 Hi, good morning everyone. Welcome once again to the BC203, the local church course. We're still in section one. We finished chapter four in the last session. I just want to want to quickly run through, do a quick summary of chapter four. So we're all on the same page. Before I continue, am I audible, am I clear? Everything fine? All right. Good. So in chapter four, we looked, we did a case study of two churches. One is the Jerusalem Church and the Church of Antioch. We looked at their strengths, their challenges, their shortcomings, etc. And then we went into looking at the different stages of growth. Right. So we actually started off that class, I think, with with what our understanding of growth was. Right. So from that perspective, we saw there are different stages for church growth, starting off with the pioneering stage. This is just laying the groundwork, getting a hands dirty, you know, getting to the hard work, laying the groundwork through prayer, intercession, reaching out, building bridges with the community that is being reached, etc. After the pioneering stage, we see that there is the administrative, organized and a structural stage. Right. This is where we established well-defined systems and process to serve the people. OK. So there is a method, a procedure, a flowchart, so to say. OK. I do now what you will even do after you have increased in numbers. So plan ahead, be prepared for the future. The third stage was the pastoral team stage. You're building your pastoral team, the ministry team, right? And the equipping stage and the apostolic function stage. So once you have once you've reached the equipping stage and you've been successful as a church and equipping the saints of your church, you can now start focusing on missions that going out in the confidence that, you know, your church can will continue to be equipped even in your absence when you have to be elsewhere, what not, right? So that's the apostolic function stage. And then with all through all these stages, comes changes and challenges. And so as a leader, you ought to lead from the front, OK, that you are completely convinced and convicted about the changes and it's positive and it's God led, spirit led, what not. And so you lead the changes and you explain to those who are not questioning, but ask genuine questions about why this change. OK, so there is a difference between questioning and asking questions. Now, you will come across both the kinds of people, you know, when there are changes happening, right? That's why I'm very emphasizing that very clearly that there is a difference between asking questions and questioning. OK, I leave that to you, too. What not, so. Once that is done, you constantly move people, you encourage them, you push them towards ministering as well. OK, so you lead the change and what not. So that's basically in in a nutshell, chapter four. OK, now we move into chapter five. What makes a local church strong? What makes a local church strong? So that there is a question to you all. What do you think makes a local church strong? Feel free to unmute and speak. I think unity among congregation is one of the greatest strength. Unity among the congregation is great. OK, guys, officially this lecture is done so we can. You know, in the call and go home and take a day off. Sorry, it was a good boom. Thanks, John. Anything else being rooted in work? OK, work or word? OK, the presence of the supernatural, the presence of the supernatural. OK, thank you. Strong leadership, zealotolis, a strong leadership and balanced in word and spirit. I guess what you'll have for breakfast time today, some good answer, juice or something. Niceness, OK, yeah. You speak to me. This is a question for everybody. What makes a local church strong? We had unity being rooted in word, strong leadership and balance in word and spirit. Yeah. Made my life easier. What is Arathna said? Rosalind, Georgia. We are all part of a local church, I hope, spending quality time with God. Yeah, so spending quality time with God. So as individuals and community or what exactly we're talking about the local church, so. Zealotoli, anything else? Subashish, Leah. Working together, not just different apart from the pastors, but we as volunteers working together with the church and their loved ones. So volunteers working together for the development and serving makes the local church strong. Yeah, sure. Absolutely. Thanks for sharing. Reaching out to the lost, raising up leaders. OK, guys, seriously, like, what did you have for breakfast? I accept. Thanks, it's great. Manzillism and winning souls. Yeah, the pastor of the local church has spent time with God for divine guidance. Yeah, OK, in the pastor of the local church has spent time with God for divine guidance. Everybody else can chill out and take a chill pill. Cool. Yeah, but thanks, guys. Like, I mean, like I said, great answers. Now I'm wondering if I should even just go ahead with this lesson and stuff. But, but yeah, I mean, I think. Yeah, being just part of the local church has helped us see, have a different kind of a perspective on what can make a church strong overall. So there are so many perspectives, right? So many, like, reasons that, you know, everything what you mentioned, like from the leadership to balance