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Even if you do not like math, you know that multiplication makes bigger numbers faster than addition. (8 + 7 + 15, while 8 x 7 = 56). The Great Commission calls every believer to “make disciples of all nations…” This task would be impossible for one person to do, however, if we focus on a few, share the Gospel with and guide them to repent and believe, and then disciple them to multiply what they have been given the entire world can be reached. Hypothetically, if just one disciple made another disciple in one year, who made another disciple in one year, and so on, the entire world’s population could be reached with the Gospel in just 34 years. What would it look like if handfuls of people or a church took the Great Commission to heart and began to live it out. If one person can reach the whole world in 34 years, what can 200 people do?

            During Jesus’s earthly ministry to His disciples, he continually poured into them the idea of taking what He was giving them and multiplying it out making more and more disciples. Jesus called His disciples and us to go and bear fruit. This is not only just the process of making fruit, but we are appointed to go and bear fruit that abides (John. 15:16). Fruit that abides is fruit that can multiply. Our mission statement is

 

We exist to make disciples by gathering people to worship God, connecting people to a Christ-centered community, growing people to reach their world in the power of the Holy Spirit, and multiplying disciples to expand God’s Kingdom.

 

Multiplication must be a part of a Great Commission church. Multiplying disciples, multiplying leaders, and multiplying churches. The “multiply” goal is to help the church move to a place where we are sending out members to multiply churches. Multiplying churches is not done by changing a mission statement, but by becoming a church that sees the world around them and wants their church to impact that world for Christ. The culture of a church that sends people out to multiply churches is not a church that is happy with the status quo and understands that being comfortable is not the end goal. Multiplying provides the church with a greater opportunity to impact far more than their little corner on the map, but the whole world. My prayer is that more Shady Oaks members want to multiply to impact the whole world! Are you willing to multiply what you have been given? If you are, help others to get ready. If you don’t know how to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, are you willing to learn? Either way, multiplication is more about action than ideas. We act so we can multiply!!!