Hello friend. Grace is never something we outgrow. Every prayer we pray, every act of obedience, every breath we take is held together by the same grace that saved us.

Left to ourselves, we falter. But in Jesus, we find strength for today and hope for tomorrow—again, and again, and again.

Wherever you find yourself this week—whether weary, uncertain, or joyful—trust that God’s grace will meet you right where you are and lead you forward.

In today’s edition:

• 🌱 When growth isn’t what it seems

• 🐌 The surprising power of small beginnings

• 🌍 From receiving to sending the gospel

🇨🇮 Christianity is Spreading—But Not Always the True Gospel

Côte d’Ivoire is split religiously: Islam dominates the north, Christianity the south. Many claim Christ, but often mix in traditional African beliefs.

About 40% of the population identifies as Christian, and the number is growing. But the need is great for the true gospel to be taught with clarity and depth.

How to Pray: 

• Pray for Christians to have boldness in sharing the gospel with Muslim neighbors.

• Pray for clear teaching and sound theology among believers.

• Pray for rural churches to be equipped and strengthened.

🐌 Don’t Despise Small Beginnings

More and fast isn’t always better than less and slow.

But we often think it is in so many areas of our lives, including spreading the gospel and making disciples of Jesus. And there’s a sense in which, of course, we want as many people as possible to be reached with the gospel as fast as possible. 

After all, Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:1, “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you…”

Yes, God, may it be so!

At the same time, anyone who has spent much time sharing the gospel and making disciples knows that this is often slow, tedious, patient, painstaking work. 

Jesus modeled this well for us, spending the better part of 3 years with 12 disciples, one of whom fell away. When he left the earth, he only had 120 people who had stuck around and done what he told them to do. But there was something that was happening in his ministry of less and slow that would eventually resound to his glory around the world.

In fact, if you just do the simple math, you’ll see quite a lot of power in the less and slow. 

Let’s take the most conservative possible estimate and assume that there are 500 million true followers of Jesus in the world today. If every follower of Jesus made just one disciple over the next 10 years, that would be 1 billion followers of Jesus. And if those billion followers of Jesus did the same thing over the next 10 years, that would be 2 billion Christians. Continuing that trend, 10 years later you would have 4 billion Christians, and 10 years after that you would have 8 billion Christians. 

When you think about it this way, reaching the entire world in the span of one generation sounds pretty amazing!

So in the words of Zechariah 4:10, “Don’t despise small beginnings.” 

Be encouraged today to share the gospel and make disciples in your sphere of influence with boldness and urgency, but also with patience and perseverance. And in the process, realize that you are in a long line of people (starting with Jesus himself) whose faithfulness each and every day will bear fruit in ways far beyond what you can imagine.

—David Platt

 🇰🇷 From Mission Field to Mission Force

The Details: Since World War II, the Korean Peninsula has been divided into two countries with drastically different religious landscapes. In South Korea, Christianity is the largest religion—about a third of the population.

Less than 100 years after the gospel arrived, South Korea sent 24 missionaries in 1974. In 2024, it sent nearly 22,000. Once a mission field, it’s now a mission force.

The Takeaways: Since Asia contains the majority of the world’s least reached population, pray that South Korea would continue in its global mission efforts and send equipped missionaries to neighboring countries. 

As the younger generation is drifting away from religion, pray that they would be reached with the gospel and experience life in Christ.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Pastors: This fall, discover how to lead your church for God’s global glory in Radical’s Online Pastors Cohort—limited to 100 spots. Don’t miss it!

• A packed church calendar doesn’t equal discipleship. Here’s what true discipleship in the life of the church should—and shouldn’t—look like.

• This 10-year veteran church planter offers a good word for other church planters who think they need to cast a creative “vision” for their church.

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS:

David Burnette, Selah Lipsey, David Platt, Camille Suazo

MAKE JESUS KNOWN EVERYWHERE!