Walking back to the Green Room after the first session with my brother-in-law (Joel Hunter: Lead Pastor of Northland - A Church Distributed), Rick grabbed us and I got this photo. Fun, eh?
What follows will be my notes on Rick's second session...about Relational Renewal. He'll focus on the question, "What causes relational conflict?" His answer is, "immaturity."
Rick’s study of how Jesus made disciples developed these Eight Laws of Spiritual Growth
1.Spiritual Growth is incarnational.
The Christian life is not imitation; it is inhabitation. It is Christ in you!
Galatians 2:20 “…Christ lives in me…”
Spiritual Growth is both mystical and practical.
All of the practices make no difference without the Holy Spirit, because He is the one who transforms.
1 Cor. 3:6 “…God makes it grow…”
I have a part and God has a part.
2. Spiritual Growth is intentional.
Maturity is not inevitable. You can grow old without growing up.
Maturity is not automatic. We grow my making commitments. Decide to grow.
You are as close to God as you choose to be.
Maturity is a choice.
Make the commitment and then grow through it.
Jesus method…
When he trained his disciples he took them through graduated systematic sustained development.
a. come and see….(Jesus’ first recorded words to his disciples)
b. eat my flesh and drink my blood…(He did not say this on their first day)
c. take up your cross, deny your self….basically “come and die.”
There is a big difference between “come and see” and “come and die”….
Some pastors have a church filled with “come and see” disciples. There is nothing wrong with that! Jesus called people to "come and see" too! You have a long process to move people from “come and see” to “come and die.” Some of us need to emphasize the “come and die” more. Both are true. Jesus did it all!
You must move people from “come and see” to “come and die.”
Strategy to move people….
Come and see (Come to Me…I’ll give you rest) – that is “felt-need” by the way….
Come and learn
Come and belong
Come and serve
Come and Go
Go and SEEK….
Tools we use…
a. Weekly Commitment Cards
If you don’t record commitments, you’re just preaching good sermons.
Every sermon must come down to two words, “Will you?” You must ask for commitment.
b. Covenants.
Traditional and historical and biblical (Nehemiah 9:38-10:1) “I, Nehemiah signed the covenant…”
Covenants turn up the heat…from “come and see” to “come and die.”
c. Message Notes. Outlines…
We forget 90-95% of what we hear within 72 hours.
People don’t remember. You can go to church your entire life and forget everything but 5% of everything you heard!
EIGHT REASONS to USE OUTLINES:
1. It increases attention. People listen better.
2. It increases retention. People remember more. The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.
3. It increases participation.
4. You can cover more material in less time.
5. You can review the message for years to come. For 1500 years the church grew without anyone owning their own bible! It is not more spiritual to have it between leather.
6. You can use multiple translations.
There are 13,000 Hebrew and Greek words…we need multiple translations to get the full meaning. You
7. Unbelievers don’t bring bibles…and they don’t have bibles.
3. Spiritual Growth is incremental.
We grow through a step-by-step process.
Sequential, systematic, gradual development.
A baby must learn to breath before it learns to eat….
Know, love, grow, serve, share Christ….in sequence.
4. Spiritual Growth is personal.
You can’t mass produce disciples. There is no “one size fits all.”
We are all different…and we grow according to our S.H.A.P.E.
Growth plans must be customized. We don’t expect everybody to do everything. People learn different ways and people grow different ways.
5. Spiritual Growth is habitual.
We grow by developing good habits. These good habits, for 2000 years, have been called “spiritual disciplines.” Today we call them “habits.”
To develop habits we…
a. Assign homework. Jesus said, “Now, go and do…” He said in the Great Commission, “…teach them to do everything I’ve commanded…”
b. Journal. Write down your prayers.
c. Drive Time Devotions. People download to their ipods.
d. Daily email devotionals.
e. Offer our Guide to fasting.
Focus on helping people develop godly habits rather than come to meetings.
6. Spiritual Growth is Communal / Relational.
In every other religion, the holiest people are the ones who isolate themselves from the world. Jesus taught the opposite…because it’s all about love.
Infiltration is key.
We only grow in community.
The bible says 58 times in the New Testament, “..one another…”
You cannot grow without love.
1 Corinthians 8:1 “….love builds up….”
Three tools for relational growth:
a. Small Groups
b. Spiritual Coaches
c. Retreats
7. Spiritual Growth is multi-dimensional.
Maturity is not only measured by your Bible knowledge. Real maturity is far more than knowing; it is about “being” and “doing.” Maturity is behavior and belief.
“You only believe the part of the Bible you do!” – Rick Warren|
It takes all five purposes to grow. Maturity is not an end in itself; maturity is so we live the life of Christ.
James 1:27 “…pure and lasting religion” involves two things: public charity and personal purity. True religion cares for the widow and orphan.
8. Spiritual Growth is Seasonal.
We grow in spurts.
Mark, I appreciate the notes/summaries from the conference...great information for me as a layperson/husband/father/businessman...thanks and please keep them coming. Your blog is always enjoyed!
Posted by: steve | May 20, 2008 at 07:03 PM