Retreat – Pastors

“I’M A PASTOR AT NEW DAY”

NEW DAY PASTORS RETREAT
Feb 11-12, 2025

MISSION, PHILOSOPHY, VISION

Mission

1. Our mission comes from the Great Commission: Matthew 28:18-20
2. Our mission is to…

Philosophy

A. A word about the importance of unity in philosophy

B. Some bullet points

• We are Jesus focused and Bible-centered
• We’re making disciples not just converts
• We want to double our present impact
• We believe in the concept of Simple Church. We want to do a few things well.
• We do everything with all our might to the glory of God.
• We care about families as the bedrock of society and our church
• We’re called to reach men (“Jake” conversation later)
• We love getting better
• As a staff, we want to love each other and have fun along the way

III. Vision

An introductory word about vision

A picture of the future

(1) Focus #1: Publicly open the Sarasota Campus in 2025

(2) Focus #2: Find a site for Campus #4

(3) Focus #3: Continue Reducing our Long-Term Debt

(4) Focus #4…

JAKE

See document written in 2016, “The Typical ND Seeker”

A. Why Men

1) Common sense

2) Scriptural command

3) Felt Need

B. Why a “young dad”

C. Why “Jake”

D. Keeping the balance

VESPERS

GROUP WORK ON SCRIPTURE READING AND PRAYERS

1. Jas 3:1-18
2. 1Ti 3:1-13
3. John 10:11-16; Acts 6:1-4
4. 2Ti 4:1-5; Acts 20:28-32
5. 1Ti 4:1-16

PRAYER AND WORSHIP TIME

HOW TO BE A GREAT A PASTOR AT NEW DAY

A. Grow Spiritually

[1Ti 4:12, 15-16 NIV] 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. …15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

B. Work Hard. (1 Tim 4:15 – “be diligent”)

(1) Balancing work and family. How to set good habits, maintain your freedom, prove to be a good worker:

(2) Balancing giftedness and necessities.

Is the work needed?

Are your gifts more in line with prophet, priest or king?

C. Preach the Word

[2Ti 4:1-5 NIV] 1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

[1Ti 3:9 NIV] 9 They [deacons] must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.

[Act 6:3b-4 NIV] 3 …We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

[If we have time I’m going to talk more about this tomorrow.]

D. Love Your Family (Model Family)

[1Ti 3:4-5, 12 NIV] 4 He [overseer] must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) … 12 A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well.

Some secrets I’ve learned:

E. Shepherd the Flock (Lay down your life!)

[Jhn 10:11-16 NIV] 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me– 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father–and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

[Act 20:28-32 NIV] 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. 32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Some things to remember:

F. Swim with the Fish (or walk with the flock)

[Jhn 10:14 NIV] 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

[1Ti 3:7 NIV] 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

Listen to what the flock is saying and what the community is saying.

Three mistakes we make:

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THEOLOGY AT NEW DAY – THREE IMPORTANT REMINDERS

I. BIBLICAL INERRANCY

TEN REASONS WHY I TRUST THE BIBLE AS GOD’S WORD

1. IT HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME

2. IT CLAIMS TO BE THE WORD OF GOD

[2Ti 3:16 NIV] 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…

3. IT IS HISTORICALLY ACCURATE

4. ITS PROPHECIES ARE FULFILLED

5. ITS WISDOM IS UNMATCHED

6. IT IS ENDORSED BY RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE

7. IT MAKES EXCLUSIVE TRUTH CLAIMS

8. IT CHANGES LIVES

9. IT ANSWERS THE MOST IMPORTANT LIFE QUESTION

10. IT TELLS US ABOUT THE GREATEST PERSON EVER TO LIVE

CONCLUDING POINTS ABOUT INERRANCY

• We believe the original autographs were inspired & inerrant.

• The Scriptures are our authority in all matters.

• We seek to unify Christians whenever possible. We will seek to not divide over disputable matters. However, we will lean toward a more conservative approach in regards to the authority of Scripture.

II. HOW WE TALK ABOUT BAPTISM 

A. WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT SALVATION:

There is only one way to be saved from your sins:
– By trusting your soul to Jesus Christ, putting your faith in Him.
– Not by good works, trusting in yourself, following another God.
– “Believe on the LJ,” Paul and Silas said, “& you will be saved.”
– John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…”

When a person is ready to trust in Jesus for salvation, what should they do?

The Bible instructs us to do 3 things to signify our faith in Jesus:
– Repent of sins
– Confess name of Christ
– Be baptized

Acts 2:38 – Peter, 3,000 baptized
Acts 8 – Ethiopian Eunuch
Acts 9 – Paul
Acts 10 – Cornelius
Acts 16 – Philippian jailer Acts 22 – Paul retells story, says Ananias told him…

[Act 22:16 NIV] 16 “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”

NOTE: If someone many years ago put their faith in Christ but did not do one or all of those three tangible steps, we should do two things:

1) Affirm them as brothers in Christ
2) Counsel them to take the remaining steps
as Jesus and his apostles commanded

If someone is coming to Christ for the first time, how do we lead them?

