Stop Making Christians, Start Making Disciples

Oct 18, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The Unhitched Boat and the Mission Left Behind

When the fishing boat slipped off the trailer unnoticed, the men drove halfway to the lake before realizing their tools were gone. Their purpose dissolved because what carried their mission became disconnected. Many churches today resemble that empty trailer—busy moving forward but detached from the disciple-making gear required to fulfill Christ’s call. Multiplication happens only when we stay hitched to both the Great Commission and the daily work of equipping others. [04:50]

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
(Matthew 28:19, NIV)

Reflection: What “gear” of discipleship have you neglected to carry lately? How might reconnecting to Jesus’ method—not just His message—change your spiritual impact this week?

Day 2: Dots, Deception, and Discerning True Discipleship

A simple illusion of dots revealed how easily patterns trick the eye. Like assuming cultural habits or church attendance equal genuine faith, we fill gaps with assumptions rather than biblical truth. True discipleship isn’t about rhythms we mimic but the resurrected life we manifest. Satan deceives by making half-truths feel complete until we hold them against the light of Scripture. [19:17]

“The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.”
(Acts 11:26b, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you settled for the “dot” of Christian identity without the substance of discipleship? What one habit would force your faith out of assumption and into action?

Day 3: Crucified with Christ: The Death of “I” in Discipleship

Obedience dies when “I” stays alive. Like a seed buried to bear fruit, discipleship demands surrendering control to Christ’s leadership. The middle of “obedience” is “die”—not a one-time funeral but a daily laying down of preferences, plans, and pride. Resurrection power flows only through cracked soil and broken shells. [29:53]

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
(Galatians 2:20, NIV)

Reflection: What part of your “I” still fights resurrection? How would embracing today’s death to self unlock tomorrow’s fruit?

Day 4: From Seed to Harvest: Multiplying Disciples Like Apples

One apple seed holds forests of unseen orchards. Jesus compared discipleship to seeds—ordinary, buried, unimpressive until time and obedience unleash their multiplicative potential. Spiritual parenthood isn’t about platforms but planting: investing in a few who will invest in others. The harvest comes not from counting seeds but cultivating soil. [47:08]

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
(John 12:24, NIV)

Reflection: Who are you intentionally planting into this season? If your discipleship efforts stopped today, would their faith keep growing without you?

Day 5: Spiritual Growth Stages: Feeding Yourself to Feed Others

A newborn must be fed, but maturity means feeding others. Spiritual adults don’t just consume—they cook, serve, and teach others to taste God’s goodness. The mark of a parent isn’t perfect knowledge but reproducing disciples who can nurture the next generation. Growth stalls when we stay satisfied at the table instead of training others to host it. [55:51]

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”
(2 Timothy 2:2, NIV)

Reflection: When did you last move from being served to serving spiritual meals? What step will you take this week to shift from learner to lifter of others?

Sermon Summary

A fishing trip without the boat pictures a church that has dehitched disciple making from its God given mission. The goal was never merely to enjoy the ride, the music, and the fellowship in the truck. The goal was to go fishing, and churches cannot catch people for Christ when multiplication has been left behind at the gate.

Jesus’ Great Commission calls for more than adding visitors or collecting people who call themselves Christians. Jesus commands His people to make disciples who make disciples. The word Christian has been lowered and redefined by country Christianity, cultural Christianity, church attendance, casual comfort, and consumer minded religion. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch because the culture saw people whose attitudes and actions looked like Christ.

A disciple is led by Jesus, learns from Jesus, loses for Jesus, loves as Jesus loves, and leads others to Jesus. Jesus becomes the leader when His followers fix their eyes on Him and submit to His lordship outside the church walls. God’s Word must come off the shelf and get into the heart, because more learning, memorizing, and meditating brings less sin. The cross calls disciples to die to “I,” since obedience always involves a death to self and sin keeps putting “I” at the center.

Jesus identifies love for one another as the evidence the world sees in true disciples. Jesus also sends disciples to lead lost people to find Him and to help believers better follow Him. Repentance means stopping, turning, and beginning a new direction toward Christ. Biblical belief means more than agreeing that God exists; it means placing the full weight of a life in Christ alone, trusting His death, burial, and resurrection to make sinners right with God.

