Imagine that you've decided to go sailing. The problem is that you know next to nothing about sailing. So you to the store and you purchase several books to find out what's involved. You carefully read them and then you talk to a veteran sailor who answers questions for you. The next day, you rent a sailboat. You examine it closely to make certain that everything needed for a successful sailing experience is present and in good working order. Then, you take your boat out onto the lake. Your excitement is at a fever pitch, though you're also afraid. But you follow the instructions you've read and the counsel received from the experience sailor, and you launch your boat into the water. You carefully monitor each step and hoist the sail.
At that precise moment you learn a crucial lesson. You can study sailing. You might even be able to build a sailboat. You can seek from the wisest and most veteran of sailors. You can cast your boat onto the most beautiful of lakes under a bright and inviting sun. You can successfully hoist the sail. But—and this is a big "but"—only God can make the wind blow!
Possible Preaching Angles: Sam Storms adds, "You and I can study the Bible…. We can orchestrate a worship service according to biblical guidelines. We can do everything that lies in the power of a Christian man or woman. But only the Spirit can make the wind blow.
The new book Exponential by Community Christian Church pastors Dave and Jon Ferguson has a bold message: “You and your friends can start a missional church movement.”
For those daunted by the prospect of starting just one church, the mandate to start a movement may boggle the mind. But as the authors insist, movement-making isn’t the exclusive domain of ministry dynamos; it’s something ordinary folks can do.
The elegant model they prescribe almost makes you believe them. They map out the “Leadership Path” through which they take people. It consists of seven steps: Individual, Apprentice, Leader, Coach, Director, Campus Pastor/Church Planter, and Network Leader. The bulk of the book then illustrates these leadership levels by telling stories of regular people who moved along the path.
At times the whole enterprise feels a bit artificial, a sort of paint-by-numbers approach to church planting. But there is also wisdom in their system and, once you get past the business-borrowed terminology, strong parallels to the way the early church flourished.
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the book is the fact that the authors have actually done what they’re describing. As fresh college graduates, these two brothers sat down and dreamed about reaching all of Chicago for Christ. Twenty years later they’ve planted multiple churches in the Chicagoland area, with thousands attending each week. And something tells me they’re just getting started.
