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Disciple-Making Plan -
Grade: A
Discipleship Ministries (Liberty
University)
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Liberty Theological Seminary
My Personal Disciple-Making Plan
A Paper
Submitted to Dr. Dave
Earley
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the requirement of the course
Discipleship Ministries
DSMN 500
By
August 5, 2019
Contents
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Introduction.............................................................................................................................3-4
Passages.....................................................................................................................................4-6
Principals.................................................................................................................................6-7
Philosophy..............................................................................................................................7-9
Practices..................................................................................................................................9-10
Proof.....................................................................................................................................10-12
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................12
Bibliography................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
When it comes to the plan for disciple making it is imperative that everyone do their part
and do not just count on others to “make disciples.” Everyone that calls themselves a believer
must be an active and willing participant in the role of making disciples for Christ. We have all
been born for a specific purpose to replicate Christ-like behavior and character in others after we
are accurately demonstrating it in our life.
Naturally as we make the decision to follow Christ, He changes us. When we make that
intentional decision to align our life with His, there is a spiritual transformation that occurs and
changes our thoughts, desires, relationships, and our whole view of life. In the Bible we read
how we should be the “light in the darkness.” This is the light of Christ that should shone
through us and other believers daily. What makes this tough is that we are in the day of high
numbers of Sunday church services but very few actual discipleship programs/classes in the
church. This is one of the hurdles that causes significant challenges when we are talking about
spreading the name of Christ or The Great Commission. When we read Matthew 28, the Great
Commission states that we as believers are called to go out and make disciples according to
God’s instructions and His command. It can be argued that making disciples is the core of what
the Great Commission is all about. Multiplication of believers is always the goal of a well orga-
nized and executed discipleship ministry.
This paper is written to highlight what it takes to create a solid disciple-making plan. The
following text will describe the passages that guide the ministry, the key principals, philosophy
behind them, the practices that need to be set in place, and the proof that brings it all together.
Disciple Making Plan
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Passages
It is impossible to have a successful disciple making plan without a solid vision. The
other thing that is important to remember is that there is no solid plan without Jesus at the center.
This plan has to be taken from scripture and scripture has to be used to accomplish the overall
goal. In the lecture nots the Great Commission was mentioned and this is the best starting point
when making a disciple making plan. Scripture tells us that all authority is given to Christ who
then turned to us to make disciples (Matt. 28:18)1. Jesus is the best leader and has given us a vi-
sion to follow.
When starting with Gods word we are then able to start to put together a biblical plan of
action. When you have a vision you are able to keep everyone focused on the same goal and also
track progress to encourage your team. This is not to say that a vision is set in stone and can
never change but when it does it should be something that is clearly communicated to those that
are on your team. Proverbs 29:18 says this, “A church with a good vision centered on Christ
thrives, however, a church without a solid vision centered in Christ dies.
There are many key factors involved in making a vision for student ministry that is cen-
tered around making disciples. You first need a group of spiritually mature leaders to develop a
biblical solid foundation for the vision. As said above the Great Commission is a great place to
start. We have to remember, “mature disciples make mature disciples. Come together at a church
leadership level and begin to ask big questions together. Achieve consensus regarding vision, as
vision comes from God’s word.”2 What this process is able to do is establish unity among lead-
ers. There are times that you will have students or parents that might not agree with your vision
1
Unless otherwise notated, all scripture passages are referenced from the
English Standard Version Bible (Crossway, 2008).
2
Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman, DiscipleShift:
Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples
(Grand Rapids: Zon- dervan, 2013), 216-217.
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and this could sadly end in a student leaving your youth group. But in the end a solid vision for
your ministry is important for the future of your ministry. The vision that we have with our
youth group is that, “we exist to join God in His mission to bring people back to Himself. We
want to help students take their next steps towards Jesus, no matter where their starting point is.”
The goal is for everyone to grow here, going from spiritually dead to spiritual parenthood
through learning, serving, and giving.3
After the vision has been established for the ministry, then you are able to move forward
and determine the target audience for your vision. If you are in student ministries your vision
should not be about creating strong fruitful marriages. Your vision needs to be appropriate for
the demographics you are trying to reach. In our student ministries vision it was important that
we add that second sentence about “no matter where their starting point is.” Being in Ann Arbor
we have a lot of people that come to our church that might know nothing about Christianity. It is
important that we do not set our vision to only teach and foster kids that already have relation-
ships with Christ. We would be missing a big part of our target audience if this was are vision.
