Transcript No Slide Title

INVEST
in the future church by investing in those
who aren’t even part of it Yet) yet
Stuart Allen invested
in the future church.
He invested time and
prayer to see people
come to know Jesus.
Even it meant
traveling an hour
each week (at age
83) making sandwich
board signs and
giving away Ovaltine.
This passion
for investing
in people
lines up with
the heart of
Jesus.
The first
words of
Jesus to His
disciples
Matthew 4:18-20
As Jesus was walking
beside the Sea of
Galilee, he saw two
brothers, Simon and
Andrew. They were
casting a net into the
lake, for they were
fishermen.
Matthew 4:19
“Come, follow Me”,
Jesus said, “and I
will send you out to
fish for people.”
Matthew 9:36-38
“When He saw the
crowds He had
compassion on
them, because they
were harassed and
helpless, like sheep
without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36-38
“When He saw the
crowds He had
compassion on them
splagchnizomai =
to have the bowels yearn
Then He said to His
disciples, ‘The
harvest is plentiful
but the workers are
few. Ask the Lord of
the harvest to send
out workers into His
harvest field.”
Over the past 10 years,
while the overall church
attendance has remained
stable with a slight
decline, the USA
population has grown by
51 million people. People
living longer may account
for the stability, but that
means a massive drop is
coming as they die off.
Choluteca River Bridge after Hurricane
Mitch, Honduras, 1998
Pastors are creepy
This shift has forced us to rethink
how we invest energy and invest
time. And rethink what values are
most important to us as we serve
on mission in today’s world.
In the past we invested into
denominational identity and in
our historical church culture.
1950
Baptist
Baptist
Presbyterian
Baptist
Lutheran
Presbyterian
Baptist
Lutheran
Presbyterian
Methodist
7th Day Adventist
Baptist
Lutheran
Presbyterian
Catholic
Methodist
7th Day Adventist
Baptist
Lutheran
Presbyterian
Catholic
Agnostic
Methodist
Baptist
Lutheran
Others Presbyterian
Catholic
Atheist
Agnostic
Methodist
7th Day Adventist
Others
2010
Christian
Christian
Spiritual But Not
Religious
Christian
Spiritual But Not
Religious
Buddhist
Atheist
Christian
Spiritual But Not
Religious
Buddhist
Muslim
Atheist
Christian
Universalist
Jewish
Hindu
Spiritual But Not
Religious
Buddhist
Muslim
Atheist
Jewish
Christian
Hindu
Wiccan
Spiritual But Not
Religious
Unitarians
Scientology
Atheist
Buddhist
Muslim
Christian
Wiccan
Jewish
Unitarians
Buddhist
Muslim
Spiritual But Not
Religious
Hindu
Scientology
Jewish
Christian
Hindu Animism
Wiccan
Spiritual But Not
Mormon Unitarians Religious
Scientology
Atheist
Jehovah Witness
Buddhist
New Age
Taoism Muslim
Shinto
This biggest investment we need to
make in today’s culture is to invest
into training the people of our
churches to see themselves as
local missionaries every day.
As we think of
the word
“missionary” we
generally think
of those going
to other
countries and
cultures.
While the missionaries serve
overseas, here in the USA we
do “evangelism”.
Evangelism
Southwold Evangelist
What if we really viewed our local
town or city as a “mission field” in
the same way we do other
countries? What would you do
different?
The # of non-Christians we
hang out with
The longer we are Christians
We would
change how
we invest our
money on our
buildings and
what we use
them for
during the
week.
It would change how we invest our time
throughout the week. We would see
ourselves leading a church on mission
rather than a church having a “missions
department”.
It would change how we invest our
thinking about young adult ministry and
youth ministry.
It would change what we invest our energy
arguing about and protecting. A church on
mission sees the mission be the decisionmaker not the programs or tradition. If
tradition gets in the way of mission, it is sin.
"I am no music scholar, but I feel I know
appropriate church music when I hear
it. Last Sunday's new hymn - if you can
call it that - sounded like a sentimental
love ballad one would expect to hear
crooned in a saloon. If you insist on
exposing us to rubbish like this - in God's
house! - don't be surprised if many of the
faithful look for a new place to
worship. The hymns we grew up with
are all we need."
- This letter was written in 1863 and the
song they were concerned about was
the hymn "Just As I Am".
"What is wrong with the inspiring hymns
with which we grew up? When I go to
church, it is to worship God, not to be
distracted
with
learning
a
new
hymn. Last Sunday's was particularly
unnerving. The tune was un-singable
and the new harmonies were quite
distorting."
---This letter was written in 1890 and
about the hymn "What A Friend We
Have In Jesus".
How do you as a leader spend your time
through the week as a lead missionary
trainer?
How does your church specifically design
itself around mission?
Not everyone may be gifted in
“evangelism” but everyone can serve
as a missionary using the gifts God
gave them. Just as they do overseas.
Matthew 9:36-38
“When He saw the
crowds He had
compassion on
them, because they
were harassed and
helpless, like sheep
without a shepherd.