately with the sole purpose of sharing together in a meaningful discipleship experience. MDGs can meet on any day of the week at any time and in any place. They're completely flexible. When they do meet, they seek to accomplish three principal things. The scripture reading, individual and communal prayer and accountability to one another. When biblical disciples of Jesus are successfully being formed within the local church, the wellbeing of the whole congregation will dramatically improve. This is because disciples of Jesus are always on mission with God, looking for ways to significantly impact their communities for the sake of the gospel. Now, how disciple making has the potential for transforming your local church? Well, let me give you four examples of how this takes place. The first benefit you will find when making disciple making the mission of the local church is personal transformation. Is that simple? Yes, it all begins with you making disciples of Jesus on a regular basis. It has to begin with you. You and I know that people will not do it unless you do it. And this is why it's so important that you make it a priority in your ministry as soon as possible. The simple fact of implementing a tool that is reproducible, such as MDGs, in your local congregation, could be enough to launch your local church in a new direction. Everything, however, begins with you. Yes, with you. Missional Discipleship Initiative, MDI, sponsored by Mennonite Mission Network. Introducing Missional Discipleship Groups. An MDG is a vehicle that facilitates a discipleship experience in an intentional and relational kind of way between two or three people from the same gender who have decided to share their journey as disciples of Jesus together. Jesus said, For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. Therefore, an MDG might well be the most basic expression of church there is. An MDG meets any time of the day, any day of the week, and practically anywhere. This makes them highly flexible and usually meeting for one hour and 15 minutes. MDGs gather around a specific agenda that includes accountability, scripture reading, and prayer. For accountability purposes, five questions are asked every time they meet. For example, where have you seen God at work this week? Or what did you hear God say to you during your prayer time this week? Or even, did you finish the scripture portion assigned for this week? MDGs decide what portion of the Bible they want to read together and commit themselves to do it. Between one to three chapters are read on a daily basis. Prayer is supposed to happen both individually as well as communally. An MDG is made of three people, the facilitator, who is the person responsible for making sure that discipleship actually takes place. The committed is someone who is already part of the congregation but lacks experience making other disciples of Jesus. Finally, the new, who is somebody who is new to your congregation or even better, someone who is not part of your congregation yet, but is hungry and thirsty for God. Together they meet week after week for between eight to 12 months. Clearly, the purpose of an MDG is to multiply disciples that make disciples that make more disciples of Jesus. Multiplication takes place when a fourth person is invited to participate in one MDG. When this happens, together they decide how to multiply into a new MDG. Once they do multiply, roles will change yet the purpose remains the same which is defined and then disciple the new. At MDI, we firmly believe that for discipleship to be effective, three key elements need to be present. Intentionality, robust spiritual disciplines and smaller, more intimate communities. MDI, sparking the flame of an intentional relational discipleship culture in the local church. Nothing in this world has the potential of transforming your personal Christian life as well as the effectiveness of your local ministry more than investing meaningful time in intentional relational disciple-making. If you make this activity a priority in your life, you will be transformed from within and it will be noticed by people in your local church. Your regular disciple-making will be shared throughout your sermons. It will be shared in your conversations. It will be part of who you are as a leader. It is as simple as finding two or more people in whom you are willing to invest at least one hour of your time every week. Jesus said, where two or three gather in my name, there I am. Two or three gather in the name of Jesus could very well be the most humble yet more potent expression of ecclesia that there is. How about you trying this as soon as possible? Find two more people and begin a discipleship process with them. Read scripture together. Pray for one another and then try to be accountable to each other. Share life with one another and let's see what the Lord does with that. Number two, your leaders in the local church will be impacted by your tenacious, faithful example. Once you have made the disciple-intest a priority in your life, your closest leaders will follow suit. In reality, they all have been waiting to see your example all this time and surely are in most cases more than willing to follow your lead, but you have to begin. Leaders will be developed as they also engage intentionally the disciple-making task. Number three, as a natural result of people in the local church participating in MDGs actively, significant pastoral care will take place. People will be praying for and with people on a weekly basis. Imagine that. People sharing life with each other on a regular basis is how we fulfill the many one another's we find in the New Testament. Finally, when people in the local church learn how to make more disciples of Jesus, they don't want to stop doing it. There's nothing more exciting to a believer in Jesus than seeing others become followers of Jesus themselves. People don't want to stop. They want to be mobilized towards their local harvest fields. This is the way that believers impact their community by going out. This is exactly what Jesus says, go out and make disciples. For some reason, however, we tend to hear, stay here in the local church where the commandment is to go out, find them, find them and make them disciples of me. That is the Great Commission. So in synthesis, four important benefits of making, not just disciples, but disciple makers are. First of all, personal transformation, it all begins and ends with you, the leader. Secondly, leadership development. Your leaders will follow you in your pursuit of discipleship if