What is the harvest?

Bringing people into God's Kingdom - Mat 3:2; 4:17

Leading people to the new birth - John 2:23 - 3:8; 1Pet 1:23

Water Baptism - Mat 28:18-20; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38-41

Making disciples - Mat 28:18-20; 2Tim 2:2

Who reaps the harvest?

People who want it

Looking for a city - Heb 11:8-16

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness - Mat 5:6

People who pray

Keep praying - Luke 18:1-8

People who want to look good to God rather than to men

Saul

Israel wanted a king like the other nations had - 1Sam 8:1-8

Saul looked good on the outside - 1Sam 9:2; 1Sam 10:17-24

Saul cared more about how he looked to people than to God

David

David was tending sheep when he was chosen. - 1Sam 16:1-13

He was overlooked by his father but remembered by God.

People who are part of the covenant

Canaan Milestones

Crossing the Jordan River

New Boston Pilot Middle School is our Jordan - not our Jericho

All we had to do was "step in the water" and the flow stopped.

Circumcision at Gilgal

The Israelites hadn't been circumcised since their failure to enter Canaan the first time

Eating the produce of the land

End of the Manna

Conquering Jericho

Circumcision

God's covenant with Abraham - Gen 17

After Ishmael was about 13

God changes Abram's name to Abraham

God promises to make Abraham the father of many nations

Every male in Abraham's household must be circumcised

God changes Sarai's name to Sarah

God confirms that Sarah will bear a son named Isaac

God will bless all of Abraham's descendants

God will establish his covenant with Isaac and Isaac's descendants

Circumcision touches the "fathering" organ

The organ with which Abraham would father nations had to be cut

Anyone who wanted to "roll" with Abraham had to have his organ cut

The Israelites had to be circumcised before they could move on to Jericho

Baptism is the New Testament analog of circumcision - Col 2:6-15

Our "flesh" or "sinful nature" is figuratively a "foreskin"

Baptism is our sign of our covenant with God

We must confirm our covenant before moving forward

Covenant People

What does it really mean to be a Christian?

The believers were first called Christians at Antioch - Acts 11:26

Paul at Mars Hill - Acts 17:15-34

Confess with your mouth / believe in your heart - Rom 10:9-10

Repent and be baptized - Acts 2:38

What does it mean for Jesus to be Lord?

Jesus is boss, CEO, president, etc.

We must do what he says - Luke 6:46-49

Not my will but God's will

We must be "covenant sensitive"

We must share our testimonies with one another

We must ask other people about their experience with Jesus

How did your relationship with Jesus begin?

Who is Jesus to you?

Note "works" type responses:

"I'm trying to get my life together"

"I'm trying to be positive"

"I hope I'll make it to heaven"

Don't "fake the funk" - Acts 4:32 - 5:14

Vision For Harvest

Summary of Life Church Vision and Mission

Life Church is a growing community of Christians.

We gather together on Sundays for worship and instruction and we meet together in small groups on a weekly basis for fellowship and support.

We take time to love and to get to know God and each other.

We take time to fulfill God’s mission for our lives.

We live rich and balanced lives together.

We develop mature believers and effective leaders who extend God’s Kingdom wherever they go.

This is the vision that God gave me for Life Church

You're here because God has called you to this vision

The harvest portion of the vision

Developing mature believers and effective leaders

Extending God's Kingdom

This doesn't happen by itself - you must be actively involved

Jesus - The Lord Of the Harvest

No foundation but Jesus - 1Cor 3:10-12

Jesus is the Christ - Mat 16:13-19; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21

Christ is the center - 2Cor 5:17; Gal 2:20

God got my attention through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus

No other Jesus than the Jesus of the Bible

The gospels are the historical record of Jesus' life on earth

Mat 1:1,18; Mat 28:18-20

Mark 1:1; Mark 16:14-20

Luke 1:1-4; Luke 1:26-33; Luke 24:36-53

John 1:1-18; John 20:26-31; John 21:25

Acts 1:1-11; Acts 28:30-31

Pauline letters begin by referring to "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ

