MULTIPLY

Acts 1:6-9—“So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”

Notice how Jesus lays this out like ripples in water. It starts close—Jerusalem, the place they know, the people they’re comfortable with. Then it moves wider—Judea and Samaria, places that felt familiar in some ways but foreign in others. And finally, it stretches all the way out—to the very ends of the earth. Jesus is saying: there are no boundaries to this mission.

The first place they are to witness about Jesus is in Jerusalem. The next place they are told to go is to ALL Judea and Samaria. The final place Jesus told his disciples to go was to the ends of the earth.

So, where does this all lead? If we really love…if we really reach…if we really disciple—what’s the result? One word: MULTIPLICATION.

And why is multiplication so important? In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul lays out this idea very plainly to his protégé, Timothy. He tells him this, and we’re going to go back and grab verse 1 for context as well, but he says, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faith men who will be able to teach others also.”

So, here’s my challenge, and I want you to really sit with this all week long. Question one: How hard are you working at Love, Reach, and Disciple? Are you giving this your best, or are you just coasting?”

Which leads us to question two—the one that hits us right in the heart: Who is walking with Jesus today because of you? Not your pastor, not your parents, not someone else—you. Who have you multiplied into?