between word and spirit being rooted in the word, reaching out to the lost, raising up leaders, evangelism and winning souls, being able to spend time with God, building that intimate relationship. Yeah, I mean, just 100 out of 100 for all of these things, all these points, right? So thank you for sharing that. But and from your notes, if you're looking at the PDF from page 33, one of the first thing that starts off is some of the important characteristics of a strong local church. Just to highlight a few things which is already being mentioned by all is the first thing is a church where there is strong leadership with a God given vision, strong leadership with a God given vision. OK. Now, again, we we've seen in enough of life, I think, for us to understand what a strong leadership is. So once again, a question for all of us is how would you define strong leadership? What does strong leadership look like to you? And also as an exercise, I know you'll be giving me the answers, but I want you to make a note of the answers, your answer. OK, because you're going to be a leader, you are already a leader. And come on, come on, come on, talk to me. Yeah, John, very easy, convenient. From a recent leadership, four C's of leadership, seven. OK. Yeah, Lubega, go ahead. I think a great leader must be in ministry with the key goals and vision. And when he is called by God, I don't think that the leader should be in leadership for the right reasons, not for the wrong ones. Because usually they don't put there. They always come putting on paper different reasons. Yet inside, they have different ones. Yeah, thanks. Thank you. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah. So OK, here's here's another question, right? So you chose the words great leader. So what's the difference between a strong leader and a great leader? That's a question again for all of us. And I'm hoping that you all are all thinking. Yes, you know, on everyone. A great leader is the one that's appointed by God, elected by men. But a strong leader is the one who appointed himself because he feels like he's stronger, stronger than everybody can put himself there. A strong leader, strong leader is the one that if field is strong enough, it can be in that position for anything, no matter what it is. But a great leader is someone again. That's because of what he has. People know that yes, this can deliver because of his character, attitude and the fear of God making to be great. OK, today, a sample today, we see the both who call their self a very strong leader, but there's nothing to deliver. They've never fear God. OK. David is a great leader because God's choosing. OK. But those who are strong, they never fear God because they feel that they have everything. So I prefer the great leader because fear God. Thank you. So yeah, again, a counter question maybe. So when we say that in this section of church where there is strong leadership with God given vision. So what would that mean? Shouldn't we have? Shouldn't churches have strong leaders or OK, but I get that's your definition, that's your understanding of strong leadership. Anything else? Yeah. Anything else? Yes. OK. I'm not. Rosalind, anything else? Yeah. Hello. You said maybe church should have a strong leader. In my opinion, who is a strong leader? Hmm. Because if we must define someone that is strong in terms of what they are strong, is they administrative, is it fear of God? So I think church should have a strong leader, but they should have a great leader with a vision. Mostly an aid. OK. You may be strong at what level, but when you are great, your impact will be felt. OK. So church should have a great leader, not a strong leader. Tomorrow. All right. Thanks. Success. Yeah, OK. I like what Collins has also shared here. Strong and a great leader are both sides of the same coin. Yeah. I think that's a good point there. Rosalind says a great leader will always give a birth to great leaders like him. Wow. OK. There's some serious leadership development plan there. Yeah. OK. Awesome. Well, great guys. So from everything that is mentioned there, right? The statement that follows there is a church where there's strong leadership with a God-given vision. So you can say that a leadership is probably strong if that leadership has a vision from God, right? If they've received a vision from God. So it is important to have a God-given vision of what the Lord wants to do in and through the local church. And if the church leadership is clear of that, then you can kind of label them as, OK, yeah, you know, to a certain extent you have a strong leadership. All right. So that's kind of a point one of the basic thing. But and then the next thing is it's followed by vision, right? Like just as we spoke, dictionary defines vision as a vivid to imaginative conception or anticipation, right? A vivid to imaginative conception or anticipation. That's the dictionary definition. But like what I would like, I would like to prefer to define it as a goal that you have set out to accomplish a simple term. So this is so that I understand, right? A goal that is set out that you have to accomplish. Right. So Proverbs 29 18. So without without this vision, we are unproductive. Right. So Proverbs 29 18. So we know that another simple example, like