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I fi nished this book with an emotion I have rarely felt as a reader and
reviewer: regret that it was not longer. Th e Big Idea shows how to do lit-
tle large, and with mega impact. Th e authors deserve a prize for g iving
their readers a maximum return on a minimum investment of time and
money. I predict (and hope for) many more Big Ideas. I’ll be recommend-
ing this book to so many p eople that I’ll be doing my part contributing to
their church’s “fun fund.”
— L eonard Sweet, Drew University,
George Fox University, wikiletics.com
Th e Big Idea is the best book for church leaders I’ve read in a long time. It
stretched my mind while giving me a step-by-step ministry-altering appli-
cation. Every ministry leader and church planter needs to read this book.
— Craig Groeschel, Founder and
Senior Pastor, LifeChurch.tv
Th e Big Idea is a book you need to read. Whether you adopt all of its ideas
or just a few, it will bring increased focus, clarity, and life change to your
ministry. For nearly twenty years, my own church has benefi ted immea-
surably from applying just one aspect of their vision (tying our small
group curriculum to the weekend message). Th e team at Community
Chris tian and the NewTh ing Network give us a model that takes church-
wide ministry focus to new levels of innovation and collaboration.
— Larry Osborne, Lead Pastor,
North Coast Church
Th e Big Idea resonates with me to the point of conviction. A challenge
to pastors and teachers to quit creating “pew potatoes” by bombarding
families and communities in any given week with multiple messages
they don’t have time to put into action on their journeys as Christ fol-
lowers. Th e Big Idea off ers a start in fulfi lling what James desires for
us — not merely to listen to the Word, and so deceive ourselves, but to
do what it says.
— Randy Frazee, Lead Pastor, Willow Creek
Community Church
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Dave Ferguson is a change agent. Every time I hear what he says or read
what he writes, it challenges the way I think. Th e Big Idea is an approach
to preaching that is as ancient as the parables of Christ, but it will revo-
lutionize the next generation of preachers.
— Mark Batterson, Lead Pastor,
National Community Church
Th e Big Idea is huge. Big impact. Big insights. Big tools. Big practical
learnings. Th e way forward for growing churches to drive home God’s
truth into all of their attenders each week to grow them stronger in the
faith. It’s big, fresh, and told in a winsome way by one of America’s great
young leaders, Dave Ferguson. I always learn when I hang around Dave
and the team at Community Christ ian. I encourage you to do the same
through Th e Big Idea.
— Dave Travis, Executive Vice President,
Leadership Network
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The Leadership Network Innovation Series
Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging
Missional Church, Mark Driscoll
The Multi-Site Church Revolution: Being One Church in Many
Locations, Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird
Other titles forthcoming
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focus the message — multiply the impact
DAVE FERGUSON,
JON FERGUSON, and ERIC BRAMLETT
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The Big Idea
Copyright © 2007 by Dave Ferguson
All rights reserved under International and Pan -American Copyright Conventions. By payment of
the required fees, you have been granted the non -exclusive, non-transferable right to access and
read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down
loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage
and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known
or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
AER Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-31396-0
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ferguson, Dave, 1962-
The big idea : focus the message, multiply the impact / Dave Ferguson, Jon
Ferguson, and Eric Bramlett.
p. cm. — (The leadership network innovation series)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-27241-0
ISBN-10: 0-310-27241-6
1. Mission of the church. 2. Christianity and culture. 3. Church and the world.
4. Communication — Methodology. 5. Communication — Religious
aspects — Christianity. 6. Information technology — Religious aspects — Christianity.
I. Ferguson, Jon. II. Bramlett, Eric. III. Title.
BV601.8.F47 2007
253 — dc22
2006025104
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New
International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this book
are offered as a resource to you. These are not intended in any way to be or imply an
endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for the content of these sites
and numbers for the life of this book.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy,
recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior
permission of the publisher.
06 07 08 09 10 11 12 • 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Introduction: Idea Overload! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
PART 1: Little Ideas or the Big Idea?
1. No More Chris tians! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2. Communities of Transformation, Not Information. . . . . . 31
3. Creating Missional Velocity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
PART 2: What’s the Big Idea?
4. The Genius of the “And”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5. Changing Churches One Big Idea at a Time . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
PART 3: Create Your Own Big Idea
6. Creating Your One-Year Big Idea Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
7. Implementing Your Big Idea Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
8. The Two Most Important Players in the Big Idea. . . . . . . 115
9. The Big Idea Creative Team Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
10. The Big Idea Teaching Team Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
11. The Implicit Big Idea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
PART 4: A Really Big Idea
12. Creating and Reproducing Big Idea Networks . . . . . . . . . 185
Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
About the Publisher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Share Your Thoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
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Description:`The Big Idea: Focus the Message - Multiply the Impact' is a result of the observation of the team members of the Community Christian Church in the Chicago area that people are overloaded with so many little ideas that they are too confused and overloaded to implement the Big Idea. They endeavored t
