Evangelism and Discipleship
Church planters can do a lot of things wrong and God can still bless the new church. All pastors will confess that God often blessed in spite of their frail leadership and strategies. Still, planters need to lead and strategize for carrying out the mission of God.
Evangelism and discipleship is one of those mission critical issues that needs a planter’s attention. Evangelism does not automatically happen in a new church. Too many planters think the reason that lost people have not come to Christ is because they have not found the right church yet. Thus, a mythological equation is formed: lost culture + relevant church plant = instant harvest.
Planters sincerely set out with a new approach that will fill the local middle school gymnasium or movie ...
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Posted in: Leadership, Disciple Making
Tags: evangelism, discipleship, church-planting, church, pastor, church planter, top issues, challenges, disciple-making, missional
"As a church, if you don't believe in the present reality of the gospel, in terms of the Spirit's presence to save, even now, then you will feel like every time you're up to preach you have got to do the work to get them there. Your worship leaders will say 'they'll never worship God unless we do better songs.' Or your leaders will say, 'they'll never get on mission unless we kick their butt every week and put together a plan and tell them what to do every moment.' All it is is unbelief in the gospel power of Jesus to do its work today."
Jeff Vanderstelt spoke on the Gospel at last fall's Phoenix Boot Camp – and in particular the gospel's power over the past, present and future realities of a Christian. Here he talks about Clay, a man who recently met Jesus and is in his ...
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Posted in: Disciple Making
Tags: gospel, sanctification, gospel is the power of sanctification, phoenix boot camp, how to stop sinning, how to grow as a christian, why can't i stop sinning, do i need accountability, accountability, sin issues, discipleship, helping new christians
“[Your people are] capable, because the power that raised Jesus Christ is sitting in that single mom. The power that raised Jesus Christ is sitting in that young married couple. The power that raised Jesus Christ is sitting in that 60-year-old guy who’s wasted his life making money for himself. You need to find a way to release that…"
Matt Carter is Acts 29 pastor of The Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas.
Matt remembers childhood observations of his parents' practice of Christianity: attending church services, serving in the nursery or greeting occasionally, and doing a few bible studies. "And that was pretty much it," he notes.
He says that young people today are not content with simply partaking in "the attractional church" wherein ...
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Posted in: Leadership, Disciple Making
Tags: church planting, missional, missional communities, equipping the saints, ephesians 4:12, matt carter, dallas boot camp, training, equipping, leadership development, attractional church, model, missiology, ecclesiology
By Jake Johnson The other night, over 40 people whom I’d never met—most non-Christians—partied at my house. The occasion? It was a baby shower for the daughter one of my Missional Community member’s bosses. Pregnant out of wedlock with a boyfriend who’s a nice guy but just coming out of drug addiction, this poor girl had no one willing to celebrate the coming of her baby and lacked the necessities needed for a newborn. So we threw her a shower. Jessica, a newer Christian in our community, brought the opportunity to our attention and organized the whole event, inviting all her co-workers and rallying Christians and non-Christians alike to bless this young girl with dozens upon dozens of gifts and to show her unconditional love. It was a great moment of ...
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By Bob Thune
Before church planting I worked for a parachurch missions agency that required staff to raise their own financial support. Every year I helped to train hundreds of Jesus-loving, mission-driven, starry-eyed new staff recruits in fundraising. And every year we told them the same thing: “If you can’t raise your financial support within 12 months, that probably means God isn’t calling you to this ministry.”
The logic was simple: if God has called, God will provide. If God is not providing, perhaps you’re misreading his call.
Unfortunately, no one is giving church planters a similar litmus test. We tell them that it’s going to be hard and difficult and they’d better be ready for a beating. As a result, many naïve young men assume ...
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