Blueprint for Missional Growth: Part II

Missional Multiplication

Opening Illustration:

Overview of last sermon… Blueprint for Missional Growth

I. Commission Given: The Command to actively and continuously Make Disciples ()

II. Commission Lived Out: Making Disciples lived out in the life of the church ()

Teaching

Fellowship

Service

Worship

Evangelism

When we think about being intentionally gospel focused and missional in how we live out the great commission. We would not do the conversation justice if we don’t look at what happened after the early church lived out the Great Commission.

Today we are going to be studying a passage found in , where we will see that as the Great Commission… Making Disciples... is faithfully and intentionally lived out in the life of the church.... and as people live on mission for Jesus… as Disciples make Disciples… there is multiplication.

Look with me at as we will see the Commission Multiplied.

III. Commission Multiplied:

Let me take a brief poll:

Let’s think about the Great Commission: Go therefore and… do what? Make Disciples… teaching them to observe…

Ok, what two words can we boil the great commission down to? Evangelism and Teaching - making disciples

How many of us believe that evangelism is important… even essential to make disciples?

What about intentional teaching - essential to make disciples?

I want to challenge you for a moment and ask you to think about what environment do those essential functions of a church most naturally happen? (chart - not original to me)

Established church: Evangelism (not always) —> teaching (yes) —> Disciples made? (Maybe)

Parachurch outreach: Evangelism (yes) —> Teaching (not always) —> Disciples made? (Maybe)

Church Plant: Evangelism (Yes) —> Teaching (Yes) —> Disciples made? Yes

I would like to suggest that Church planting embodies both the principles and the spirit of the Great commission. I would also suggest that Church planting needs to be given much more of a priority among churches seeking to be obedient to Christ’s command. (Many forms: sending, going, giving, helping, planting, revitalizing— but all need to be done with an intentional focus)

God has left us with a foundational church planting… ministry strategy to build upon throughout the book of . Reach the lost. 2. Teach the saved. 3. Plant new churches.

As we look at today we will see all three steps are listed together in one passage.

As you know, Acts tells of the beginnings of the church in Chapter 2 when Peter preached at Pentecost and around 3000 people responded in faith to Christ and where baptized and the church was born.

What all happened between and 14?

In we see the Holy Spirit come and the church born at Pentecost. Peter preaches a message and around 3000 people respond in faith to Christ and are baptized.... the church is born.

The Apostles are in Jerusalem spreading the gospel message and they are able to heal people in order to authenticate their message.

As the gospel message is preached the number of believers grows… the church grows.... those who do not believe… mainly the religious leaders of the day (Pharisees and Sadducees) begin to become anxious and start looking for ways to bring “the Way” to an end. A man named Saul of Tarsus begins to persecute the church....arresting and even killing those who would claim the name of Christ.

A man named Stephen, a leader and servant in the church is stoned for his faith… for proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah.. the Son of God.

Saul continues to ravage the church.... in the midst of persecution the gospel is proclaimed and the church continues to grow into the areas surrounding Jerusalem...

Stephen

Then something unexpected happens… Saul the man that was persecuting the church meets the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus and is converted.... the one who had persecuted the church becomes a member of the Church....

As the events in Acts unfold, in chapter 13 we are told that the local church in Antioch, unified together and led by the Holy Spirit, sends out Paul and Barnabas as missionaries. As they travel from place to place, they preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ and some are saved.

As we come to chapter 14, we start to get to some of my favorite portions of the book of Acts.

When we come to chapter 14 (Lystra) and the later 17 (Athens), we see places where people from very different worldviews interact with and are confronted with the gospel.

14 (Paul and Barnabas in Lystra), and 17 (Paul in Athens) of Acts contain some of my favorite part of the New Testament. They are places where you see how the gospel interacts with people of various different worldviews.

Picture the situation. Chapter 14, verses 8-18 tell of the event when Paul and Barnabas went to Lystra. They had effectively been run out of Iconium and had fled to Lystra preaching the gospel. The text tells us that as soon as they come into town, they meet a man crippled from brith. He had never walked. This man listened to Paul speak. Paul sees that this man has faith… he believes what Paul has been saying, and says “Stand up!”. What happens? The man stands up. When the people saw this they shouted… “The gods have come down among us… Zeus and Hermes are here!” They threw a holy hoedown right then and brought out the best decorations and livestock. Of course, Paul tries to stop them and tells them that he is not a god, but he serves the true and living God who created everything. Paul tries to help them understand, but the people are too focused on offering sacrifices to whom they think are Zeus and Hermes. (There is a historical legend that gives us some explanation for this response…).

