The Habit of Fruitful Multiplying

February 12th 2023

Series: Habits of A Healthy Christian

Sermon Title: The Habit of Fruitful Multiplying

Topic: HABITS are actions that are ingrained, that have become natural because of continued repetition. They are the things we do without thinking but accomplish with skill and precision. This is a message on prioritizing the habit of surrounding ourselves with a Godly community. And, how that will lead to spiritual transformation in our own lives and in the world around us.

Key Passages: Matthew 28:18-20, Genesis 1:28, Acts 2:41, Acts 5:14, Acts 6:7, Acts 9:31, 2 Timothy 2:2

Sermon Blurb: If we are going to reach our communities and our world for Christ, we will have to embrace the power of multiplication! But what does multiplication have to do with the Church and the mission of God? Find out how God has always used multiplication to reach the world for Jesus and the part you can play in the process!

Sermon:

Family Moment

Welcome back Family Church to our series we are almost done with about how to be a HEALTHY follower of Jesus in 2023!

We are spending so much time on this because it is our goal for everyone to be a healthy follower of Jesus.

Our hope is that you will walk away from church every week with some additional things you can put into practice in 2023 to become a healthier follower of Jesus.

And we chose to call them HABITS, not disciplines, for a couple of reasons;

First, we often think of discipline as a bad thing, so we wanted to rid our thoughts of any negative reactions…

But more importantly, we’re calling it HABITS because habits, by definition, are a better way to think about these spiritual tools that we are discussing.

PAUSE

SO... What is a habit?

We’ll ask this question every week......

Write this down:

HABITS are actions that are ingrained, that have become natural because of continued repetition. They are the things we do without thinking but accomplish with skill and precision.

So, here is our Acronym for the series.

It’s an acronym for the word HABITS FC…and it shows us, in order, the topics we’re going to be discussing over these weeks.

On the screen

H – Holy Fasting A – Abundant Prayer

B – Bible Learning I – Intentional Generosity T – Transformative Community

S – Sacrificial Serving

F – Fruitful Multiplying

C – Continual Coaching

And as you can see we wrap this series up next week!

Make sure you are back for that concluding message and then you will hear what comes next!

PAUSE

Now, the message today is on developing the habit of Fruitful Multiplication.

I would bet that some of you are thinking, “What is that?”.

Is he talking about family reproduction?

Physiologically “no”...

But Spiritually “yes!”

If you’re not aware, our mission statement here at Family Church (or our purpose) is:

Family Church Mission: To help people learn how to FULLY: Love God, Love People and Make Disciples of Jesus.

And as smart as Pastor Adam is, you know this didn’t originate with him, right?

No, our mission statement actually came from the two “GREAT’S” Jesus gave to His followers in the New Testament.

The first is the Great Commandment...where we get our “love God and love people”...

Let me show you in the Bible….Matthew 22 says:

Matthew 22:37-38, 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.’

The second place our mission statement comes from is the Great Commission, found in Matthew 28.

Here we get the “make disciples” part.

Matthew 28:18-20 says, “The Jesus came to them and said, “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.”

We believe that God wants you to be a disciple who makes more disciples…..

And that you teach your disciple to make more disciples...

And so forth….

This is how our community, state, nation, and world will be reached for Jesus!

PAUSE

Consider this question... how did the first church….

The church we saw birthed in the book of Acts….

How did that church go from a small group of believers in an upper room (in Acts 1) to being the majority religion in Roman in about 300 years?

That happened in the Roman Empire in 312 AD?

How?

How was that possible?

I mean America is almost 300 years old….

And we were founded on Christian principles…

And we are heading away from God not toward God in about the same amount of time….

So HOW did the early church do the OPPOSITE of what we see happening in America?

PAUSE

I’ll tell you what was NOT a key for the early church...

They didn’t have big budgets or large buildings,

They didn’t have modern technology,

They didn’t have the printing press with access to tons of great Biblical commentaries.

They didn’t have the Bible in audio for to listen to.