We know and understand that the Body of Christ is the starting point of many discipleship rela-
tionships. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it this way, “By being in a community with the body of Je-
sus they are placed under the burden of the cross. For in that body they are all born and ac-
cepted.”4
Another statement of our vision in student ministries comes from the example set by the
early church. Acts 2:46, “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in
their homes, they received their food with glad generous hearts.” The early church put a huge
emphasis on relationships they shared food, homes, and their lives with one another. In Catalyst
3 Ibid., 60-71.
4
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 4.
(Minneapolis: First Fortress Press, 2003), 229.
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we put a huge emphasis on relationships also. We want our students small group leaders to be
deeply connected to their kids lives. We want them to be invested in who they are and support
them outside of church. We want them to connect over food and invite them into their houses.
There is a reason the early church put such an emphasis on relationships. This is truly where you
are able to make the biggest impact. Our students might not remember the sermon that was
preached 5 years does the line but they will remember their small group leader that invested and
cared about them.
Principals
The principals that our pastor put in place are principals that we strive for in all of our
ministries. Our pastor tells us to go out into the community and lead others to Christ by disci-
pling them and helping them grow in their relationships with Christ. The aspiration our pastor
has for us is to ultimately make disciples. The principals of the ministry should be things that
align with the passages and scriptures. Three things that Grace Bible Church values are
learning, serving and giving. In student ministries we value these things and teach our students
through these things.
When Christ is in the center of our vision our values and principals must also be at the
center and align with Him. The principals that are in place are what unifies our ministry and
keeps people committed. It is very important to understand that it is not the pastors that make the
church or ministry a success but it is the work of the holy Spirit and the grace of Jesus. Michael
Horton in the book Gospel Commission says it this way, “The church does not arise either from
the leadership of an earthly head or from the will of the people but from the saving work of God
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in Jesus Christ.”5 When it comes to the principals those that are over the ministry and those lead-
ing in the ministry need to be fully submitted to Christ. A big part of out principals are that the
leaders model the way our students should be living and focusing on Christ.
Philosophy
The philosophy of the ministry is very important in the overall vision of disciple making.
Depending on views, you may use different language and definitions for doctrine. From church
to church many times there are misconceptions of that different pious terms mean and even a
dif- ference in definition of what church even is from one person to another. Some
denominations put a huge emphasis on the church building while other do not. Some
denominations may have multiple pastors leading the congregation while others might just have
some. There also are some denominations that are lead by an elder board and some that are lead
by a head pastor.
Therefore, developing a clear philosophy for your ministry can prevent confusion and misunder-
standings. “Multiple definitions for the same sounding words leads to confusion and frustra-
tion.”6 There should be specific definitions for common terms used that all the students know
what they mean.
One of the terms that we define is the “church”. This is something that can get confusing
because we say things like, “I am going to church.” With this statement it comes crossed as the
church being the building. But the true church is defined over and over in the Scripture. Ro-
mans 12:4-5, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the
same function, so we, through many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of
5
Horton Michael, Gospel Commission: Recovering God’s Strategy for
Making Disci- ples, (Grand Rapids, US: Baker Books, 2011), 191.
6
Rainer Thom, Eric Geiger, Simple Church:Returning to God’s Process for
Making Disciples (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006,
113.
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another.” Or 1 Corinthians 12:12, “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and
all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. There are
ex- amples after examples in Scripture that define the “church” as the Body of Christ or the
people of Christ. The building is just a building, but the people are what make up Christs
Kingdom.
Another word that is used a lot among Christians is “pastor”. There has to be a definition
of what this means so that everyone is on the same page. We have to remember that everyone is
called to be a disciple to Christ and multiply His kingdom, but not everyone is called to be a pas-
tor or shepherd. Pastoring or shepherding and also discipleship are about leading, one is to lead
and grow people around them and the other is to led and grow the congregation they serve with.
Ephesians 4: 11-12 says, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds
and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” A
pastor has the role of spiritually informing and equipping the congregation God has put him
over. The pastors role is to also take the church vision and set it infant of his congregation as the
path they are heading down. This is a very important role and one that has to be done well.
Another term that I use weekly in my sermons to the students is the word “Gospel”. This
is something I try to figure out how it applies to every message I give but it is only right that my
students know what I am talking about when I use it. I am very protective of this word and be-
lieve that when it comes to salvation the Gospel message is one that we never add or subtract
from. The Gospel message that I preach week in and week out has four main parts: creation, the
fall, redemption, and restoration. God has brought good news to humanity ever since sin and
death changed the course of creation. We as humans are fallen, without the sacrifice on the
cross we all deserve hell but because of Jesus’ sacrifice we get what we don’t deserve, eternity
with God. We have all been redeemed through Christ because of this. Our goal is to restore,
spread
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the news of Christ to those who don’t know it. The Gospel message is the message that saves and
has power. We need to preach more than Big Ideas each week, we need to preach the Gospel of
Christ and about the gift we have been given through grace that we don’t deserve.
