Garden City Values – Multiply

As we start 2026…DNA Series – Who are we as a church – Values. 

Value 1: Gospel – We prioritize the gospel above all. The gospel – The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus according to the Scriptures. (1Cor.15:3-4)

Value 2: Reach – We do whatever it takes to reach all people. The mission belongs to every follower of Jesus willing to do whatever it takes to reach all peoples for Jesus because he is worthy.

Value 3: Disciple – We make whole disciples who love God and others. God working in us to make us look more like him. Identities – worshipper, family member, servant, steward, and witness.

Today – Last week/value – Value 4: Multiply – We multiply disciples, leaders, and churches.

Intro: Multiplication – Two options: 1) 10M RM (Hypothetical.) 2) 1RM and I double it each day. – Day 1 – 2RM, Day 2 – 4RM. Day 3 – 8RM. Day 4 – 16RM… Which would you take? Well option 1 sounds good – 10M RM is a lot of RM. But option 2 – 2.15B RM! So if you chose option 1, you’d have 2.14B RM less! – (See – You should have paid attention in math class. Multiplication is important!)

But why multiplication for us, the church? Where is it in the Bible? Better question is – Where is multiply not in Scripture. It’s throughout – from the very beginning to the very end… (Hang with me…)

In the beginning – Gen – Very first chapter – God created everything from nothing, including man. – And what was his command to them? Be fruitful and multiply! Ge. 1 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Multiply – One of the original mandates for man. Purpose – To fill the earth and have dominion over it – as image bearers – reflecting God’s dominion over all creation as its Creator. But also – so that the knowledge of the glory of God would – multiply and – cover the earth as the waters cover the seas. (Hab. 2:14)  – So that the earth would be filled with image bearers who know and worship God, who lived in loving relationship with him. – See this repeated and echoed throughout the rest of Scripture…

– Abraham – God’s covenant promise to Abraham – all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. Offspring – more than the stars… Ge. 15 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Not just biologically, but spiritual offspring who have the same faith in the same God as Abraham who believed. – Blessed.

–Exodus – God’s people are enslaved in Egypt but they kept multiplying. Ex. 1 7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. 8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad.

God made his people fruitful and they multiplied even under slavery and oppression. One of the most famous lines in the Bible – Let my people go. Freed – For what purpose? To worship God.

–Promise Land – Dt. 6 1 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. (Worship – ) 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

-David – God’s covenant with David. 2 Sam 7 11 Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. In this incredible covenant – God promises David not only more offspring, but the one who will come and establish the kingdom forever – Jesus. And he will establish a house for God with people from every nation to worship him.

-Coming exile for sin. Restoration – Through the Suffering Servant Isa. 53 – Isa. 54 2“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. – Hard things are coming, but so is restoration.

-In Exile – Jer. 29 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. While exiles, multiply and be agents of grace in dark places.

Jesus – The Kingdom of Heaven – Mustard Seed/Leaven. Mt. 13 31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

These parables show the multiplying growth nature of the kingdom of God – it may start out small and seem insignificant – but it has power and grows to something far beyond what you would think possible.

And after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, before ascending into heaven…Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jesus wants his disciples to go and make more disciples of all the earth. He wants them to multiply disciples. And then you have the book of Acts…look at the early church days…

-Church – Acts 2:41, 47 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls…47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 4:4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

Acts 5:14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women

Acts 6:7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Acts 11:21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

Acts 12:24 But the word of God increased and multiplied.

Acts 14:1 Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

Acts 16:5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

All of this is happening with a lot of persecution – You would think the church would shrink…It would give in to fear and the movement would be stomped out, especially without Jesus there. But…

Opposition – Oftentimes a catalyst for gospel and church growth and multiplication. IF the people of God don’t shrink back in fear, but follow God with faith. If they will keep their eyes fixed on Jesus and not on their circumstances.

Hard truth: If things are too easy, too comfortable – which is what we all want isn’t it? I don’t want a hard life. I don’t want ministry and making disciples to be faced with hardships – Oftentimes, we get distracted by the comforts of life and we forget that we are sent to live on mission to make disciples.

