Lesson 9 Technology

Question 3

The final seed has good soil, a good heart. They humbly receive the good word planted in them, they retain it, they grow down deep in the gospel and they begin to flourish. They are careful to not let Satan steal the word, nor thorns choke it out, and they guard the gospel and sink it deep into their hearts. These students complete the course humbled by the cross of Christ. They take the mentorship course grateful for the opportunity to serve Him who died for them, and they begin producing much fruit. Through persistence they produce "a hundred fold", much fruit throughout their entire lives. And God used you greatly in their lives, so that now all the fruit that they produce is fruit in your life, too.
Friend, this is what keeps us going in mentoring. This one, lonely seed that takes root and produces fruit. Out of the many many many who fall by the wayside, this one small seed will produce literally hundreds and thousands of fruit-bearing seeds itself. It is worth however many students you will go through. It is worth persisting to find it. That student will be to you a precious treasure, a fruit-bearing tree to the glory of God and to your own joy.
"He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers" (Psalm 1:3).
Please don't hear me say that all who go away from Setting Captives Free are one of the three bad soils, I'm not saying that at all. Sometimes people go off to different ministries which is great, and we wish them the best.
I'm also not suggesting to you that 25% will finish the course, please don't put a number to it. But rather just understand that many come but few find freedom in Jesus. Recall that Paul preached the gospel to people who subsequently stoned him, beat him and imprisoned him. And while it is improbable that we will be imprisoned for our gospel ministry, we also cannot force anyone to accept the gospel truth. What we can do is to look and pray for that one person who "gets it" and continues on to become a trophy of grace, a herald of the gospel, an ambassador of Jesus Christ who loves the message of reconciliation and who wants to preach the gospel to as many as possible.
You want to know what real joy is? Watch someone slink off into the night, chains rattling behind him or her, pray for them every day, and then, wait for it....wait for it...."Hi, I'm back. I have been sinning like crazy. But something you said about Jesus' dying for my sins seemed to nag at me. Would you still mentor me?" Try to keep a dry eye when you read THAT. And you will see this exact thing, many times.
And wait until you see something like this:
Terasee writes, "After today's lesson, I envisioned myself at the foot of the cross, offering the pitiful pieces of my life to the Lord. I have been born again for over 45 years, but I had lost my first love. Made a mess of my life, listened and bought into the lies of the enemy. And was almost lost in the abyss of apostasy. BUT the LORD....Today, I brought it all to His Cross, and surrendered my life anew to the only one who can save me from myself. Thank you for this ministry."
This is what we are on our knees praying to God for, it's why we opened this ministry, and it's why we give our lives in serving our students, watching so many of them fall by the wayside while waiting for the one whom God will reach and change their heart.
Friend, you have to know that it is really hard to pour out your heart and life into students who then up and leave and don't return to complete the course. Do you agree? What we have to keep in mind is that we are planting the seeds of the gospel in their hearts, or we are watering a seed that was previously planted, and only God can make it grow.
1 Corinthians 3:6-9 (NCV) I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made it grow. 7 So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God, who makes things grow, is important. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose, and each will be rewarded for his own work. 9 We are God's workers, working together; you are like God's farm, God's house.
So, here is something to keep in mind: don't see "success" as having students graduate or go on to the mentorship course. Rather, see "success" as any time you get to give the student the powerful message of the cross. If you got to give out the gospel to one student today, then you should feel that you were a successful "farmer.”

Question 3. How will you personally deal with the discouragement of students dropping out, not continuing on while waiting for the “one seed” to bear fruit?

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Mentorship Course