LEAD THE WAY

Lead The Way works with our six-week group immersion into MicroChurch called Be The Way. Lead The Way takes a deeper dive and covers critical leadership values and skills. Start with this introductory session on “Replicate”.

1. Replicate

So More and More Disciples Make Disciples and Leaders Train Leaders and MicroChurches Start MicroChurches

Luke 9:1-2, 10. (NLT)

1 One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. 2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

10 When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done.

Luke 9:28 (NLT)

About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray.

Luke 10:1, 17-21 (NLT)

1 The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.

17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”

21 At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.”

1 Corinthians 11:1

Follow me as I follow Christ.

2 Timothy 2:1-2 (NLT)

1 Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. 2 You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.

THE WHY

• Jesus replicated Himself by focusing on the 12, the 3 and the 72.

• This idea of focusing on a few to create a movement to the masses is baked into Jesus’ strategy for reaching the world.

• The early church simply continued Jesus’ strategy. That’s why we see Paul replicating his own discipleship of following Jesus through Timothy and others.

• We are called to follow their lead and replicate disciples, leaders and MicroChurches.

THE WHAT

• Replication is about passing on the essential genetic material (DNA) so that the movement keeps going and growing.

• This DNA is made up of The Faith entrusted to us in Scripture, our relationship with Jesus, our life together as the Body of Christ and our shared ministry values and priorities. It includes learning certain ministry skills, but it’s more about the heart—our relationship with Jesus and His people.

Part 1 - The Faith

Jude 1:3 (NIV)

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

1 Timothy 4:1 (NIV)

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

1 Timothy 6:20-21 (NLT)

20 Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. 21 Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness.

2 Timothy 1:14 (NIV)

Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

• Why must The Faith be replicated faithfully? What happens if it’s not?

• For homework read through the following:

  • Read The Vineyard Statement of Faith.

  • Read The Way’s Theological Distinctives.

  • Read Statement of Affirmation.

• You will be asked to affirm these statements at the end of Lead The Way. Over the next few sessions, please share your reflections and questions on these statements.

Part 2 - The Relationship

• Leadership formation always starts with discipleship. So ensure your potential leaders have worked through Follow The Way Discipleship Journey. Preferably, these potential leaders are also discipling others through Follow The Way. Commissioning leaders who have not been discipled into a maturing relationship with Jesus and who are not discipling others in this relationship leads to all kinds of complicated life and leadership issues down the line. Don’t rush this step!

Faithful Disciples First
Faithful Disciplers Second
Faithful Leaders Third

Part 3 - The Ministry

• After ensuring the critical step of discipleship, the next step is to instill The Way’s ministry DNA.

• This ministry DNA can’t be overly complicated. A simpler ministry system is easier to pass on than a complicated one.

• Consider The Way’s Pathways and Gathering Model.

Gathering Model

• Work your potential leaders through Be The Way. Be The Way introduces the four key relationships and the four crucial priorities:

  WORSHIP - Our Relationship to Jesus

  • Devote yourselves to praying, praising and prioritizing Jesus in everything

  DISCOVERY - Our Relationship to the Bible

  • Devote yourselves to the Discovery Sequence of hearing, obeying and experiencing God’s Word

  COMMUNITY - Our Relationship to Each Other

  • Devote yourselves to loving one another as a family of brothers and sisters in Christ

  MISSION - Our Relationship to the World

  • Devote yourselves to joining Jesus in making disciples by living a Prayer > Care > Share > Dare lifestyle

To these four we add DISCIPLESHIP, which is the process of growing in these four relationships and priorities. Discipleship is the relational, biblical and intentional process of helping someone both become a follower of Jesus Christ and mature as a follower of Jesus Christ. Discipleship is the focus of the Discovery Discipleship Groups and Follow The Way Discipleship Journey.

• As you work your potential leaders through Be The Way, take turns facilitating the sessions/gatherings (see For the Facilitator). In the end, your leaders will be able to lead their own MicroChurch gatherings using the Gathering Guide.

