Multiply!

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

God promised through the prophet Isaiah that the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. That promise, found in Isaiah 11:9, was given more than 2,700 years ago. Sadly, it has yet to be fulfilled.  There are so many places on earth that have no knowledge of the Lord.  But the good news is that people who until recently had never heard of Jesus are hearing about him. People who had never known the unconditional love of God are hearing about Jesus and his amazing story. They are learning of the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. His story demonstrates the love of God to all of us who rebelled against him. The knowledge of the Lord is spreading on our earth! Dear church planter, as you have prayed, made disciples, and started new churches, you have had a vital role to play in making Christ known across the earth. I am so thankful for your devotion to Christ and your hard work. Praise the Lord!

But, in spite of our best efforts, there are still men and women, boys and girls who have never heard of Jesus.  There are still villages with no knowledge of his goodness.  There is still so much to do to make Christ known. How will we Christians ever fulfill the Great Commission? How will we share the Good News with every person?  How will we ever finish the task of making disciples of all nations?

The only way is through multiplication! The only way to cover the earth with the knowledge of the Lord is if we multiply disciples, leaders, and churches just as God’s word teaches us to do. As much as we celebrate the expansion of churches into thousands of new villages over the past few years, we know there are still hundreds of thousands of villages with no witness for Christ.  We must therefore keep our eyes on horizon. We must not be content to stay where we are to make our existing churches strong and prosperous and comfortable. No! We must make disciples and prepare them to go. Go find villages without churches. Go find persons of peace. Go make disciples. Go teach them to obey the commands of Christ. Go! And teach others to go as well. Multiply!

Church planter, have you made a map showing the villages near your place that do not have churches? Have you mobilized your people to pray for those villages? Have you identified disciples of Jesus you can equip and send to start churches where there are no churches? Have you told the Lord that you will not be satisfied until you and your disciples multiply many new, healthy churches in many new places?

My prayer for you is that you will not be satisfied with just one or two churches but that you will devote yourself over the next decade to multiply dozens of churches.  You may feel weak. You may not think you have the strength or wisdom or resources necessary.  But your God is able.  He will give you the grace you need to do his will. Will you trust him for a multiplied harvest far bigger than you have ever asked or imagined?

Oh my brothers and sisters, go out and be fruitful in Jesus’ name!

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #GoMakeDisciples