A Costly Interruption: The Sermon On the Mount, pt. 2 - Blessed
ReFresh Intro May 2012
1. We want to see every
church healthy and
having a kingdom
impact
We believe you do
too!
The first essential question is...
What will it take?
2. Introduction to
ReFresh
for our church
to fulfill the
mission?
mission?
mission?
mission?
Mobilizing Healthy,
Reproducing Churches
3. Every Church a
Mobilized Church…
…
A mobilized church is one that has a
shared vision and effective strategies for
impacting its community and the world by
reproducing disciples, leaders and
congregations.
4. Mission
&Vision
Values
A Biblical Mission
A Shared Vision
Common Values
5. How does a Church
become a
Mobilized Church?
Mobilized Church?
Seminars
Mobilized Church?
Fads
Books
Books
Biblical Pattern
6. The First Pattern: The Church in
Jerusalem
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was
filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done
by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything
in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to
anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet
together in the temple courts. They broke bread
in their homes and ate together with glad and
Can we become
sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the
a Jerusalem
favor of all the people. And the Lord added to
their number daily those who were being saved.
Church?
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 2:42-47
7. The Second Pattern: The Church in
Antioch
In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who
had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they
were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set
apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called
them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands
on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by
the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and
Can we become
sailed from there to Cyprus.
When they arrived at
Salamis, they proclaimed an Antioch
the word of God in the
Jewish synagogues.
Church?
John was with them
as their helper.
Acts 13:1-5
Acts 13:1-5
Acts 13:1-5
Acts 13:1-5
Acts 13:1-5
Acts 13:1-5
Acts 13:1-5
8. These 2 churches simply obeyed what
Jesus told them...
Jesus commissioned his disciples…
… “All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. 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
9. Jesus also
commanded his disciples…
… “'Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with
all your mind. This is the
first and greatest
commandment. And the
second is like it: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.'”
Matthew 22:36-39
10. These 2 churches simply followed the
Commission and Commandment
Jesus gave them
11. The ReFresh mobilization process
can help a church refocus and
revitalize its outreach and ministry by
following the patterns of the New
Testament… Why is this
necessary?
Because churches,
like every living thing,
have a life cycle!
12. CHALLENGE: Church Life Cycle
Balance
Maturity Maintenance
Outward Focus Marked
by:
Evangelism/Discipleship
Leadership Development
Cooperation
CHALLENGE: Achievement/Stability
Leadership Risk/Sacrifice
Faith/Innovation
Church Planting
Growth Outward Focus Marked
Decline
by:
Solution & growth-oriented
Creative planning
High morale
CHALLENGE: Bold Faith
Structure Teamwork
Birth Outward Focus Marked
Death
by:
Vision
Risk
Sacrifice
Unity
13. Church Life Cycle
Maturity Maintenance
Inward Focus Marked by: CRISIS:
Obligation
Past Patterns/Programs
Control
Control
Safe Faith
Evangelism Optional
Growth Decline
CRISIS:
Inward Focus Marked by:
Stifling Bureaucracy
Blame
Rigid/Unchanging
Looks to Past
Membership Loss
Recycle Leadership
Birth Death
14. CHALLENGE: Church Life Cycle
Balance
Maturity Maintenance
CRISIS:
CHALLENGE: Control
Leadership Two critical
questions:
Growth Decline
CRISIS:
Where is your church
CHALLENGE: Blame
on the life cycle?
Structure
What will it take to keep
your church missionally healthy?
Birth Death
15. Church Life Cycle
Maturity Maintenance
We need to
Growth refocus on our Decline
MISSION
We need to refresh
our VISION
Birth Death
16. Church Life Cycle
Maturity Maintenance
Growth Decline
Farther down
More difficult
Birth Death
17. Church Life Cycle
Maturity Maintenance
Growth The key is for the church Decline
periodically to revisit its
mission and refresh the
vision
Birth Death
My Role 1. Not to teach you ReFresh curriculum or course - you already know most of the content and truths - could probably teach it as well as I 2. Rather I want to expose you to the ReFresh concepts and process - i.e., how ReFresh has taken these truths and combined them in a way that (re-)mobilizes congregations - mobilizes congregations to be Great Commission & Great Commandment congregations 3. And that’s what ReFresh is about… = a process designed to help churches recapture, reaffirm or strengthen their vision as a church -- impt. to remember it is a Process not a Program - a vision for being a mobilized, healthy, reproducing church 4. NEXT SLIDE
1. Not to teach you ReFresh curriculum or course - you already know most of the content and truths - could probably teach it as well as I 2. Rather I want to expose you to the ReFresh concepts and process - i.e., how ReFresh has taken these truths and combined them in a way that (re-)mobilizes congregations - mobilizes congregations to be Great Commission & Great Commandment congregations 3. And that’s what ReFresh is about… = a process designed to help churches recapture, reaffirm or strengthen their vision as a church -- impt. to remember it is a Process not a Program - a vision for being a mobilized, healthy, reproducing church 4. NEXT SLIDE