Practices
There are many methods that drive discipleship dependent on the ministry and the
vision/values that are set in place. Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey discuss four main models that
make up the structure of the church. The traditional church, where there is no small groups usu-
ally present. The attraction church, where they count on (of) small groups to be the main place
to build community. The organic church, where (with)small groups are again used for commu-
nity building. And the hybrid church(with/of) that mixes some of the practices of the other three
models.7 Having the tradition Sunday morning service and maybe a Wednesday night service are
good for some things but they do not check all the boxes when looking at spiritual formation or
disciple making. Small groups would be the place that allows these things to happen. You are
able to dive deeper into a group of peoples lives and you develop a relationship that allows one
to be accountable and grow together and grow closer to Christ in.
Something that has changed over the last 5-10 years is social media. We as a church
have tried to use social media in a way to draw people in and have the chance to present the
Gospel Message. We put our weekly sermon on podcast, we use apps like instagram and
facebook to post pictures of events or questions about our sermons in hopes that someone might
want to check out what we are doing. Our goal is to reach people where they are and our kids are
all us- ing technology so we need to meet them there.
7
Early, Dave and Rod Dempsey, Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the
Great Com- mission with Passion and Confidence (Nashville: B&H
Acedemic, 2013), 229-37.
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Proof
There are many ways to track your progress and where you are going from where you
have been. Some of the ways to do this are easier to grasp but might be less fulfilling in the end.
Others might be harder to grasp but more fulfilling and encouraging in the end. We in student
ministries try to track our attendance every week. Numbers and attendance are good things to
track to figure out patterns but they are often very unfulfilling if this is the only thing that you
use to gauge. Numbers show that you are attractive and maybe moving in the right direction but
they do not show the state of the relationships with Christ with the students in your ministry.
Be- cause of this my leaders and I have been wrestling to try to put together a butter means of
mea- suring what we are doing. We created “goals” that we check in on each month that help
encour- age us throughout the year.
Because we see relationships as being so important one of our goals are weekly “touch-
points.” We want to have as many weekly touch-points with our small group students. Every
time we reach out to our students via text or social media that is a touch-point. Then we meet up
for a hangout with our small group or go get ice cream that is a touch-point. When we go and
support one of our kids at their sporting event of band concert that is also a touch-point. We
want to try to accumulate as many touch-points throughout the week with our students. We are
able to judge this and encourage other leaders with how well we are doing. This is also a way to
dive deeper into our students spiritual lives and see where they are spiritually.
The Gospel of Christ is the most important thing that we teach about. One of our goals in
our ministry is that every student is able to know and understand what the Gospel is. This is im-
portant because if they do not know this how do they share the good news with those around
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them? We encourage students in our groups to tell us what the Gospel means and hopefully at
the end of the year all of our students will know it and be able to share it.
Another one of our goals is that our students are sharing their faith. This may look differ-
ent to each student. Some of the more outgoing students might start a conversation with a friend
at lunch about their faith and what they believe while a more introvert person might simply invite
a friend to church or an event. We encourage our students to seek out opportunities and check in
on them each week to see if any progress has been made.
Because our team is on the same page with our goals and wants to see God change the
lives of our students we check-in as a staff/leaders monthly on how our students are doing. We
have a meal together with all of our leaders once a month and this time is used to encourage and
challenge. We share stories about how our students are growing and how we can encourage bet-
ter. By changing our goals from strictly numbers to more relationship with Christ focused we
have been able to stay focused and encouraged. It allows us to see what God is really doing and
feel like we are playing a role in His plan like we didn’t feel before.
Conclusion
Developing a disciple-making plan should be the overall goal for any church that wants
see the growth that God can bring both spiritually and internally. Discipleship is not a job for 1
person or just the pastor but a job for all believers (Matthew 28:19). We should all be striving to
learn more about God, serve those around us, and give to those that are in need. Through the
writing of this paper I have been able to think about things that I have not thought about before
and been able to have important conversations about this idea with leaders in our ministry. This
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is something that I am going to keep and look at often to make sure that I am staying on track
with what we are trying to achieve in our ministry.
Bibliography
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 4. Minneapolis: First Fortress Press,
2003.
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 1999.
Horton, Michael. 2011. Gospel Commission: Recovering God’s Strategy for Making Disciples.
Grand Rapids, US: Baker Books. Accessed July 8, 2016.
Putman, Jim, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman. DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Grand Rapids:
Zon-
dervan, 2013.
Rainer, Thom. S. And Eric Geiger. Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making
Disciples. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006.
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