Partake in the Lord’s Supper Regularly

 

      Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.  

Village Church Planters teach villagers to obey the seven basic commands of Christ. You remember those commands, Repent and believe the Good News, Love God and Neighbor, Baptize, Pray and Feed on God’s word daily, Participate in the Lord’s Supper, Give, and Make Disciples. I suspect one of the most misunderstood commands of Jesus was spoken on the night that he was betrayed, the night when he took the bread, broke it and said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19). 

“Do this in remembrance of me.” It seems like a simple enough command. Break bread, receive the cup of wine or red juice, remember Jesus. Remember the new covenant. Remember his body broken for us. Remember his love poured out for our forgiveness. And on the surface, it is a very simple command to obey. But its meaning is profound. 

You see, participation in the Lord’s Supper allows us to remember all that is good about the Gospel. In the Lord’s Supper we remember that our sin was so bad, God took desperate measure to purchase our forgiveness by sending his only Son to die for us. In the Lord’s Supper we recognize that we can live in right relationship with God because Jesus poured out his blood for us. In the Lord’s Supper we experience Jesus’ forgiving grace. And in the Lord’s Supper we find strength from God to face the challenges before us, just as Jesus faced the challenge of the cross. As children of God, we need all of these things. We need to be reminded of the very great love the Father has for each one of us. We need to be reminded of the huge sacrifice Jesus made to purchase our salvation. We need to be reminded that we can come to Him for forgiveness and strength. These reminders give us strength and build our faith. We understand that Jesus paid it all. Jesus defeated Satan by shedding his blood for us. 

Jesus knew we needed all this grace and more. That is why he said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” When we receive the cup and the bread remembering Jesus’ commitment to us, we are blessed and transformed. That’s why serving the Lord’s Supper regularly is a vital service of every church. And that’s why receiving the bread and the cup is a life-giving act of obedience to Christ. 

So dear church planter, as you plant your church, make sure your people can receive the Lord’s Supper regularly. Don’t forget about it or minimize it. Make provision for the Lord’s Supper to be served in your church at least four times per year. You need the blessing that comes from obeying Christ in this way and so do your people. When the Lord’s Supper is served with reverence and a clear telling of the story of Jesus’ sacrificial death, when your people renew their faith in Christ and feel again his great love, your church will be strengthened. 

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today? 

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #PartakeOfTheLord’sSupper

What Is The Lord's Supper?

       

     Hello, this is Multiply, a podcast to encourage village church planters and leaders. I am Brad Snowden, and today I want to look at the Lord’s Supper. It is my prayer that we are touched by Jesus’s heart and the powerful time we can have as we share this with all followers of Jesus Christ.  

Luke 22:15  And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

Jesus desired to spend time with them in the intimacy and closeness of sharing His heart with them.

The Lord’s Supper, or communion, in the dictionary means intimate fellowship, a close relationship with someone  

This is the heart of communion. 

Communion is vital for our relationship with the Lord. It’s time to focus on what is not in our hands but what is in our hearts. We have time to examine our hearts and minds and lives, allowing God to work in them. Our time to commune with Him is so important to allow the Lord to search our hearts to make sure no sin would separate us from him. It is a time of intimacy with God to allow him to speak with us 

 The Lord’s Supper is our time to commune with the God of creation and to allow ourselves time for him to work upon our relationship with him. This is a special time in which we can be changed if we allow it to happen. When we are leaders, we can see lives changed, and God can use this time during the Lord’s Supper to work. We must be diligently devoted to this service of allowing our people this privilege of this special time. We have a blessing to be able to focus on the sacrifice Jesus gave to us.

Luke 22:19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Remembering the sacrifice of Jesus’s life for our sins makes life possible. We have this time to thank Him for His sacrifice for us. This act of thanksgiving draws us even closer to the Lord, and that is His heart: Communion with us.

Luke 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

We have a time of remembrance again and rejoicing in the fact that Jesus was willing to allow His blood to be shed for the forgiveness of our sins. The power in His blood is given to all of us, freeing us from the weight of death because of sin. He gave his blood knowing that freedom came through it. We rejoice because today His blood is still powerful to set the captive free. This simple time of communion is vital for us and our spiritual life. This has been a word of encouragement for village church planters. Who will you share this with today?

Love Your Neighbor

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast

that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

Jesus’ command teaching us to love our neighbors as ourselves may seem

pretty ordinary if, like me, you grew up going to church attending children’s

classes and youth group. But, like so much of what Jesus taught, the command

to love our neighbor as ourselves is pretty radical. To see just how challenging

this command is, remember the story Jesus told to help a self-righteous

listener understand what it means to love our neighbors.