Heb 1:1-4

Peter and James refer to Jesus at the beginning of their letters

1John 1:1-4; 2John 1:1-3; 3John does not mention Jesus by name

Rev 1:1; Rev 22:1:6-21

No other historical document supercedes these

Not the Koran

Not the Kebra Nagast or the Holy Piby

Noone supercedes Jesus

I am the way, the truth, and the life - John 14:6 (context vs. 1-14)

Jesus return will be visible to everyone - Mat 24:15-31

In these last days God has spoken by his Son - Heb 1:1-4

Noone

Not Buddha - 500 BC

Not Mohammed - 500 AD

Not Haile Selassie

Our Roots

God's Word

Inspiration - Acts 20:32; 2Tim 3:15-17; 1Thes 2:13; 2Pet 1:20-21

Focus on it - Josh 1:8;

Hear it, Read it, Study it, Memorize it, Meditate on it

One Year Bible

Prayer - Eph 6:18; Phil 4:6-7

The Lord's Prayer - Mat 6:9-13

Prayer Components

Worship - John 4:23-24; Heb 12:28; Heb 13:15

Receiving Guidance - James 1:5

Making Requests - Phil 4:6-7

Maintaining a Defensive Hedge - Ezek 22:23-31; Eph 6:10-18; Col 4:12; James 5:14-18

Ministry of confession as antidote to shame - James 5:14-18

Offensive Warfare - Dan 10:1-14; 2Cor 1:11; Phil 1:19; 1Tim 2:1

You need all of these components

Reinforce prayer partnerships

Charismatic Worship

We must be worshippers

Taking Jericho - Josh 5:13 - 6:20

Surround target with praise

Don't speak anything else until praise and worship are complete

Control your tongue - James 3:2-12

No unwholesome talk - Eph 4:29

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns . . . - Eph 5:19

God has called us to establish a fuller form of worship (hearts, minds, souls, careers, etc.) that goes beyond our traditions

Baptism of the Holy Spirit - speaking in tongues

Definitions

Baptism into the Body of Christ - 1Cor 12:13

Indwelling of Holy Spirit

Counselor (paraclete) - John 14:15-18; John 14:25-26; John 15:26; John 16:5-16

Seal - 1Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13; Eph 4:30

Takes place at conversion - John 20:22; Rom 8:9; 1Cor 2:9-16; 1Cor 3:16; Gal 4:6

Infilling of Holy Spirit

Human side of Holy Spirit baptism

Baptism (immersion) enables filling (sponge in a pail of water)

Power for service - Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8

Jesus is the baptizer: Mat 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; Acts 2:33

Streams of living water - John 7:37-39 (ref Isa 12:3)

Promised to all - Luke 11:9-13; Acts 2:38; Gal 3:14

By grace through faith - Gal 3:2-3

Commanded - Eph 5:18 (be filled with the Spirit)

Examples

Tongues explicit - Acts 2:3-4; Acts 10:46; Acts 19:6

Tongues implied - Acts 8:5-24

Tongues not mentioned - Acts 9:1-23 (ref 1Cor 14:18)

Speaking In Tongues (unlearned languages)

Tongues have two uses

As a ministry manifestation - 1Cor 12:1-10; 1Cor 12:29-31

Tongues have not ceased - 1Cor 13

As a personal prayer language - Rom 8:26; 1Cor 14:1-19

Where did Paul speak in tongues?

God wants all of you to be filled!!!

De-mysticize the Baptism with the Holy Spirit

The misconception of tarrying

The Holy Spirit doesn't speak, you do. You give him a voice.

It may sound like you're making it up, but you're not.

Don't think "Prophet on a stage", think "Intimate talk with Daddy"

The story of the man who thought he made it up when the he really spoke a language that a foreign evangelist interpreted for him.

People are freer to release in a crowd than when isolated in the front of a congregation.

