Phillip Rice

Through continued prayer, bible study, researching different books, and attending several cohorts and trainings (including the Multiplication Workshop through the Missions office), South City leadership decided to begin to change gears. To prepare the congregation, they started a four-month sermon series called Multiply, which covered what the Bible says about the way the early church modeled Jesus’ command to make disciples who disciple.

Methods of multiplication matter! Jesus both commanded and exemplified multiplication, so does that mean we can do whatever we want and use whatever means necessary to increase our numbers? That would be a resounding, NO! First of all, our mandate is not to merely increase our numbers; we are commanded to make disciples (followers). Those are drastically different goals.

Beijing is crazy busy. Every time I go back to the United States I feel a sense of slowing. Even with traveling from church to church, preaching and sharing stories of China, cramming a year's worth of shopping in a few weeks, and catching up with friends and family we haven't seen in years, it feels as if time is less sand through the hourglass and more molasses through the hourglass.