How To Use The "4D Apostolic Framework" For Growth

Inside The Local Church

Author

Jacob Schmelzer
April 25, 2024

Yesterday I sat down with a dear friend who is an incredible man of God and pastors in the same city as me…

And we had a strategy day together.

We used what I call the “4D Apostolic Framework” for helping him get a plan to grow his church.

More on that in a minute…

First…the word “Apostle” gets thrown around pretty loosely these days…

But I’m going to use it anyways because it’s Biblical and valuable!

I think one of the key ideas found in Ephesians 4 is how a healthy, growing church comes to be…

And it doesn’t come from nothing!

It comes from the 5X gifts: Apostolic, Prophetic, Evangelistic, Pastoral, and Teaching.

I often think about the Apostle Paul traveling all around the Mediterranean world planting churches, teaching doctrine, and establishing leadership.

And I think that gives us a great look at what true apostolic ministry looks like.

Strategy, structure, order, and establishment.

So how do we activate this in the local church?

That’s where the 4D process comes in.

It stands for:

1) Dream - 2) Define - 3) Design - 4) Deploy

What’s the God-sized vision for your church? What’s the “reason” and what is your “season” in ministry? Dream it!

Now define it. Write it down. Make it plain. Use real numbers. How many leaders do you need? How much money? How many groups?

Define it.

Then design it.

Look at your numbers and goals and reverse engineer it.

What does it take to go from “here” to “there?”

Now deploy it!

The best plan in the world means nothing if you don’t do it.

This is apostolic work.

Dream - Define - Design - Deploy

This framework is POWERFUL.

It requires you to pray and hear from God and get a vision.

It requires you to think big picture.

So go grab a pen and paper and get to work.

It’s time to think 4D!

Believing God’s best for you,

Pastor Jake

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