While all this was happening Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. Remember, Antioch (in Pisidia) was the place where Paul and Barnabas had been in chapter 13, where a group of jealous Jews had begun to contradict Paul and speak against him. Then in the beginning of chapter 14 Paul and Barnabas travel to Iconium, where they fled the city under the threat of stoning. Now, in Lystra, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium have convinced the Lystran crowds to stone Paul. They stone him and drag him out of the city, leaving him for dead. What does Paul do? Once the other disciples gather around him, he gets up, goes back into town for the night, and then moves onto the next city (Derbe) with Barnabas in the morning.

It's amazing to see God working in the lives of those who are faithful to Him. Take Paul’s example here in . No matter the response, his obligation was to remain faithful to the Great Commission ministry that he had been been given.

Acts 14:19–23 ESV

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Let’s think about the Great Commission: Go therefore and… do what? Make Disciples… teaching them to observe…

Ok, what two words can we boil the great commission down to? Evangelism and Teaching - making disciples

How many of us believe that evangelism is important… even essential to make disciples?

Perfecting

What about intentional teaching - essential to make disciples?

I want to challenge you for a moment and ask you to think about what environment do those essential functions of a church most naturally happen? (chart - not original to me)

Established church: Evangelism (not always) —> teaching (yes) —> Disciples made? (Maybe)

Parachurch outreach: Evangelism (yes) —> Teaching (not always) —> Disciples made? (Maybe)

Church Plant: Evangelism (Yes) —> Teaching (Yes) —> Disciples made? Yes

Planting

I would like to suggest that Church planting embodies both the principles and the spirit of the Great commission. I would also suggest that Church planting needs to be given much more of a priority among churches seeking to be obedient to Christ’s command. (Many forms: sending, going, giving, helping, planting, revitalizing— but all need to be done with an intentional focus)

God has left us with a foundational church planting… ministry strategy to build upon throughout the book of . Reach the lost. 2. Teach the saved. 3. Plant new churches.

As you know, Acts tells of the beginnings of the church in Chapter 2 when Peter preached at Pentecost and around 3000 people responded in faith to Christ and where baptized and the church was born.

History of what happened between and 14…

Chapter 2 (Peter preaching at Pentecost), 14 (Paul and Barnabas in Lystra), and 17 (Paul in Athens) of Acts contain some of my favorite part of the New Testament. They are places where you see how the gospel interacts with people of various different worldviews.

14 (Paul and Barnabas in Lystra), and 17 (Paul in Athens) of Acts contain some of my favorite part of the New Testament. They are places where you see how the gospel interacts with people of various different worldviews.

Picture the situation. Chapter 14, verses 8-18 tell of the event when Paul and Barnabas went to Lystra. They had effectively been run out of Iconium and had fled to Lystra preaching the gospel. The text tells us that as soon as they come into town, they meet a man crippled from brith. He had never walked. This man listened to Paul speak. Paul sees that this man has faith… he believes what Paul has been saying, and says “Stand up!”. What happens? The man stands up. When the people saw this they shouted… “The gods have come down among us… Zeus and Hermes are here!” They threw a holy hoedown right then and brought out the best decorations and livestock. Of course, Paul tries to stop them and tells them that he is not a god, but he serves the true and living God who created everything. Paul tries to help them understand, but the people are too focused on offering sacrifices to whom they think are Zeus and Hermes. (There is a historical legend that gives us some explanation for this response…).

While all this was happening Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. Remember, Antioch (in Pisidia) was the place where Paul and Barnabas had been in chapter 13, where a group of jealous Jews had begun to contradict Paul and speak against him. Then in the beginning of chapter 14 Paul and Barnabas travel to Iconium, where they fled the city under the threat of stoning. Now, in Lystra, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium have convinced the Lystran crowds to stone Paul. They stone him and drag him out of the city, leaving him for dead. What does Paul do? Once the other disciples gather around him, he gets up, goes back into town for the night, and then moves onto the next city (Derbe) with Barnabas in the morning.