the way I'd like to think is if you don't have a vision, you're like, you're running on a treadmill. Right. I mean, I mean, running on a treadmill physically is not necessarily a bad thing. Okay. We've all seen it. I've used it to exercise or whatnot, but figuratively, metaphorically speaking, if you don't have a vision and if you're only doing things, getting certain things, okay, let's do this event because it sounds good. Let's do that event because it looks good. Let's do this thing without a proper vision or an end goal of what you want to accomplish. Then it's like you're just running on a treadmill, a lot of activities, a lot of movements, but then you're not really going anywhere. You're very stationary. Right. So the vision begins with the leader. If the leader has no clear vision, then it is just like the blind leading the blind. Right. So how many of you would agree that vision is kind of important? Yes. No, maybe. Yeah. How many of you have seen or encountered a blind eye doctor or a blind doctor that wants to perform a surgery? Would you trust a blind eye doctor or anyone who would want to perform a surgery on you? I'd be a little nervous. I would not try to release myself. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. So I think we are all in agreement coming to a consensus saying that vision is very important. To say the least, right? It's one thing to lead without having a vision. And then it's another thing to lead with having a vision in mind. And the next thing is as a leader, we must communicate the vision clearly to people so that people can know where God is leading all of us. Okay. So the next thing is you'd have strong leadership and strong leadership. You will know the vision of God. And the next thing is you will be able to communicate that very clearly to your team and eventually to the congregation of where God wants us to go, right? There's just a small example. I'm not sure if it's very relatable, but then me being part of a band or a worship team that I was part of with five of us in a team, the worship leader or the lead vocalist of the band, before we go into rehearsal or practicing or whatnot, he would send us the song list. And just before we enter into the time of practice or rehearsal, he would sit with us and he will tell us why he has chosen those songs. You know, it's not like, okay, he just randomly picked songs, put it together. But he said, okay, I put these songs together because this is what God was talking to me. And I feel like this is where God wants to take us. And so me as a band member or a team, a part of a team, okay, now I know, okay, this is where he wants to go because this is where God has told him to go. And so now as a team member, I have the trust. Okay, I'm going to follow him because he knows where he is going. And if me as a person, if I didn't know where he's going, then I would be very nervous. And I've been in situations like that and it's not a very pleasant situation, right? So it's important to have for the leadership to have a clear vision and then to be able to communicate that vision with the team and eventually the congregation, right? If the shepherd fails, the sheep scatters, they see it in Zachariah chapter 13 verse 7, right? And also in Isaiah 9.16, for the leaders of this people caused them to err and those who are led by them are destroyed. This is an example of a bad leadership, a weak leadership, right? And I guess, I mean, I would encourage you to listen to the sermon series of leadership that was completed last month by APC Pastor Ashish and if you have access to that and all the notes are all available. He spoke on the four C's of leadership and it's just brilliant series, right? So I would encourage you to take a look at it. Okay, so that's the first thing. The next thing is a church where there is a balanced emphasis on the word and spirit. Like I said, all your answers were like, okay, you went through the notes and then you gave me the answers. I won't be surprised if you'll actually even through the notes. But yeah, yeah. We are strengthened by the word and by the work of the Holy Spirit, right? We are strengthened by the word and the work of the Holy Spirit, right? So in Ephesians chapter three verse 16, he says that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man. That's what it says, right? So he strengthens us by his spirit, okay? So we need to, as again, Rosalind mentioned that we need to build that intimate relationship with him where our spirit man is built, but at the same time, you know, we just feed us with the word of God, right? And I mean, we are all Bible college students. We all know the importance of the word and I can't stress enough of the importance and the significance and just reading the word of God in Colossians 3, 16 or something. I think it says, let the word of Christ rich in you, dwelling you richly, right? So yeah, I mean, for us to just, a lot of battles have been fought over this book, right? A lot of people have been hailed, martyred, you know, in preserving this book over the years, thousands of years, thousands of years and many people have wanted to destroy this book to say the least, but none of them have succeeded. I feel like God preserved this book for such a time as this and he knew, okay, you