The Way, Truth and Life

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The Way, Truth and Life
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I am the way and the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me.(John 146)
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Eastern
Western
The Key
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The Key is Life
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Only Life Will Bring Growth

• A dead church becoming a Cell Church will
  only become a dead Cell Church

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Mentoring of Pastors

• Hong Kong
• Taiwan
• Japan
• India
• Bangladesh
• Philippines
• Cambodia

• Malaysia
• Macao
• Canada
• US

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The Issue in Mentoring of Pastors

• Usually it is not a lack of Knowledge
• It is not a lack of Skills
• Usually it has to do with Life

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Three Aspects to Training

• Knowledge
• Skill
• Life

Instructor Coach Mentor
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Mentoring Fathering
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1 Corinthians 415

• Even though you have ten thousand instructors in
  Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in
  Christ Jesus I became your father through the
  gospel.

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Sociologists Confirm that . . .

• fathers not only play an indispensable role in
  the home
• but also in the nation

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Absence of Fathers throughout the past Several
Decades

• drugs
• violence
• teenage pregnancy
• weak young men

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Fatherlessness Is the Most Destructive Trend in
Our Generation
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Absence of Father also linked to childs
likelihood of being

• Dropout of School
• Jobless Hard to Keep a Job
• Drug Addiction
• Suicide Victim
• Mentally Ill
• Target for Sexual Abuse

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Important Consequence

• That is why we desperately need to have spiritual
  fathers in the church today.

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One Pastor Said . . .

• In my 30 years of spiritual journey, I realize I
  have been looking for spiritual father but one
  after the other has disappointed me. Spiritual
  fathers are indeed very rare.

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Then He said . . .

• Church is a family not a company
• God is father not taskmaster
• Pastor is not only a leader but also a father

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This is a great revelation to me. Though it is
nothing new yet it finally got into my spirit.
God has spoken to me.
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BEING A FATHER IS THE HEART OF GOD
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2 Corinthians 618

• I will be a Father to you, and you will be my
  sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

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Father is not Instructor

• What is the Difference?

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Fathering is not only Something that You Do

• Fathering does not finish when the task is
  finished

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Instructor Vs Father
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Instructor Vs Father
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Instructor Vs Father
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Instructor Vs Father
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Instructor Vs Father
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Life is the Key
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Life is the Key

• It has to start with the life of the Pastor
• It flows out to the life of the Leaders
• Then it will eventually become the life of the
  Church

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Atmosphere
When the life of the Leaders flow to become the
life of the people, then it becomes the
atmosphere.
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Christian Counter Culture

• Sermon on the Mount

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A Plant will Grow in Right Atmosphere

• Moisture
• Minerals
• Temperature
• Light

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System will not bring growth

• The key is life
• A system has no life
• Methods have no life
• Materials have no life
• There has been an overemphasis on the systems

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Discovery of this truth

• 1989 just before implementing cell church,
  placed in 7 atmospheres in SCGC
• Church began to multiply and it was natural to
  assume that it is due to the cell system
• Rediscovery of atmosphere in Singapore
• Reapplication in SCGC
• Applied in other churches

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Other Names for Atmosphere

• Company Culture
• Company Values

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Affected without Knowing

• Atmosphere of a Home
• Atmosphere of a City
• Atmosphere of a Company

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When the Atmosphere of the Churches changed, the
churches changed
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Church A

• 43 members
• Have not grown for 6 years
• Pastor not very dynamic
• Showed no signs of growth
• From February to December, the church grew to 120
  members

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Church B

• 120 members
• Have not grown for 12 years
• The numbers have shrunk from 180
• The pastor has been there for 12 years
• Many unhappy people in the membership
• At the end of one year, the church has grown back
  to 180
• The next year, the membership grew to 270

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Church C

• 80 members
• Have been stagnant for 4 years
• Changed the atmosphere through the cell leaders
  getting fired up in a camp
• Broke through the stagnation
• At the end of the year they broke the 120 mark

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Faith Community Baptist Church, Singapore
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Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) in Singapore

• Every year has a Cell Conference
• Has been one of the major advocate for Cell
  Church
• What is the key to its growth?
• Is the key the Cell?
• Lets check the facts . . .
• Lets have a look at the Senior Pastor Pastor
  Lawrence Khong

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Pastor Lawrence Khong

• First Church Grace Baptist Church in 5 years
  the church grew from 300 to 1,500 members. Is
  this OK?
• After 5 years, Lawrence was fired because of the
  Charismatic issue
• He started FCBC with 700 members on the first
  Sunday

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Pastor Lawrence Khong

• He now has charismatic gifts of the Spirit
• Church grew to 2,000 in 3 years
• It was then that he transitioned the church to be
  a Cell Church with the help of Dr. Ralph
  Neighbour
• Now is a 10,000 people church after 10 years

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What caused the growth of Pastor Lawrence Khongs
Church?

• The answer is
• Pastor Lawrence Khong!

Cell Group?
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Reproducing the Atmospheres

• Pastor Lawrence sent his best district pastor
  to Hong Kong to work with a stagnant church 150
  members
• His district was the fastest growing in FCBC
• He brought 4 other staff with him
• Stayed for 2 years church did not grow
• 2 years after he left church did not grow

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Living under borrowed Atmosphere

• After going back to Singapore, he pastored the
  same district he left
• It became the fastest growing district again
• Isnt this interesting?
• Why is this?

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Natural Golf Players

• I learned to play golf together with my brother
• It was not very hard for him ?
• But it very hard for me ?

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Atmospheres of SCGC

• Just Examples
• Determine your atmospheres
• Biblical atmospheres
• Counter the atmosphere of your city
• Counter the culture of your tradition (e.g.
  Chinese people)
• Counter the culture of your church

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Atmospheres of SCGC

• We have a Positive Faith in God
• Living life to the full
• Everyone is valuable we want to bring out the
  best in everyone
• Our main thing is to finish off the Great
  Commission
• We are deeply convinced of the importance of
  unity and teamwork

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Atmospheres of SCGC
Our atmospheres are also our convictions
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Atmospheres of SCGC

• We have a Positive Faith in God
• It is fun to go to Church
• Our Church Brings out the Best in People
• The Main Thing is to Keep the Main Thing the Main
  Thing i.e. THE GREAT COMMISSION

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Atmospheres of SCGC

• We are People of Destiny we know where we are
  going
• We are Committed to Teamwork we have to work
  together
• We are Real People Integrity
• Change is here to stay
• There are no Spectators in our Church
• We are people of the Supernatural