Video Transcript: The Four Stroke Engine

Welcome to lecture seven of the practical ministry skills course almost did it  again, the four stroke engine that powers church growth. This is the first part of  chapter four of pastoring, the nuts and bolts. We've looked at the three purpose  of the church, to raise up or to become a family home for God, to raise up God's  children, to be like God, like Jesus. And the third is what we're looking at in more detail today, to invite everyone to be part of the family. Our key verse is,  therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name  of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew, 28:19, and when it  says, make disciples of all the nations, it doesn't mean make the political entities of A nation into disciples. It makes means make disciples on or of or from all of  the nations, all the ethna, all the ethnicities, all the people groups, baptizing  them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is what we  usually refer to as evangelism. That is the key, one of the main key verses that  inspires evangelists. Some people have a real gift for telling everybody about  Jesus, no matter what their circumstances, this guy has wandered down an  alley in a big city, and a couple of ruffians have grabbed him, and it looks like  they're mugging him, and they're holding him up against The wall, and he says,  if you have a minute, I'd like to tell you about the difference Jesus has made in  my life. Praise the Lord. That is a wonderful, wonderful example. I wish I could  do that. Not everybody can. I don't find it as easy as some do to tell people  personally, just off the street, although I have done it, I have forced myself to do  it, but that's not what this verse is telling us, necessarily to do. Most of my  evangelistic successes have come in other settings. For many people, that's the  case. All of us are required to seek to lead people to the Lord. But it doesn't  mean that we have to corner everybody. We find and grab them by the necktie,  if they're wearing necktie. Does anybody wear a necktie anymore? I'm still not  even wearing a necktie. Grab them by the collar and tell them how to get saved.  Some people have a gift for that. Other people evangelize in other ways. But the point is, if real revival comes if the Lord really pours out His Spirit on this world  to the point where people start spontaneously recognizing their need for God,  There won't be enough pastors to personally disciple every new believer. There  won't be enough trained ministers with certificates to personally disciple and  raise up and train every new believer. You have to equip your people to do it.  This is part of the work of the church, that it is our responsibility to equip people  to do and then once we have trained our people how to do that, then God can  send revival, because he will know that Your people will be there for the new  believers. the four stroke cycle. This is a the four strokes of a of a gasoline  engine. And somebody says, What in the world does that have to do with  evangelism? Actually, not much. It's just my engineering background comes in  this and i There were four steps in the church growth, thing that I came up with,  or not, the church growth, the evangelism, the well, church growth, the inviting  people into and discipling and my engineering background connected that with a

four stroke cycle that powers an automobile. And I thought it was a neat slide, so I put it up and I called it that I tried, I really tried to find a correlation between the  four steps that I found in the Bible, in Acts 8, and the four strokes of a gasoline  engine. But I couldn't make it work. I had to change the order of one or the other, and it didn't work. So it's a it's a loose analogy, but a gasoline engine works by it  takes in the fuel, it compresses it, it ignites it, and the fuel burns with explosive  force to push the piston down to create the power, and then it comes back up  and kicks out the exhaust, and it's ready to do it again. And it does that over and over and over again, and that's how your car runs. And I was hoping to find a  way to make a similar kind of a of a parallel to the four steps that I see in Acts 8.  So let's just move on and look at those steps, and maybe you can find a parallel  Acts 8:1, 4, a great wave of persecution began that day. Now to set this team,  you probably are aware of this. The church was born. The Holy Spirit came  down on the day of Pentecost. The church was born. It grew there in Jerusalem  for a while. We don't know exactly how long, but then Stephen was arrested. He  was martyred, and at that point, a great wave of persecution began that day,  sweeping over the church in Jerusalem, and all the believers except the  apostles were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, but the  believers who were scattered preached the good news about Jesus, wherever  they went. I had thought for a long time, just kind of assumed, without ever really looking into it, for years, probably after I became a pastor, just assumed that it  was the apostles that went out and spread the word about Jesus. I mean, that's  the meaning of the name apostle means sent one. And I assume that's what  happened. But if you look at this verse again, a great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church, and all the believers except the apostles  were scattered. But the believers who were scattered preached wherever they  went. So the apostles somehow managed to escape the persecution. It was the  just plain believers, the ordinary, everyday Christians, who were being  persecuted, who were losing their jobs, who were being turned out of their  homes that they didn't own them, who were maybe being arrested, and who  knows what. And so they ran. They went wherever they could go, and they, they  this was not an organized, let's go on a mission trip. They were running for their  lives, but they didn't forget about Jesus, the believers who were scattered  preached the good news about Jesus, wherever they went, wherever they  wound up, they didn't say, let's go here, because we think they're right for the  gospel, and we can organize a mission trip. There it was. I'm running. Where  can I go? I can't live. Here anymore. I know what uncle Albert lives in  Damascus. Maybe he'll take us out. And so they show up on Uncle Albert's door, and Uncle Albert says, My goodness, what brings you here? And so they say,  Well, we're we had to leave Jerusalem because they're coming after everybody  that believes in Jesus, and Uncle Robert says, who's Jesus? And so they tell  him, and that wherever they went, they were willing to tell people. They didn't 

