Quotes from Mike Breen

If you make disciples, you always get the church. But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples.

No amount of money or ideas can replace the value of being physically present, giving time and attention to people or projects.

We don't want people to understand forgiveness or prayer or mission or justice only intellectually. We want people who can forgive, who can hear and respond to God, who actually know Him. We want people who have hearts that break for our world and the people in it and do something about it. We want the kind of people in our communities who resemble the people we see in Scripture.

We are creating a culture, even if it's unintentional. The question is, do we like the culture we are creating?

Leaders must always be looking to give away their jobs to people who can do it as well or better than they. This calls for a level of intimacy between the leader and disciple that does not last. The leader begins to disengage; the disciple now becomes a leader. The closeness remains and is no longer defined by the amount of time spent together but by the openness with one another.

Prayer was as fundamental an element in the life of Jesus as breathing. He inhaled his Father's presence so he could exhale his Father's will.

life is richer when it is shared even with those who annoy us from time to time.

Our commission is to compassionately reach out to those around us, invite them to join us in community, share the story of the gospel, make disciples, and gather them into families to follow Jesus together.

Sometimes what hurts more than your enemies hating you is your friends and family remaining silent in a time of need.

Jesus is trying to draw out this principle: We are designed to work from a place of rest, not rest from work. He makes it quite clear that real rest is found in him being connected to his Father.

His disciples weren't just his roadies or work associates — they are his family. For Jesus, making disciples is about building a family. In one sentence, he completely redefines what family is, how it works, and what it's for.

And in the Kingdom, you receive when you give. You live only when you die. You become free when you submit. You advance when you fully surrender.