-Revelation – The multitudes – Worshipping. Rev. 7 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Multiply – All over the Bible…Summary: Author/Pastor (ST) – God’s plan and purpose from the beginning was to have a people for himself to show his glory to and a people to show his glory through.

To show his glory to – Out of the overflow of God’s Trinitarian love – Father, Son, Spirit. He wanted to share with his creation. To know and experience him. To see and behold and worship his glory. – That’s the most loving thing he could do – to share his glory and his perfect love that existed within the Godhead with us. We would find life and joy.

To show his glory through – We, having been made in the image of God – unlike all the rest of creation, including the angels, are supposed to be vessels who like God reflect and show off God’s glory.

And this same God is continuing his work today through his church. He’s doing it in our church. And he’s calling us to walk in faithfulness with him so that he can multiply his glory here in KL and the nations.

Early Church vs. Now – What is different? What did they have that we don’t? Are we working with less? – Well sure, the apostles saw and encountered Jesus physically, in person – Blessed are those who believe and haven’t. -They grew by the thousands in a day. 

Why? How? – Word, Prayer, Holy Spirit AND Faith. We have everything they did! And God is still the same!

Power of Multiplication – Doesn’t need much to start or much time for powerful effect.

Summit – 300 – 20k+. 2002 – PJD came to the church after the church had gone through a lot of hardship. A church that was once almost a megachurch – shrunk down to 300. You’d think the ending was clear and inevitable. But PJD came in and gave a vision for the gospel and the nations. And God used and worked through the faith of 300+ people who were willing to do whatever it takes to reach their city and the nations – And less than 25yrs later – 20k+. Multiplied.

We replanted as Garden City Church last year after several different hardships in the church’s history, most recently covid. And a church that was once ~200 went to meeting entirely online. And as we all experienced – The numbers each week – Dropped. But the constant is and always has been that God is incredibly faithful. Far beyond our faithfulness to him.

In 2022 – Church opened up with after covid – 35 people. God has moved and this church has multiplied! Last weekend – 290 people on a “normal” nonholiday (Easter/Christmas) weekend. Kids ministry is bursting at the seams. All in less than 3yrs. The church is growing and multiplying! We should be excited about that!

You see anything similar with Summit and Garden City? I’m not saying we are the Summit or that we are going to grow to 20k+. I’m certainly not PJD. But I’m not saying we’re not going to grow either! Not because I believe we are… But because I believe God wants to show his glory to us and show his glory through us here in KL and in the nations.

Necessity of Multiplication – Why it’s needed. Why it matters.

Global Lostness Statistics – Over 8b people in the world. ~2.4b identify as Christian. For simplicity’s sake, let’s just say 2.4b are Christians. That means at least 5.6b people are definitely not Christian. That’s incredibly sad. It’s overwhelming. Many are devoutly seeking God. Many are without any kind of access to the gospel. Completely unacceptable.

KL Lostness Statistics – The metro area est. population is ~9m with a population growth of 225k people/yr. -10m by 2030. On the high side, ~6.4% identify as Christian. That means, just to keep up with the population growth, forget the 9m people who are already here for a second, we would need to plant 60 churches of 250 people every year. And if we were to increase  the percentage of people identifying as Christian to just 10%, – low – then we would need to plant…over 1.5k churches. And if all the numbers confuse you, then the only thing you need to know is that we need to plant a lot of new churches and reach a lot of people.

We cannot effectively reach people at the rate we need to by addition. Has to be by multiplication.

People dying every day. Thousands every year. – Not just in the world but our neighbors right here in our city – without even the opportunity to hear the gospel and know Christ. 

Urgency – Every day. AND more importantly – Jer – Fire in our bones that we just can’t keep in because the gospel is that wonderful. It’s all consuming – thoughts, hearts, being transformed – So it’s naturally just coming out of us. 

Accessibility of Multiplication – This is a big vision. I’m just so small. I’m just one person. So insignificant in the grand scheme of things and all of the greatness of God and his sovereign plans. – True. But not entirely…

WY1 – Who’s Your One? Who’s the one person you are praying God saves this year? Who’s the one person you are going to faithfully pray for and share the gospel with this year? Who is close to you but far from God? Where have you been sent? 

