Next time you go to a birthday party, look for a person of peace there! Who is interested in spiritual things? Who is asking you questions? Who is lonely or hurting? God can use these social connections to begin discipling a group of people. Meet people where they are at. Find out who is open to hear a story about Jesus. Follow up with people at their house to share with them again.

Let’s review the 7 practices of Disciple Making Movements. What is the first practice?

1. Look. (Hand above searching eyes) Looking at our communities with compassion and expectancy.
2. Pray. (Hands praying) Going deeper in personal and corporate prayer for those around us.
3. Engage. (Hands outstretched) Finding ways to actively serve and bless the communities that we are called to reach.
4. Connect. (Handshake) Finding persons of peace and connecting with them and their network of family and friends.
5. Gather. (Hands embracing) Gathering people together to study and obey God’s word.
6. Mentor. (Hand around another’s shoulder) Investing in and guiding emerging leaders.
7. Multiply. (Hands twirling around one another) Envisioning and releasing leaders to multiply their impact into new networks and communities.

Let’s look at: John 1:35-46 NIV

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter^[g]).⁴³ 

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”⁴⁴ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”⁴⁶ “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.“Come and see,” said Philip.

1. What do we learn about God from this story?
2. What do we learn about people?
3. Which part of this story stands out to you?
4. What is God telling you to do as a result of this story?
5. Let’s go out this week looking for persons of peace in social settings like birthday parties, weddings, anniversaries, and notice how people are connected to one another.