know, on the 26th of August one of my sons or daughters is going to open up this book and he's going to search in my word to be encouraged and so he's preserved it for us, right? So I can't stress enough and I've done this activity. I've spoken about this thing that my mentor asked me to do a long back in 2008 or something is he asked me to go to Psalm 119 and he said, you know, there are about 175 verses in that Psalm and every verse of that Psalm, 176, sorry, and I'm just looking, I use an NIV. So this Psalm in every verse it will have these words. It'll have the words law, statues, ways, precepts, decrees, commands, what else, promise, word. Again, and you will see those words being repeated in every single verse and all of those different words simply mean God's word, right? Precepts, decrees, statues, ways. I mean, your translation might have something else like testimonies and whatnot, but then they call this Psalm 118 a love poem to God's law. So that's the beauty of God's word. God's word and God's spirit, God's word cleanses us. The scripture says, right, in James, you know, his word is like a mirror. It also shows us who we are and then how it empowers us to be different, right? So God's word is important, guys, to say the least. So a church where there is a balanced emphasis on the word of God and spirit, right? Okay, let's go to the next page, page 34. As we do this, there are five focus areas where we need to strengthen the local congregation. The five focus areas, one is evangelism, discipleship, prayer and worship, fellowship and equipping for ministry. So we're talking about what makes a local church strong. We started off by understanding strong leadership and the strong leadership will always have a God-given vision and a strong leadership will always communicate the God-given vision to their team and their congregation, right? And a strong local church will have a good balance and emphasize on the word of God and the spirit of God, right? So having considered all of that, what are a few more things that builds and strengthens the local church are these five things. Evangelism, we equip God's people to share the gospel and win others to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, okay? The local church should continually reach out to the unsaved in many ways. Now the first line there, we equip God's people to share the gospel. I think that's very important. Now it's very easy for the leadership just to say, okay, you have to share the gospel, evangelize. Share the gospel, evangelize. It's one thing and the people will be lost and will not step into evangelism or if they're not taught how to do it. And that's why we have this course called Lifestyle Evangelism, isn't it? I think it was that in the first year, right? And then endless resources online as to how to evangelize and whatnot. So it's very important for us to equip God's people. People of your church, of your local church on how to share the gospel. There are strategies, there are methods that you can follow which has been tried and tested, et cetera. So once they are equipped, now the confidence is a little better than before. It's like, okay, so let me just try this. Let me try this method and see if I can use that to evangelize. So now they feel equipped and by being equipped, they also feel empowered to share the gospel, right? That is individually speaking and also collectively. And once that's confidence level is reached the collective church, the local church should continually reach out to the unsaved in many ways. I was having a coffee with my friend, with a friend of mine yesterday. He was talking about how the political climate in India currently doesn't allow us to be so free as it used to be, at least a little free, okay? And then he was talking about how his friend started a café and he's a missionary and he's always hiring the less fortunate people and how he equips them, he trains them how to make coffee and then, you know, disciples them and shares the gospel with them and whatnot. So that's like, you know, thinking out of the box kind of a thing, isn't it? So we have to start thinking of what are there different methods of ways beyond street evangelism and whatnot, you know, that we can use to share the gospel. And as we continue to lean on God's heart to hear from him, he gives us the strategies, the wisdom, the courage to evangelize, right? And the second thing is discipleship. A disciple is one who has been trained to be Christ-like in character, conduct, and service. Character, conduct, and service. Now, if you want to learn more about discipleship again, guys, this is not a new topic at all for the church and ministry. Every second ministry is talking about it, you know, how to make disciples a discipleship program, whatnot. So it hands on a good thing. I came across a good teacher and let me share if I can. So he's a Vandalan. You can listen to him when possible. He's... I like his way and his understanding of discipleship. It's pretty deep and it's pretty neat. You can check it out when you can, okay? So this method or this process of discipleship is where we train and equip our church members to be more like Christ in character, in conduct, and service. Basically, a lifestyle should reflect and look like Jesus. That's