Transcript Slide 1
Breakthrough Church Growth …BEING PASSIONATE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS •A lifestyle of passion, not a program. •All about relationships, not religion. •A passion-driven, people-focused mission, not a ministry. •Every member serving together as passionate followers of Jesus. IT’S ABOUT YOU! Your Obeying Unwavering the Call of Jesus – To Fulfill the Great Commission and Commandment “Jesus said, ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:19-20) “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind…Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-40) FIVE WORDS OF BREAKTHROUGH CHURCH GROWTH Promise “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.’” (Genesis 12:1-2) Prayer “Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:31-32) People “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19) Passion/Purpose “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20) Pursuit “…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28-20) “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) A Maintenance-Driven Church I. THE CHURCH IS ONE OF THE MOST NON-PRODUCTIVE INSTITUTIONS IN AMERICA A. The Mission of the Church is People • Most churches focus on program, not people. • Most churches focus on maintenance, not mission. • Most churches focus on religion, not relationships. • Most churches focus on problems, not purpose. • Most churches focus on plans, not proclaiming. The Breakthrough Principle is Passion for OTHERS. Obedient Testimonies Helping Everyone Reach Salvation Salvation = Saved + Sanctified + Sent “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.’ And with that He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:21-22) The way to measure your effectiveness as a church is by the number of disciples your church has produced. We call that the People Principle. The church in America has stopped proclaiming the Gospel. The Fast Facts: • 98% of all church growth in America is church transfer. • 2% of all church growth is conversion growth. • 95% of all Christians in America today are barren. * 85% of all churches in America have either declined or plateaued in growth. * 9.5 church members out of 10 don’t share the gospel with others. • 90% of all churches assimilate less than 2% of the annual visitor volume into active workers – what we might describe as disciples. ~ Maximize Your Influence by Ken Houts (Statistical Source) These statistics prove that people are no longer the primary mission of the church. The Redefined Mission of the Church: • Maintaining and ministering to the people we have, neglecting the Great Commission. II. THE CHURCH HAS REDEFINED ITS MISSION • We have given the church a make-over. • The church has been called by Jesus to a mission of “Making Disciples.” “Go, therefore, and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19) • The church, however, has evolved into a maintenanceculture church. A. Five Growth-Measuring Habits of the Local Church – the Standards: • What we measure demonstrates our priorities because, “what gets measured, gets done.” • What are the standards we measure? 1) Increased attendance is the standard of the maintenancedriven church. 2) Increased income is the standard of the maintenancedriven church. 3) Increased Sunday School/Small Group attendance is emphasized. 4) Facilities are the focus of a maintenance-driven church. 5) Mission-giving is the standard of success in the maintenance-driven church. B. Seven Maintenance-Driven Symptoms of the Local Church 1) 95% of pastor and staff time is invested in maintaining the church. • Pastor and staff’s focus is to nurture the church members. They don’t have time for the unchurched or unsaved. 2) The Church Board spends 95% of their time focusing on the finances and maintenance of the church. • If your leadership spends more time discussing and maintaining instead of investing in people and mission, it is a behavioral symptom of a maintenancedriven church. 3) Members are too busy to invest their talents, time, and treasure in the church. •Every person invests in what they value. •Maintenance-driven churches provide little, if any, passion to motivate people to serve. 4) Members are not motivated to care for or reach out to the unchurched. • The symptom of the maintenance-driven church is that members do not care about the mission. • You can be a member and never make a “disciple” of Christ. 5) Members are not trained to be caregivers or to share their testimony (story). • Members do not have a mind-set for looking for opportunities to share with others. 6) Members are not mobilized or passionate to make disciples for Christ. • “The strongest need in the church is motivating the people of God to be passionate followers of Jesus Christ.” ~ D. Cowan 7) 80% of the people in the congregation are not core members. • The behavior of the maintenance-driven church member is to use the church to be nurtured and maintained, but not to be involved in or investing in it. • “Growing churches in the maintenance-culture create their own problems because they can only make church members and not disciples. ~ Ken Houts IF YOU KEEP DOIN’ WHAT YOU’RE DOIN’, YOU’RE GONNA KEEP GETTIN’ WHAT YOU’VE GOT! Our Goal – Unity! Every Church Member Going in the Same Direction We call that Agenda Harmony! Asking the Right Question as a Church Board: The right question is not, “What do you think we should do?” The right question is, “What is God thinking? What does Jesus what us to do?” Questions: 1) What is your structural process to communicate the love of God to bond the quest of your church? 2) What are the steps needed to make a disciple? 3) Who is purposefully trained to love people into the church? 4) How many members are relationally connecting someone to the church as Jesus commanded? • The only way to “make disciples” is by the love of God through relationships. 5) How many members in your church are trained to relationally assimilate visitors into your church? OUR VISION: OTHERS Obedient Testimonies Helping Everyone Reach Salvation