Mark Driscoll kicked off the Dwell London conference by explaining the gospel – highlighting the difference between the Gospel of Grace, and the Religion of Works.

Mark began by quoting Martin Luther from his lecture on Galatians 2:14 -

“The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine…. Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.”

Driscoll then went to 1 Corinthians 15, asking – What is the Gospel?

• It’s continual (now I would remind you)
• Proclamation and Explanation
• Pastoral and Personal
• Essential (don’t assume too much, preach the priorities)
• Relevant (don’t make it, show it)
• Christological – it’s all about Jesus
• Penal Substitutionary
• Biblical (it was prophesied)
• Eschatological (it has a future)

Under the PS point, Mark alluded to his knowledge of the NWA foundation, and told the story of how his church grew by 800 people on the week he preached PSA! He said that he wants to be a ‘truth teller’ – “I’d rather be hated than ignored – that’s my ministry!” Mark then moved on to look at the two enemies of the Gospel – Idolatry and Religion.

Idolatry

Driscoll quoted Luther who said that idolatry was “the sin”, and that it all came down to the first two Commandments – if we disobey the first two we have an idol, and will break the other commandments.

An idol is that which takes pre-eminence, which receives our worship. We’re all spiritual people because we all have our own definitions of heaven and hell, and the a ‘Functional Saviour’ (our idol) to take us from hell to heaven. He then goes on to reference Tim Keller who has a set of questions to expose our idols:

What are you afraid of? What do you long for? Where do you get comfort? How do you introduce yourself? Whose approval do you seek? What makes you happy/sad?

Religion

Mark started off by showing the clear differences between the Gospel of Grace and the Religion of Works:

If I obey God loves me  vs.  God loves me, his Spirit enables me to obey

Good and Bad People  vs.  Repentant and Unrepentant Sinners

What you do  vs.  What Jesus has done

He then explained the result of religion, it either leads to pride and self-righteousness (these people stay in the church), or despair at not being good enough (these people walk away from church). Rather, the Gospel ends in joy, those who receive grace are humble and happy.

Acts 17 – God commands ALL men to repent (religious and idolatrous)

Romans 1:16 – Mark reminded us not to be ashamed of the Gospel we preach, and again to notice that it goes to the Jews (the religious people) and to the Greeks (the idolatrous people)

Steve’s second talk was entitled ‘Planting communities of Grace‘. He opened by reading 1 Timothy 3, and then briefly spoke about groups and the 5 stages of a ‘group’ defined by Dr. Bruce Tuckman:

1. Forming
2. Storming
3. Norming
4. Performing
5. Adjourning (he added this one at the end)

Steve stressed that the forming stage was the time to build a ‘dynamic of Grace’ into the structure, the DNA of the group. Then in to 1 Timothy 3:

The need for stand-out godliness (v.1-13)

• The principle to be ‘above reproach’ (in all things)
• Leaders should model real-life, practical holiness
• A love for strangers – “Grace with clothes on”

The means of stand-out godliness (v.16)

• ‘The Mystery’ – godliness revealed in Jesus
• Through relationships, lived out in real life
• Grace – to be loved and lived
• Chief of Sinners + a lover of grace and people

Where it comes together (v.15)

• In the church!

Steve then brought up two final thoughts:

• “litter the world with communities of grace”
• (point 5) Adjourning – keep going, keep replication, keep planting communities of grace

Steve gave two talks about grace in church planting – ‘Church Planter as a Minister of Grace’ and ‘Planting Communities of Grace’. Steve is involved in lots of different things; Crowded House in Sheffield, Radstock Ministries, and the Porterbrook Network who had partnered with Acts29 to put this day conference on. Here’s the first talk:

Church Planter as a Minister of Grace – 1 Timothy 1

Identity

• The Foremost of Sinners (v.15)
• A conviction not a comparison
• Paul’s past convicts him (v.13)
• Grace more than abundant (v.14-15)

Ministry

• Background – Ephesian heresy, Grace being turned into Law
• v.3-5, Paul confronts, instructs and teaches
• Encourages Timothy – to fight, contend, to pray indiscriminately (2:1)

Relationship between Identity and Ministry
Model Grace:

• You are an undeserving recipient of Prodigious Grace
• You don’t base ministry on performance (that’s legalism)
• You display humility in conflict and opposition
• Love the unlovely and unlovable
• Be kind an patient (2 Tim 2:24-26)
• Handle success and failure with grace
• We are trophies of grace – for HIS glory

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master; If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken, Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much;

An extract from Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If…’

Scott Thomas is an Elder at Mars Hill Church, Seattle and is the director of the Acts 29 church planting network. At the Dwell London conference he addressed the question – Am I a Church Planter? Scott introduced the session with two lists, and then 20 questions:

Top 5 issues faced at Acts 29 – Theology, Vision, Family, Calling, Character

Top 5 church-planter qualities (survey of NF leaders) – Leader/visionary, Missionary heart, Preacher, Generalist, Family man

20 Questions for a potential church planter

1. Am I a Christian?
2. Am I passionately in love with Jesus and is He the Lord of every area of my life?
3. Do I believe his word and does is affect my life deeply?
4. Am I Spirit-filled, Spirit-directed, Spirit-led, and Spirit-controlled?
5. Am I qualified as an elder? (above reproach – see Titus/Timothy)
6. Do I love the local church as the expression of a gospel community on mission?
7. Am I a missionary to the city? Am I sent for the advancement of the gospel in the city?
8. Do I have a clear vision for this new work?
9. Am I willing to pour myself out in obedience to the vision?
10. Am I healthy – physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually, relationally, maritally and mentally?
11. Am I the kind of leader many people will follow? Have I served as a church leader successfully?
12. Can I preach effectively?
13. Can I guard the doctrinal door with Biblical clarity and tenacious confidence?
14. Can I architect a new work with entrepreneurial skill?
15. Am I called to plant a church at this time and in this place?
16. Have my church leaders commended me for this calling?
17. Am I a hard worker? Am I persevering?
18. Am I adaptable to new people, places and concepts?
19. Can I raise the funds required for my family’s needs?
20. Am I humble enough to learn from other – particularly from those who have gone ahead of me in different areas?

Over the week at New Frontiers I’ve been going along to a series of 3 morning seminars led by Mark Driscoll entitled “Be Radical, Plant Radical Churches”. The structure of these have been for Mark to speak for around 15 minutes, drawing out a few issues, then that was followed by around 45 minutes of Q&A. Obviously because of the structure of the sessions I didn’t take extensive notes, but here’s a few little bits:

Session 1 – Mark spoke about family life, wives, elders and deacons

Session 2 – Mark spoke about the practicalities of church growth, starting new services, campuses and plants

Session 3 – Mark spoke again about elders, leadership and everything else

Here’s something I did write down, ‘a week in the life of Mark Driscoll’. Now it wasn’t always like this, there was a time when he did everything; finance, admin, visiting etc. But now, as Preaching Pastor he has a much more focused role:

Sunday – Preaching (live) 4 times a day, up at 6am, bed at 3am

Monday – Half day, time to exercise, a few meetings, time to plan week with Grace (his wife)

Tuesday – Breakfast with kids, Meetings all day

Wednesday – Goes off to a Christian retreat centre for silence, solitude, prayer and fasting

Thursday – Writing

Friday – Emails, Sermon preparation, Date night with Grace

Saturday – ‘Jammy day’ time to spend together as a family