• Explain what the Bible says we are to do when trusting in Christ
• Lead them to baptism
• Celebrate their salvation when they’re baptized. Biblically the moment of celebration / new birth / resurrection = baptism.

[Rom 6:3-4 NIV] 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

B. What to say

1. Where are you with the Lord?
2. Have you ever had a moment where you surrendered?
3. Have you ever been baptized?
4. The Bible says that’s the benchmark, the pledge, the moment of commitment.

C. What not to say; terminology to avoid:

• “Believers’ Baptism…” (theological language not biblical.)
• “Baptism is just a symbol.” (Dismissive of Christ command.)
• “You need to be baptized to join this church.”
  (Be baptized to join Christ or follow his example, not to join this church.)
• “If you’re not baptized you’re not saved.”
  (This is divisive and judgmental. We trust the grace of God to save those who believed but were not instructed to follow Christ’s command to be baptized.)

Encourage anyone with questions about baptism to attend N2ND class.

III. WOMEN’S ROLE IN THE CHURCH

A. There are generally two positions:

• Egalitarian:
  • There is no difference between male & female.
  • The Scriptures about women’s role are cultural and not for our time.
• Complementarian:
  • Men and women are equally created by God and have equal status in the kingdom of God as saved and sanctified.
  • Men and women are created as different creatures with complementary roles.
  • There are principles in Scripture regarding the headship of husbands and male leadership in the church that go beyond culture.

We at ND are unashamedly complementarian.

B. Covering the Scriptures

NOTE: THE BIBLE AFFIRMS THE EQUALITY OF WOMEN

There are 7 difficult New Testament passages that seem at first to contradict this liberation. Instead of seeking to understand these passages, many today are ignoring them. It’s vital that pastors rightly divide the Word of Truth.

Backstory: Christianity was so liberating to 1^st century women that they began flaunting their freedoms.

7 “DIFFICULT” NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGES ABOUT WOMEN

WIVES SUBMIT TO HUSBANDS
– Ephesians 5:22-33
– Colossians 3:18-19
– 1 Peter 3:1-7
– Titus 2:4-5

THE BEHAVIOR OF WOMEN IN CORPORATE WORSHIP
– 1 Corinthians 11:1-16: Wear a head covering
– 1 Corinthians 14:34-35: Don’t interrupt the worship service
– 1 Timothy 2:9-15: Don’t instruct a man (or “your husband”) at church

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(1) HUSBANDS LOVE WIVES & WIVES SUBMIT TO HUSBANDS

This command is a call to restore the complementary relationship between Adam and Eve before the fall. It is not a punishment on women following the fall.

(2) THE THREE DIFFICULT PASSAGES ON WOMEN’S ROLE IN THE CHURCH

1 COR. 11: 1-16

[1Co 11:1-16 NIV]  1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.

3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head–it is the same as having her head shaved. 6 For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.

1 Cor 14:34-35

34 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

1Timothy 2:9-15

11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.

13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing–if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Two landmines:

(a) No woman teaching / assuming authority over a man

(b) Women saved through childbearing

CONCLUSION: APPLICATION AT NEW DAY

– Elder, pastor, deacon all reserved for males / “heads of households”
– Preacher has “assumed authority” and therefore no female preachers
– We are careful in our leadership choices not to have women exercising spiritual authority over men (i.e. potentially over their own husbands)

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PHILOSOPHY OF PREACHING AND TEACHING AT ND

SOME PRESUPPOSITIONS:

• People need to learn the Bible.

• We believe people want to learn the Bible.

• Teaching people the Bible is our goal, not entertaining them.

• We should teach with great passion, enthusiasm and creativity, working hard to keep their attention, because what we’re teaching is extremely important. Boring, passionless sermons are of the devil.

• We are talking to intelligent people who don’t know the Bible.

• Every passage we teach is a part of the Gospel story.

• Every passage will have life-changing and eternity-changing implications.

• We must help people see what this passage means and how this passage should affect their daily life.

In simplest terms we do three things when teaching:

(1) We read the Bible.

(2) We explain what the Bible means in its original context.

(3) We apply the Bible to people’s daily lives. (How does this change how I behave on Monday?)

NOTE: We need more preachers & teachers. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few! How can we pray for, recruit and train more workers?

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MILESTONES AT NEW DAY

INTRODUCTION: WHY MILESTONES?

• Create a culture
• Capture the opportunity for teaching and training
• Celebrate a significant moment / milestone
• Visualize each person’s future

I. THE MILESTONES 

Note: keep the list relatively short. If too long,
(a) risk watering down each milestone; (b) harder to do each w/ excellence.

1) Baby Dedication

2) Baptism

3) Turning 13

4) High School Graduation

5) Wedding

Note: The cycle begins all over here: Baby dedication, baptism, turning 13, high school graduation, marriage. Until…

6) Funeral

II. THE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN EACH MILESTONE

A. Treat the milestone as a sacred moment

B. Make the event excellent and memorable

C. Capture the teachable moment

D. Capitalize on the outreach opportunity (family and friends)

E. Mark the occasion with appropriate mementos

F. Include the entire congregation

QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS

(1) What to do with high school seniors.

(2) Funeral discussions

(3) Wedding discussions

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