F01 God’s Heart and the Four Fields
List of the Online Lessons: A B C D E F G H
F01 God’s Heart and the Four Fields
In 2009, I spent three weeks in India. I saw a small part of a huge movement that had 100,000 home fellowships centered around the Word of God and the living Jesus. I spoke with Alex Abraham, the initiator of the movement. He shared an illustration of the simple principles that had led the movement to where it was. We call it “Four Fields” or “The heart of God and the four fields.” It’s the blueprint modeled by the Lord Jesus and developed by the disciples in the book of Acts.
I will give you a brief overview here. In the following lessons I will describe each segment more in detail. This will help us to see bigger picture of where we are going, not just the individual activities that we’ve talked about so far.
0. GOD’S HEART
Everything started in God’s heart. The idea to create humans started in God’s heart. God’s heart watched the great Fall in Eden. The way to save lost people, through the sacrifice of Jesus, was also born in God’s heart. Knowing the Father’s heart intimately is a tremendous source of motivation and strength for any spiritual ministry. Evangelism is not the idea of a Christian enthusiast. The life-giving Good News comes straight from the heart of God! When we encourage Christians to share Jesus with their unbelieving friends, it springs from the heart of God. The Heavenly Father truly cares about lost people!
1. EMPTY FIELD
Jesus often used agricultural themes in His teaching. This picture is inspired by a farmer going out into an empty field. The field is intended for sowing, but nothing useful has been sown there yet. The farmer’s entry into the field is very significant: he must be physically present to be able to sow. This is the farmer’s connection with the field. Our ministry begins by thinking about people who need to hear the wonderful News of Jesus. We create our relational map and then pray for the people who surround us and for pathways into their hearts. This is also where our first contact with them takes place. It’s a representation of our connection with them.
2. SOWING
The next picture is of sowing. The farmer abundantly sows the seed of God’s Word. Practically, we ask: How do we get to spiritual matters in our conversations? Which illustration of the Gospel is effective for our people? In what ways do we communicate the Good News? This is where we want our George to catch a glimpse of living Jesus and have the opportunity to respond to Him.
3. GROWTH
The third field shows growth. The seed of God’s Word is sprouting. It is a time of watering and nurturing. In the spiritual arena, we care for the person who has just received Jesus. We encourage the development of his new trust in Jesus and try to help him reach the next generation of disciples.
4. COLLECTING THE HARVEST
The fourth stage is gathering the harvest. What we have sown is now being multiplied! We need to gather the harvest. In practice, this will lead us to build new communities that we started already with our Georges when we invited them for Discovery.
5. MULTIPLICATION
Finally, there is a circle of arrows in the middle: repeated reproduction or multiplication. Here we think about developing initiators and leaders who will expand the whole ministry. This aspect affects all four fields.
We talk to leaders, people who have that “drive.” This diagram helps them understand the larger context of the movement, where it’s going, and why we are learning these elements. The picture of God’s heart and the four fields is also very useful for strategic planning, for mentoring or coaching, and for evaluation and debriefing – to keep us oriented where we are and where we are going. In the next lessons, you’ll hear five-minute descriptions of the individual parts.
Lord Jesus, thank You for wonderfully thinking through your ministry so that we can learn from You…