New Believer Follow Up

New Believer’s Discipleship Intensive

• Welcome them to the family! Tell them there are some basic things to help them get started and you’d like to commit to meet with them for one hour a day for the next 14 days to make sure they get the right start in their new life in Jesus Make sure they have a Bible
• Help them recognize their sin.  How do you know you need a Savior?  Recognize that you have sin.  To a person who doesn’t think of sin, and recognizes the problem, they won’t look for solution.  They can’t be saved if they do not know what they are saved from.  If a doctor says to you “Take this medicine or you’ll die,”  you’ll ask “why?”.  But if a doctor says to you, “Wait, your hair is not supposed to grow that way.  It means you have a cancer, and if you keep this up, you will die.  If you want help, I can heal you with this pill here.  Do you want it?  We’d respond, “Yes, I don’t want to die.”

But until you recognize you have sin, you won’t have need for a solution.  So if unbeliever doesn’t realize they   have a sin problem they won’t recognize need for Christ.  So go with them through the 10 commandments.  Do they have sin?  Go through the Sermon on the Mount.  Ask: Have you ever been angry with anyone?  Did you know the bible says if you’ve killed your father,  if you have anger in heart, then it makes you a murderer?

Have you ever stolen anything?  Like big things?  Then that makes you a thief.   Once they know they’ve broken God’s law, their heart gets convicted.

Talk to them about repentance.  Repentance means“to change one’s mind and go in a whole other direction.”  Repentance is more than saying you’re sorry, for any kind of sin.  Repentance is when your heart knows you did wrong, and you make a commitment in your heart to change actions from wrong to right.  If you don’t, then it is not repentance, and it is just words.  If you keep turning to sin, then did they truly turn.  It’s not about perfection, but our keep turning to God.

For instance, you can ask

-So what are some sins you have done?  Lust, anger,

-So what are you going to do about that?  -Are you willing to forgive?, …willing to return what was stolen?, …willing to stop lusting.

And so when he or she makes decision to repent, he/she confesses, and makes commitment to change.  Not saying sorry, but going back and correcting to do what is right.  You can suggest things like “So let’s meet everyday and I’ll ask you if you looked at girl in wrong way.”    Walk out process of repentance with them.  Disciple and help them in their sin issues, and if they struggle and fail, remind them of God’s grace, but assure them “we’ll work on it, until God breaks you free.”

• Talk to them about baptism as soon as possible after making their decision. Explain water baptism is something Jesus asks us to do (Acts 2:38 ) and is a powerful way to publicly say you are following Jesus. It is also picture of your old way of life being buried under the water and when you come up out of the water, coming up in your new life following Jesus.
• Pray the blessings of Abraham (Deuteronomy 28:1-3) over them. As things come up in the context of discipleship (issues, wounds, past involvement with the occult, sin patterns, ungodly beliefs—things that give the enemy access to their lives), pray through the issues and where appropriate, break the power of the demonic and cast it out.
• Get them into a small group and becoming regular worshipping at Rush.
• Get them a Bible.  (Go buy one and carry it around with you in faith that you will lead someone to Christ or need to disciple someone.  It will be your best investment!”)
• Coach them in sharing their story with their friends—after the two weeks go with them and pray as they meet with their friends and THEY share their story. When their friends come to Jesus, mentor the new believer in repeating these steps with their friends. As they begin to meet with and pastor their friends start a new believer’s bible study with their friends.
• Go through the book of John for instance, looking at the 7 miracles of Jesus asking things like: What does this miracle reveal about us as humans? Why do you think Jesus did this?  What does this say about Jesus?