Discipleship & Worldwide WitnessSample

The 'small' church

Encouraging someone every day, how do you manage? Is encouraging your language or do you still find it quite difficult to do this actively? How can you do this more often in the near future? Close by and/or further away? After all, this is not just a challenge we are giving you, but a call directly from the Bible itself: "Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another" (1 Thes 5:11)

We may and should encourage, build up, strengthen, and love one another as Christians. So the question is: Who are you building up? To whom do you pass on God's love? What steps can you take to be a witness to God, who is alive and closely involved in your life today as well?

It is wonderful that you are not alone in your faith. Jesus is always with you and, with millions of worldwide Christians, you are part of a worldwide family. In addition, Jesus promises in Matthew 18:20 that if you gather just two or three people in His name, He is there with you. Jesus is there, in the big and in the small congregation. There in the big crowd, in church, at a conference. But He's also just in your living room, with you and your friends. When you talk about faith with your neighbor, your classmate, or your friends from sports.

Following Jesus (being a disciple) therefore takes place in both the big and the small groups. And both give you unique opportunities to learn and grow (together) in following Jesus. Whether you are with two, ten, a hundred, or a thousand other Christians together, we are all connected by Jesus.

To stay connected, and to experience that connectedness, we need each other as brothers and sisters. So that we can encourage and build each other up, to believe together, keeping our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus.

Therefore, continue to actively connect with your brothers and sisters, and encourage them. How you do that is up to you. What has God given you? What have you seen from Him? What have you been impressed by? What is He asking of you? Together with other followers of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may share, pass on - witness to this. Go, disciple!

Take the following questions to think about:

• After this reading plan, how do you stay connected to your brothers and sisters?
• How can you make a "habit" of continuing to encourage your brothers and sisters far and/or nearby? Schedule a weekly or monthly time in your calendar to encourage your brother or sister.
• (How) can you include others in this?

Prayer:

• Father, will You help me to faithfully pray for my brothers and sisters worldwide and encourage them to keep looking at Jesus?

P.S. This is the last day of this reading plan. We hope it has helped you as a follower of Jesus and that you have enjoyed it, but, of course, there is much more to discover.

The materials in this reading plan come from Alongsiders, a European discipleship movement. Do you want to take the next step? Do you have a heart for discipleship and want to know how to really follow Jesus?

Click here for more reading plans and opportunities to grow in discipleship.