The Big Idea, The Book

This book was absolutely remarkable. After sifting through most of the key points throughout the book, I took away lot of insight on the importance of the BIG IDEA. Dave Ferguson and Jon Ferguson delivered key insight on several topics such as the importance of small groups and community, how to build a team in ministry, how to map out message series, teaching techniques, and the significance of innovation and creativity in church. All of these components are built around presenting one BIG IDEA at a time.

One thing that stood out to me was the realization that the average American deals with information overload on a daily basis, from TV ads, radio ads, magazines, conversations, etc. Even church services on any given Sunday can be nothing more than added information soon to be forgotten into the obis of information overload.Creating the type of church service experience that transcends just being added info is what this book addresses on a very informative, practical, and applicable scale.

Here are a few snippets from the book…

“We have bombarded our people with too many competing little ideas, and the result is a church with more information and less clarity than perhaps ever before.”

“The effective teacher is like a person who takes a strong rope, ties one end around the big ideas of Scripture, ties the other end around the major themes of life, and then through the power of the Spirit struggles to pull the two together.”

“What if we gave people one clear and simple Big Idea and asked them to put it into action.”

“If we send people home with a lot of little ideas, we diffuse the energy; but with the Big Idea, we create missional velocity and maximize the impact!”

“The Big Idea is relentless in making sure that people are not just getting information but experiencing transformation.”

“We want to maximize impact. I have a personal conviction: the most important truths ought to be communicated in the most unforgettable ways. Big Idea helps us accomplish that.”

“The Big Idea is simple… it’s a basic move that involves the decision to link whatever happens in its weekend services to one major idea and to link the environments surrounding those services as well.”

“With the Big Idea, there are no more late Saturday nights searching the internet for sermon ideas; no more begging God to please give us something important to say.”