THE OUT
Meet a need. Share the Gospel
“One of the most obvious areas of seismic cultural change is in outreach. In the past, nonbelievers clearly identified the church as the place to go for answers to spiritual questions. Many of our current models of evangelism are still based on that premise….Today we have a generation of nonbelievers that might not ever enter the doors of a church unless they have already had a positive encounter with a Christian in the world.”
Mike Breen - Building a Discipling Culture
Purpose: Benchmarks are points in your discipling groups journey that allow for the group to stop and evaluate how everyone is doing in a particular area. Before moving on to Phase 3, take one of your group sessions to stop, ask questions, and assess if your group has taken on and completed an “Out”.
Scriptures:
Matthew 28:18-20 - Evangelism and Discipleship
19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,…
Mark 9:35 - Service to others
Mark 16:15 - Go preach to the World
Romans 10:15-18 - Sharing the Gospel
The Out Defined: A one time or ongoing effort made by your D-Group to meet a physical need and share the Gospel.
Teach:
Earlier in your disciplining journey you taught the Up, In, & Out Triangle…
The OUT portion of the triangle talks about our relationship with the World. For this benchmark, the hope is that your group will engage with the world (those outside of the church).
The OUT is very important for your group to experience together. In the context of the D3 Pathway this means your group is doing two things:
Meeting a physical need through an act of service
Is positioned to share the gospel with those that they serve.
One of the greatest ways to forward the message of the kingdom is to bring Kingdom to those around us.
As your group engages in this way, it gives opportunity to “live out” many of the things they have been learning and use the tools they have been taught in everyday conversation with the people they encounter.
The OUT can be an ongoing event for the group or a one-time event.
***Reach out to your campus discipling leaders if you need some ideas for a group out.
Group Action Steps:
The Out can be an ongoing event for your group or a one-time event. Either way, it is important that the people in your group are engaging with others in Gospel-centered conversations.
Ideas have included:
Helping with a church wide block party or outreach.
Adopting a foster family to feed and serve.
Serving and/or starting a bible study at a retirement home
Questions to ask:
What is our group passionate about that might lead to an opportunity to serve?
Where is God working that we can join Him in what He is doing?
Why is it important for us to take this step in our discipling journey?