basically what it is. And then as a congregation, we must continuously increase in prayer and worship. All right? I'm not sure if I can share this, but... What's this? Yeah, so this book by E.M. Bounds, you can get this complete works of E.M. Bounds. He's one of the well-established authors on prayer. I can't stress enough on the importance of prayer. Again, we are all Bible college students. We all know the importance of prayer. So push a congregation to increase in prayer and worship. Because prayer and worship create an atmosphere for spiritual ministry as we gather. So we growth together as a church by continuously having this time of prayer and worship and whatnot. You are building a culture. And that culture is simply a culture of prayer and worship. Everybody who steps into the church who will eventually will know, hey, this church is a praying church. So they emphasize on the word. They emphasize on the spirit. They emphasize on worship. They emphasize on prayer. It's like a complete package kind of thing. Good package. And then fellowship. Fellowship is simply living out in daily life the relationship we have as sons and daughters of God. We are part of the same family. And we live this out in real practical ways by caring for one another, supporting, helping and nurturing one another. And equipping for ministry. That's the last point is equipping for ministry. Every member must be fully equipped, activated and released to fulfill their calling. It's again, going back to that verse in Ephesians 4 verse 16, every saint to be equipped. Every member must be fully equipped, activated and released to fulfill their calling. And we begin by helping believers understand that each one has a place and function in the body of Christ. And this is something that we emphasize at APC. We say that time and time again is that every member, every believer is a minister of God. And you heard me say that enough. Time that the ministry of healing and deliverance is not only for pastors or the pastoral team, it's for every member. And so what we do, if that is the goal, if that's the vision that we are going for, that every member is to minister in healing and deliverance, what are we going to do? So we have these weekend schools of ministries, weekend schools on healing and deliverance, where we equip our saints, we equip our church members on how to minister in healing and deliverance. And now we say, hey, you guys have been equipped. You begin to minister in healing and deliverance. So you see where this is going. So you're equipping them for ministry. That's the goal is that every member ministers and what do you do to equip them is up to you. So these are the five simple focus areas on how to strengthen your local church congregation. Tomorrow God calls you to plan to church and whatnot. So evangelism, discipleship, prayer and worship, fellowship, equipping for ministry. So any thoughts or questions at this point? Okay. There is a video lesson series on discipleship by Ray Vanderland, the person that I have mentioned. It's called In the Dust of the Rabbi. And that's what his discipleship video lesson series are called. It's such a cool title, In the Dust of the Rabbi. Let's check it out when you can. Okay. So we're now moving on to page 35. Preparing for pulpit ministry. Okay. Keeping the above five areas in mind, we must take a ministry from the pulpit very seriously. Okay. The pastor writes, each opportunity we have to stand behind the pulpit to minister God's word and the work of his Holy Spirit must be done with definite purpose. Okay. Every opportunity that we have to speak the word of God and to minister and the work of his Holy Spirit must be done with definite purpose. That means there has to be a clear vision. We are not just filling up our time in Sunday service or a weekly service. I say, okay. We just have this 30 minutes of sermon after worship time. I'm just going to throw in something and just move on. I see Paul has raised his hand. Yes, Paul. Hi, Paul. Do you have a question? I guess not. Okay. All right. So preparing for pulpit ministry. Each time we minister, we are nurturing people in one of these five areas. So time and time again, we come across this word called nurture. What does that mean? Nurture. What does it mean to nurture? Sorry, Isaac. Is it something? Yeah. To me, it means to help something to grow. Nurture is to help something to grow like a plant. Yeah. You water it. You are helping it to grow. That is you nurturing the plant. Thank you. Thanks, Isaac. Thank you. Yeah, that's wonderfully said. Yeah. You take care of the plant. You're taking care of something, someone, right? You're helping it to grow. It's interesting, isn't it? And you nurture it. To raise up something out of someone to become better, to achieve full potential. That's a nice one, Collins. Thank you for sharing. To raise up, to raise up something out of someone to become better, to achieve full potential. Wow, okay. That's pretty deep. So, you know, as a worship leader, I see a potential in an individual saying, okay, this person has just joined the worship team, but I see a lot of potential in that person that this person can go from here to there. And as a good leader, I'm not just going to recognize that and not do anything about it, but as a