Transcript Slide 1
Developing a
Greenhouse Atmosphere
for a Church Planting
Movement in Texas
A Missional Greenhouse?
Mark 4:26-29
A man scatters seed…
the seed sprouts and
grows… All by itself the
soil produces grain…
all by itself?
…in Greek…automate literally - automatically performed by God Himself!
A Missional Greenhouse?
1 Corinthians 3:5-6
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is
Paul? Only servants, through whom
you came to believe--as the Lord has
assigned to each his task. {6} I planted
the seed, Apollos watered it, but God
made it grow.
A Missional Greenhouse?
1 Corinthians 3:7-8 So neither he who
plants nor he who waters is anything,
but only God, who makes things grow.
{8} The man who plants and the man
who waters have one purpose, and
each will be rewarded according to his
own labor.
A Missional Greenhouse?
• Acts 4:4 But many who heard the
message believed, and the number of
men grew to about five thousand.
• Acts 9:31 Then the church throughout
Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a
time of peace. It was strengthened;
and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it
grew in numbers, living in the fear of
the Lord.
A Missional Greenhouse?
• Acts 16:5 So the churches were
strengthened in the faith and grew
daily in numbers.
• 2 Corinthians 10:15-16 …Our hope is
that, as your faith continues to grow,
our area of activity among you will
greatly expand, {16} so that we can
preach the gospel in the regions
beyond you.
A Missional Greenhouse?
• God is growing His Kingdom of
Grace
• God's plan is for reproduction of
believers, groups, churches,
networks and movements
• We can plant, water, remove
obstacles and fertilize, but God
brings about the growth by the
power of the Holy Spirit
Greenhouse
A Missional Greenhouse
atmosphere can be an
environment where a
movement of growth and
reproduction are
anticipated and nurtured
A Missional Greenhouse?
The 2 - 2 - 2 Principle
of Mission Reproduction
2 Timothy 2:2 And the things you have
heard me say in the presence of many
witnesses entrust to reliable men who
will also be qualified to teach others.
Paul
Timothy
Reliable Men
Others
Church Planting Movement
Movements are not:
• safe (the Gospel is dangerous!)
• predictable
• neat
• about your needs, wants or even
ministry but about Christ's Kingdom
• top down management decisions
Church Planting Movement
Movements are:
• started by some who asks a big "what
if?" question (Martin Luther: What if
we could get the Bible into language
and hands of every person?)
• Organic - growing from 2-2-2
discipling and church planting
Church Planting Movement
Movements start when the Holy Spirit
leads people to mature discipleship
1. Believing the Gospel enough to
benefit from it
2. Believing the Gospel enough to
contribute comfortably
3. Believing the Gospel enough to give
our lives to it.
Church Planting Movement
A Church Planting Movement
creates lift for all churches
Church Planting Movement
A Church Planting Movement
creates lift for all churches
Church Planting Movement
A Church Planting Movement
creates draft for all churches
• Drafting, occurs when a second car tucks closely
behind the first, filling part of the vacuum. The
car in front loses some of the drag at its rear.
The second car still has a vacuum at its rear, but
now has less air resistance in front. As a result,
both cars quicken a bit — the two combined
speed a few miles per hour faster than either
can alone.
That can happen in a Church
Planting Movement!
A Bonus for a Church
Planting Movement
• The church planter who meets
with a group of church
planting peers at least
monthly increases the odds of
survivability by 135 percent.
Source: “Church Planting and Survivability”, Ed Stetzer, Center for Missional
Research.
In 1990, 52 million people attended a
Christian church each weekend.
Church Attendance in 1990 & 2006 Compared to
Population Growth 1990 - 2006
60,000,000
51,110,171
50,000,000
40,000,000
30,000,000
20,000,000
10,000,000
-
Church Attendance 1990
The American Church
Research Project
Church Attendance 2006
Population Growth 1990 - 2006
By 2006, however, 52 million people still
attended a Christian church each weekend.
Church Attendance in 1990 & 2006 Compared to
Population Growth 1990 - 2006
60,000,000
51,110,171
51,668,200
50,000,000
40,000,000
30,000,000
20,000,000
10,000,000
-
Church Attendance 1990
The American Church
Research Project
Church Attendance 2006
Population Growth 1990 - 2006
Meanwhile, by 2006 52 million more people
were living in the United States.
Church Attendance in 1990 & 2006 Compared to
Population Growth 1990 - 2006
60,000,000
51,110,171
51,668,200
51,773,556
50,000,000
40,000,000
30,000,000
20,000,000
10,000,000
-
Church Attendance 1990
The American Church
Research Project
Church Attendance 2006
Population Growth 1990 - 2006
Slightly more Churches Start each
Year than Close, but not Enough to
Keep up with Population Growth.
Churches Closed and Started and Net Gain each Year from 2000 to 2005
4,500
4,000
4,009
3,707
3,205
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
303
500
Closed Each Year
The American Church
Research Project
Started Each Year
Net Gain each Year
Gain Needed to Keep Up
with Population Growth
This is the Future Trajectory of the
American Church if nothing changes.
Percentage of Population Attending a Christian Church each Weekend
25.0%
20.4%
19.5%
20.0%
18.7%
17.5%
16.5%
15.5%
14.7%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1990
1995
The American Church
Research Project
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
Dallas/Ft. Worth Metro Area 2000
Percentage of the Population
Attending a Christian Church on
Any Given Weekend
16.3%
18.8%
Denton
17.9%
Collin
Hunt
19.3
21.6%
Parker
26.9%
Rockwall
21.4%
Tarrant
Dallas
19.7%
Kaufman
18.2%
Hood
19.5%
Ellis
16.4%
Henderson
The American Church
Research Project
The Mission of God
• Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come
to seek and to save that which was lost.
• John 10:10 I have come that they may
have life, and have it to the full.
• 1 Timothy 2:3-4 This is good, and
pleases God our Savior, {4} who wants
all men to be saved and to come to a
knowledge of the truth.
The Mission of God
Romans 10:12-14
For there is no difference between Jew and
Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly
blesses all who call on him, {13} for, "Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved." {14} How, then, can they call on the
one they have not believed in? And how can
they believe in the one of whom they have not
heard? And how can they hear without
someone preaching to them?
The Movement of
God's Mission of God
lived out in Acts
• Acts 1:8 But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Can we Be Intentional
about Creating a Missional
Greenhouse Atmosphere
for a Church Planting Movement?
• 2 Corinthians 10:15-16
…Our hope is that, as your faith continues
to grow, our area of activity among you
will greatly expand, {16} so that we can
preach the gospel in the regions beyond
you…
Why Church Planting?
• Churches over 15 years
old – it takes 67
Christians to bring in a
new Christian
• Churches 3-15 years old
– Ratio is 20:1
• Churches 0-3 years old –
Ratio is 10:1
• New churches have 3-4
times the number of
conversion as do
established churches
Leadership Network
2009
A North Texas
Missional
Greenhouse