Notes Session 1 – #elephantroom

Preaching to Build the Attendance vs. Preaching to Build the Attendees
Matt Chandler and Steve Furtick

Is the goal of the weekend sermon evangelism or sanctification? Is it biblically legitimate to plan a whole series for reaching seekers? Is preaching to “felt needs” the opposite of “preaching the Word” or can they work together? What does it mean to “preach the Word” and how do we know we have done it? If we have failed to preach the “whole counsel of God,” what topics will we likely have avoided? Is the message helped or hindered by a marketing package? When is the shaping of a series an access point for people and when has the “package” become a distraction?

• Chandler is one of my favourites. I’ve got tons of respect for both him and Steven Furtick. Really looking forward to this.
• James MacDonald acknowledging that they are intentionally setting people against each other and there may be some caricatures of actual positions held but there’s a genuine desire for “iron sharpening iron”
• Steven Furtick goes first
• Take the broad mission of Jesus “to seek and save the lost” and bring it down to the specific of Sunday morning
• “our church exists so that we can accomplish the mission of Jesus in the earth”
• our weekend service is going to be the “hyperfocus” for that purpose
• Furtick says that Chandler is telling his church the same thing he is
• Furtick is preaching through the promises in Ephesians and tying them back to OT promises – MacDonald jokes that he’s only doing that because he knew he was coming to this conference and face off against Chandler :)
• MacDonald – “You are reaching people far from God. You went to Southern Seminary and you can handle the word. Your contribution is reaching people far from God!”
• Furtick saying that he’s not only about filling seats and drawing a crowd – “If you make this thing Chandler builds people, Furtick builds crowd – we’re all in this for people”
• None of us wants to pastor a “feed me, bless me” club
• Matt Chandler up now
• Jesus.. parable of the sower.. some of the seed falls on good soil, some on rocky soil – as soon as it’s not convenient, it’s gone
• “A baby breastfeeding is cute, a 20-year old breastfeeding is disturbing”
• Classic Chandler
• “My fear of this evangelism first mindset is 40-year olds playing in the kiddie pool, knowing nothing of the ocean’s depths”
• Depth of knowledge around the character of God not being developed
• “To further the caricature, do you want to reach people or teach doctrine?”
• Chandler develops the Ephesian idea – it starts with promises, then moves to behaviour, then instructions to guard doctrine
• Paul’s instruction to the Ephesian church is to grow deeper, know who God is
• “depth is viewed as the enemy of conversion and that’s just not true”
• MacDonald recapping each position
• Furtick’s response – to say that leading my church as missionally-focused leaves us with 19-year olds.. haha.. Furtick can’t say “breast”
• If I don’t constantly stand up and say “this is not about us, this is not about collecting more knowledge”..
• “I’m trying to create a church that does the word” – the greatest growth of a believer is when they get outside themselves
• Chandler’s response – legitimate concern: “I want to know what you’re about, the Reformed community is not a big fan.. I come across this video of you rebuking your crowd for wanting depth.”
• Chandler laying out the case that Furtick is separating evangelism from doctrine
• Furtick’s response is good – he clearly loves the people he is preaching to
• Holy cow.. this is great stuff.. I appreciate that these guys are challenging one another big time..
• MacDonald comparing people coming to Chandler’s church as though they’re going to an evangelical wine tasting
• “We’re here for the fine, fine Bible teaching” – wow.. that was solid
• Chandler & Furtick finding common ground around a mutual dislike for people who only want to fill their heads with Bible knowledge
• Here comes Driscoll..
• Furtick plays to his strengths, his church is only five years old, he has lots of young converts
• “Right now it’s all weddings, no funerals”
• Greg Laurie adding in…
• Encouraging Furtick to develop his Bible teaching gift in light of his evangelism gift mix
• Every church needs a constant flow of new believers
• Furtick – “God did not call me to Charlotte to create a boutique”
• David Platt giving a good caution around relying too much on Sunday morning as part of our evangelism strategy
• The pastor can’t do it all – send hundreds, thousands of people out in to your cities from Monday through Saturday to carry the strategy of evangelism
• It was the people of God equipped with the word of God to take the gospel to the people who don’t know God
• Perry Noble..
• “I don’t think it’s either/or, I think it’s both/and…”
• Perry knows that both Steven and Matt will teach the Bible – just coming from different starting points
• “If I come with my fork ready, I’m going to get something.”
• Seems like the conversation is coming around to this question – “Is Sunday morning the starting point or the end point?”
• Question – Evaluate this statement: I am primarily speaking to Christians when I preach
• Chandler: Yes, in light that lost people are there
• Furtick: If I preach for 45 minutes, I’m going to describe the character of a Christian but I’m going to do it in a context that is primarily geared to the person that is outside, trying to bring them inside
• Question – Should believers grow themselves or is growth the church’s responsibility?
• Chandler: It’s a false dichotomy, the church has a responsibility and so do I. You have to be in submission, wanting to learn, wanting to apply. At the end of the day, people here both of us and don’t apply it. Ultimately, they have to own it and apply it.
• Furtick: … MacDonald didn’t let him answer :)
• MacDonald: “I hate the idea that feeding sheep  is at the opposite end of reaching people. At the end of the day it has to be about both.”
• “Growing better Christians is part of the mission!”

Above all, I think the takeaway from this session is that Furtick is the real deal. I’ll be honest and say that I have not always thought that. The three guys at the table during this session – Chandler, Furtick and MacDonald – all love Jesus, love their church and love people far from God and have taken serious steps to get their churches on fire for the same things.

We are off to a great start!!