Effective disciple making requires two things. It requires us to share life with a few people that we are equipping to follow Jesus and do ministry, which we call discipleship. But it also requires us to constantly be "fishers of men" through daily mission and evangelism in our every day lives. If we aren't careful, we can think of mission in terms of getting on a plane, going on a trip, or putting on an event. However, disciple makers must see mission as a lifestyle to be woven into their daily flow. If I see myself as a sent missionary (2 Corinthians 5:20), then I am to go wherever I go each day with the purpose in my heart of evangelism and discipleship. Here are a few principles to think about concerning daily mission.
-Prayer: Pray daily for opportunities and doors for the gospel. Pray for people you have met and for boldness to share. Honestly prayer is the single most important part of all of this. We are engaging in spiritual war, walking into satan's home turf, and trying to plunder his possessions. There is no power in ourselves to accomplish this.
-A regular place: Find a place you can have a frequent presence. A place you can spend a lot of time and build intentional relationships. In reality, you are already in these places. You live life in them as your regular routines. Do an audit on your schedule and determine the 3 places you spend the most time. Those are the places you can begin seeing and engaging as a mission field. Personally, mine is the gym and also my neighborhood. Four days a week usually I try to go to the gym around the same time. It's something I enjoy doing, but it's also ministry because there are many lost people there who have become my friends over time. Also, as a family we try to spend as much time outside in our neighborhood as possible. Be regular, learn peoples' names, initiate friendships for the sake of the gospel.
-Bridges and good questions: Look for ways to bridge conversations to relationship and spiritual things. Notice clothing apparel, dogs, kids anything you can notice about them that you relate to in any way, point it out, and quickly introduce yourself to engage in casual conversations. Ask them things about themselves, about their life, really get to know them. I've often said the best approach to starting a gospel conversation is "Hey, I'm Scott, what's your name?" In other words, take interest in people and get to know them. Also, have a few questions to gauge their spiritual views. "Do you attend church anywhere?" "What are your thoughts on God/Jesus?" "Do you have a spiritual background?" From here, trust the spirit for sharing the message of Jesus. Also practice sharing a brief testimony and what you believe about Jesus in 2-3 minutes.
-Intentional Gospel meetings, follow up and ongoing prayer: Ask if they would be willing to meet and talk more about Jesus and what you believe. Get contact info to set up coffee/meal /in home visit. Create a contact list to pray for these people daily and attempt to meet with them as often as they will for more dialogue about the gospel. **consider how to involve your family by being hospitable and having them into your home for dinner or just to hang out. We try to have a night set aside for hosting people as a family. Try to make a personal goal of having 2-3 gospel meetings a month. You will need to host people and meet people and have many conversations with people over a long period of time, praying God would open their hearts. As their interest grows, begin inviting them to believe in Christ, come to the church, come to Community Group, come to other ministries the church is doing.
Motives for scripture memory
Scripture memory is something we all need to cultivate an abiding relationship with Jesus. However, sometimes our motivations can be off base. Check out this article on our motives for scripture memory.
https://legacydisciple.org/index.php/2019/10/11/your-motive-to-memorize/