you are serious about it. Number three, meaningful pastoral care will take place in the local congregation. And four, mobilization. Disciples of Jesus want to go out. There's a natural impulse for going out. It's a natural reflex. Moving out into the community and finding people who are hungry for God is what they want to be about. Let me end this presentation with this important video that stresses the need to go back to making disciples in an intentional relation of kind of way. I'll see you on the other side of the video. Hello, my name's Mike Breen and I'm delighted to be invited to share just a brief moment with you on the subject of discipleship. Discipleship, of course, goes back to Jesus. He called his first followers to be learners. That's what the word disciple really means, being learners, people who will learn the life of Jesus. Not just what it is that he knows, but learn to be who it is that he is. That's the key. Being a disciple is more than just information. It's also to do with imitation. When Paul was writing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter four, he said, you have many guardians in Christ. And that word is a very interesting word in the New Testament, the word is pedagogos. It means the person that takes care of children and trains them in their letters and numbers. Paul says, there are lots of people in your life who can do the job of giving you good information. But then he goes on to say, he says, but you have very few fathers. And then he says, because I'm your father, I want you to imitate me, imitate my life, because by imitating my life, you'll be imitating not only what I do, but also what it is that I believe in. And so he sent his disciple Timothy to them so that they would see again in the life of another disciple what it means to be a disciple of Jesus like Paul was. So it's really important that as we look at the subject of discipleship, that we recognize that, yes, it is vital that we have the right information about Jesus. And of course, we get that from the Bible. We get that from the New Testament, from the Gospels. We have the right information. And that information, the Word of God is forming us and shaping us the way that we think. But also we have models that we imitate. Right the way through my life, I've looked at other people and I've noticed how it is that they've followed Jesus, how they've talked to other people, how they prayed, how they've had concern for the broken and the needy. And I've looked at their lives and the best that I could do was just simply imitate them. Now you might think that imitation is an insincere form of spiritual formation. You know, you're imitating the life of another person and you may not believe what it is that the other person believes. But of course, you can act your way into thinking correctly about something. That's what you do with children. That's what people do in lots of other areas of life. Think about driving a car. You train a person to drive a car and in the process of driving a car, they understand what it means to drive safely. Now if you gave them a long course on how to be safe before you actually taught them how to drive, they may never actually become a safe driver. So really engaging with the information about Jesus and allowing that to form us and shape us as it did for the first disciples is enormously important. But then having a model that we imitate, we look for other people and we look for their lives and we say, I'm gonna imitate that particular characteristic in that other person because in that characteristic, they look like Jesus. Now, of course, then it may come to us. Maybe some folks are actually imitating us. Well, the truth of it is of course that everybody's imitating you in your life to one degree or another. The way I've often described it is this, that all Christians look like shepherds from behind and sheep from the front. You know, if you look over your shoulder, you'll generally see somebody else who's looking to you for an example. There's at least one other person. And when they're looking to you for an example, they're looking to you for a pattern that they can imitate, a model that they can imitate. Now, those of you who are Wesleyans will know that this is foundational to being a Wesleyan Christian. This is the way that Wesley functioned right from the very beginning with the Holy Club and then on through the small groups they called class meetings and societies in those days. They were the places where mature Christians offered their lives not as a perfect example, but as a living example of what it means to follow Jesus. So, information, the right information about Jesus so that we can follow him. Imitation, the pattern of life that we want to model our lives upon. And then as we put that together in our life, a disciple begins to do the final step, which is to innovate. So, information and imitation leads to innovation in our lives. You know, the people in your life who are in your workplace, the people in your life who are in your immediate or extended family, the people that are in your community, they don't need a disciple that you can tell them about that lives somewhere else. They need you to be the example of Jesus among them. You've allowed your heart and mind to be fashioned by his word. You've allowed your life to be shaped by the pattern of discipleship that you've seen in other people's lives. And now your life has become the pattern that other people see. And the pattern that they see is this innovation, this new emergence of what it means to be a disciple in your own life and in your own context. Now, I think if we start doing that, the world will begin to see again what it means to be a follower of Jesus. If you ask people, everybody loves Jesus. I've never heard of anyone who really despises Jesus. Everybody loves Jesus. Some people may be suspicious of the church. Some people may be burned by their experience of the religious life. But the life of Jesus modeled by you is the life that everyone looks to and everyone longs for. So I hope you find that helpful. Try those three things. Information, imitation and innovation. Thanks for joining us in this presentation about how disciple-making will improve the well-being of your local congregation and even the city where you happen to live. I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have right now or later today or simply to listen to your comments and responses to this presentation. Let the Lord bless you with His peace and keep you safe in the midst of this pandemic time. Thank you so much.