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  THE STORY BEHIND MULTIPLY AND DAVID PLATT
  by Francis Chan
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Summary: Francis Chan and David Platt are calling churches and
individuals to focus on making disciples of all nations, rather than
just being comfortable with Christianity.

Duration: 10:02 Topics: "Disciple Making", "Church Revitalization"
Scripture References: Matthew 28:19

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon focuses on the journey of two individuals who were deeply
impacted by the call to make disciples of all nations. It explores their
personal struggles, convictions, and the realization of the need to
refocus on disciple-making amidst the distractions and comforts of
modern church culture. The speakers emphasize the importance of aligning
with the teachings of Jesus in the Bible and the urgency to prioritize
disciple-making above all else.

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CONTENT
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See, I'd love to hear from your perspective, like, what got you to this
point? Like when we met and stuff, I want to know what was going on in
your mind. Yeah, well, kind of thinking back, even before I started
pastoring, the church where I pastor now, the Lord used some
circumstances overseas in particular, and then I was living in New
Orleans doing a lot of evangelism and disciple making on the streets of
New Orleans, and just the Lord was burning in my heart, all right, make
disciples of all nations. This is what life is about.

And what I was doing at that point was I was serving on staff kind of
part time at a church, but I was doing a lot of traveling, and I found
myself kind of criticizing the church because, hey, we need to make
disciples of all nations, and I found myself kind of corrective. Well,
then God uses a variety of circumstances, including flooding our home in
Hurricane Katrina to lead us to where I started pastoring this church,
and then it was a whole different perspective. Now I was on the inside
of this megachurch machine, for lack of a better term, and thinking
through now from the inside, all right, I can't just be corrective here.

How am I going to shepherd these people to make disciples? Here I am in
a church that has so many programs, we have buildings, we got stuff, we
got comfortable with Christianity in so many ways, that ignores the call
of Christ in many ways, and so then I began to go through a process
personally in my own life, all right, what does this look in my life in
this culture and in this context, and then how do I shepherd this people
to put disciple-making at the center of all we do?

How do we get a laser focus amidst all these things that can distract us
in the church? How can we get a laser focus on leading people to Christ
and teaching them to follow Christ in such a way that they lead people
to Christ and teach people to follow Christ, and we multiply the gospel,
not just create more services, add more buildings, look in many ways
successful in the church culture worship part, but to make it smaller
and say how can we get however many thousand people who are gathering
here for worship, every one of them making disciples, making disciples,
making disciples, so that's been driving me as a And I was working on
some different things, as Overflow, even when I wrote Radical, one of
the chapters in there is on disciple-making, and I wanted to, all right,
I want to expand that and really work through that.

I think that's what I really want to focus on in my life and ministry,
both in Brook Hills, the church I pastor in, and beyond, which was, and
so I was thinking through all kinds of different ways, all right, what
does this look like in my life, ministry, and so I was wrestling through
those kind of things when you and I first met, so give the background
that led to, when you and I first met, you'd obviously been on a journey
where you'd left Cornerstone in Simi Valley and gone overseas, so what
was your journey?

Where were you in that process?

Yeah, see, in my mind, I've always wrestled with, you know, reading this
book and going, gosh, this is exciting, there's so much to it, you know,
these people are hardcore, and they got to experience God, and seeing
some of that as I led, you know, kind of a similar big church, but also
a sense in which there was something new that, I mean, I just think I've
got to be all about the kingdom, how can I affect, have the biggest
impact during my time here on earth, and looking at the church and
feeling like, man, there's a lot of good leaders here, and I think this
place is going to be fine and maybe even do better without me, because
there'd be less of a reliance on me and more of a, man, you guys all are
so gifted, like the Spirit's in you, you can go out and make disciples,
I don't need to lead someone to the Lord for you, but maybe there'd be
an increase in that, but also there's this other side of just something
lacking in my life, I see the commitment that they had in Scripture, the
way that these people would give anything to the Lord, and I was finding
myself getting a little comfortable, and then hearing all these stories
of people overseas, you know, when you talk about the church that
multiplies, and people are out making disciples, you hear about it in
China, you know, the underground church and how it just exploded, and it
seems like all of these individuals just had this faith, like I could go
and make disciples, so I just wanted to see it, and even as a family,
we're just open to it, maybe that's where we're supposed to move to,
maybe we're supposed to move to India, maybe I just don't fit here, and
I don't know, I was just a little confused, and I just wanted the real
thing, I wanted to see the real thing, and not that everything here is
fake, but I felt like I saw bits and pieces, but there was just
something more, and so as I was out there and did see a commitment level
and intensity that I needed to be encouraged by and to learn from by my
brothers overseas, there was just this overwhelming sense that I needed
to go back to the States, back to where I had relationships already, and
that I maybe hadn't said everything, or maybe hadn't led the people that
I loved into this, I can't even describe it, it just seemed like there
was more in this area of discipleship that I needed to finish the course
here before we moved there, I mean we were in Hong Kong already looking
for apartments and just really sensing like I think this is it, I think
this is it, and then just this conviction like, no, you're not done,
there's a couple more things I'm supposed to do in the States before I
go anywhere, and so it's let me ride out this wave, and it's this issue
of discipleship, so when I met you, and so many people gave me your
book, you know, before I left, like have you read this, I mean I was
given several copies, like have you read this yet, have you read this,
because they just felt like our heartbeat was the same.

Yeah, because people were asking me, did you not read Crazy Love, like
you wrote the same thing, and I hadn't read it at that point, but I
obviously read it, yes.

Yeah, and so, and I had told the Lord, you know, when I was in Hong
Kong, like I don't want to try to force anything and recruit, and so
God, if this is really something you're calling me to, then you bring
people to me, and so when I saw you at the first event I was back at,
you know, in Atlanta, and you were there, which was a surprise, because
I had read your book, but I didn't know you, and when I asked you, hey,
what's the Lord, you know, leading you to do, what's the next step, and
when you said discipleship, and you talked about creating some sort of
way to equip people, material and curriculum, I just, you know, was
like, wow, that's really weird, that's the same thing the Lord put on my
heart, and then when you suggested, well, maybe we aren't supposed to do
two different things, maybe we're supposed to do one together, and that
was the same thing I was bringing on my heart, and I think we're both
like, I don't want to say too much, but I'm thinking this, like maybe we
should partner in this, this, this, and this, and I don't know, I still
don't know where it's going exactly, it's just trying to be faithful to
that. Well, it's really, I think, I think you and I would both say, even
what we wrote in Crazy Love and Radical, it's not like there's anything
new in there, it's just, it's stuff, it's truth from the Word, it's the
same journey, what you said earlier is exactly like, do I believe this
book, and are we really following the Jesus of the Bible, and so, but I
think so many people are asking those same questions, and see the same
disconnect in our lives, and oftentimes see the same disconnect in the
church, of which we're a part, so now that it's outside of us, this is
inside of us, and so it resonated, and that's, I think the same thing is
true when it comes to disciple making, I mean, to see, you know, you and
I, as we talk with different pastors, there's, there's a, there's a
level of conviction, there's a level of humility that says, yeah, man,
we've gotten so caught up in doing all kinds of stuff, but we're missing
the main thing, so how can we get back to the main thing, and so even
as, as you and I have been talking, it's all, it's, it's by no means,
it's felt like we're creating something, it's more, the Lord is doing
this, and the church is doing it in our lives, and so how can we, yeah,
how can we be serious about obeying what He is saying, has said so
clearly, and is saying so clearly in our day?

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/aXMskXKI9GQ.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/francis-chan/the-story-behind-multiply-and-david-platt/
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