Gateway to the supernatural

You - what gift will you bring to your life group? - 1Cor 14:26

Giving

Abraham tithed to Melchiizedek - Gen 14:17-20; Heb 7:1-10

The Law - Lev 27:30-33; Num 18:25-32; Deut 12:17-19; 14:22-29; 26:12-15

Hezekiah - 2Chron 31:2-21

Will a man rob God? - Mal 3:6-12

Pharisees neglected justice but did well to tithe - Mat 23:23

Put Christ First - Mat 6:33; Luke 9:23-25

Give cheerfully - 2Cor 9:6-7

Fellowship

Keep fellowshipping - Heb 10:24-25

We are being built together - Eph 2:10-22

Jesus' sacrifice overcame the Jew-Gentile barrier

This was one of the greatest imagineable social barriers

It overcomes whatever divides you from your brothers and sisters

Jerusalem's Wall was rebuilt by a diverse group of people - Neh 3

High Priest - Neh 3:1

Men of Jericho - Neh 3:2

Specific families - Neh 3:3-6

Goldsmiths, perfume-makers - Neh 3:8,31,32

Rulers - Neh 3:9,12,14,15,16,17,18,19

Homeowner - Neh 3:10,23,27,28,29,30

Neighborhood - Neh 3:13

Levites - Neh 3:17,

Temple Servants - Neh 3:26

Merchants - Neh 3:32

We should see this as a picture of the church working together

Fellowship at Life Church

Sunday Service

Life Groups

Intimate fellowship in small groups

A place to be discipled and to disciple others

A place to discover your gifts, purpose, and ministry

We will be turning over leadership of the life groups

Build Healthy Life Groups

Be faithful in Sunday attendance

Be faithful in life group meetings - make your gifts available

Be faithful with prayer partners

Prioritize praying for members of your life group

Communion and Pot-Luck

Opportunity for fellowship across life group boundaries

we're pulling together a team to help coordinate these events

Membership - Basic Training class is coming

Winning and Making Disciples - Mat 28:18-20; 2Tim 2:2

Evangelism (winning disciples)

In the world but not "of it" - John 17:14-19

Let your light shine - Mat 5:16

Allow your lifestyle contrast to have an impact

Relax and be natural - not uptight

Conversion process

The "cross-fade" metaphor

old lifestyle loses credibility due to contradictions

internal contradictions

external contradictions

commitment to old lifestyle wanes due to lost credibility

Kingdom of God becomes more and more credible

Phase 1

No effective awareness of Kingdom of God

Complete commitment to independance from God

Attitude Examples

I lie because it works and anyone who has sense does too.

Phase 2

Awareness of Kingdom of God

Commitment to Kingdom growing

Commitment to old lifestyle exceeds commitment to Kingdom

Attitude Examples

I lie because it works for me, but I know there are some people who can get along without lying.

Phase 3

Commitment to Kingdom of God matches commitment to old lifestyle

Candidate may have one or more experiences that are labelled as conversion experiences

Candidate is "double-minded"

Attitude Examples

I lie, but I'm thinking about giving it up.

Phase 4

Commitment to Kingdom of God exceeds commitment to old lifestyle

Candidate settles into practical church membership

Attitude Examples

I usually tell the truth, but there are some situations where lying is acceptable.

Phase 5

All lingering commitment to old lifestyle is extinguished - this is full repentance

Candidate is fully committed to those aspects of the Kingdom that he/she knows about

There is a clear path for future spiritual growth

Attitude Examples

Lying is wrong and I rarely do it - if I lie, it's because I was in a sudden jam and fell back on an old habit.

