Multiply

One of the unique aspects of the Three Circles which is not found in many other Gospel presentations is the circle that represents our broken world and the way people try to escape from brokenness. 

Because there is so much brokenness in our world, people try to escape the pain. Some try to escape by earning a lot of money. Some try to get a great education thinking that their knowledge will allow them to escape the suffering they face in a broken world. Others try to escape by gaining fame. Others try to escape through spiritual practices and religion. Other people try to ease the pain that comes from brokenness with drugs and alcohol.

Today’s podcast encourages church planters to take time to hear from their listeners as they share the Good News using the Three Circles.

Today’s podcast is about the first of the three circles. If you are a village church planter you have probably learned to share the Good News of Jesus by drawing three circles and telling a story that all people everywhere need to hear. We call the story “The Three Circles.”  I believe that it is one of the most powerful Gospel presentations you can ever share.  Here’s why:  It starts out with six simple but powerful words, “The world we live in is broken.”  There are many biblical truths that unbelievers like to contradict.  But this truth is hard to contradict, “The world we live in is broken.”

If you clearly describe the broken world we live in, and if you help your friend describe how he or she has seen brokenness in the world, you will be ready to share the hope of the world, Jesus.

Learn to use the 3 circles.  Learn to tell the story of Jesus as you draw the three circles one by one.  Tell the Gospel story with patience, with clarity and with compassion.  Yes, the world we live in is broken, But Jesus came to restore us to God and make us new people.  That is good news indeed!

You can be an effective witness for Crist.  A good way to start is by sharing your 15-second testimony.  It is both simple and powerful.

The reason it is simple and powerful is because the 15-second testimony uses a simple pattern to tell of God’s power at work in your life. 

You and your church members have many, many friends and neighbors who are looking for hope. Life is hard and the world is broken. But Jesus has brought you and your people great hope. So be a witness for Christ.  Tell others of the hope you have in Him. Share your 15-second testimony.

Today’s podcast is about a Seed Sower Tool that is easy to use, but seldom mastered. That tool is the relationship map. A relationship map is a simple diagram you draw on a piece of paper that has your name in a circle in the middle and lines going out to five or six other circles.  Each of the other circles has the name of a person you know who is far from God.  Still other lines connect those five people to their friends and family members who are also living lives far from God.

You can use the relationship map (sometimes called an “oikos map”) as a prayer tool.  As you look at the names and connections represented on the relationship map, pray for the people represented in the diagram. 

Today’s podcast encourages disciple makers to keep their relationship maps up to date and to use them to celebrate progress.

As a church planter and disciple maker, one of your most important ministries is to help people understand and embrace their identity in Christ. The people you are leading to the Lord have spent their whole life living as a child of this world.  But when they are born again, they gain a new nature.  They become children of God.  Your job as a church planter and disciple maker is to help them fully embrace their new identity in Christ.

You can teach them that being an ambassador for Christ who helps other people be reconciled to God is a vital and essential part of their identity in Christ.  As you do so, you will see new believers transformed from passive recipients of God’s grace into powerful messengers of the King of Kings.

Today’s podcast looks at how we can get wisdom.  The first step to getting insight and understanding is to pray for wisdom.  When you pray, make sure you have decided to honor God with all your heart in all you do.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Saturate your heart and your mind with the wisdom found in the Word of God, the Bible. And get a coach.  That’s right, get a coach.  A coach is a trusted friend who can help you make wise decisions for yourself.

Today’s podcast is about coaching. Coaching is the process of using open questions to help another person make wise decisions and act upon them.

When we carefully consider the teachings of God’s word, we are in a good position to make wise plans.  But for our plans to be truly wise they must be based on a broad understanding not only of God’s will but also a broad understanding of our current situation.

Today’s podcast is about that feeling we often have of being very small in a very big world.  The feeling of being small in a big, big world can often make us feel powerless. The feeling of powerlessness can get worse when you realize that you come from a small village in a secondary province of a small country.

If you have ever felt small and powerless in a big, big world, I have a story to tell you that will encourage you.  It’s the story of Jesus, the villager from Nazareth and his 12 disciples. They changed the world, and so can you.

 

Today’s podcast describes the power of prayer as a tool to help disciple makers and church planter identify persons of peace. A great way to find out if you can pray for a person you know or have recently met is to simply ask, “What would you like for God to do for you?

Prayer has the amazing power to bring heaven and earth together. As we pray, God works. When others see God at work they may want to know more about how they can know God and have a personal relationship with him.

So ask, “What would you like for God to do for you?” When you learn what your friend wants God to do, pray in faith.  When the time is right, share the Good News of Jesus and invite your new friend to be saved.

Prayer is a powerful way to find persons of peace.

Today’s podcast describes the power of God’s story to change lives.

Many of us have learned a few Bible stories form different parts of the Bible. These stories have helped us, but they also leave us with a lot of questions.  That’s why it is important for church planters to learn and tell God’s big story from beginning to end.  In Village Church Planting we encourage ever church planter to be able to tell God’s big story in ten minutes or less.

As you begin to understand God’s big story better and better your faith will grow and you will gain wisdom.