Sharing the Gospel can be scary, especially if you don’t feel like you know what you’re doing. Where do you even start? What do you say if someone is interested in hearing more about Jesus? If someone does accept Christ, what do you do with them after that? All the unknowns can keep you from even trying to share your faith with others in your community.
Churches are feeling ill-equipped too. Lifeway polled 1,000 evangelical churches in America in 2022, and 63% said their greatest need is disciple-making training. The top two needs identified by the pastors of those churches were developing leaders and fostering connections with unbelievers.
That’s why e3 Partners and its digital ministry, I Am Second, have partnered with Lifeway to develop a Bible study that will equip churches and faithful followers of Jesus to do just that. The study, called Made to Multiply – A Bible Study from I Am Second, gives you the ideas, inspiration, and techniques you need for sharing your faith, multiplying disciples, and even planting churches.
“This isn’t just a typical Bible study,” said Josh Spinks, author of the study and e3’s VP of North American Initiatives. “It follows a pattern: This is what the Bible says, this is what we should do, and here’s how you can do it.”
Designed for small groups and churches, the seven-session study will help you develop a heart for the lost around you, learn how to interact with the lost in a way that points back to Jesus, and teach you tools you need to confidently share your story and God’s story with others.
“The hope isn’t just that you and your Sunday school class or life group take seven weeks and go through the study, but that you will see what happens once the study ends,” Josh said. “That, through these seven weeks, you’ve picked up some cadences and rhythms that will help you multiply this again – model it for others, make disciples, and teach them to do the same.”
Multiplication comes into play in the sixth chapter, which focuses on teaching others what you’ve learned in the chapters before. It’s the essence of disciple making. Then, the seventh session of the study focuses on building a disciple-making community.
“The goal is that you will start to create these communities that will be bent toward being outward with your faith,” Josh said. “The Church was never meant to be inwardly focused. It was always outwardly focused. Because of this, the last study is to build a community around lostness. Could you imagine if we started building churches to bring people in instead of just serving people who are already in the pews? My hope is that we can invest in and multiply groups who are building their understanding of why they gather – for reaching others – all around the country so that together, we can reach the world.”
Made to Multiply – A Bible Study from I Am Second is available to purchase on Lifeway’s website and includes access to the accompanying 12- to 15-minute video sessions featuring teaching from I Am Second and e3 Partners.