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

Planting Urban Churches Tending

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Welcome in the strong name of Jesus Christ! After your reading, study, discussion, and application of the materials in this lesson, you will be able to: • Defend and articulate from Scripture the idea of the importance of following up new converts and discipling new believers in urban church planting. • The act of discipleship is welcoming new believers into the Church, i.e., incorporating new believers and equipping them in the local assembly of believers, which is God’s agent of the Kingdom in this world. • Define follow-up of new believers as “incorporation into the family of God for the purpose of edification and fruitfulness, to the glory of God.” This includes the notion of welcome and introduction into the body, building up in the body to the fullness of Christ, and using one’s gifts to contribute to fulfilling the Great Commission, all to the glory of God. • List the reasons why follow-up of new Christians is so essential to their spiritual well-being, including their need for protection, for new identity, for ongoing instruction and feeding, for the cultivation of new friends and life patterns, and the need for regular pastoral care. • Articulate the dynamics of follow-up, including baptism and membership in a local assembly, worship, befriending, pastoral care, preaching and teaching, discovery and use of one’s spiritual gifts, and service and sharing of one’s faith. • Explain the steps in practicing 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 included 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.

Lesson Objectives

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• Show how follow-up is an essential dimension of equipping believers in the Assemble and Nurture phases of church planting.