The Church Unleashed….
From a conference with Frank R. Tillapaugh who wrote: Unleashing the Church: Getting People Out of the Fortress and into Ministry
Bear Valley Baptist Church grew from 100 to 10,000 in a decade.
Principle 1: Everyone on the wall.
Nehemiah 4:7-18 “ But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. In Judah it was said, ‘‘The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.’’ And our enemies said, ‘‘They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.’’… So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, ‘‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.’’ When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built.
Principle 2. Everyone Has a calling From God and all are called to be ministers of salvation.
Ephesians 4:11-16 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Principle 3: How to find your calling by asking God and listening to his answers.
Examples:
MOPS Ministry, Mothers of Preschoolers, started by a high school graduate stay at home mom. http://www.mops.org/about/history/
Sports Speakers Evangelistic Dinner meetings.
Locally: CEF, Carpenter’s Helpers, Crisis Bread Basket. Nursing Home visitations, etc.
Not everything has to be huge to be God’s Will.
Principle 4: Guidelines for Para-church Ministries
1. Stay out of Moral Trouble
2. Stay out of doctrinal trouble
3. Run it by the leadership, just for safety’s sake.
4. Don’t ask the pastor to run the ministry (it is Your Ministry that God gave You!)
5. When you bring it to the congregation to ask for volunteers or helpers if you need them, trust God with the outcome. i.e., if you don’t get the help you need, it may not be the right time or possibly it isn’t the Lord’s will.
Mission vs. Maintenance
NASA, the Early years vs Later Years
What is the Church? 1577 ekklesia ekklesia {ek-klay-see’-ah}
1) a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly 1a) an assembly of the people convened at the public place of the council for the purpose of deliberating
Who is the Church then: is it buildings? carpet?
You are the Church
The Great Commission is:
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, ‘‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in {Or into} the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’’