May not seem like an effective strategy…1 is so small. But, if you reach one person this year, and then next year you reach another and the one you reached reaches another, and then year 3, year 4, year 5. 20 years later from now – Billions of people will have their eternities changed.

Now start with the 200+ people in this room. If we all reach one this year, and we and our one reach another next year, and so on. In 10 years, this city will look radically different. In 20 years, the nations will look different. Heaven will be different.

So you might not think you’re all that significant in reaching the nations. But without the one, multiplication doesn’t happen. And with multiplication, you can have exponential growth.

God can/will use the faithfulness of Garden City to change the eternity for the nations. I believe that because my confidence is in a God who desires to use his people preaching the gospel to save the nations.

Disciples – Definition – Disciple – Disciple-Making. Mt. 4:19 – Jesus – Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. I will make you multiply. Identities – Witness – Multiply.

We are always multiplying something. Discipling in something. Disciples of something. Parenting.

Jesus is going to build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail. Ps. Larry Osborne – Gates are not an offensive weapon. They are defensive. The gospel is an offensive weapon. 

The only question is, will we be part of it?

Leaders – Well, this doesn’t apply to me. I’m not a leader and I don’t want to be a leader. I don’t have what it takes. – Leadership is not a position. Leadership is not a title. Leadership is not about power. Or having people serve you. 

Leadership is influence – Often through servanthood. – Jesus. Mk. 10:45 – The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. He had every right to be served. But he humbled himself and became a servant.

Crawford Loritts – Leadership as an Identity (The Four Traits of Those Who Wield Lasting Influence)

1. Brokenness – Desperate need for God, Surrendered to God, Strength in weakness, Discouragement
2. Uncommon Communion – His Resources, Presence, Direction
3. Servanthood – Authentic Humility, Power of Sacrifice
4. Radical, Immediate Obedience – Endurance, Faithfulness

How many of these have to do with – Personality, Gifts, Skills, Stage Presence, Education, Experience, or Aura? None! Are some of these things helpful sometimes? Sure. But you can have all of these and be a terrible leader.

But if you have the 4 – Jesus – then you have the foundation for becoming a great leader. IOW – Becoming a leader, developing as a leader, is at its core becoming a more mature disciple of Jesus and using your influence – which oftentimes comes through failures – to help others along in their walk with Christ.

What is worth imitating in your life as you follow Jesus? Nothing? – Not a problem with your leadership, but your discipleship. Grow as a disciple. You cannot be a disciple of Jesus and not make disciples. Contradiction. (I’m a golfer – but I don’t play golf.) Becoming a leader is becoming a disciple-making disciple. And that’s who we want to be as a church. Disciples who make disciples.

Timothy – While we were gone this summer – Who’s going to do…It’s going to create an opportunity for someone who maybe wasn’t already serving to step in and help. 2 Services – Consequence. I want to serve every weekend.

2 Services – Creates more opportunities for people to use their gifts. To serve. To be developed. To raise up leaders. To reach more people. Opportunities for young people, people who are unsure about stepping in, people who don’t want to take a spot from someone else. Creates spaces for everyone here to meaningfully get connected.

Churches – The local church is God’s plan A for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Paul – Missionary journey – Didn’t just share the gospel – Planted churches. (Garden City – 3 this year.)

Summit – You know what’s even more amazing about Summit? How many people Summit has sent out – Hundreds/Thousands – Disciples, Leaders, Church Planters. And here’s the crazy thing – More people gather at Summit Church Plants all around the world than at Summit every weekend by A LOT. – From the US to Canada, PR, DR, London, Nairobi, and even to KL. – Multitudes from the nations.

Problem – After Ge. 3. Because of our sin – heaven was going to be pretty empty. Heaven – no sin/bad/broken/unclean. Even the OT saints were saved by their faith on the basis of what Jesus was going to do to save them. But if Jesus had not come – There would have been no one for God to share his glory with in heaven. But…

Jesus came to show his love and glory to us – through his perfect life, death, burial, and resurrection – that by him, through him, we might be saved. And he desires to show his glory through us who have trust in him for eternal life – that the nations might see and know his glory and love for them.