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June 13 - November 24, 2019
This Bible college student could not give me a reason for the hope he has within him. Why?
Could it be that one reason we see dwindling baptism numbers in some churches is because we’ve effectively turned “go and tell” into “come and see” and turned the long-view of missional expansion into the instant gratification of microwaved spiritual experience?
Rethink Membership
Reorder Small Groups
we have a lot of leeway in when or where we spend our time together, but only a little leeway in how we spend our time together.
said, we should leave space for messiness and inefficiency so that we can learn to drop the pretense that we are highly functional people and begin to see each other’s real selves.
The key to this kind of discipleship is intentionality and relational proximity.
it is not Christ through his church seeking the lost,
but the lost seeking Christ through his church.
Acts and the Epistles depict a church that gathered regularly, in part, as a rest and rejuvenation for the mission they were engaged in the rest of the week.
the church isn’t simply “people in place” but also “people in places,” plural.
Many church people are familiar with the call of Jesus, “I will make you fishers of men,” and they’ve been led to think of evangelism like baiting a hook to lure a lost person into the church boat. (To be filleted and eaten? I’m not sure.) Seen this way, it makes sense to think of church as a place of enticement and attraction. Get people in the door, and they’ll hear about Jesus. In the sales world, we call that the “bait and switch.” Is that what Jesus meant when he called his disciples to be “fishers of men”? For one thing, fishermen in those days didn’t typically use hooks. They used nets.
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identify the predominant idols.
preachers ought to be mindful of the unbelievers in their congregation.
Evangelize as you edify, and edify as you evangelize.”
Spirit
if your evangelistic strategy turns people into recruiters for your weekend gathering, you may get a big crowd, but you are truncating the mission and stunting your people.
the gospel is power for salvation and that no evangelist is responsible for someone’s conversion, only for their having heard the gospel.
CHAPTER
Deep down, most people just want to be understood.
Paul was saddened not by Apollos’s fame but by the Corinthians’ divisiveness because of human speakers.
You can’t do what God does. You can only be what you are.
Paul in this moment has so abandoned himself to God’s sovereignty, waylaid by the grace of God, that Paul feels privileged to be used at all.
The gospel is bigger than any pastor.
Holy Spirit was the one working through the gospel as the catalyst for change.
place your legacy at the feet of Jesus Christ.
The church is God’s field, God’s building. The church belongs to him, and he will cultivate you, he will build you,
Ten Keys to Shepherding the Transition
1. Take It Personally, but Don’t Make It Personal
Take it personally. But don’t make it personal. In other words, don’t tune your ups and downs to how people react, to what ground is lost or made up, to how the service is performing, etc.
2. Practice the Spiritual Fruit of Patience
3. Move Slowly and Strategically
4. Show Meekness and Give Mercy
If you die to yourself, you won’t need to die on every hill.
5. Employ Plurality and Embrace Parity
First, it is not a good idea in our consumer age to un-incarnate anything.
Second, I am concerned about the message the video venue model sends about the church’s identity and community.
Third, I have concerns about how the emphasis on video venues inhibits the growth of local campus pastors
