Tell God's Story

 

      Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

One of the most important skills a church planter can have is the ability to tell God’s story clearly, concisely, and well. The Bible tells us God’s big story. But the Bible is long. It’s not just one book, it’s a collection of 66 different books all pointing to Jesus, the Savior of the world. So, when we are evangelizing or making disciples, when we are teaching or praying or counseling, we need to remember God’s big story and refer to it often.

In Term 1 of the New Village Church Planting program, church planters learn to tell God’s big story in 10 minutes or less. But to be able to condense the essence of God’s word into a 10-minute story, you must know it well.

Ideally, you need to know the story of each book of the Bible, and you need to understand the major themes of the Bible, such as Love and Mercy, Holiness and Sin, Sacrifice and Salvation, Redemption and Reconciliation, and Grace and Faith.

But please don’t get discouraged if you don’t know every book of the Bible well or if you don’t fully comprehend the major themes of the Bible. Start telling God’s big story by telling the Three Circles. But always keep adding to your understanding of God’s big story. Read or listen to the Bible in your mother tongue. Start with Genesis. Finish with Revelation. Don’t worry if you don’t understand every detail. But pay attention to the major themes of the Bible. As you read or listen to book after book in the Bible, these themes will appear again and again: Love and Mercy, Holiness and Sin, Sacrifice and Salvation, Redemption and Reconciliation, and Grace and Faith.

The better you know the major people named in the Bible and the better you know the major themes of the Bible, the better prepared you will be to tell God’s big story briefly and easily. Do you have to understand every part of the Bible to tell God’s big story as you evangelize or make disciples? No.

But the more you understand, the better you can tell God’s big story and apply it to the needs of your listeners.

One of the most powerful men of God who ever lived was Stephen. His story is told in Acts 7. Stephen knew God’s big story. When called upon, he was able to tell it concisely and apply it directly. Though his listeners did not respond well, his story changed the course of church history. The glory of God came down when Stephen told God’s big story and told it well.

So don’t be discouraged and don’t stop in your quest to know God’s story, to understand its major themes, and to tell it well. If you don’t have an audio Bible in your heart language, go to the Google Play Store to download the Bible app to access downloadable audio Bibles in hundreds of local languages.

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #God’sBigStory

Leadership Development - Some Additional Characteristics to Look for in Emerging Leaders

 

       This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters and leaders.

Our topic for 2026 is Leadership Development. In my past two episodes, I’ve shared some characteristics that I look for in potential emerging leaders. Most important to me are an identity firmly rooted in Jesus Christ and humility. Last time I shared about the importance of someone’s history or track record and the importance of their skills or abilities.

Today, I want to share some thoughts about three additional qualities I look for in emerging leaders. These are initiative, a desire to learn and grow, and a teachable spirit. I think that I can see how these complement each other.

* Initiative is defined as “the ability to assess and initiate things independently.” Those with a leadership mindset do not wait to be told what to do. They do things. Now, a key to this is that they do the “right” thing, and that is where the “assess” part of this definition comes into play. To refer back to my previous podcast, does the person have a history of making accurate assessments and then taking the right action? I’m reminded of the sons of Isaachar in 1 Chronicles 12:32. They were “men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”

* Secondly, a strong desire to learn and grow is vital to the development of emerging leaders.  You may have heard it said that “leaders are learners,” and I believe this is quite true. As I am on the lookout for emerging leaders, I pay attention to see which men and women have inquisitive minds and an interest in learning about new subjects or developing new skills. They do not shy away from the hard work and the time required to grow in both their capability and their capacity.

* Closely related to my second point is the importance of new leaders being teachable. Proverbs 1:5 instructs us to “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” Young leaders must have the humility (I spoke about this last month) to listen and learn, AND they need to be discerning about the counsel they receive. As I observe and assess new leaders, one of the things I look for is to see who their mentors are. Who is advising them? Do they have good role models to follow?

I will continue my thoughts on characteristics to look for in emerging leaders in my next podcast.  

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters and leaders.

Tell Your Story My New Life in Christ

 

     Hello, everybody. My name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

A West African song says,

What the Lord has done for me, I cannot tell it all,

What the Lord has done for me, I cannot tell it all,

What the Lord has done for me, I cannot tell it all,

He saved me and washed me in his blood

And now I can shout Hallelujah, I can shout “Hallelujah!”

I can say, “Praise the Lord!

 

This is the privilege of the children of God. We who have been born again have so much to be thankful for; we cannot tell it all. But we are called on to tell our story. We are to be witnesses for Christ.

Sharing your 15-second testimony involves telling about a time in your life when you were far from God, telling how you met Christ, and telling what the Lord has done for you since you were born again.

When Christians share their story of salvation and testify to the goodness of God, they bring blessing and hope through the powerful word they share. God will use your story powerfully to bring redemption to others. Your testimony will have an even greater impact if you follow these three guidelines:

·        Don’t say too much.

·        Don’t say too little.

·        Be sure to ask your listeners, “Do you have a story like this?”

