Taking Your Church to the Next Level

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Taking Your Church to the Next Level

• Fellowship Baptist, BC Convention
• April 24-25, 2009

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The Path to Guaranteed Growth
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• Time is too short and eternity too long for the
  church to fail at achieving its God-given
  mission. The stakes are too high and life too
  precious to waste time doing things that do not
  really make any difference in either time or
  eternity.

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The Vision Thing

• George H. W. Bush
• Lost to Bill Clinton because of the Vision
  Thing
• The Churchs Mission
• Make obedient disciples
• The Churchs Vision
• What it looks like when your church makes
  obedient disciples
• Lack of Vision in Churches
• George Bush churches

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The Value of Vision

• Vision has value only when it
• Shapes our thinking
• Aligns what we do
• Focuses our efforts
• Helps Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
• Results in the making of mature disciples
• The Missing Catalyst Transformational Vision

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Transformational Vision

• Dramatically, fundamentally changes churchs
  behavior
• Shortens the distance between the idea and the
  implementation
• Transforms your church from
• Inward focus to outward focus
• Culture of activity to culture of effectiveness
• Country Club to Missional Outpost
• From merely having the form of Godliness to
  living in His power (2 Timothy 35)

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Transformational Vision

• The Transferrable Nature of Transformational
  Vision
• For years I have taught, A churchs vision is
  unique.
• Now I believe that vision can be transferrable
• Each churchs uniqueness is expressed in how it
  achieves that vision.

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Transformational Vision

• Three Areas
• Outreach
• Evangelism
• Disciple-making
• Disciple-making obvious since that is the Mission!

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Transformational Vision

• Outreach and Evangelism
• Many see them as separate and unique
• Others see them as interchangeable
• They are NOT interchangeable
• Outreach is just as its name implies reaching
  out
• A systematic attempt to provide services beyond
  conventional limits, as to particular segments of
  a community an educational outreach to
  illiterate adults.
• Evangelism is the communication of the Good News
  resulting in conversions

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Transformational Vision

• Outreach and Evangelism
• Outreach without evangelistic results is
  incomplete
• And evangelism without outreach is ineffective
• The Biblical case for both
• Matthew 516
• Acts 242-47
• I Peter 212

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Matthew 516

• In the same way, let your light shine before men,
  that they may see your good deeds and praise your
  Father in heaven.
• Matthew 516

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Acts 244-47

• All the believers were together and had
  everything in common. Selling their possessions
  and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
  Every day they continued to meet together in the
  temple courts.

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Acts 244-47

• They broke bread in their homes and ate together
  with glad and sincere hearts, praising God
  and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the
  Lord added to their number daily those who were
  being saved.

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Acts 244-47

• They broke bread in their homes and ate together
  with glad and sincere hearts, praising God
  and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the
  Lord added to their number daily those who were
  being saved.

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Acts 244-47

• All the believers were together and had
  everything in common. Selling their possessions
  and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
  Every day they continued to meet together in the
  temple courts.
• Sacrificed for the sake of others
• Were generous toward those in need

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1 Peter 212

• Live such good lives among the pagans that,
  though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may
  see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he
  visits us.

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Transformational Vision

• The wedding of Outreach and Evangelism in
  practice
• Bayside of Granite Bay (Sacramento), CA
• Good works
• Produces good will
• Giving opportunity for the Good News!

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Transformational Vision

• Six specific goals in three categories
• Outreach (1)
• Evangelism (1)
• Disciple-making (4)

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Outreach (Good Works)

• We will "significantly touch" the lives of a
  minimum of __ unchurched, unsaved people between
  June 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010
• Define what constitutes a "significant touch
• Community Connections
• Unchurched, unbelieving (unsaved) people
• De-churched, under-churched

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Evangelism (Win People to Christ)

• We will achieve a minimum of __ of adult
  conversions in 2009.
• The minimum to 10 of average weekly worship
  attendance
• Adult converts
• Partnering with God in the Great Work of
  Evangelism
• Pray
• Plan
• Work

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Disciple-making

• Increase the number of people in each of the
  following four categories
• Category One In crease by a minimum of _____
  those attending worship regularly
• You define "regularly"

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Disciple-making

• Increase the number of people in each of four
  categories
• Category Two Increase by a minimum of _____
  those participating in the life of a Small Group
  in the context of your church.

