Plant Like Jesus

1. Plant Like Jesus And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:17 ESV

2. Pragmatic Benefits Of Planting Like Jesus • Transferable to any culture • Timeless • Can be done “from scratch” • Economically sensible

3. Ten Timeless Church Planting Practices of Jesus for Today Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Heb. 13:8 ESV

4. 1. Jesus Took Up His Cross

5. The cross symbolizes the sacrificial love of God. This love is the power that drove him to pour out his life to plant the church. “It was love, not nails, that kept Jesus on the cross.” Rick Warren

6. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me;” John 12:24-26bEVS

7. “Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matt. 20:28 ESV

8. Jesus intentionally, urgently, and sacrificially focused on reaching the unsaved. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10 ESV

9. But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Acts 9:15-16 ESV ...for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. II Tim. 1:11-12 ESV

10. “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” II Tim. 2:3-4 ESV [First followers video]

11. 2. Jesus TypesetThe Example And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matt. 4:19

12. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth….No one has ever seen God; the only God,who is at the Father's side,he has made him known.John 1:14,18 ESV

13. “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” John 13:15-17 ESV

14. Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Gen. 2:7

15. The God-breathed gospels spell out how to follow Jesus’s missionary example. Thirty-nine times in John’s gospel alone, Jesus was was referred to as a missionary sent from heaven. God incarnated Himself in Jesus to show us the way.

17. Caution: Watch The Pronouns When Your Study The Bible • Who is the “we” in Paul’s letters? • Who is the “you”?

18. Let The Trump All Your Bright Ideas

19. 3. Jesus TetheredTo The Father

20. Like a tether ball, the more you are hit, the closer you get to the Father.

21. And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35 ESV

22. Tether For Wisdom "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matt. 7:24 ESV According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, I Cor. 3:10 NASB

23. So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[does, that the Son does likewise.” John 5:19 ESV

24. 7 Pillars of Wise House BuildingProverbs 9:1-9 • Prepare in advance, 2 • Invite many publically, 3-4 • Invite many personally, 4, 5 • Preach repentance, 6,7 • Reprove the wise, 8 • Give instruction to the wise, 9 • Teach the righteous, 9

25. Tether for Power And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee… Luke 4:14 ESV “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” 1 Cor. 15:10 ESV

26. Tethering is also key for spiritual warfare “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:7-8a ESV

27. Believe • You have authority • That the harvest fields are ripe • The gospel has power

28. 4. Jesus TrekkedTo The Lost

29. He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matt 15:24 ESV

30. Geographically “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10 ESV Culturally And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. Luke 4:16 ESV

31. “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’”

32. “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:4-7 ESV

33. Jesus sees things we do not see

34. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matt. 9:36 ESV

36. The compelling questionthat drives us:What is the very best way to win a lost person to Jesus Christ?

37. Send a shepherdto proclaim the gospel to them Let them experience an imperfect local body of Christ that sacrifices for them

38. Our mission is to make a healthy, culturally relevant church available to every person on the planet

39. We are His body now! Jesus is constantly going out to rescue lost sheep through local bodies of Christ.

40. Adult Baptisms Per Church

41. Typical New EvangelisticChurch Beginners stick betterto groups with lots of beginners

42. Typical PlateauedChurch When a group stops growing larger and and the core matures, it becomes harder and harder for a new person to penetrate.

43. The longer it goes the slower it grows This is one reason why 80% of churches are plateaued or declining

44. Send a small team out to start a new church in a new area and create a fresh new crowd Solution For a Plateaued Church

45. The typical new church grows at a much faster rate than the fastest growing mega church. If this is true, why not start lots of new churches?

46. “I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.”1Cor. 9:19-20a ESV

47. Ways to start winning people Pray for wisdom, courage, and open doors Go in search of persons of peace Create bridge events Organize service projects Make gospel appointments Offer Discovery Parties and Seminars, Luke 5:27f Use plug and play DVD groups Evangelistic Bible Studies

48. Adjust To Eliminate Barriers

49. 5. Jesus Tore DownStrongholds

50. Jesus was a heretic in the eyes of the established religion he grew up in. Jesus constantly challenged the status quo of the day, and it got him crucified.