If you’ve been a Christian for more than a year, you have probably heard other believers go on and on telling the story of their salvation. They love to hear their own voice. They don’t ask questions, they don’t pause. They just keep talking. What seemed to be an interesting story is no longer interesting for the listener. They’ve said too much.

Others say too little. They don’t give specific details. They don’t tell a story. They don’t provide interesting facts about exactly how God helped them. Their listeners don’t understand what God has done for them, nor what God might do for them, all because the testimony was too short.

So, when you tell your story briefly and concisely, tell what God has done for you and how he has helped you. Be sure to describe the transformation you have experienced since you began following Christ.

Then ask, “Do you have a story like this?” Maybe your listener will tell you a story; maybe he will not. But by asking, you get to pause, listen, and see how the Holy Spirit is working. You will get to hear how you have been understood. After you listen, you’ll be ready to say more and perhaps invite your listener to hear the 3 Circles Gospel presentation and then crown Jesus as King.

So, tell your testimony; tell it well. Don’t say too much or too little. And be sure to ask your listeners, “Do you have a story like this?”

 

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #NewLifeInChrist #MyStory

 

 

 

 

Tell Your Story - My Life before Christ

 Hello! This is Multiply, a podcast that encourages pastors, Church Planters, and Christian Leaders. I am your host today, Daneille Snowden. 

In the New Village Church Planters curriculum, we are trained to use The Seed Sower’s Toolbox, which some refer to as the “4-1-1 tool.”  The toolbox asks four questions on one piece of paper.

The first question is asking why?    

By doing so, we discover “Our identity in Christ,” all as we realize that we are alive in Christ. In addition to our identity as Christ’s, we also find that we are AMBASADORS, by sharing His love, which transforms us into His image. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

Today, we shall talk about another question listed two questions later in the Seed Sower’s Toolbox: What should I say? This is when we share a 15-second testimony (our story) about what Jesus has done for me. Most of us know that we begin by saying, “There was a time in my life...”  We tell a story that is led by the Holy Spirit, which is our own personal story, and one that the listener feels connected to. This is a story before we knew Jesus as our Lord and Savior. 

Do you remember when your life was empty, and you felt empty inside? Share that! I recall a long time ago when I was first learning how to evangelize. Sometimes, I would be going house to house, sharing the Gospel, or talking to people on the streets in street evangelism. I was so nervous! Yet, after the person I was talking to finished sharing their problems, the Holy Spirit just opened my heart and mind to be able to share HOPE from my story! My story came from my heart, a heart that had been changed and set free by Jesus Christ. And, as my short story was shared, God’s Word pulled back a curtain for these individuals to see and even feel the love and power of God for them personally. 

Tell your story, tell about your life before Christ! It is a good idea to write a few short 15-second stories down on a piece of paper. Be prepared!  The scripture says to “… sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear:” 1 Peter 3:15

This has been Multiply. Please take the time to share this podcast with others. You can find us on Facebook, YouTube, and on our website, vcpencouragement.org.

Thank you and Go, Tell Your Story!

How to find Persons of Peace

      Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that

provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

One of the most exciting experiences a Christian worker can ever have is to

look for and find persons of peace. You know that a person of peace is a man or

a woman, prepared by God to respond to the gospel and to respond to gospel

messengers when they come with good news. You are familiar with persons of

peace described the Bible, the woman at the well Cornelius, Lydia, the

Philippian jailer and others. You know how God prepared these people to

respond to the Good News and connect gospel messengers with other people in

their towns and villages. Their example follows the pattern that Jesus taught

72 workers to follow. That pattern of ministry that Jesus prescribed is found in

Luke chapter 10:1-10. Praise the Lord, that pattern of ministry instituted by

our Savior is still effective today.

I remember when I was helping plant a church in Quito, Ecuador. I was

attending a prayer meeting when I received a call from a hospital chaplain. She

said “There is a man here who has just been diagnosed with cancer of the

bladder. He is very worried. Now he has to leave our hospital to go to another

hospital. Can you send someone from your church to talk with him right away?

Immediately, I went over to the hospital and visited with the man and his wife.

He was indeed worried. He knew about his diagnosis. I told him that it’s always

God‘s will to heal his children, either here in this world, or in the world of

come. I found out that he did not have any assurance that he was a child of

God. I invited him and his wife to pray to receive Christ and they did. Then I

prayed for his healing. His life was transformed, and soon he shared the Good

News with his family. The next time the doctors performed a test on him, they

found that his tumor was not malignant! My new friend was a person of peace.

He showed it by the way he responded when I offered to pray. He confirmed

that he was a person of peace by his hunger to know the things of God, and by

his willingness to share the good news with others.

We find persons of peace through prayer. I was called to go to the hospital

while I was attending a prayer meeting with other Church planters. We find

persons of peace by offering to pray for others. Their response to our offers of

prayer is often an indication of spiritual hunger. We find persons of peace by

sharing the gospel. Persons of peace have been prepared by God to be hungry

for the Good News; they show that hunger by their response.

Persons of peace tell family and friends the Good News that they have heard.

They introduce gospel messengers to people they are related to. They connect

the gospel messenger with friends, neighbors, and family members. Persons of

peace are an instrument God uses to spread the good news to many people. He

does that because he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should

come to repentance.