Matthew 28 gives the mission, the model, and the method: make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey everything Christ commanded. Spiritual growth moves from spiritual death to spiritual baby, spiritual child, spiritual adult, and spiritual parent. Spiritual adults can feed others, but spiritual parents reproduce by making another disciple. The church must hitch back up with the Great Commission, carry the boat, the bait, and the gear, and trust God for a great catch from generation to generation.

Key Takeaways

1. Discipleship must stay hitched to mission. The fishing boat was not optional equipment; it was the whole reason for the trip. Disciple making is not an extra ministry for a few committed people, but the mission Christ gave His church. Fellowship, music, attendance, and activity can all be good, yet none can replace making disciples who multiply. [05:40]
2. Christian labels cannot replace Christlike lives. Country roots, Christian traditions, church attendance, comfort, and consumption can create a false sense of security. The first Christians were recognized because people saw the life of Jesus in them. A disciple bears Christ’s name rightly when Christ’s character starts showing up in attitude, sacrifice, love, and obedience. [08:57]
3. Obedience requires dying to self. The cross does not leave “I” in charge. Jesus calls His followers to deny themselves daily, lose their lives for His sake, and discover His life as their true life. Sin keeps self on the throne, but surrender puts Christ there. [26:38]
4. Belief means trusting Christ with everything. Intellectual agreement that God exists cannot save, because even demons believe that much. Biblical faith places the whole weight of a life upon Jesus and His finished work on the cross. Repentance, faith, and followship belong together in genuine conversion. [37:46]
5. Spiritual parents reproduce disciples. Spiritual growth does not end when a believer can feed others God’s Word. Spiritual parenthood begins when a disciple helps another person come alive, grow, obey, and make disciples too. Multiplication carries the faith into the next generation and keeps the church on mission. [55:23]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:39] - Pawpaw’s Fishing Boat Story
[05:40] - The Mission Is Multiplication
[07:27] - Stop Making Christians, Make Disciples
[10:26] - Five False Versions of Christianity
[16:40] - Deception and the Dot Illustration
[21:31] - Five Marks of a Disciple
[26:06] - Losing Life to Find Life
[34:51] - Repent, Believe, and Follow
[40:14] - The Great Commission
[44:12] - Jesus’ Method of Making Disciples
[47:52] - Five Stages of Spiritual Growth
[55:23] - Spiritual Parents Reproduce
[56:34] - Hitch Back Up With the Mission
[58:16] - Invitation to Trust Jesus

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 28:18-20
“Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” [40:14]

Mark 1:17
“Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people.” [33:12]

Acts 11:26
“and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” [09:08]

Observation questions

In Matthew 28:18–20, what three actions are connected with making disciples, and what does Jesus promise His followers as they carry out this mission? [40:14]
According to Acts 11:26, who were first called Christians in Antioch, and what does that order suggest about the relationship between being a disciple and being called a Christian? [09:08]
In Mark 1:17, what invitation does Jesus give, and what change does He say He will bring about in those who follow Him? [33:10]
What five marks of a disciple are identified: being led by Jesus, learning from Jesus, losing for Jesus, loving as Jesus loves, and leading others to Jesus? [22:01]

Interpretation questions

Jesus commands His people to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them obedience. Why is teaching obedience an essential part of disciple-making rather than simply teaching people more Bible knowledge? [40:26]
The people of Antioch recognized disciples as “Christians” because their attitudes and actions resembled Christ. What kinds of everyday choices would make Christlike character visible to a watching community? [41:26]
Jesus calls Simon and Andrew to follow Him and promises to make them fishers of people. How does this show that following Jesus includes both personal change and a new purpose toward others? [37:27]
Repentance is described as stopping, turning, and beginning a new direction. Why is it incomplete to feel sorry for sin without changing direction and following Christ? [35:09]