Discipleship (training disciples)

Traditional approaches

Focus on imparting information

Requires classroom and syllabus

Life Church approach

Focus on modeling truth

Discipler models concepts for disciple

Discipler models behavior for disciple

Discipleship Stages

Habits - help disciple to develop godly habits

Skills - help disciple to develop skills associated with habits

Ministry - help disciple to develop a ministry

Classroom and Syllabus

Formal instruction through Life Church Basic Training

Informal instruction is key

The world is your classroom

Your environments are your syllabus

Use father & son on family farm example

Settings for informal instruction

Waste time together - more is caught than taught

Go places

places where you'll learn something about your disciple

places where your disciple will see you apply biblical truth

places where your disciple will have to apply biblical truth

these all overlap

public places - parties, disciple's family events,

Stressful situations

Every day activities - shopping, public transportation, restaurants

My experiences watching people who discipled me

Courtney beginning meetings with extensive prayer

Bishop to me after the auction: "I trust you with souls"

Bishop dealing with church opposition - the "F You" test

Bishop at a wake - handling beverages

Bishop casting demons out of someone

Bishop mediatng disputes

Bishop in his home with his family

Keep worded up

Jesus applied the Word to the situations he encountered

Temptation in the wilderness - Mat 4:1-11

The H.S. uses the Word in us - John 14:25-26; John 16:12-15;

Agreement - Mat 18:19; 1Cor 1:10-17; 1Cor 3:1-9; 1Cor 3:16-23; Phil 4:2

Create a state of agreement - 1Cor 1:10; Eph 5:21

People are drawn to unity and agreement. - John 17:11, 20-23

Two attitudes:

I want to understand the Father in order to accomplish his purposes

I want to show everyone that I'm right

God cares about character development more than about who's "right"

Fights and quarrels - James 3:1 - 4:17; Gal 5:13-15; Gal 6:1-10

Seek first to understand, then to be understood

Align with spiritual authority

Submit - 2Cor 10:8; Heb 13:17

Develop your leader's spirit - Num 11:11-29

God took the Spirit that was on Moses - Num 11:17,25

This was God's Spirit with Moses' flavor - Num 11:29

Don't try to be a xerox copy of your leader

Do ask yourself - "How would my leader want things to be done?"

Service - Mark 10:45; 2Cor 4:5

Service the Kingdom way

We are not "driven"

His yoke is easy - Mat 11:30

God helps us to will and act according to his purpose - Phil 2:12-16

Charismatic Service

Based on gifting and calling

God is telling his people to be about his business

by knowing and operating in their purpose

God's will is revealed

in discrete revelations

in our purpose (standing orders)

MASH units don't have to be ordered to treat wounded soldiers

Find your purpose

Set aside pleasurable distractions that obscure God's will for your life

Deny yourself - Luke 9:23-25

Look pleasure (i.e. a "good time") in the face and say "no thankyou - maybe later")

If God is willing to restrict sexuality, he's willing to restrict anything

Warnings re living for pleasure - Prov 21:17; 1Tim 5:6; 2Tim:3:4

Get feedback from others

Look for opportunities - starting with your own church

Put your gifts to work

Watch your attitude (Parables of Mina and Talents - Luke 19; Mat 25)

wicked lazy servant had bad view of God

Take the risk now

I'm going to take advantage of existing opportunities now

I'm not going to wait for something better to come along

How do you serve?

Carnal

Use your gifts to satisfy yourself

Focus on me - my goals, my wants, my pain, my failures, my safety, my security

Spiritual

Use your gifts to satisfy God and others

Sacrificially

Look out for the interests of others - Phil 2:3-4

It's not about your rights! - 1Cor 8:1 - 11:1

"Woe unto me if I don't preach the gospel" - 1Cor 9:15-18

Hurricane Katrina

Unless you repent, you too will perish - Luke 13:1-5

Does disaster come to a city and the Lord has not caused it? - Amos 3:1-8

God's Wrath - Rev 9:12-21; Rev 16:1-11

The time of God's favor - 2Cor 6:2

Disasters are intended to get our intention

Prophetically predicted disasters

Noah's flood

Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

Egyptian famine

Assyrian captivity of northern kingdom

Babylonian captivity of southern kingdom

Destruction of Jerusalem

Unpredicted disasters

Capture of Lot

Abram's famine