Mentoring Disciple Makers: Making Disciples in Small Groups through Mentoring Relationships

This presentation provides an overview and biblical foundations for mentoring relationships as a model for disciple-making, tied to the Great Commission of Jesus.

1. Mentoring Disciple Makers
Making Disciples in Small Groups through Mentoring Relationships

2. Everyone Needs a Mentor
§Mentoring existsinalmost every occupational
field that there is.
§Think of the job that you have.
§Who mentored you or trained you to perform the
tasks that you need to do?
§Everyoneneedsamentorinordertosucceed
in their field or task.
Mentoring Disciple Makers

3. Mentoring is Biblical: OT
§TheBiblegivesmanyexamplesofmentoring
relationships.
§All of them happened in either a one-on-oneora
smallgroupcontext.
§ConsiderthefollowingOld Testament
relationships:
§MosesandJethro(Exodus 18:19-25 )
§Parents and their children (Deut. 6:4-7)
Mentoring Disciple Makers

4. Mentoring is Biblical: OT Cont’d.
§Moses and Joshua (Exod. 17:8-16, 24:12-
14; Num. 11:28)
§EliandSamuel(1 Sam. 3)
§DavidandJohnathan(1 Sam. 18:1-4, 19-20,
23:16-17)
§Elijah andElisha (1 Kings 19:19-21; 2
Kings 2)
§NaomiandRuth(Ruth 1-4)
Mentoring Disciple Makers

5. Mentoring is Biblical: NT
§Jesus set the perfect model for mentoring.
§Herearethecontexts in which He
discipled…
Mentoring Disciple Makers
Alex Absalom and Bobby Harrington,
Discipleship That Fits: The Five Kinds of Relationships
God Uses to Help Us Grow,(Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 2016), 58.

6. Mentoring is Biblical: NT Cont’d.
§Lookatthe
“Personal”
and “Transparent”
Contexts
§Jesusmentored
only a few: the 12
and the 3
Mentoring Disciple Makers
Absalom, Alex, and Bobby Harrington.
Discipleship That Fits: The Five Kinds of
Relationships God Uses to Help Us Grow.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016, 59.

7. Mentoring is Biblical: NT Cont’d.
§Jesus mentored the Twelve and expected
them to become mentors and find more
mentees: the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-
20).
-This set themodelformentoring
relationships forthechurch.
§BarnabasandPaul(Acts 9:23-31, 13)
§PaultoTimothy, Timothy to others (2 Tim. 2:2)
§Laymenandlaywomen encouraged to
mentor younger men and women (Titus 2:3-8)
Mentoring Disciple Makers

8. Mentoring is Effective
Mentoring Disciple Makers
Mentoring…
§Helps grow and multiply adult small groups.
Steve Gladen, Small Groups with Purpose: How to
Create Healthy Communities(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Books, 2013), 72-74.
§Teens are more likely to grow and share their faith.
Gary Zustiak, et al., Student Ministry That Leaves a
Mark: Changing Youth to Change the World(Joplin, MO:
College Press Publishing Company, 2003), 215.
§Is a lifetime influence on child’s spiritual health.
Jana Magruder, Nothing Less: Engaging Kids in a
Lifetime of Faith(Nashville, TN: LifeWayChristian
Resources, 2017), 53.

9. Mentoring Thrives in Small Groups
Mentoring Disciple Makers
Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger, Transformational
Groups: Creating a New Scorecard for Groups
(Nashville, TN: B & H Books, 2014), 41.

10. How to Implement Mentoring in Small Groups
§Closed Small Groups (5-12 people)
-Invitation only, just as Jesus did with the Twelve
Disciples.
-Draw from faithful Sunday School members.
-Build a community of faithful men or women who have
leadership potential.
-Mentor provides biblical study, accountability, and
support.
§Mentoring Groups (2-4 people)
-Invitation only, like Jesus and His three closest.
-Draw from faithful closed small group members.
-Deeper level of accountability and transparency.
-Relationship as close as family.
-Build leaders who are passionate disciple makers.
-Mentees aregiven opportunities to minister to others
and facilitate open or closed small groups.
-Expectedtobecomeadisciplemakingmentor and
replicate a mentor group.
Mentoring Disciple Makers