good leader, I will begin to nurture. It's like, okay, hey, what can I do to help you? Because this is what I see in you. You are here, but you have the potential to be here. And I'm more than willing to take you up here. You know, are you willing? So that's nurturing, isn't it? So each time we minister, as the North says, we are nurturing people in one of these five areas. Every time we minister from wherever, not necessarily from the pulpit, but in this context, we're talking about the pulpit. We are nurturing. We are growing. We are helping people grow. We are equipping the saints to grow in maturity. Isn't it? And so Pastor has mentioned and put down a few pointers. He likes to balance the teaching and preaching of God's word across three areas. You'll see a short image there with three pillars. One is Christian life, life skills and ministry. Okay, so Christian life, life skills and ministry. So what he does is he plants the whole year out. I still remember in my early days of, when I joined as a youth pastor in 2018, I was asking him, okay, how do you come up with the sermon topics pastor? You know, you have to preach every Sunday and whatnot. So he broke it down very simple. And he said, okay, there are about 53 weeks in a year, 53, 54, you know, give or take, right? And there are so many topics that I can speak on, but I only have say 52 Sundays to share, to speak in a given calendar year. That's not enough. And so for him, that was not enough. And so he planned this whole calendar around these three things. Teaching, he balanced it out between teaching and preaching one with Christian life, teaching people how to live the Christian life. Example, developing disciplines of prayer, reading God's word, walk of faith, authority, we are in Christ, right? So you see the topics that's being chosen there. It's about building us, you know, our spiritual lives, our spirit man, isn't it? That's about discipleship. We are being equipped with those topics. And then choose topics related to life skills, teaching people how to live God's word in daily situations. Example, school colleges make decisions, marriage. So how do I take what I've learned on a Sunday or from the word of God and apply it into my daily life? So we talk about David being a good shepherd. How can I take that and put into context of my life? So I used to teach the youth on something called the SOAP method. One is the scripture. Then you have observation. Then you have application. Then you pray. So you take a piece of scripture. Take a piece of scripture. You take a portion of scripture. Let's take Matthew chapter five, say, we're called to be the salt and light of the city. So you've read that scripture and you observe it. Okay. What are you say? Okay. What are the things that the salt is good for? You know, salt is used for what? What does a light do? You've observed that you've kind of studied, you've meditated on it. And then you ask yourself, how can I apply that verse in my daily life? Right? How can I be? What does it mean for me to be a salt and light where God has placed me? And then I pray, it's like, okay, God, help me to be a salt and light. So that's where life skill comes in, right? So you have the clear progression. There's a teaching on Christian life. And then we are called to go and live a life of a Christian. And the third pillar is ministry. That is teaching people how to minister and serve others with the anointing of God and the gifts of the spirit. Okay. Anointing, anointing of God and the gifts of the spirit. So this is where what I just mentioned some time ago is about topics like healing and deliverance. Pastor did a whole series. Actually, he did. He went through that entire book, what we went through last year, last semester. It was you guys, right? Healing and deliverance. So he had a full sermon series on healing and deliverance. Went through the whole book for the entire church. That is the ministry part of the topic where the whole church, he wanted to equip the whole church and remind them that they are all to minister in healing and deliverance. That's just an example. Okay. So, and why is this important? Why, you know, just breaking it out like this is important because he's mentioned Isaiah chapter 46 verse 10, which says, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things are not yet done saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Declaring the end from the beginning. Now, so God knows the end from the beginning, right? He declares the end from the beginning. And so his inspiration is, so I seek the inspiration not just for one sermon, but for the entire year. Well, as a shepherd of a church, you know, we don't just seek God for that Sunday, which is fine and good. But, you know, God has a plan for an entire year. He has a, because he already knows the end from the beginning. He declares the end from the beginning, as we've just read in the scriptures, right? So, as leaders, you know, if you want to, you can just balance it out the way it's balanced in the notes and plan an entire year for your church. And all of this, again, just to remind us, is to strengthen your local church, right? So, I think I'll pause here and we'll take a 10-minute break and we'll resume in the next session. I guess I'll see you all in 10.