Focus on Reproduction, Mentor's Guide, MG12

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F O C U S O N R E P R O D U C T I O N

• We ought to observe a number of practical steps as we practice biblical follow-up: understanding the goal of discipleship as maturity, grounding the new believer in their assurance of salvation, teaching the new Christian to share their faith, and feed upon the Word of God. This also includes equipping them to walk with the Lord, introducing them to other members of the body, and connecting them to a small group as the building block of their faith. • Follow-up is an essential dimension of equipping believers in the Assemble and Nurture phases of church planting.

I. Equipping Disciples in the Church: an Overview of the Assemble and Nurture Phases of Church Planting

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If a branch is broken from a tree, it cannot bud, if a stream is cut off from its source, it dries up . . . Nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is a stranger, he is an enemy. Without the Church for your mother, you cannot have God for your Father. If it was possible to escape outside the ark of Noah, then it may be possible to escape outside of the Church. beheaded in 258 A.D. Quoted in Tony Lane, Exploring Christian Thought . Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984. p. 24. ~ Cyprian the martyr/bishop,

A. Why should follow-up and discipleship occur in and through the local church?

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1. The Church is the locus of God’s concern in the world : the Church is God’s means to reveal himself to the world, 1 Pet. 2.9-10.

a. We are the people of God in the earth.

b. God is moving through his people to declare witness to Messiah and his kingdom reign come in Jesus.

2. The Church is the agent of the Kingdom of God in his mission to reconcile the world to himself, 2 Cor. 5.18-21.

a. We are ambassadors of Jesus Christ, appealing to others on God’s behalf.