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by

robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him

half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he

saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came

to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he

traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on

him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then

he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of

him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper.

‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra

expense you may have.’

This story teaches us that our neighbors are not just the people who live nearby

and who know us well. We are to love strangers, just like the Samaritan did.

Jesus’ story teaches us that loving our neighbors will interrupt our plans. And

loving our neighbors is costly. If we are to love others, we must be generous.

Finally, we learn from Jesus story that loving our neighbors means loving people

who are not from our ethnic group or nation, just as the Samaritan loved the

Judean man who was beaten.

The love Jesus commands is not a romantic or emotional love. Neither is it a

self-serving love that Jesus calls us to. It is not easy to obey Jesus' command to

love our neighbors as ourselves. The love Jesus expects us to show to our

neighbors does not arise from our sense of duty as family members or as

members of a tribe. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors with a sacrificial love.

This may come as a shock to new believers, especially if they came to Christ

looking for him to solve their problems. Jesus, of course, does solve many of our

problems in this world and all of our problems in the world to come. But he

 also expects us to reflect his character, his mercy and his grace. He expects us

to love our neighbors sacrificially. Even so, it’s not easy to obey all of Jesus’

commands. We need his strength, his presence, his very love at work within

us.

So, teach your disciples well about the great, immense, sacrificial love of

Christ. Teach them that he will never leave them or forsake them. But be sure

to teach them to trust in him for power to love their neighbors as themselves.

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this

encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #LoveYourNeighbor

Leadership Development - Jesus Spent Time with His Apostles

 

This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast that provides a word of encouragement for village church planters and leaders.

Our topic for 2026 is Leadership Development. In my last podcast, I began to explore Jesus’s approach to leadership development. We observed that when it was time to appoint his 12 apostles, he did so prayerfully. Related to this, his call was selective.

Today we want to look at the way Jesus spent time with His apostles, and how this impacted their leadership development.

Mark 6:32 tells us that “they [Jesus and the apostles] went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.”

Matthew 10:1 says, “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” We will return to this scripture in a future podcast.

As the time approached for Jesus’ time on earth to conclude, he prepared the apostles for what was to occur. We read the following in Matthew 20:17-19. Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside [emphasis added] and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!””

Jesus spent time with his followers and much time with the 12 Apostles. I find it quite interesting in the Gospel of Luke that it is not until chapter 6 that Jesus selected the Twelve. By this time, he knew his followers well. As leaders, if we are going to invest in emerging leaders, we must spend quality time with them. While books, conferences, or other resources can assist a young leader’s development, these cannot substitute for spending substantial time with them. Where distance is a challenge, frequent calls are a good starting point. Personally, I have regular 1:1 calls (monthly or more frequently) with five leaders or emerging leaders.

Personally, these calls (and face-to-face meetings when possible) are a blend of mentoring and coaching. In some situations, as I mentor, emerging leaders may need my assistance in things like time management or in leading a team, and I share (or I tell) some ideas that have worked well for me. In coaching, by contrast, I ask. I ask questions that help the emerging leader think through situations to arrive at their own conclusions.

Let us follow Jesus’ example and intentionally invest time in the lives and development of new leaders.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters and leaders.

Do Not Delay Baptism

 

Welcome to Multiply, a Podcast for Village Church Planters, pastors, and Christian leaders, and I am your host today, Daneille Snowden. 

We are going to continue our discussion about water baptism and enter the question: Why do individuals delay their baptism? When asked by a populace of people, the reasons they give are fear, unworthiness, conflicting traditions, and maybe believing one must be formal and wear formal attire, etc. 

To Delay, is defined as the act of postponing, hindering, or causing something to occur more slowly than normal  The Verb for Delay in the Greek is derived from Chronos, meaning to take time, tarry, or linger.

 Yet, we witness in God’s Word that there was no delay after one accepted Jesus as their Savior. 

In Acts 16:31-33, the apostles did not delay baptism once people believed.

Paul, who was Saul, was immediately baptized: Acts 9:17-19.

And in Acts 2:41, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” 

We all must be reminded of what is happening when someone is baptized. We can begin with Jesus' baptism. This powerful act revealed His identity as the Son of God; it displayed the Trinity and told of His death and resurrection for the sins of mankind. 

And after His baptism, He left a private life to pursue His mission publicly. 

For you see that “Baptism affirms each believer’s union with Christ. It is an act of faith that proclaims a new relationship with God.” (NVP Trainer’s Guide Tm.1 Ed.2)

During the summer months, my husband and I are part of a team that hosts what is called ‘The Jesus Rallies’. We have witnessed several people give their hearts to Jesus. Towards the end of the worship time, we have a tank of water where we have witnessed several people, through the years, being baptized. 