• Lead The Way, then, offers supplemental material and application questions for each week of Be The Way. So, for example, after working through “MicroChurch” in Be The Way, work through “MicroChurch” in Lead The Way. Then again, after “Worship” in Be The Way work though “Worship” in Lead The Way. And so on. The final session of Lead The Way is call “Lead” and like “Replicate” it doesn’t have a corresponding session in Be The Way.

• Our hope and prayer is that as you work through Be The Way and Lead The Way, we can help you “build with care” using the best Kingdom resources available.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NIV)

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

• Why is it important to “build with care” when leading a MicroChurch?

• Why would the four key relationships and the four crucial priorities be quality building materials for a MicroChurch?

1. WORSHIP - Our Relationship to Jesus

2. DISCOVERY - Our Relationship to the Bible

3. COMMUNITY - Our Relationship to Each Other

4. MISSION - Our Relationship to the World

• For additional thoughts on the nature of the church, read Letters to the Church by Francis Chan and The Master Plan of Discipleship by Robert Coleman.

THE WHO

• When looking for potential leaders and people to apprentice, keep in mind God’s Word to Samuel when he was looking for a new king to replace King Saul.

1 Samuel 16:6-7 (NLT)

6 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

• Don’t rush the leadership discernment process nor the leadership formation process. The replication of Kingdom DNA is too important to be hasty.

• When looking for potential leaders, take adequate time to seek the Lord’s will before proceeding. Jesus did!

Luke 6:12-13 (NLT)

12 Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles.

• When looking for potential leaders, ask yourself, “Who’s already providing leadership and what is the nature and quality of that leadership?”

• The last session of Lead The Way entitled “Lead” takes a deeper dive into the important qualities of a maturing leader - Calling / Character / Connections / Competency / Commitments.

• Once again, the bottomline on THE WHO of leadership is …

Faithful Disciples First
Faithful Disciplers Second
Faithful Leaders Third

THE HOW

• The key to leadership development is to start early—usually earlier than you think. That’s why both Follow The Way and Be The Way end every session with the question: Who will facilitate the next meeting? As quickly as possible, start sharing leadership responsibility. This is the best way to raise leaders and discern who has leadership giftings.

• So give manageable and controlled amounts of leadership away and see how people do. Don’t dump them into the leadership deep end. Let them test the water in the shallow end.

• Use the MAWL pattern of leadership training …

  • MODEL

    I Lead / You Watch / We Talk

  • ASSIST

    (Part 1) I Lead / You Help / We Talk

    (Part 2) You Lead / I Help / We Talk

  • WATCH

    You Lead / I Watch / We Talk

  • LAUNCH or LEAVE

    You Lead / We Keep Talking / I MAWL Someone New & Someday You Will Too

(The last step can either be LAUNCH or LEAVE, depending if you’re sending the new leader(s) to start a new MicroChurch or if you’re giving them the leadership of MicroChurch they’re currently involved in.)

• Use the Discovery Discipleship Group - 3/3s Format when MAWLing your apprentice leader …

  • Connect - Care, prayer and loving accountability for previous I will statements

  • Discover - Training using Be The Way / Lead The Way

  • Live / Lead - “I will …” statements flowing from the training

• Commission a new leader, launch a new MicroChurch and continue to support these leaders and MicroChurch.

NEXT SESSION

In your next session, you’ll first work through Be The Way - MicroChurch and then the supplemental material in Lead The Way - MicroChurch. Here you have several options:

1. Work through Be The Way - MicroChurch in a MicroChurch gathering and then separately work through Lead The Way - MicroChurch with your potential leader.

2. Work through Be The Way - MicroChurch in a gathering of potential leaders and then work through Lead The Way - MicroChurch with the same gathering of potential leaders.

3. Work through Be The Way - MicroChurch with your potential leader and then work through Lead The Way - MicroChurch with this potential leader.

• Some sessions may take more than one meeting. There’s no need to rush leadership development.

LIVE / LEAD

• What did you discover in this training session?

• What is your “I will …” statement flowing from this training?

Extra Material

• Read Launching Leaders from VineyardUSA. It’s short, sweet and insightful.

Homework

• For homework read through the following:

  • Read The Vineyard Statement of Faith.

  • Read The Way’s Theological Distinctives.

  • Read Statement of Affirmation.

PRINTABLE PDF

• Replicate