hide it. They talked about this great and amazing thing that had happened in  their lives. So that's the first step, just plain ordinary Christians, your people  need to know enough to be able to tell other people who don't know why they  believe in Jesus, what Jesus has done for them, what a difference he's made in  their lives. They don't have to know all the theology. They don't have to even  know all the Bible stories. They certainly don't have to be able to answer our  answer all the questions. They're witnesses. Jesus said, You will be my  witnesses in Acts 1:8. And a witness is somebody who tells what they saw, who  tells what they know, what happened to them. To witness means to see  something, and it means to tell about what you saw. And nobody can say, No,  you didn't see that. No, that didn't happen to you. You don't have to convince  them. They just witness, they tell so that's the first step. The story goes, first  step, stroke one, ordinary Christians spread the word of Jesus wherever they  found themselves. The story goes on. Philip, for example, went to the city of  Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. Crowds listened intently  to Philip because they were eager to hear His message and to see the  miraculous signs he did. Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left  their victims, and many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. So there  was great joy in that city. Yes, there was great joy if people are getting healed  and delivered and set free. Now notice what it says about Philip. Philip, for  example, he's just one of them. And now, for example, is not there in the Greek  the New Living translators put that in because the sense of the whole story is  that it has just said all the believers went out and told wherever they were. And  then it starts talking about Philip. And so obviously it's giving Philip as an  example, because it's not telling Luke says, I don't have time to tell the stories of all of these people. This is one that I know about, that. I've heard about that.  Maybe I saw some of it. I've talked to people that were there. So I can tell this  story, and I know lots of other ones happen too. Philip, for example, went to the  city of Samaria. That's where he ran when the persecution started, and he told  the people there about the Messiah. It may be that he was one of those kinds,  like the guy in the cartoon who just was very good at telling strangers about  Jesus. Or maybe people asked him, What are you doing here? And he told  them, and they listened to Philip because they were eager to hear His message, because it was something neat. I mean, after all, the Messiah of God that their  people had been waiting for for generations not only has come, but died and  rose from the dead. That's a cool thing to hear and to see the miraculous signs  he did. Now, how did that happen? I don't think Philip set out and said, I'm going to go out and do some miracles. I think what he did was he said, here are some  stories about Jesus. Tell us about Jesus. Well, here's what Jesus did, and a lot  of what. Jesus did was healing people and casting out demons. And so I'm sure  there were people there in the crowd who said, Well, I'm sick, or my child is sick. You know this, my child has, like the one person in the gospels, a demon that 

throws them in the fire, or whatever you you've talked about Jesus. Can Can  he? Can you do something? Can you pray for my child and Philip, I'm sure, said  my goodness, now, what do I do? Well, I guess I'll do what I saw Jesus do. Or it  may be that Philip, because Philip was not one of the apostles. As a matter of  fact, we're pretty clear this is not the Philip was one of the apostles. Maybe the  Philip who was put in charge of the one of the people put in charge of the food  program in Acts 6. But anyway, no indication he was a special person. He either  watched the apostles or he watched other people who had watched the apostles or other people who had watched Jesus, and he saw what they did, and he  learned how to do that, and he said, Well, I don't know, Lord, here we are.  They're asking me to pray. Please help me. Back me up on this, and I'm just  going to try and do what I saw them do. In other words, he was a recipient of the Great Commission teaching, where Jesus told the apostles, the disciples go and teach others to do this. And they went and taught him to do it. And so now he's  going to do it. And he prayed, and God backed him up. God answered the  prayers. God healed. God set people free, and he does it today. I've seen it, and it gathered crowds, and it says many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as  they left their victims, that's going to bring a crowd. And many who've been  paralyzed or lame were healed, that's going to bring a crowd. So there was  great joy in that city. Jesus promised, I think I quoted this last time I tell you the  truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I've done, and even  greater works, because I'm going to be with the Father. Anyone who believes in  me, this is not the only place something similar is said, but the clearest, so.  Stroke two is that ordinary Christians did the works of Jesus, wherever they  found themselves, wherever they happen to be, however they happen to get  there. In this case, it was persecution. But in other cases, it may be on a  business trip or because you went away to school or whatever. Ordinary  Christians talked about Jesus did the work of Jesus wherever they found  themselves. So let's move on to the third strike. There we go. A man named  Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of  Samaria and claiming to be someone great. But now the people believed Philip's message of good news concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus  Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself  believed and was baptized, and he began following Philip wherever he went.  Now, Simon gets a bad name in most stories, most sermons, most most people  give Simon a bad name. There's even something named after him called  simony, which is trying to buy the power of the Holy Spirit with money. Simon  had been a sorcerer. He was a medicine man. He was somebody that people  look to as having some kind of supernatural power. He amazed them. He was a  magician. There may have been some demonic magic involved supporting it. He may have just been a really good trickster, magician, manipulator, con man.  Either way, Phillip's real miracles are drawing people away. They've gotten tired 