When we look for persons of peace, we are cooperating with God. When we

find persons of peace, we rejoice because we see and believe that the gospel

can spread rapidly!

What about you? Do you have a story in which you found a young person, a man

or a woman who was hungry to know God? Do you have a story about when you

met a person of peace and they responded readily to you, to your prayers, and

to your sharing of the Gospel? If so, keep looking and finding more persons of

peace. If not, ask God to lead you to persons he has prepared as persons of

peace. When they trust Christ, teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded.

Help them connect people in their network of relations to Jesus.

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this

encouraging word with today?”

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #Find Persons of Peace

Leadership Development - More Characteristics to Look for in Emerging Leaders

 

This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters and leaders.

Our topic for 2026 is Leadership Development. In my last episode, I introduced some characteristics that I look for in potential emerging leaders. Those attributes are an identity firmly rooted in Jesus Christ and humility.

Today, I want to introduce you to two more things to watch for. What is someone’s track record or their history? Have they been entrusted with small leadership responsibilities, and were they successful? Do others look to them – or defer to them – in situations where leadership is needed? Have they demonstrated a willingness and an ability to influence others? Or to motivate others?

Years ago, when I was a hiring manager, and we were interviewing candidates, our axiom was that “the best predictor of future performance is one’s past performance.” In other words, if a candidate had a strong history of accomplishment, there was a good chance that he or she would also be successful in a new role. On the other hand, it was very unlikely that someone would suddenly transform into an excellent worker just because they received a promotion or they stepped into a new position.

Leaders, as you intentionally look for potential new leaders, carefully investigate their history. Jesus taught in Luke 16:10 that “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…” Emerging leaders are trustworthy and have shown success in small things.

As I am watchful for new leaders, I also look for areas of aptitude or competency. Do they possess a particular skill that is needed by the organization? In our VCP context, this might be a strong ability to cast vision or to effectively train others or to handle administrative tasks quite well due to outstanding computer skills. (You will notice that these are very different abilities, and very few people are good at such a wide variety of responsibilities.) As leaders, it is important for us to identify those with skills needed and to then assign them to roles where those abilities best contribute to the work.

Proverbs 22:29 says, “Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.” As leaders, we need to watch for those who are skilled in their work, and we then need to empower and enable them to apply those abilities in ways that maximize the fruitfulness of the ministry.

I will continue my thoughts on characteristics to look for in emerging leaders in my next podcast.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters and leaders.

Biblical Examples of Persons of Peace

 

   Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast

that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

When I started planting churches in the 1980s, I had never heard of a “person

of peace” and neither had my fellow church planters. We had studied Luke

10:1-10 where the Lord Jesus taught 72 of his followers to find persons of

peace. But, somehow, we didn’t focus on Jesus’ greatest teaching in that

chapter: There are men and women in many places who have been prepared by

God to be receptive to the Gospel and to receive people who proclaim the

Good News. Look for these men and women. Stay with them as you proclaim

the Kingdom of God.

One of the most interesting Bible stories about a person of peace tells about

when Jesus met a woman at a well (John 4:1-43). Jesus met a Samaritan

woman who had a bad reputation. But she was hungry to know God. When she

heard the Good News, she told the whole town about Jesus. Our Lord stayed

with the Samaritan believers for two days before going on with his ministry in

Galilee.

After Jesus rose from the dead and poured out his Holy Spirit on the men and

women in the Upper Room, the apostles were slow to put into practice Jesus’

teaching about finding persons of peace. Yes, they developed their church in

Jerusalem, and yes, they proclaimed the Good News of the Kingdom of God. But

the apostles did not go looking for persons of peace outside the city. It took

several miracles to make that happen.

Peter found a man of peace when he met Cornelius. The story of their

encounter is found in Acts 10. Cornelius was a Roman army captain. Because of

his cultural upbringing, Peter did not want to have anything to do with Romans.

But God made it clear to him in a dream that he should go to Cornelius. When

he got to Cornelius’ house, he found a man with a good reputation who was

hungry to know God. And Cornelius had gathered his relatives and close friends

to listen to Peter’s teaching. As Peter told the story of Jesus and explained the Old

Testament prophecies about him, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the

message. That’s right, the Holy Spirit was poured out even on Gentiles! Peter

baptized the believers and stayed with them for a few days.

Do you see the pattern? God prepares people to hear the Gospel. He gives them

a hunger to know God. Believers go with the message of Jesus, the message of

God’s big story to save broken humanity. When persons of peace hear the Good

News, they receive it. Persons of peace are hungry to know more. They don’t

keep the Gospel to themselves; they invite their friends to hear. The believers

who proclaim the Good News stay with the new believers to strengthen them in

their faith.

There are persons of peace God wants you to find. There are people who live

near you who are hungry to know God. Pray for them. Look for them. Pray with

them. Share the Good news with them. Stay with them. Tell their friends and

relatives about Jesus. Yes! There are persons of peace God wants you to find.

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this

encouraging word with today?”

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #PersonsOfPeace