Be Fruitful and Multiply

Pastor Rocklyn E. Clarke - Sunday January 1, 2006

© 2006 Life Church Ministries, Inc.

Introduction

Bible Reading 12/25 - 12/31: Zech 8 - Mal 4; Rev 16 - 22; Psalm 144 - 150; Prov 30:29 - 31:31

Review - Learning Organization - personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, systems thinking

Vision

Life Church is a growing community of Christians who:

know God and love him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength,

fulfill God's mission for our lives,

know and love each other.

God has called us to be a tree of life to the communities that we touch:

rooted in Jesus the Son of God,

sustained by God's Spirit and walking in obedience to God's Word,

a source of fruitfulness and healing to the world around us.

Mission

To Develop Our Relationship With God and With One Another:

by meeting together on Sundays for worship and instruction.

by meeting weekly in small groups (life groups) for fellowship, support, growth, and evangelism.

by living rich and balanced lives together.

To Develop Mature Believers

by teaching godly habits

by transforming godly habits into skills

by developing skills into ministries

To Develop Effective Leaders

who serve their brothers and sisters in humility,

To Expand God's Kingdom

by winning people in our lives and in our communities to Jesus Christ.

Simple Christianity

Original 4 Spiritual Laws

God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.

Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life.

Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life.

We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

4 Laws of Simple Christianity

God Exists.

Heb 11:6

God wants a relationship with you.

The relationship must be on his terms.

Have you ever had a relationship that was on someone else's terms?

Parent-child relationships are generally on the parents' terms

God's terms are this - follow Jesus!

The work of God is to believe in the one he has sent - John 6:25-29

His name is above every name - Phil 2:5-9

God has spoken through his Son - Heb 1:1-4

Fix your eyes on Jesus - Heb 12:1-9

Following Jesus establishes our relationship with God

Follow him like little children - Mat 11:25-30; Mat 18:1-4

Some people want rules.

Some use rules as a stepping-stone to a relationship with God

Some use rules to avoid a relationship with God

"I've met the qualifications - now leave me alone"

Pharisees

Walk with God like Enock and Noah - Gen 5:22-24; Gen 6:9

Your relationship with God should be apparent to those who know you

your relationship - not your "rule keeping"

The disciples were called Christians at Antioch by outsiders - Acts 11:26

Walk in unity with your brother and sisters - John 17:20-23

Relationships leave traces

Speak freely about your relationship with God.

Explain your lifestyle in terms of your relationship with God.

Always give a reason for the hope that you have - 1Pet 3:18

Dont's say:

I'm trying to be positive

at our church we believe . . .

it's the right thing to do (this is good, but not enough)

Do say:

God told me . . .

God showed me . . .

God wants me to . . .

After speaking with God about it I decided . . .

Allow the people around you to hear about what God is doing in your life.

Don't be afraid to be a spokesman for your Father.

You don't need to be a theological expert. - Acts 4:13; 1Cor 1:10 - 2:13

theological expertise does not lead to a relationship with God

theological expertise will grow out of a relationship with God

How is your relationship with God?

Are you giving him a chance to do something in your life?

Do you set aside enough time for him to speak to you?

What's he like?

Where does he hang out?

What are his hobbies?

How does God deal with you?

How are you approaching God?

like someone taking a theology final?

like a bank customer identifying himself to a customer service rep?

Mat 7:7-12 Ask, Seek, Knock - how much more will your Father . . .

Life Group Evangelism

Old Paradigm

Trying to bring your unsaved friends to church to get saved

Trying to win your unsaved friends by yourself

Tear down the strongholds that prop up the old paradigm

New Paradigm

Mic 2:12-13 - Poretz - one who breaks open the way

Mal 4:6-13 - Rise and thresh

Share your relationships

Expose your friends to treasure in jars of clay - 2Cor 4:7-12

Pray and ask God to show you the people in your life that he wants you to focus on.

List their names and give them to your life group leaders.

Your life group doesn't have to be perfect - just available.

Remember - the apostles had issues of their own.