They didn’t even have donuts!!!!

They didn’t have MOST of the things we take for granted in our modern world…..

Those things weren’t needed reach their world for Jesus.

What they DID have was:

A DEEP and PASSIONATE personal belief that Jesus meant what He said in the Great Commission!!!!

ALL the early church attenders BELIEVED they were disciples of Jesus CALLED by Jesus to make more disciples

that would make more disciples

that would make more disciples

that would make more disciples

that would make more disciples

AKA our topic today…. Fruitful Multiplication!

Here is the point…write this down….

Fruitful multiplication starts with me believing that the Great Commission is for me personally.

Repeat

That’s how the first church reached their families,

communities

and nations for Jesus!

Everyone in the early church knew that they were called by God to multiply!

No matter their age, gender, race, status, or gifting.

Every member was a disciple-maker!

PAUSE

So…… if fruitful multiplication is what we’re after, maybe now would be a good time to define Multiplication.

Now, I know that all of us are familiar with the term, but, we may not be clear on it’s function in the church.

Admittedly, I’m not a mathematician...but, I do have Google so that makes me an expert!

So, maybe the simplest way we could define Multiplication would be this way...

Multiplication is simply repeated addition.

repeat

So, imagine you buy 4 rabbits, 2 males and 2 females.

Because there are only two genders in all animals if you missed that point in science class.

If each pair had two babies that would be 8 total.

That’s addition.

You had 4 and you added 4 and now you have 8...

And, that’s a good thing, depending on whether you like rabbits.

But, imagine if those 4 bunnies paired up each had 2 more babies.

And the original parents also had two more babies.

Now you’d have how many rabbits?

16.

You had 4 rabbits who paired up and then you added 4 more that paired up and all pairs had 2 more.

That's a whole lotta bunnies...but that’s repeated addition which is also...

Multiplication!

Do you see how it works?

Multiplication is just repeated addition.

PAUSE

To help you better understand the power of multiplication, if bunnies aren’t your thing, consider this...

If I were to offer you a choice between $10,000 / day for the next 30 days OR a penny that we would double every day for the next 30 days, which one would you choose?

(Repeat)

At first hear, most of us would probably choose the $10,000 / day, right?

I mean, that would amount to $300k after 30 days!

Pastor Adam, think of all of the amazing pairs of shoes you could buy with $300k!

And church listen, addition is great! $10k + $10k + $10k...

But, addition doesn’t even come close to the power of multiplication~

Check it out... if we started with a penny and repeatedly added (or doubled) it for 30 days, we would end up (are you ready for this?), we would end up with $10,737,418.23!

Yes, over $10 million dollars!

That’s the power of multiplication! It's repeated addition!

Right now some of you math people are working that out on your calculators...stop it! Don’t get distracted!

PAUSE

But, listen...

That’s what was going on in the early church!

It was everyone making disciples WHO ALSO made disciples!

WHO ALSO made disciples!

So here is what it means for the church…..

In the church, multiplication is every disciple replicating.

repeat

That’s the way that over ½ of the Roman Empire was reached for Jesus by 312 AD.

PAUSE

We need to see this in contrast to the model the American Church has used up until now, which is addition.

With addition, we emphasize evangelism or leading someone to faith in Jesus.

Now, this is great, but if that new convert is not discipled to become a healthy follower of Jesus, they will not reproduce or make more disciples and the movement of the Kingdom will stop.

And, that’s been the problem with Christianity in America.

The other problem with the American church has been our emphasis on who we are seeking to add which has been converts.

For too long we have been focused on preaching the Gospel and getting people saved, but not making disciples who are healthy and mature enough to replicate.

This emphasis on converts rather than disciples has made the church anemic unable to replicate or multiply.

See, the church in America is losing ground.

Less Americans are identifying as Christians,

going to church,

reading their Bibles,

praying,

than ever before in the history of our country.

You may say, “Well, not here at Family Church!”.

And yes, praise God.

Family Church is in the minority of churches in American that are actually growing right now.