1. Definition of a Mobilized Church (read) 2. DISCUSS: How is your church doing today? - are you consistently & intentionally Developing Closer Followers of Christ? - are you consistently & intentionally Engaging More (New) Followers of Christ? - are you Identifying & Developing Leaders…or just harvesting them? - are you reproducing yourself as a church in new congregations? 3. ReFresh gives you an opportunity to DREAM about these Mobilizing Concepts/Truths - ILLUS : Many pastors don’t have/take time to Dream after the first couple of years -- one Pastor friend I consulted with was so moved by the experience after 10+ years, it brought him to tears 4. Let’s consider a few of the Key Concepts of ReFresh a. A church’s Vision is an opportunity for the Pastor, Leaders and Congregation to dream together again -- ReFresh seeks to help Pastors, Leaders & Cong.s Refocus Vision - Fresh vision gives SIGNIFICANCE to the ministries of the church -- enables people to find the connecting links between various church ministries - Vision also gives DIRECTION -- charts a course for where you want to go as a church -- helps evaluate ministries... Is it taking us where we want to be or keeping us where we are? - Vision instills PASSION -- Passion is the motivation for people to participate in the Vision b. Once the Vision is refocused, Focused & Effective Strategies put it into action -- these are specific steps and strategies that Implement the Vision to Fulfill the Mission - ILLUS: A dear friend is a Pastor who was a gifted strategist -- but he wasn’t focused -- like a runner who runs in 8 lanes inst. of 1 lane -- when he learned to run in 1 or 2 lanes, his church responded & has become a Mobilized Church -- these Strategies are developed by staff and ministry teams c. The end result is to be a church that has a Kingdom Impact ...local & global -- we’ll take a closer look at this in the next slide d. The means for achieving this Kdm. Impact is Reproducing Disciples, Ldrs., Cong.s -- this is simply carrying out the Mission of Jesus that he gave us 5. NEXT SLIDE
1. Another way to look at the influence of a Mobilized Church is in the triad: Mission, Vision & Values - A Mobilized church is a church that has a Kingdom impact thru: a. (click) A biblical MISSION - it’s God’s mission, we just sign on to it b. (click) A Shared VISION - a Vision that “sees” the Mission and Values in action in your community - begins with the Pastor dreaming again under the Spirit’s guidance - then engaging the Leaders & Congregation c. (click) Common VALUES -clearly identified and articulated Values - there are Biblical values ... evangelism, Bible, Worship (shared by most churches) - also Ministry values ... relevance, creativity, diversity, small groups ( unique to specific churches) -- we can address these during the week if needed (Values/Beliefs matrix) 2. So how does a church become a Mobilized Church w/a Kingdom Impact? NEXT SLIDE
1. There are multiple approaches to instituting church change & improve health 2. Finding the most recommended SEMINARS (click) is always popular - “maybe what they’re doing there will work here !” 3. (click) Identifying the latest church health FAD is increasingly popular - the way some other church engaged its culture may work for us 4. (click) There is no shortage of BOOKS written by pastors who are glad to share what they’ve learned - Books are cheaper than Seminars and more reliable than Fads - but more difficult to implement because they can be rather wooden 5. (click) If none of those approaches work, there is always the BIBLICAL PATTERN we can turn to - the Bibl. Pattern is consistent, God-ordained and transcultural - so we ought at least to give it consideration! 6. NEXT SLIDE
Jerusalem Church 1. This first church is a PATTERN of a healthy, balanced, mobilized church fellowship 2. DISCUSS: What elements of church life do you see here? - I’d summarize with 6 Elements: - Biblical Teaching, Worship, Prayer, Fellowship, Service, Evangelism 3. The proper balance of these 6 elements produces HEALTH (click) - and a healthy church is normally a growing church 4. We often think of health/growth only in the context of an INDIVIDUAL Church - But the NT PATTERN depicts Health/Growth beyond the individual church 5. NEXT SLIDE
1. The CHURCH at ANTIOCH was a REPRODUCING Church We know Acts 13 as the beginning of Paul’s Missionary Journeys - but we often fail to recognize that they were sent by a healthy, Mobilized Church at Antioch 2. DISCUSS: What do you see of interest/significance in this passage? - One insight is that Antioch sent people who were among their very best leaders - they didn’t give their 2 nd stringers…that’s not always easy to do - ILLUS: A church planter we support in GUADALAJARA, MEX. -- home church gave their 1 st string Worship Director - ILL : When our church planted a new church, we gave Assoc. Pastor -- he was being groomed to take over when founding pastor moved on -- if we truly believe that “we can’t out-give God,” then he will provide for us 3. And the motivating factor for these 2 PATTERNS is very simple…OBEDIENCE TO CHRIST NEXT SLIDE