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Disciple-making

• "Small group" is any group that provides its
  participants with the following
• Fellowship and mutual care
• Accountability
• Opportunity or encouragement in ministry or
  mission involvement
• Growth in Biblical understanding and application
• Growth in the discipline of prayer

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Disciple-making

• Increase the number of people in each of four
  categories
• Category Three Increase by a minimum of _____
  those regularly involved in some form of Ministry
  or Mission
• Ministry - on campus, church based, primarily for
  the people of the church
• Mission - off campus, in the community, in the
  world, primarily for people who are not yet part
  of the church

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Disciple-making

• Increase the number of people in each of four
  categories
• Category Four Increase by a minimum of _____
  those who have directly contributed to at least
  one person coming to Christ in the last 12 months
• "Directly" means actual, personal relationship
  and influence of some kind in that person's life
  and decision.
• Single convert will most often be attributed to
  multiple people.

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Strategizing for Evangelistic Effectiveness
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Effective Evangelism

• Not a program
• Evangelism is about relationships
• Evangelism is incarnational
• The Word became flesh and moved into the
  neighborhood
• John 141 (The Message)
• If Jesus had to do evangelism in person, what
  makes us think we can do it any other way?
• Amazed at the lengths we will go to try and do
  evangelism without getting up close and personal

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Effective Evangelism

• Dont institute an evangelism program
• Create a culture of evangelism marked by
• A belief that lost people are going to hell
• Genuine desire if not all-out passion to reach
  lost people
• A belief that evangelism is personal, relational
  and incarnational
• A belief that evangelism is natural and normal

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Strategy

• Preach and Teach
• Series of Four (Six) Sermons
• Sin and salvation
• Raise the value of evangelism
• Teach everyone has a role in evangelism
• Same curriculum in all small groups, programs and
  ministries

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Strategy

• During the Preaching and Teaching
• Challenge people to pray
• Make a list of unchurched, unsaved people in
  their lives
• Family, friends, neighbors and co-workers (Oikos)
• Pray over that list
• Ask God to reveal those Hes already at work in
• Whose heart is ready to turning to Him
• They are open spiritually

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Strategy

• At the end of the Preaching and Teaching
• Write down names of those in whom God is already
  at work
• Individuals and/or families
• Commit to
• Pray daily for them, by name
• Intentionally build a relationship with them in
  order to become the bridge over which those
  people will walk to find Jesus
• Make sure the church family knows if they come to
  faith in Jesus
• Submit their list of names

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Strategy

• Churchs commitment to the people
• Staff, Board, Key Lay Leaders
• We will pray for you and your people
• Each meeting pray for your people and their list
  by name
• Communicate that you have prayed for them and
  those for whom they are praying and relating
• Power of prayer
• Declares your partnership with them
• Reminds them of their commitment

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Strategy

• Churchs commitment to the people
• We will pray for you and your people
• Provide invitation events
• Celebrate conversions!

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Removing the Growth Barriers
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The Barriers

• Most infamous barrier 200
• Very real
• Two unique keys to breaking it
• Must go from single cell to multi-cell church
• Pastor must transition from shepherd to rancher
• Other typical barriers
• 400 or 600
• 900 to 1,000

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• Break the 200 barrier and most of the barriers
  that follow
• Act like a large church regardless of how small
  you are now
• Change from the now (whatever size that is) to
  the way a large church would do it
• And you will not slow down for the 400, 600 or
  900 barrier

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Six Keys

• Move the church from being Inward-focused to
  Outward-focused
• Natural human life-force is inward
• Its all about me (us).
• Natural organizational life-force is centripetal
• Leaders must work to create a centrifugal life
  force within the church
• Focused on those who are not yet here
• Focused on unchurched and unsaved

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Six Keys

• Develop small group ministry
• On-going creation of new small groups
• Creates relational Velcro
• Variety of organizing principles
• Bible study, prayer, fellowship
• Accountability
• Mission or ministry
• Affinity groups

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Six Keys

• Lay Mobilization
• Involvement of members and attenders in ministry
  and mission
• Ministry
• At church
• For those who are already there (Part of the
  church)
• Mission
• In the community, off campus
• For those who are not already there
• Unsaved and unbelieving

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Six Keys

• Leadership
• From Pastoral Care to Congregational Care
• Stronger leadership from Senior Pastor
• Accountability Model of church governance
• Ministry cannot grow without more leaders and
  workers
• The primary task of a leader is make more leaders
• 15-10-5 Rule

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Six Keys

• Senior pastor must invest leaders
• Focus on leaders
• Your relationship with them
• Coalesce them around the vision
• Teach, train, coach and mentor them

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Six Keys

• Focus on Childrens Ministry
• Easiest ministry to staff
• Children are the soft spot for unchurched,
  unbelieving parents
• Home-grow your youth ministry

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