But, the only way to reach our nation again, is through the power of multiplication!

That is why you hear our pastors preach about the importance of DOING something with your faith all the time!

That is why Pastor Adam is getting his doctorate to study how do we REALLY become a church of disciple makers!

Our goal as a church is actually rediscovering the way that God has always worked in the Bible!

We began to see that last year as we dove into the books of Acts….and we will see that again soon as we get back into the book of Acts!

But first, I think we need to see that God’s love for multiplication goes back even further!

PAUSE

Way back in Genesis 1:28, God gave Adam and Eve their first command...anyone remember what it was? “Be fruitful and multiply!”.

That’s where we got our sermon title!

And then after the flood in Genesis 9, God (once again) commanded Noah and his family to... “Be fruitful and multiply!”

Here is the point…..write this down….

Multiplication has always been God’s preferred means for Kingdom expansion.

God’s preferred means to fill the whole earth was through multiplication!

And His prescribed means to reach the world for Jesus is also through multiplication!

PAUSE

The first church started with explosive addition in Acts 2.

Acts 2:41 says, “Those who accepted his message were baptized and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”

What a dynamic start, right? 3000 people to launch a movement as a result of the Gospel being preached!

From there, Acts 5:14 shows us that,

Acts 5:14 More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

Here we see a shift.

The disciples of Jesus were growing in their faith and they were discipling others!!!

Acts 6:7 says,

Acts 6:7, And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly...”.

Do you see that church?

Now we’re starting to see repeated addition.

We’re starting to see those first disciples making more disciples who are also making more disciples.

Evangelism is necessary to bring new people to faith in Christ.

Discipleship is necessary to help people grow in their faith to become multipliers!

To become a people who can not only lead someone else to faith in Christ, but who can also help them grow to lead others to Christ and on and on.

PAUSE

We see this amazing movement continue further into Acts as not only the disciples were multiplied, but also the churches...

Acts 9:31 says, “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up.

Check that out!

Not, only do we have the number of Christians being multiplied!

Here we find the number of churches being multiplied!

Isn’t that incredible!!!

That is how ½ of Rome was reached by 312 AD.

It’s the church out in the community sharing the Gospel with lost people AND discipling new believers to maturity so they can replicate also.

This is how multiplication is better than addition.

This is how we can reach West Michigan and beyond!

PAUSE

Ok, maybe now you’re convinced that multiplication ought to be a HABIT of a healthy Christian.

But, what does it look like practically?

I’m so glad you asked!

The Apostle Paul gives us glimpse into what this looked like in his ministry with Timothy...

2 Timothy 2:2, “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”

Here we have Paul discipling Timothy.

Then he commanded Timothy to pass along what he learned to trustworthy people.

Then those trustworthy people were to also pass them along to others.

This is discipleship and multiplication!

Here we have 4 generations of disciples multiplying!

Here is the point….write this down….

Fruitful Multiplication looks like investing God’s Word into others who will also do the same.

Repeat

And this is where simple tools like we talked about in last weeks message come in handy!

If you don’t know what I am talking about, go listen to last week’s message!

Also, if you are interested in learning more about how to become a disciple who can make disciples, we have a class coming up called Discipleship 101.

We’d love for you to join us! Just grab a connection card and put your name on it and write Discipleship 101 class!

Or sign up on our events page.

So church, in closing, how can we reach our communities for Jesus in our lifetime?

It will be each one of us taking the command of the Lord Jesus to “Go and make disciples” seriously.

It will be each one of us stepping out in faith to share the Gospel and then helping those new believers grow in their faith through the Word of God.

It will be each one of us equipping our kids and grandkids with a love for Jesus and simple tools to reach their peers.

Imagine... if each one of us became disciples who made disciples?

What would our neighborhoods, schools or workplaces look like?

Maybe we could experience the Book of Acts all over again!! Amen?!?

Life Application: What is one thing you can do this week to become a fruitful multiplier? Write it down, share it with a friend and then step out in faith!

Pray

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