By Neil Cole (summary by Jeffrey Bush)
- Churches might not be multiplying because we need a change before God can bless
what we are doing. - We need to replace old ways of thinking of the church with Scriptural, healthy,
fruitful, and reproducing ways. - “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.” — Epictetus
- Far too long, Christians have said ideas are Biblical just because they tagged on a
few verses (often time taken out of context). - If we were to take a survey in our congregations of those saved by events or by
influence of family and friends witnessing, we’d find out that most are saved through
the witness of family and friends. We know this, yet focus more on events than we
encourage and equip individuals to influence their family and friends. - We focus on attractional church methods when 3 out of 5 young people today said
they would be willing to study the Bible or listen to their friend/family share their
beliefs. - We need to shift from an organizational model to relational model.
- Church is not to be sedimentary (come and see us), but sent (going to find others).
- Buildings, budgets, and big shots take up the biggest part of our church budgets,
yet our cities are not being affected with the Gospel. - We shouldn’t start churches to make disciples rather make disciples to then start
churches. - We seek to make our church more appealing when we should be asking ourselves
how is our witness in the jobs and places within our community. - Church is not the agent of change, Jesus is.
- We much switch from an institutional way of church to an influential; share Jesus
everywhere. - Church is not a what but a Who.
- We do an injustice to the Lord by reducing church to a one-day-a-week activity.
- The Lord didn’t say, “Oh ye of little strategy” but “Oh ye of little faith.”
- If we can’t produce healthy disciples, we will not produce healthy leaders, and if we
cannot produce healthy leaders, we will not produce a church planting movement. - We are not commanded to multiply churches rather multiply disciples, and they will
multiply churches. - Paul started churches that did not depend on him. We must learn to help others
depend on God and not on us. - The DNA of a church is more important than the model of the church. The early
church’s model looked different, but they were about the Word, fellowship, and
purpose. - Many studies have been done showing the number 150 is the maximum number
people can get to know before they feel disconnected. The studies, both secular and
religious, go to prove that more churches are better than large churches over 150. - Attempting the mega church model is sacrificing the role of a shepherd for the role of
a rancher. - We seem to think that large gatherings are more impacting, but Jesus spent the
majority of His time with the disciples. - Smaller groups can impact much more than larger crowds. This seems contradictory
to our thinking, but it has been proven over and over again throughout history. - It is not just about converts, it is about igniting new messengers into the world.