Ministry Systems Dynamics

Reinforcing Feedback

Vicious Cycles

Backsliding

Virtuous Cycles

Sanctification

overflow of giving - 2Cor 9:6-15

sowing seed

Balancing Processes

faucet/eye/hand system filling a glass of water

Balancing Processes With Delay

thermostat

shower temperature control

Limits To Growth

Church grows to point where intimacy is lost

Shifting The Burden

Drug addiction

Sexual addictions

Television addictions

Escalation

arguments

arms race

Tragedy Of The Commons

multiple flocks on a singlle field

environmental pollution

Success To The Successful

Growth and Underinvestment

attendance falls off due to crowding before new space is achieved

Accidental Adversaries

Employee / Company example

employees are rewarded for political gamesmanship

company is rewarded for pursuit of growth rather than development

Traditional Church and the Arts

Traditional Church and other Areas of Gifting

Fixes That Fail

EGC Questions

Question 1

We don't ask:"How will WE get a building in the South End?"

We ask: How can OUR COMMUNITY provide a BUILDING for us?"

Question 2

We don't ask: "How do WE plant CHURCHES?"

We ask: "How does THE CITY plant CHURCHES?"

Question 3

We don't ask: "How do WE stop CRIME?"

We ask" "How does the CITY stop its OWN CRIME?"

Question 4

We don't ask: "How does EGC do EVANGELISM?"

We ask: "How does the CITY do EVANGELISM?"

Question 5

We don't ask: "How do WE set up an urban training school for uban ethnic ministry leaders?"

We ask: "How do urban ethnic ministry LEADERS work with a seminary to SET UP their OWN urban training school?"

Question 6

We don't ask: "How can WE get more urban ethnic students into Christian schools?"

We ask: "How can urban ethnic STUDENTS recruit their OWN PEOPLE to Christian schools?"

Question 7

We don't ask questions THAT PRODUCE: short-term, counterproductive ends

We ask QUESTIONS THAT PRODUCE: long-term multiply-productive ends

Question 8

We don't ask QUESTIONS that: make us design OUR organization to DO a task

We ask QUESTIONS that: force us to find how the SOCIAL REALITY we are working in will become the PRIMARY DOER of the task

New Material - Be Fruitful and Multiply

Creation Story

God created everything - Gen 1:1-3

Man and Woman are to be fruitful and multiply - Gen 1:24-31

Man has the breath of life - Gen 2:4-7

It is not good for the man to be alone - Gen 2:15-25

Your life group doesn't have to be perfect - just available.

Remember - the apostles had issues of their own.

Gospel Age

God has regenerated us

God still wants us to be fruitful and multiply

Make disciples - Mat 28:18-20;

Preach the good news to all creation - Mark 16:14-20

Preach repentance and forgiveness to all nations - Luke 24:45-53

Those who have faith in Jesus will do what he did - John 14:5-14

As the Father sent me I am sending you - John 20:19-23

God wants to use you in 2006

He wants to use you inside the body (i.e. the local congregation)

He wants to use you outside the body (i.e. evangelism and discipleship)

You can't multiply by yourself

Take stock of 2005

Did you expand the Kingdom in 2005?

If not, what will you do differently in 2006?

Discussion Questions

Use as many as you need - most meetings will only have time for 2 - 4 questions.

Reflect on Mat 28:18-20

When did this passage first become meaningful to you?

Have you ever tried to obey this passage? In what ways?

Have you ever been responsible for someone becoming a Christian? In what way?

What does "make disciples" mean to you?

Have you ever been discipled by someone? If so, how?

Have you ever discipled someone? If so, how?

Reflect on Gen 1:26-28

How does the command to "be fruitful and increase in number" apply to your spiritual life and/or to your ministry?

Reflect on Gen 2:18-25

How does the observation "it is not good for the man to be alone" apply to your spiritual life and/or to your ministry?

Are you trying to "be fruitful and increase in number" by yourself, or in partnership with other believers?

How have you worked with other believers to expand God's Kingdom?

What will you do differently in 2006 to expand God's Kingdom?