The Great Commission Call to Plant by Scott Thomas Condition of the Bride (The Church) 3500 Churches close every year 75% of Americans are not involved in a church consistently 80% of all churches are stagnant and dying. 40% of people relate or resonate with the local church! (What about the 60%!) in order to reach this 60% we must do thing differently. If we do not breach these numbers and barriers the church will die out in its ability to impact the world. So, how do we cross those barriers? We have to answer the Great Commission in Matthew 28:1920 The Great Commission gives us 4 objectives! Go, Make Disciple, Baptize, Teach The main verb in the Great Commission is to make Disciples, serving that is Go, Baptize and Teach! Being a good pastor is participating in all four of these areas! We must multitask. (Book Recommendation “Outgrowing the Ingrown Church” by John Miller) We have to get outside the internal wars within our church. We have to get away from cowardly leaders and petty argument. As pastors we are called to lead. Called to lead people into lives built on mission! We have to be equipping people to go out and change the world. Making disciples is NOT just sending money and hoping for return. We have to be pacesetters! We have to be setting the speed and mission for our people. That will ensure our ability to lead the people forward. If you don’t set the pace for your church, someone else will! We have to make disciples of all nations. That starts in community. But, sometimes we have to GO to the community in order to reach it. People are not interested in doing the same thing over and over again. That is the definition of insanity!
We have to be working to something new and different for the people in order to attract them to the Gospel. At the center of Going, Making, Baptizing and Teaching is Jesus. The Great Presence of Jesus has to be the center of all we do! Anybody can gather a group of goofball Christians……People like to belong to a group….All you have to do is give them a common reason to gather! But, when it starts with Jesus at the center, it is His power that will sustain us. We MUST have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Otherwise we will be defeated in a hurry! Luke 24:44….The Gospel & Scripture must be at the center! Start with your proclamation at home and go out into the rest of the world. Holy Spirit must empower! DA Carson…..on John 20:2123…..Jesus made His mission the model of ours. Thus the church should define its task in the terms of Jesus’ tasks. If we are to make the mission of ours to be like Jesus we should look to Luke 19:10 and John 20:21 for the example. Once Jesus gave the Spirit they had the power to proclaim the forgiveness of sins. Form John 20:2123 Shalome is not found in religions, but in Christ Jesus said that He was sent by the Father, therefore He is sending us. We must perpetuate the mission of Jesus by sending out more disciples. Acts 1:8 says that we go with the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses. We must first receive the Holy Spirit’s power. We cannot be successful without the Spirit. When we come to the place and realize that we have no clue what we are doing, that is when Jesus shows up! When you work to replant, you will face issues you cannot imagine! In those times you will absolutely need the power of the Holy Spirit! You will need the power of the Holy Spirit because you will want to quit many times as a pastor! You will need a calling. Because sometimes we have to love “The Bride” even in all her bad breath! That calling keeps you committed. Romans 15:1920 This is an example of Paul fulfilling the Great Commission in the power and calling of the Holy Spirit.
When you carry out the 4 objectives of the Great Commission churches will be birthed. It is a natural outflowing of the Call! When people start understanding the Great Commission they will want to plant churches. They realize the need for new churches in new places. They want to see the Gospel be multiplied. Plant the Gospel and not the Church! Alan W Out of the mission of Jesus will come the church! We have to be reaching lost people before we plant. We need to be driven by the need of the Gospel in our community. We do not need to driven by the fact that there are not enough churches! If you plant a church only it can be highly idolatrous! We have to plant the Gospel. Plant the gospel, not the church” churches will result from mission. Be on mission. Don’t be driven to build an organization. Seek to plant a great mission not a great church! Seek to plant the Gospel! Every portion of your leadership both teams/committies and small groups should be Gospel focus communities. They must all be on mission. They must be on the mission of Jesus….To make the Gospel famous! This means ANY group of people that come together for the purpose of church! By proclaiming the Gospel and the power of the Spirit to the world, new communities will be built! Churches are a natural outflow of this very thing! As a leader within a church is our responsibility to set the DNA of planting new churches. We have to be about the mission of spreading the Gospel. It is our mandate until the end of the age! Let God be glorified in all we do. It is not for our glory. What we do and all we accomplish is to His glory.