of Simon. They see something new. They see something real. And Simon, to his credit, doesn't try to talk it down and draw them back to him so he recognizes  the reality. He knows that what Philip's doing is the real thing, more power, more reality than what he's been trying to do. And so Simon himself believes, and  He's baptized, and we need to remember that he became a believer, and he  began following Philip wherever he went. He wanted to learn. He wanted to see  how this was done. He wanted to grow in it. He knew this was the real stuff, and  he wanted, he wanted to learn about it and see how it would go. So Simon was  a baby Christian. Others, all the others who were believing. It says many men  and women were baptized. They were all baby Christians. And so what's their  their Natural? Oh, goodness, my arm accidentally hit button. We went, there we  go. They said we believe in Jesus. Now what do we do? Okay, you came, come  here. You talked about Jesus. You told us about him. We we saw the miracles.  We were baptized. Now, what do we do? Simon, as I said, wanted to learn. He  became a baby believer. He wanted to learn. And so he began following Philip  wherever he went. And Philip did not kick him out. Philip did not say, shew. Don't bother me. Philip took him in. Philip took care of him. Philip started teaching him, and presumably all the others as well. All the baby Christians were following  him, saying, What do we do now? What do we do? He started taking care of  them. He started telling them how to grow in the Lord. He started nannying and  tutoring Philip and the others along with him. When your people find these new  Christians. If your people start doing the things we're talking about, telling the  words of Jesus, doing the works of Jesus, and people come to them, or if it's just a move of God, and there's a great revival, and people come to your folks and  say, We know I'm a brand new Christian. I know you've been a Christian for a  while, a month, you know, two years, whatever it is, what do I do next? Your  people need to know how to tell them. Your people need to know what to what  the next steps are. So make sure that you train your people, equip your people  to do that work of building up the church, that work of God, of nannying and  tutoring. So that's stroke three ordinary Christians taught and cared for the  resulting new believers wherever they happen to find themselves, they told folks about Jesus. They did the things that Jesus did, and as a result, people  believed. And now, when you suddenly find yourself taking care of a baby,  newborn baby, baby, Christian, whatever it is, when you suddenly find yourself  taking care of a baby. You do whatever you can, whether you feel qualified or  not spiritual, babies are no different in that regard. Our account in Acts 8 goes  on. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had  accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there. As soon as they  arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. And then  we're going to skip about 10 verses and after testify. And preaching the word of  the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. See this, those 10  verses, is what I was talking about with Simon offering Peter and John money, 

because when they prayed for the believers to receive the Holy Spirit, He could  see something happen. And and that's what he wanted to know how to do. And  he thought, probably with the entirely honestly, not trying to bribe them or  anything. He just thought, this is how you do it. You know, people who have  secrets sell them to other people who want to know the secrets. So anyway, we  skipped that part, because what I want to point out here is that the church, the  established, existing church, in this case, the Apostles in Jerusalem, heard  about these new believers, came down to offer support, discovered that there  had been something missing in Philip's teaching. Somehow, the teaching, the  praying for the for receiving the Holy Spirit had either they hadn't gotten to it yet  or who knows what. But anyway, when Peter and John came there, they added  that, they supplemented, and then they went back home, teaching, spreading  the word, wherever they happen to be too, just like the others, they're doing.  Stroke one is they're on their way home. So notice so verse stroke four, the  existing the existing church, guided and supported the new groups. They didn't  leave them on their own, but they also didn't come in and take charge. They  didn't take over. The existing church guided and supported the new groups. So  notice the balance here. Philip and the other ordinary Christians told people  about Jesus. They ministered in various ways, including here, healings and  miracles. They taught and cared for the new believers. They didn't wait for the  apostles and the pastors and the officially recognized church leaders to give  them the go ahead and say, Okay, you can do this. They recognize that acting  like Jesus in these ways is is just part of what it means to be a Christian. And  when Peter and John came and saw this going on, heard about this and came  and saw it, they didn't say, Hey, you're overstepping your bounds. You're taking  my authority. What are you trying to kick me out of a job? They didn't do that.  Peter and John encouraged what Philip and the others were doing. They  encouraged that initiative, they blessed it, and they balanced that  encouragement with further instruction and oversight. And so that oversight is a  part of it too, and this is the last part of the step for us as church leaders,  encourage your people to step out in faith, to spread the word and do the works  and minister to the people who respond to them, equip them and encourage  them, but keep an eye on things, because it's easy For eager lay people to  make a variety mistakes, ranging from Bible interpretation to personal  relationships, all kinds of things that you're going to be trained in in this course.  And they may just not, you know, they may make one of those mistakes, or they  may just not know what to do. So as a minister, a pastor, a church leader, you  must always be ready to step in before ignorance or mistakes turn into  problems. So last slide, the four stroke engine that repeats, repeats, repeat,  repeats, repeats. In a in a car engine, it's intake, compress combust exhaust.  Intake, compress combust exhaust. Intake, compress combust exhaust. In the  church, it's tell, do teach connect, tell, do teach, connect, tell, do teach, connect, 

tell, do teach, connect, over and over again, power, the spreading of the Gospel, the growth of the church and the kingdom. We'll see you next time