Sermon Big Idea:

Participating in the new way of Jesus is about multiplication, but it won’t happen by accident—it requires intentionality.

Outline:

The Vision of Multiplication, Myths of Multiplication, and the Mindset of Multiplication

Overview:

As a church community in Poway, California, Pastor Jason begins by grounding discipleship in union with Christ—a new identity where believers are “in Christ” and Christ dwells in them. This union brings an infinite supply of spiritual resources and incorporation into the Body of Christ (the Church), marked by baptism, communion, and membership. The focus shifts to Christ’s mission: multiplication. Using Matthew 28:16–20, this clarifies that the Great Commission’s core command (“make disciples”) isn’t contingent on crossing foreign borders or engaging in cross-cultural missions, but on reproducing faith wherever believers are. The sermon highlights the American church’s “discipleship gap” that has prioritized conversion over lifelong obedience. This is in contrast to the global Church’s remarkable growth in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where disciples multiply despite facing persecution.

Five myths hinder discipleship: (1) only professionals can disciple, (2) requiring perfect biblical knowledge, (3) demanding excessive time, (4) viewing it as a “gift” rather than a command, and (5) assuming it happens naturally.

The final section explores the necessary Mindset of Multiplication, which is exemplified by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:9–10. Paul's intentionality was rooted in a profound grasp of God's grace: "I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God’s grace that was with me." Remembering his past as a persecutor made God's grace so astonishing that it compelled him to work harder than anyone else, precisely because he didn't want that grace to be ineffective or wasted. The key takeaway is that the effort and intentionality required for multiplication must be a response to, and not a means of earning, God's grace. Simply stated, disciple-making should be marked by a grace-driven intentionality as we deliberately participate in Christ's mission of multiplication.

The sermon closes by urging believers to embrace multiplication not as a burden but as a response to Christ’s grace, working “harder than all” yet relying wholly on the Spirit. This means we must prioritize relational discipleship over programs and reclaiming the cost of obedience (Luke 14:27–33) as central in our own personal discipleship journey.