{"id":1945,"date":"2009-09-05T17:09:32","date_gmt":"2009-09-05T17:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.com\/?p=1945"},"modified":"2009-09-05T17:09:32","modified_gmt":"2009-09-05T17:09:32","slug":"ministry-is-about-faithfulness-not-numbers-gospel-growth-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2009\/09\/ministry-is-about-faithfulness-not-numbers-gospel-growth-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Ministry Is About Faithfulness, Not Numbers: Gospel Growth 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

But don\u2019t take my word for it\u2013let\u00a0the Gospel Growth=People Growth conference<\/a> to be held October 14-16, 2009 at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, IL) convince you.\u00a0 I highly recommend that you go if you\u2019re in the area\u2013you\u2019ll benefit from talks by Don Carson<\/a>, Mark Dever<\/a>, Philip Jensen<\/a>, and more.\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of a mini-Gospel Coalition.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very cheap\u2013$59 for students, $99 for pastors and others.\u00a0 It\u2019s sponsored by a number of organizations, including the Henry Center<\/a> and The Gospel Coalition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the event blurb from the website:<\/strong><\/p>\n

At Matthias Media\u2019s 2007 Conference, several hundred pastors, church workers and other ministry-minded Christians gathered at Washington\u2019s Capitol Hill Baptist Church to think about \u2018Gospel Growth vs. Church Growth\u2019. We explored what the Bible says about gospel growth, and how it basically proceeds through three foundational Ps: Proclamation, Prayer and People.<\/p>\n

At our 2009 conference, we\u2019re going to zero in on the third and often neglected \u2018P\u2019: people<\/em>. Because gospel growth happens in<\/em> people and through<\/em> people.<\/p>\n

It happens in<\/em> people. You can have growth in numbers, in budgets, in programs, in activities, in staff, in baptisms, in buildings, in reputation, and even growth in the quality of preaching, but unless individual people are growing in knowledge, in faith, in godliness, and in love as disciples of Christ, it\u2019s all a noisy clanging gong. Are your people really growing? How would you know whether they are or not? Who is discipling each person in your congregation?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ministry really is all about the three p\u2019s: prayer, proclamation, and people:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gospel growth also happens through<\/em> people. Jesus commissioned every disciple for disciple-making, and a pastor-teacher\u2019s job is not only to Proclaim and to Pray but also also to equip, train and mobilize People for the task. Gospel growth multiplies as Christians get involved in the three P\u2019s: in prayerfully speaking God\u2019s word to other people, in whatever way they can, large or small, at home or at work, in small groups or one-to-one. Is this happening where you are? Or is the ministry basically done by the staff? How many people in your congregation, for example, would be willing and able to do the foundational personal discipling work of following up a new believer and establishing them in the basics of the faith?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here\u2019s the schedule (all at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
WEDNESDAY (OCTOBER 14)
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10am<\/td>\nRegistration Open<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11am<\/td>\nD.A. Carson<\/td>\nIntroduction, On Biblical Exposition<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12:30pm\u00a0 \u00a0<\/td>\nLunch Break<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2pm<\/td>\nJensen and Helm<\/td>\nPreaching Workshop: Principles of Biblical Exposition<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3pm<\/td>\nJensen, Dever and Helm<\/td>\nQ&A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3:30pm<\/td>\nBreak <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4pm<\/td>\nMark Dever<\/td>\nThe Four Ps of Evangelical Ministry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5pm<\/td>\nDinner Break (Registration Open at 6pm) <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7:15pm<\/td>\nPhillip Jensen<\/td>\nBiblical Theology of Ministry 1: The Aim and Method of Ministry in People<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8:45pm<\/td>\nPhillip Jensen<\/td>\nQ&A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
THURSDAY<\/strong> (OCTOBER 15)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9am<\/td>\nPhillip Jensen<\/td>\nBiblical Theology of Ministry 2: All God\u2019s People as Prophets and Disciple-Makers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10:30am<\/td>\nBreak<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11am<\/td>\nDavid Helm<\/td>\nTraining Initiatives<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12:30pm<\/td>\nLunch Break<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2pm<\/td>\nJensen and Payne<\/td>\nTraining Session<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4pm<\/td>\nDinner Break<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6:30pm<\/td>\nPhillip Jensen<\/td>\nWhat is Training? People not Programs.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7:30pm<\/td>\nBreak<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7:45pm<\/td>\nMarty Sweeney<\/td>\nObstacles to Training<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8:15pm<\/td>\nMarty Sweeney<\/td>\nQ&A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FRIDAY<\/strong> (OCTOBER 16)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9am<\/td>\nTony Payne<\/td>\nTraining Practices<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10:15am<\/td>\nBreak<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10:45am<\/td>\nPhillip Jensen<\/td>\nHow a Training Mentality Leads to Gospel Workers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11:45am<\/td>\nPhillip Jensen<\/td>\nQ&A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12:30pm<\/td>\nClosing<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Hope to see you there.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But don\u2019t take my word for it\u2013let\u00a0the Gospel Growth=People Growth conference to be held October 14-16, 2009 at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, IL) convince you.\u00a0 I highly recommend that you go if you\u2019re in the area\u2013you\u2019ll benefit from talks by Don Carson, Mark Dever, Philip Jensen, and more.\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of a mini-Gospel Coalition. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[13078,1120,1418,1419,13161,13195,1970,2294,13237,13238,2388,13301],"class_list":["post-1945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conferences","tag-capitol-hill-baptist-church","tag-don-carson","tag-gospel-coalition","tag-gospel-growth","tag-henry-center","tag-mark-dever","tag-mathias-media","tag-people-growth","tag-prayer","tag-preaching","tag-proclamation","tag-trinity-evangelical-divinity-school"],"yoast_head":"\nMinistry Is About Faithfulness, Not Numbers: Gospel Growth 2009<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"But don't take my word for it--let\u00a0the Gospel Growth=People Growth conference to be held October 14-16, 2009 at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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