It's amazing to see God working in the lives of those who are faithful to Him. Take Paul’s example here in . No matter the response, his obligation was to remain faithful to the Great Commission ministry that he had been been given.

(That brings us to verses 21.)

Acts 14:21–23 ESV

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

“21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, (Derbe) and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch (Pisidia), 22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed."

After this we are told that Paul and Barnabas returned back to Antioch in Syria, back to their sending church, to give a report of all that God had done. Kind of like we are doing tonight.

These three verses (21,22, and 23) give us a summary of the ministry model that was used in the early church multiplication process. I have been more and more convinced over the past few years that in order to truly reach our community.... our Jerusalem’s, Judea’s and, Samaria’s we need to be actively engaged in planting new churches. Not just new churches but planting churches that plant other churches… church planting churches.

We are to be committed to a culture of disciple-making that results in multiplication

Look very briefly with me at verses 21-23 and look at the model of ministry that is laid out for us in the text.

I. Verse 21 shows us the “Proclaiming” aspect of ministry:

“21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,

What is the action in this verse: Evangelizing the unsaved, preaching the gospel, making disciples

Evangelism is a key component in Making Disciples. Many people see evangelism and discipleship as two different acts or events. I want to suggest to you that they are in fact two sides of the same coin and cannot be separated.

We saw last week from the life of the early church that Evangelism is part of the disciple-making process. A local church that is passionate about disciple-making will also be actively involved in evangelism as part of their normal rhythm of life.

The firs step in moving towards multiplication begins with the proclaiming of God’s Word.

2. Verse 22 shows us the “Perfecting” aspect of ministry:

22 Confirming (strengthening) the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

What is the action in this verse? Edifying the believers, encouraging, strengthening…

3. Verse 23 shows us the “Planting” aspect of ministry:

23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended (committed) them to the Lord, on whom they believed.”

What is the action in this verse? Establishing local churches, appointing, committing local church leadership to continue the ministry pattern…

—

Friends if we are going to be effective in reaching the lost for Christ, we must be intentionally active in all three aspects of ministry. Proclaiming the gospel, Perfecting/ Equipping the Saints, and Planting new churches (reproducing/ multiplying) . (can take different forms, but needs intentionality)

A friend and mentor of mine with 50 years of North American church planting experience said this: “God’s great desire is that His church and churches be publicly on display to everyone. But for this to happen, the church has to be everywhere. Thus where Christ’s church is not yet on display, local churches must be multiplied. Because the local church is God’s plan to reach the world today, to publicly manifest His wisdom, power, love and salvation to all, it is imperative that God’s people give priority to establishing new churches worldwide!… God wants the truth about His story and His character made known amidst every people.”

How do we do that? Proclaiming the gospel… perfecting the saints… planting new churches.

I applaud the steps our church has made try and engage our community in different ways. We have been able to touch the lives of many in Alliance. I would like to suggest to you that merely touching people’s lives is not enough. We are to minister in such a way that people are encouraged through the gospel focused ministry of the church to have their lives transformed by Christ.

People are active in witnessing. People are active in discipling one another. Praise the Lord! I challenge you tonight. Don’t stop there. There is still a vital aspect to the ministry model laid out in the Bible that is still left to do… that is still left to be actively and intentionally involved in. Planting new churches.

I believe that as we are active in proclaiming the gospel in our community… perfecting or equipping the saved in our church… and moving towards intentional multiplication… that God will be most glorified and His church will be fulfilling the ministry role that Christ has given us to do. We (believers) are the only one’s who can do it as God enables and leads.

People are active in witnessing. People are active in discipling one another. Praise the Lord! I challenge you tonight. Don’t stop there. There is still a vital aspect to the ministry model laid out in the Bible that is still left to do… that is still left to be actively and intentionally involved in. Planting new churches.

Remember that no matter what situation we see the early church and the early church planters in throughout the book of Acts, (good times and difficult times of persecution) they continued on.

A main idea to take away from this text is that no matter the response, our obligation is to remain faithful to the Great Commission ministry that we have been given. — Actively… Sharing the gospel, Strengthening the believers, and Starting new churches… for God’s praise and for His glory.

… Being faithful to God means obediently following His commands with the right heart attitude...