1. Jesus gave us the SIMPLE, yet GREAT, COMMISSION (Mt. 28) -Then he provided the SPIRIT’S POWER (Acts 1:8) - So we don’t have to create anything for the church to be successful…just trust & obey! 2. The MISSION is to be a Great Commission Church… …making disciples thru the power of the H.S. 3. NEXT SLIDE
1. And the MISSION also includes being a Great COMMANDMENT Church… … Mt. 22:36-40 Love God & your neighbor 2. So it’s really fairly straightforward to UNDERSTAND - but it takes lifelong passion and (re-) focus to WORK OUT 3. NEXT SLIDE
READ/COMMENT NEXT SLIDE
1. It’s not so much that we need a Program to follow these NT patterns - not another seminar or book 2. Rather we need a process and coach to help us incorporate these patterns into our church - that’s what ReFresh is designed to help you do 3. (click) And this process can help your church develop a consistent life-pattern so it can maintain it’s health over the long haul 4. That doesn’t happen automatically, because (click) Every Church has a Life Cycle - there is a life cycle of at least 5 stages for churches that needs to be recognized, so it can be countered and utilized 5. NEXT SLIDE
1. You’re probably familiar with this cycle in your own church or others... 5 Stages - Birth, Growth, Maturity, Maintenance, Decline, Death 2. I’ve been in churches in every stage of this cycle - and the first 3 are best by far! 3. So what characterizes these stages? - ( Trans. #1 ) Outward Focused - ( trans. #2 ) Outward Focused - ( trans. #3 ) Outward Focus 4. Each Life Stage also has its own CHALLENGES - (trans. #4) betw. Birth & Growth, the challenge is STRUCTURE - ( trans. #5 ) for Growing Ch. the challenge is LEADERSHIP - ( trans. #6 ) for Mature Ch. the challenge is BALANCE 5. Meeting these Stage Challenges, enables church to remain Healthy - & continue to operate on LEFT side of graph 6. Churches that crest the hill to the RIGHT side, don’t fare so well 7. NEXT SLIDE
1. The focus of the RIGHT side becomes INWARD - & that’s what characterizes them - ( trans. #1 ) Inward Focus - Mtce. - ( trans. #2 ) Inward Focus - Decline 2. Rather than focusing on Challenges, - these churches are consumed with CRISIS - ( trans. #3 ) - Crisis of Control (Mtce.) * LIKE the Ch. at Ephesus (lost 1st love) - ( trans. #4 ) - Crisis of Blame (Decline) * Usually the Pastor gets the blame * LIKE Ch. at Sardis (“you are dead”) - the truth is that at stage of Decline churches often rather die than change * there are lots of DECLINING or DEAD chs. mtg. every Sun. * b/c most churches DIE long before they have the funeral (close doors) 3. KEY (humanly speaking) is loving, bold, visionary, pastoral leadership - ldrshp. that recognizes the Crisis & is willing to be ReFreshed/Renewed NEXT SLIDE
1. At this point honest self-assessment is helpful - ( trans. #1 ) We need to ask 2 Critical Questions - Where & What 2. Honest Answers will open the door for renewal & refocus - not just for churches that are “over the curve” - but for churches at every stage 3. NEXT SLIDE
1. We’re NOT Re-Inventing the Church - it’s simply re-focusing our God-given mission - as we’ve seen, God has mapped it out for us in the Word * ( trans. #1 ) our task is to refocus on the MISSION - ( trans. #2 ) then refresh or re-discover God’s Vision for our church in its current state & setting 2. And at the risk of generalizing, - for most churches a key element that must be in the DNA... - is actively & passionately MAKING NEW DISCIPLES 3. Once a church loses that element, the over-the-hill slide has begun 4. NEXT SLIDE
1. Once a church crests the hill, the farther down the slope it goes, - the more difficult and challenging is the return to health 2. The ReFresh process is helpful at every stage, - (click) but most helpful betw. Birth & Maturity * b/c the church is pliable and teachable, and wants to be VISION DRIVEN 3. Helpful, Secondly, (click) betw. Maturity & Mtce. - this is where the church feels the slowdown, but still can reverse it easily 4. NEXT SLIDE
1. For a MAINTENANCE Church, key is to move back to the front side of graph - this is not a major redirection for the church * only a reorientation and refocus of its mission & vision 3. If a MATURE Church is approaching the top of the hill, - needs to be aware of what lies just over the hill! * it’s time to ReFresh the Vision 4. Key is for church periodically to revisit its Mission & refresh its Vision NEXT SLIDE
1. B/c the ideal is to live between birth and maturity in an ebb and flow pattern - Sometimes there will be seasons of significant harvesting (Birth & Growth) 2. Other times there will be more nurture and development (Maturity) - as a preparation for continued harvest by reproducing leaders & congregations * w/o abandoning some new growth in the process 3. NEXT SLIDE
1. ReFresh is relevant to churches that want to stay on the cutting edge of their mission - that doesn’t happen automatically - it’s a result of the 2 nd Law of Thermodynamics! * order to disorder 2. It is also for churches that want to return to the cutting edge - it’s seldom too late for a church to remobilize and return to their mission - a fresh vision can become a reality and a tool for renewal for most churches - Once a church moves over crest of the hill, it often takes some help to return to the cutting edge - that’s where ReFresh can help 3. Tomorrow we’ll begin to discover how the ReFresh Process helps YOU discover a fresh Vision END SLIDE