half-day Training Outline

• Prayer time together with all houses on zoom

• introduce training team

• housekeeping

• teaching vs training paradigm

  • What's the difference between teaching and training? Practice. We are going to do a lot of practice today.

• What is the population? 1.4 million

• How many Christians? Most generously 400,000 based on census data and church attendance.

• How many are lost then? 1 million minimum

• How does that sit with you? Is this surprising?

• What is the issue? Why is there still so many lost people? Luke 10:2 (read it) Jesus says the problem is the laborers are few. That’s why we are here – to train to become laborers in the field.

• Whose responsibility is it to reach the 1 million? Ours.

• What is it going to take to reach this city?

THE FATHER'S HEART (The Big Vision)

These are the common critical elements that we have identified from movements around the world that are necessary to see a movement break out in our city:

IN THE HEART

What is on the Father's Heart? What verses do we know that tell us what God's vision is?

VISION - Matt 6:9-10 - One of the best verses to look at for what is God's heart and vision. (Your Kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven). It looks like the reign and will of the King done in and through His people in every place. We have to have a God sized vision.

SEGMENTS - Matt 13:31-33 - How can we pursue such a large vision? Break it down into segments of peoples and places. (We want to plant a mustard seed of the Kingdom in every segment) How do you eat an elephant? (one bite at a time? NO! You invite the whole village!)

4G STREAMS - 2 Tim 2:2 - The tipping point for a movement is when you have multiple streams of 4th generation disciples and churches. This isn't the end of the movement, it's only the beginning!

UNDER THE HEART

When God looks to launch a movement among a people or place what does he look for first?

ABIDING - John 15:5 - People who are deeply abiding in Him. Apart from Him we can do nothing.

PRAYER & FASTING - Matt 6:9-10 - People of fervent prayer and fasting, desperately crying out to God for His Name to be hallowed, His Kingdom to come and His will to be done among their target people or place.

THE FOUR FIELDS (The Critical Path)

One of the other critical elements for seeing a movement break out in our city is that we have to have a clear understanding of how the Kingdom advances. What is the path laid out for us in Scripture? Is there a pattern in the Gospel's and Acts of how the Kingdom advances?  

Mark 4:26-29 - Draw the Four Fields, but start by describing it as farming. "Jesus says the Kingdom of God is like farming..."

Here is our farmer.

He starts by looking for an empty field

Then he sows seed in that field

Then he nurtures the new growth in the field

Then when the harvest has come he cuts and bundles it

Then he takes seed from this years harvest and hires more workers and the process reproduces. 

But we aren't talking about farming we are talking about the Kingdom!

ENTRY - In the Kingdom, what is the field? peoples and places

GOSPEL - In the Kingdom, what is the seed? the gospel

DISCIPLESHIP - In the Kingdom, what is the new growth? disciples

CHURCH FORMATION - In the Kingdom, what are the bundles? new churches

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT - In the Kingdom, who are the farmers? believers, laborers in the harvest!

We see this pattern from Jesus in the Gospels and with Paul in Acts. They are constantly entering new target peoples and places, sharing the gospel of the Kingdom, strengthening the new disciples, then forming them into new churches, then they develop leaders who will reproduce the Kingdom process and then go and do it all over again among a new people or place.

So for us we need to have a clear idea of how we will go about doing each one of these core tasks in the advancement of His Kingdom.

How will we engage the lost?

How will we share the gospel and do it in such a way that a new believer could turn around and do it in the same day?

How will we teach new disciples to obey all Jesus has commanded?

How will we gather them into new churches?

How will we reproduce leaders who can reproduce the process?

Reflection Questions for leaders: Does my current approach to ministry reflect the pattern and model of Jesus and Paul in the 4 Fields? Are there things I am doing that aren't one of these 5 parts? What do I need to start/continue doing and what do I need to stop doing?

• Oikos is a Greek word that means household or sphere of influence.

• Ask them to follow along with you on their paper as you draw it on the board.

• 5 people you know who are close to you but far from God?

• Where do you Live, Work, and Play?

• John 17:20 - we don't just pray for these but that others would believe through them as well.

Share a story of how you used your Oikos map to focus on someone to share with.

3 questions

• pray for you?

• near or far?

• can I show you how I became close to God?

Draw the tool

• make sure they practice at least 3 times each

• set a timer for 3 minutes

• 3 checks after each training rep:

  • did you finish?

  • did you ask them where they are? (3 circles) did you ask them what's their plan? (2 cups)

  • did you give them a call to commit?

Share a story of someone coming to Christ using the tool

• If someone professes faith stay with them as long as you can, don't come back to the training.

• Get numbers so you can follow up and get in the Word

• The goal of the great commission isn't just to get out and share the gospel, it's to make disciples. The great commission isn't about evangelism, its about discipleship.

• If people don't feel comfortable going out to share then have them stay back and pray

• brief update from each team how it went.

• count how many were interested in follow up (yellow lights)

• count how many professed faith and need follow up (green lights)

Matthew 6:9-10 - The Great Commission

The question for each of these is "Are you willing?" The last one is not a question but a promise.

1. All Authority - Are you willing to surrender all the authority in your life to Jesus?

2. Make Disciples - Are you willing to be a disciple and make disciples?

3. Baptize - Are you willing to be baptized if you haven't already, and baptize others?

4. Teaching to Obey - Are you willing to meet together regularly to learn to obey and follow Jesus together?

5. With you Always - How does it make you feel to know that Jesus promises to be with you always?

• Using it to "land the plane" with someone who just professed faith in Christ.

• Practice

  • “I'm so excited for you! Can I show you 2 verses that explain what it looks like to follow Jesus?” Then you can walk them through it. 

These are the first steps of following Jesus. If they aren’t ready for any of those 5 points then you know where they truly are and how to spend some time in the Word and in prayer with them!

Share a story using the Great Commission Landing

• set 2 day goals - If you don't act on something you have learned or planned within 2-3 days, the likely hood of you doing it drops dramatically.

  • When are you going to pray? Who are you going to share with? Who are you going to train?

• offer to go with people to share with their oikos

• ask them to please share stories and prayer requests in the signal group

• pray & commission them into the harvest!

We do trainings in order to identify and commit to the faithful few. If we don't follow up with people from the training, figure out who is applying what they learned, and give them next steps through coaching, then what are we doing? Is that really what it'll take to multiply disciples and churches and reach our city? 

Beware of the trainer "puff up". The training isn't the end goal, it's the fishing net. The end goal is finding and committing to the faithful few.

Follow up through the Signal group, texts, calls, and coffee/meals to see who is applying what they've learned — then continue equipping those people with next steps.