As we are baptized, we become identified with Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection.  “Baptism affirms belief in Christ, forgiveness of sin, and unity with Christ.” (Train & Multiply Term 2)

The baptism experience truly is life-changing for the believer and those who witness it. It builds the faith of fellow believers and testifies to others who are still searching for hope. For me, when I was baptized, my soul truly felt in unison with my Jesus; I felt closer to Him as I stepped out in obedience and love. 

This has been Multiply. Will you please share this podcast with others? Visit our website: vcpencouragement.org to discover this podcast and more. 

God bless!

Leadership Development - Jesus’ Prayerful Selection and Selective Call

 

This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters and leaders.

Our topic for 2026 is Leadership Development. In my past several podcasts, I shared insights regarding leadership development from VCP Director Claude, Assistant VCP Director Peter, and Fidélité, our Supervisor for Dynamic Women in Africa.

Today and in a series of podcasts to follow, I want to explore Jesus’s approach to leadership development. We begin with the observation that when it was time to appoint his 12 apostles, he did so prayerfully. Related to this, his call was selective.

In Luke 6:12-13, we read, “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.”

The selection of Jesus’ 12 apostles was an extremely important decision for Christ. These were the men with whom he would spend the next three years, the men who would be entrusted to carry on His work after His return to heaven. It should be emphasized that Jesus was fully God and fully human during His time on earth. And before selecting these 12 leaders, the Scripture tells us that he prayed all night.

The principle here is that, as leaders, we must be prayerful in selecting emerging leaders who will be invited to join the work. Over the years, too often I have seen these decisions in the church taken too casually. A person is needed to fill a ministry role, and a “warm body” (this is an idiom meaning someone who just happens to be available) is found and placed into the position without prayerful consideration. Such a selection process almost never works out well.  

Related to prayerful selection, a second principle is that Jesus made a selective call. The context in verse 13 is that Jesus was with a group of his disciples (or followers). From this larger group, Jesus selected 12 to be his apostles.

The leadership development principle that I see here is that as we consider the choice of emerging leaders, we must be selective. I refer here to my 24 April podcast in which I summarized some characteristics that I look for in potential leaders. You may have a list that is somewhat different; the key point is that we are selective based upon important qualities we desire in future leaders.

* An Identity firmly rooted in Christ  

* Humility

* Their history or track record 

* Areas of aptitude or competency

* Take Initiative

* A Strong desire to learn and grow

* A Teachable spirit

* Pleasant to be around

* Their reputation both inside the church and with outsiders

* A strong, Christ-centered marriage

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters and leaders.

Prepare New Believers for Baptism

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

Jesus’ command in Matthew 28 gives us our marching orders. Our Lord said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” When we read the Acts of the Apostles, we see how the Apostles and their disciples obeyed the Great Commission. An important part of disciple-making is to baptize. And in the book of Acts, a consistent principle emerges: Baptize without delay.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter instructed his listeners in Jerusalem to “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 2:38). Soon about 3,000 people were baptized. When Philip preached to the people of Samaria many believed. The Bible says in Acts 8:12, “When they believed Philip as he proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”

Soon after, when the Ethiopian treasurer understood the Good News as Philip explained it to him, he said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And Philip baptized him.  The baptism of Saul in Acts 9, of Cornelius and his household in Acts 10, the baptism of Lydia and her household as well as the Philippian jailer and his household both recounted in Acts 16, Crispus and his household in Acts 18 all tell a similar story. The apostles and their disciples baptized without delay after people heard and understood the Good News of Jesus.

But baptism without delay has not always been the practice of the churches that have been started after the time of the Apostles. Many churches have imposed requirements of long periods of catechism or baptismal classes before baptizing believers. Others have delayed baptism because they were waiting to see the fruit of repentance or simply because they did not trust the new believers. But this was not the pattern or practice of the Apostles.

What is the practice of your church?  What do the elders, pastors, president, or bishops of your church teach about when to baptize and what preparation is needed for baptism? If you do not know, I encourage you to respectfully inquire.

But here is a principle that I can lift up to give you guidance about when to baptize new believers. Baptize them without delay. Make sure they understand the Gospel. Talk with them to make sure they have freely and sincerely crowned Jesus as the King of their lives. Teach them about baptism and its meaning. Makes sure they understand that the blood of Jesus cleanses our hearts and that the water of baptism represents that cleansing. Help them understand that when they rise up after having been baptized, they are rising up to a new life in Christ. Help them share the Good News with their family.

But do not delay their baptism. Preach the Good News, prepare for baptism those who understand the gospel and put their trust in Christ, Make sure these new followers of Christ are baptized without delay.

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

 

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #BaptizeWithoutDelay