The Great Commission was Jesus’ final marching orders before he left His disciples to begin the work of the New Testament Church. It sounded like such a simple command. But it came at a complicated time in the lives of the first followers of the Messiah.

Persecution, false teachers, disagreements among the disciples, and uncharted territory meant extreme challenges in executing on the simple directive. But those early followers persevered and leaned on each other to be faithful to the call of their leader.

And here we are 2,000 years later – the next generation of believers doing our best to keep our commission simple. Our challenges are much different from the challenges those early disciple-makers faced. But the obstacles are real and maybe almost as complicated.

Jesus’ Prayer for YOU and ME

Jesus prayed for both you and me when He spoke with the Father just before his betrayal by Judas. He knew He was about to face the most challenging experience of his Earthly life, so he stopped to pray.

In the third and final section of the prayer, He actually prayed for you and me. What was important enough for Him to take time out to pray the longest recorded prayer we have in the Bible? He asked for unity.

Jesus’ Prayer in John 17

• That He would be one with the Father
• That we would be one with Him
• That we would be one with with One-Another

It’s important as you continue on the journey of making disciples who make disciples that you partner with other disciple-makers. There are more discipleship ministries committing themselves to the Great Commission now than ever in the history of the world.

Here are a few of the ones I am familiar with. I encourage you to check some of these out and do some research on your own. If you want to be a disciple-maker who fulfills Jesus’ prayer in John 17, you need people you can unify with under the headship of Jesus.

Find your discipleship tribe now.

Discipleship Ministries in America

Ignite Discipleship Network

Ignite Discipleship Network was founded by Dan Grider of the Missionary Church, USA in the Spring of 2011. Ignite’s mission is to equip disciple-makers to get off the island of attractional church and begin to identify disciple-able people who are ready to become disciple-makers.

The key tools of making disciples at Ignite are intentional questions and stories that make scripture relevant. The Ignite icons are simple napkin diagrams that teach spiritual principles in a way that makes potential disciples curious to study the Bible.

Find ignite at ignitediscipleship.com.

Discipelship.org

Disicpleship.org is a collaborative community of Jesus-style disciple-makers. This discipleship ministry consists of a library of resources to help disciple-makers grow in their understanding and skills of making disciples who make disciples.

Founded by Bobby Harrington, this collaboration of several teachers and discipleship network and church leaders base their work on 10 affirmations they refer to as the DNA of disciple-making movements. You will find books, articles and online courses that help discipleship ministries be more effective.

Discipleship.org comes together throughout the year with both online and in-person conferences to network and grow together in a supportive community.

Find out more at discipleship.org

The Bonhoeffer Project

The Bonhoeffer Project is a year-long leadership development experience that teaches its participants to…

• Reclaim the disciple first Gospel
• Craft a Disciple making plan
• Change the world

The year-long cohorts take place around the world and start at different times throughout the year. The President and Founder of the Bonhoeffer Project, Bill Hull, has been in discipleship ministries for over 30 years. Bill and co-founder, Brandon Cook, started the project in 2014.

Find out more at thebonheofferproject.com.

The Navigators

The Navigators ministry was founded by a young California lumberyad worker named Dawson Trotman in the 1930s. After seeing the benefits of basic discipleship principles, he wanted to teach them to others.

He echoed the call of 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”

This network is a discipleship, evangelism and Bible study organization with a huge network all over the world. The focus of the Navigators is one-on-one disciple-making.

Find out more at navigators.org.

Verge Network

Verge Network is for everyday people and leaders who are pursuing God’s mission with the gospel in their context. These leaders and churches engage themselves in the mission of God. They center around the gospel, in community, and understand the value of staying connected.

The network has a large library of disciple-making tools and gathers at several regional and national conferences throughout the year. Masterclasses, labs and online courses are also available along with personal ministry coaching.

Find out more at vergenetwork.org.

Discipleship Ministries are Important for You!

As Jesus prayed for us to be one with one-another, his vision was to create a body of believers who would represent him.

We do that best by loving and supporting one another so that the world will know Him. That’s why it is important for you to function in the context of a community.

Don’t stop with these five networks, keep looking. Find an organization that fits with you and understands your unique call to make disciples. Being part of a discipleship network has helped me be more confident and equipped in my disciple-making efforts.

Now – let’s go and make disciples – baptizing and teaching them to obey the commands of Jesus!

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Bonus Network!

After posting this article, someone from discipleship.org suggested I include one more organization in this list. Since I am not familiar with this tribe, I’m referring to it as a bonus entry.

Replicate.org looks to be a compilation of resources centered on the topic of discipleship. According to their website, they offer the following:

• A Network of Podcastz
• A Blog
• Books
• Online Training and
• A Network of Speakers.

Find out More at Replicate.org