Planting Partners

I tell church planters all the time that they will likely run at an unsustainable pace.  I hear all kinds of leaders within the church talk about things like margin, Sabbath, vacations, rest, retreats, eight-hour days, five-day weeks, date nights, family nights, and all kinds of ways to ensure you as a planter maintain health.  That’s cool, but have these people ever met a church planter… or an entrepreneur for that matter. 

Every now and then I hear about a planter who seemed to be able to start with a clear and healthy set of boundaries.  Rumor has it Andy Stanley started his church with the pace thing figured out.  I just know that I didn’t. 

The first year, I didn’t take a day off.  I didn’t work less than ten hours a day.  I really didn’t know how to shut it off.  I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  More times than I am comfortable confessing, I went to sleep with the laptop open.  Often, I would wake up several times a night to only pick it up and begin working again.  I had breakfast meetings, lunch meetings, dinner meetings, evening meetings, and then would often work late into the night. 

Somewhere along the way all planters have to come to a conviction that God loves His church more than they possibly can.  I imagine that some come to their plant with both the conviction and the will to live consistently and consequently healthfully because of that conviction.  It just seems that most of the planters I know didn’t really start with that conviction.  But, alas, it is called an unsustainable pace for a reason.  It really isn’t all that bright to burn the candle at both ends. 

Over the long haul, I don’t want to be just another statistic.  I don’t want to be one of the planters who started well only to flame out, burn out or just become useless.  I began to do discover that I was letting far too many needs go unmet.  I had violated my needs for healthy sleep (eight hours), days off, recreations, and time with the family.  I started doing a better job of building margin back into my life. 

If you are a planter, decide to trust God.  Take time off, rest, vacation, date your spouse, play with your kids and craft a life.

1) Less than 20% of Americans regularly attend church - half of what the pollsters report. There are approximately 330,000 churches in America; out of those churches approximately 17.7% (52 million) of Americans attend church on an average Sunday. 2) American church attendance is steadily declining.

• Evangelical 9.2%
• Catholic 5.5%
• Mainline 3.1%

3) Only one state is outpacing its population growth. Hawaii. 4) Mid-sized churches are shrinking; the smallest and largest churches are growing.

• Churches under 50 and over 2,000 are growing
• Average attendance of Protestant church: 124
• 1,250 mega-churches in America/one emerges every three days

5) Established churches, 40-190 years old - are, on average, declining. New church starts reach more people better, faster, cheaper than existing churches. 6) The increase in churches is only ¼ of what’s needed to keep up with population growth.

• 3,000 churches close every year
• 3,800 new church starts survived
• Net annual gain: 800 new churches
• Net annual gain needed to keep up with population growth:10,000 new churches

7) In 2050, the percentage of the U.S. population attending church will be almost half of what it was in 1990.

• US Population in 1990: 248 million/20.4% church attendance
• US Population in 2050: 520 million/11.7% church attendance

Preaching with Purpose – Manifesto for Renewal

I.               God’s Purpose for Man – Rom 8:29 (NIV)

God’s Purpose is to make me like Christ – Gen 1:26 (NIV), 2 Cor 3:18b (NLT), John 17:17 (NIV), James 1:24-25 (NIV)

When we get people to:

Convictions - Thinking like Jesus

Character  - Feeling like Jesus

Conduct – Acting like Jesus

      They are inevitably changed. 

II.             God’s Purpose for the Bible 2 Tim 3:16-17

a.     Doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness are the means to the end.  (for… for… for…  ….SO THAT

                                               i.     To change character

                                              ii.     To change conduct

2 Tim 3:17 …”be fully qualified and equipped TO DO… (GN)

Phil 2:16 (NIV), 1John 1:1 (NIV), John 10:10

III.           God’s Purpose for Preaching Eph 4:11-13 (NIV)

a.     There is Both a Character & Conduct Purpose in Preaching 1 Tim 1:5-6 (NLT)

b.     How Does Life-Change Happen?  Application – Isaiah 53:11 (KJV)

IV.            God’s Purpose for the Preaching:  Be A Bridge Builder (from the text to the now)

Bible Text —- Application —— People’s Needs

The Word             where people live        The World

Past Revelation    Current Situation

Then                                                         Now

What was                                                  What is

INTERPRETATION - IMPLICATION   -  PERSONALIZATION

Commentators                                      Communicators

The challenge of Preaching: To declare eternal truths that never change in and communicate them in a world that is ever changing. – Acts 13:36a (NIV), 1 Chron. 12:32

“If you preach the Gospel in all aspects with the exception the issues which deal specifically with your times – you are not preaching all the Gospel.”  Martin Luther

FOUR STAGES OF BRIDGE-BUILDING

1.     Study the Text: (Exegesis: Observation & Interpretation)

2.     Find the timeless truth – the universal principals  (Implication)

3.     Think of the audience – what is it that they need  (Contextualization)

a.     Always True

                                               i.     Everyone wants to be loved

                                              ii.     Everyone craves meaning…they want their lives to count

                                            iii.     Life is empty without Christ

                                            iv.     There are always people carrying guilt

                                              v.     There are always people carrying resentment

                                            vi.     There are people who fear death

4.     Apply the truth to these situations (Personalization) – Mark 4:33 (Mes)

WHY AREN’T MORE SERMONS BUILT AROUND APPLICATION?

1.     We assume people will make the necessary connection.

2.     We leave it to the H.S.

3.     Personal application is Convicting  to the speaker

4.     Because we haven’t applied it to our own lives

5.     Because it takes more time in preparation.

6.     We are afraid of being simplistic

7.     We have never been taught how to do application

8.     We haven’t realized the importance of it

“I always make this my rule: That those who hear me

1.     Knowledge without application creates pride

I was pulled out of the session to podcast about the Pastors.Com pastors forum.  The podcast can be heard Here>>>

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