This is the final training in the D-Path: Discipleship Landmarks.
Motto: Love one another – Go and make disciples
This story is long. Learn to retell it in your own words.
Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus said, “It will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"
(Listen Q’s:) What has God given you that He wants you to invest in other people’s lives?
The man with one bag of gold was afraid to take risks. Are you regularly taking risks in sharing the Gospel, healing the sick and making disciples?
Luke 6:39-40 Jesus said, “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
(Obedience Q’s:) Are you listening to Jesus and obeying the stories that you are sharing with others? Or are you the blind leading the blind?
Are you actively doing what you are trying to train others to do? Are you leading your own Discovery Group? Are you in your own Growth Group? Or are you the blind leading the blind?
Do you understand the training stories well and understand how each story contributes to the training message? If you are not sure why a story is relevant to the training subject, ask other apprentices what they think.
By now, if you have been obedient to Jesus, you should have plenty of experience starting new Discovery Groups and new Growth Groups. If you are not already training other Kingdom-Apprentices, then now is the time to start. Ask Jesus to lead you to two or three “people of peace” whom you can invest in, to present to Jesus as the fruit of His investment in you.
Also, go through the G-Path (Go to the Nations) stories in your GG, and plan to go to new communities with the Gospel.
We also recommend the P-Path (Prayer) to deepen your prayer-life.
An Apprentice Training group (AT) is to train those who want to become Kingdom-Apprentices. It is led by a more experienced Kingdom-Apprentice. The purpose is to make sure apprentices understand the stories and how they relate to the training title, to share insights with each other and to emphasise the need to pray, meditate and obey the stories. It is essential that the apprentices spend time in their GG praying over the story and listening to Jesus and learn to be obedient to Him. Apprentices are expected to be starting new groups and training other apprentices.
‘Experts’ do all the training because they are the best at it. But experts only grow by addition, not multiplication. So don’t give in to the temptation to do all the training yourself. Jesus did not say make experts, but make disciples! People learn best by teaching, so let new apprentices teach. You need lots of practiced apprentice trainers.
Do you have a passion to make multiplying disciples? Then don’t take shortcuts! Jesus said, “Everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” Proper training is important; “Go slow to go fast”
If apprentices are highly motivated and are also in their own GG, it is possible to train a larger group of Kingdom-Apprentices, but don’t let the group be too large for everyone to contribute fully (six plus the trainer might be a reasonable limit).