Application questions

It is possible to enjoy church attendance, friendships, music, and activity while leaving disciple-making behind. Where might the “boat” of disciple-making have become unhitched in your own life or in the life of the church? What would it look like to hitch back up this week? [56:34]
A disciple is led by Jesus not only in a church gathering but also at home, in the car, at work, and in the community. In what area of daily life is it hardest for you to let Jesus lead rather than following your own preferences? [24:00]
God’s Word needs to move from the shelf into the heart. What is one realistic plan you could begin this week for reading, memorizing, or meditating on Scripture so that it shapes your choices when temptation comes? [24:57]
Dying to self means that “I” no longer stays on the throne. What desire, habit, attitude, or relationship is God asking you to surrender so that obedience to Christ can come first? [28:57]
Jesus says that love among His followers shows the world who His disciples are. Is there anyone in this group, church, family, or community whom you need to love more patiently, serve more humbly, or pursue for peace? [30:57]
A spiritual adult can help feed others, but a spiritual parent reproduces by helping make another disciple. Who is one person God may be calling you to help follow Jesus—whether someone who needs to find Christ or a believer who needs encouragement to grow? What is one next step you could take with that person? [55:23]

Sermon Clips

53s

#SpiritualParenting

“The fourth stage of spiritual growth, being a spiritual adult, that means you can feed others. And I pray and hope that so many of you in this room are able to spiritually feed others, to be a Sunday school leader, to be a small group leader, to be a bible study leader, to gather people together and to help feed them God's word. But look at me. Are you a parent spiritually? The difference in being a spiritual adult and a spiritual parent is this one can feed others. This one can feed others. But the spiritual parent has reproduced. They've made another disciple. You want your life to grow spiritually? You want your church to grow spiritually? Become a spiritual parent that reproduces and multiplies more disciples.”

42s

#TrustGod

“The word believe in the Bible is interpreted as trust, trusting your whole life. If I had a chair up here and I sat down in the chair, I'm trusting the chair to support me. I'm believing it. I could have believed it by looking at it. But true biblical belief is when I not just look at the chair and go, oh, yeah. It's gonna support me. But I place my whole life in it, then I raise my feet off the floor. And the whole weight of my life is now entrusted to the chair. The chair is like the hand of God, and God wants you to place your life into his hand. And the Bible says nothing can snatch you out.”

38s

#MultiplyDisciples

“It is so easy for us to be tricked, for us to be deceived. But let me tell you the truth. Christianity is not about adding a visitor. Christianity is about multiplication, not addition. We're never told to go and make a Christian. We're called and commissioned to multiply, to go and make disciples who make disciples, who make more disciples.”

48s

#TrueChristianity

“Church, true biblical Christianity involves all three. A true Christian is one who has repented. Then they have believed, and now they follow. If there's no followship, there's no true Christianity. If there's no believing and trusting in Christ alone and what he did two thousand years ago upon the cross in the death, burial, and resurrection as a substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus dying in your place. We gotta do more than just believe in God. We gotta believe in the work of Jesus on our behalf. Church, don't be don't be deceived.”

56s

#SpirituallyAlive

“But it's not the only time I've seen dead people walk. I'm afraid that maybe it's possible that maybe you even walked in here spiritually dead. Maybe you've been walking into church spiritually dead your whole life. And you wonder, why is there no growth? Dead things don't grow. If I held up a broom, a broomstick, and if I held up a a living tree planted and rooted right here, they both are made of wood. One is dead. One is alive. Which one are you today? Are you spiritually alive or spiritually dead?”

43s

#DieToSelf

“We must die to I. Church, if you look at the word obedience and spell out the word obedience, some of you might wanna grab your lipstick right now and spell it out on a piece of paper. I don't know. But when you look at the word obedience, there's one word in the middle, and it's the word die. Somebody say, die. For we can never obey. There is no obedience without a death, a dying. Church, d I e. What letter is in the middle of die? We must die every day.”

45s

#SeedOfFaith

“It's been said before that you can look at an apple and you can count the number of seeds inside that apple. But church, we can never count the number of apples inside of one seed. I just lost somebody. I I think I just lost somebody. So if I cut open an apple, you can see the seven seeds or however might be there. But when you take that seed and you plant it and it grows another tree, you can never know how many apples that one seed might produce. And I pray that our lives would be like that seed that multiplies.”

48s

#BibleStudy

“I know I've sinned this past week. Will you be honest before a holy god and me and yourself? Just raise your hand if you've sinned at least once. A bad attitude, a bad thought, a bad action. Thank you for your honesty and your humbleness. You see, church, we gotta get in the Bible if we're gonna get the Bible in us. And the more bible we get in us, the bible says, hide god's word in your heart that you might not sin against him. Much sin, less learning. More learning, memorizing, meditating, less sin.”

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