On the 23rd March 2006, amazing facts were presented where in April 2004, 415 churches in Australia, which had utilised this tool had recorded phenomenon growth within a short span of time. In this period the church recorded a 15% increase in average worship attendance and amazingly it recorded a 225% increase in average small group attendance.
Running 5 national campaigns, this tool had been used by more than 1250 churches across the nation, which averaged 140 church attendances proving that it was not another American import suited for large churches.
The 5 purposes of your life and the goal of fulfilling it as spelled out by Pastor Rick Warren author of the multi-millions best seller book entitled ‘Purpose Driven Life’ and senior pastor of Saddleback church attracting over 10,000 people every Sunday Service was:
1. Worship – Centre their lives on God
2. Fellowship – Connect with other believers
3. Discipleship – Cultivate spiritual maturity. Adopt an ownership attitude and commit yourself to it.
4. Ministry – Contribute something back
5. Evangelism – Communicate God’s love to others
In order to use this tool successfully the presenter Deb Lynn, the national campaign coordinator emphasised the 5 foundation principals which were:
• Unified Prayer: The Bible said, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain." Months of prayer preparation precede this journey. This was an indispensable ingredient. Jesus said there was mountain-moving power in unified prayer.
• CONCENTRATED FOCUS: During 40 Days of Purpose, the entire church-every age group, every ministry, every small group or Sunday school class, and every worship service-focuses on the same thing together: God's purposes for our lives. It was amazing what happened when the church concentrated on the same truth at the same time.
•MULTIPLE REINFORCEMENTS: This journey centred around four vital habits that everyone needed to grow spiritually: the habit of weekly worship attendance, a daily quiet time, a weekly group Bible study, and a weekly Scripture memory verse. These would keep people growing long after 40 Days of Purpose was finished.
• BEHAVIORAL TEACHING: Each of the messages was designed to cause people to become "doers of the Word, and not hearers only." (James 1:22)
• EXPONENTIAL THINKING: This kind of thinking stretches your faith. It was thinking so big that you were forced to completely depend on God because you know you cannot reach your goal on your own power. This "faith factor" was what takes the 40 Days of Purpose out of the realm of "What we've always done" or "What we think we could do" and instead expects God to do something that's never been done before in your church.
Seeing bits of the 40 Days Purpose DVD, which would be included in all church/ministry kits one could see what drives Pastor Warren. On the DVD he gave a personal account of his last moments he shared with his father. Before dying his father who was physically very ill kept rising from his hospital bed and uttered the same words over and over. The words ‘must save one more for Jesus’ became the mantra for Pastor Warren life and was evident in everything he does.
Ms. Lynn emphasised the importance of prayer. She said that 40 Days Purpose was merely a tool and it could never substitute the amazing grace of God. Through prayer one could achieve far greater things then what one could hope.
Although noting that there had never been a church who tried this campaign and it had been a total disaster she warned about the aftermath. She explained that after the members experiencing the ‘spiritual high’ from the program, the church might not be able to accommodate this new growth, which could create tensions. She stressed that all participants must carefully study the Day 41 Booklet to ensure a ‘safe landing’ for these members.