Plantation Notes for 2/13/08

 

Worship & Prayer

–        Holden Evening Prayer

–        Intro: “Jesus is the light of the world – pray that the light would shine farther as we sing.”

–        Texts: Acts 14:1-7; Romans 15:17-21

–        Make litany specific as we sing it.

 

Share peace, sit with small groups afterwards

 

Short testimony of praise – what’s so amazing about God?

Richard shared a praise that God had given him another opportunity to speak with his sister who is dying from brain cancer.  The tumor is pressing on her speech center, and she hasn’t been able to talk, but a few days ago, Richard called, and she was able to answer the phone.  Praise God.

 

Teaching/application – handout notecards

 

  1. Lenten series theme:  Paul’s Pattern (Do you have a favorite fishing spot?)

·         Why was Paul passionate?

·         He’d go anywhere – but he wasn’t random; he had a pattern.

·         Acts 14:1 “At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue.  There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.”

o        Why? 

1.      Started with those he knew the most about, could relate to the best

2.      Started with those already religiously inclined

3.      Matched his own story, his personal passion

o        We want to begin to develop a pattern tonight, too.

·         Romans 15:17-21 (p. 805)

 

17Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. 21Rather, as it is written: "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."

 

o        v. 19 signs & miracles – in Matthew 9:35 also; don’t just talk about it, show it

o        v. 19 power of the Spirit – “down with human striving”

o        evangelized everywhere, but also had a strategy

o        v. 21 “those who weren’t told; those who haven’t heard” – those are the priority.  We don’t want to see people transfer here from another church.

·         Think/pray quietly about these two questions:

o        What do you know most about?  What are your personal passions?

o        How does that intersect with those who aren’t already “saturated”?

 

  1. Video on purpose – “An Unspoken Plea” from sermonspice.com

The video reminds us that those who don’t know Christ need love – and need us to show them Christ rather than just telling them about Christ.  Don’t give up at the first sign of opposition.  Unconditional love means unconditional love.  We need to press through the resistance with love and not judgment.  Sometimes we will screw up, and the strongest witness we can make often is an apology.  Non-believers are watching us to see how we will act.  When we mess up, we have an opportunity to present a witness by owning up to it. 

 

  1. Why we do what we do
    • Vision casting “Church planting can be the most exciting adventure of our life times.  Together, we will see others’ lives changed.  Some of the closest friends we’ll ever experience in our lifetime are in this room, yet to be explored.  And some of the closest friends we’ll ever have, we haven’t met yet, because they haven’t been led to the Lord or to this fellowship together.” 
    • Church plant quotations from Boot Camp
      • “You and I are Christians today because those who preceded us faithfully reproduced their churches through church planting.” – Robert Logan
      • Need – “there is no county that has a greater percentage of churched persons today than a decade ago.” – This was true at the time the survey was taken.  Now there may be a few that have gains, but the only state with greater percentage is Hawaii.  USA leads the world in every category of violent and domestic crime.
      • Church plants evangelize better: Church age 0-3 years, conversion ratio 3:1 (three people in the church for every one newcomer); 3-10 years old, 7:1; 10 years & older – 89:1.; only 2.2% of Christian churches are growing by conversion growth.  Others may be growing by transfer growth – but that isn’t the same thing as bringing new believers into the church.
      • Church plants develop new leaders faster.
      • Church plants tend not to fight over the petty stuff.
      • Requires walking by faith.
  2. Setting within Plantation themes
      • Prayer
      • Motivation for growth
      • Identity
      • Unity
      • Downsizing by thinking outside the box
      • Prayerfully build and evaluate teams
      • Guest retention
      • Evangelism training & tool kit
      • Guest generation
      • Bridge building
      • Discipleship pathway
      • Ongoing monitoring of church health

 

During this Lenten season, we are going to work on Prayer and Motivation for Growth, and then Evangelism Training & Tool Kit.

 

  1. Passed around clip board with prayer partners.  Who do you know outside of COH who might be willing to pray for us?  Sign up additional prayer partners.  The goal was to have 100 prayer partners by the end of tonight.  There are currently 59 on the list.

Matthew 9:35-10:1

    • First reaction to need is prayer
    • We often become part of the answer to our prayers
  1. Prayer walk the “neighborhood” – who’s already doing it?
    • Physical neighborhood
      • Look for someone who’s just moved into your neighborhood, and take the opportunity to do something friendly.  There is never an easier time to draw someone into community. 
      • It doesn’t matter how close your neighborhood is to COH.  The goal is bigger than seeing COH grow.  The goal is to have the kingdom of God grow. 
    • Relational neighborhood – Neighborhood can be at school or work or wherever you spend most of your time. 
      • At school/work – look for someone “new”.  Someone new is looking for a place to land.  Be the face of Christ, and be the place that they land.
      • Change always brings stress – who’s in the middle of change?  Those who are in the middle of change might be someone that you specifically want to pray for.  It is not so hard when God directs you to a person.  Be strategic and specific in your prayer.
      • Who’s hurting?  Who’s on the “outside” looking in? – Who can you tell needs Christ.  We don’t even need to know the person personally to be used by God to pray for that person.
  2. Prayer triplets (notecards from last time)

o                    Review: Record others’ info, pray for them, and next time together, share any progress

o                    Share your intended pattern to begin to pray about

o                    As we pray, our lists of people to pray for will likely change as God moves us in new directions.  That’s okay!  We want to go where God leads us, where He’s already working.