Ten Tips for Planting and Growing Churches - I Thes. 2:1-16
Illustration:We can thank God for the great work He is doing through the church planting movement of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist convention. Recently, it was reported that 1,751 churches were started in North American and 5,750 were started internationally. Forty church planting movements were started with one of these movements seeing more than 900 new churches begun in 2001. Other church planting movements are surfacing every few months: 30,000 believers in a Southeast Asian country, 100,000 believers swelling 800 new churches in eastern India; 20,000 coming to Christ over a four year period in one Chinese province; church starts doubling in six months in one Western European country; 383 churches starting in a single state in Brazil.
Let us look at some of the principles that we can learn so God can work His mighty works through us as well. Jesus said," He who believes in me the works that I do will He do also and greater works than these will he do because I go to the Father. And you can ask anything in my name and I will do it." (John 14:12-14)
1. BEGIN WITH PRAYER. Come before the Lord with praise, thanksgiving, confession and supplication as you seek to be used to help plant and grow a new church fellowship. Prayer is foundational to the planting and growing of all new church fellowships. It will be the quality of the church planter’s personal prayer life that will act as the catalyst for the prayers of the new fellowship. Paul taught the Thessalonicans by example that his power source came from the Lord. The great apostle showed the Thessalonicans a great resource that they could utilize to access a God who could provide them with all of their needs. When you are able to share this power source through prayer with the new group you will go a long ways to transferring the vision and momentum necessary for the leaders of the new fellowship. Ask the Lord to give you prayer partners who can intercede with and for your new fellowship. As you visit with people pray for their needs and ask them to pray for the needs of others in the community who can begin a fellowship of believers. Paul’s ministries always began with prayers that remembered the felt, perceived, real and spiritual needs of people. Paul wrote, "We always thank God for all of you mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by lvoe and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thes. 1:2,3) Ask, seek and knock and the doors to the hearts of people and homes will be opened to you by the Lord who promised that He would build His church and the gates of hell (all evil forces) would not be able to prevail against her expansion.
Illustration:When we pray, remember:
1. The love of God that wants the best for us.
2. The wisdom of God that knows what is best for us.
3. The power of God that can accomplish it.
William Barclay, Prodigals and Those Who Love.
2. ABUNDANTLY SOW THE GOSPEL’S SEED. When the seed f the gospel is spread to many people, homes and venues you will experience great fruit. Paul wrote, "He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully, but he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly." (2 Cor. 9:6,7) This applies to money as well as evangelism, outreach ministries and the general sowing of the gospel’s seed. Use mass evangelism, near neighbor evangelism, tract distribution, visitation, personal evangelism, children evangelism, film evangelism, video evangelism, special event evangelism, Bible study evangelism, music evangelism, vacation Bible school evangelism etc. Paul wrote, "That by all means I may win some." (I Cor. 9:19-22)Ask the Lord to help you use vivid testimonies as you ask for help from a mother church to use some of their seed families, youth and people with the gift of evangelism.
3. WORSHIP IN RELEVANT WAYS. Begin to worship the Lord in ways that bring to bear God’s greatness in ways that relate to the needs of the people. For example, many people are attracted to a fellowship where worship is done in ways that is contextual, need meeting and inspiring to the audience you seek to reach. When I did church planting in Nigeria for nineteen years we sought to have our worship services in the language of the local people. We used local instruments and musicians from the local community to make the worship services appeal to others in a contextual-appropriate and identifiable manner. Try to remove as many social-cultural obstacles as is possible for the people to worship the Lord in culturally appropriate, attractive and appealing ways.
4. HAVE A PASSION TO PLEASE GOD DESPITE OPPOSITION. Paul worked as to the Lord more than to men. He wrote "We dared to tell you the gospel in spite of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts." (I Thes. 2:2-4) People who are passionate and fearless are the ones that God multiplies to plant and grow churches. Those who are going to be involved with the starting of new church fellowships will suffer persecution. Paul’s fervency sprang from a deep passion to please the Lord and to help rescue people from eternity in hell. Paul knew that God is most pleased when he sees one sinner repent and turn from darkness to light to serve Him.
5. MULTIPLY THROUGH THE TESTIMONIES OF NEW BELIEVERS. Paul utilized the excitement of the new believers in Thessalonica to bring others to saving faith in Christ. He wrote, "And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia - your faith in God has become known everywhere." (I Thes. 1:7,8)Ask the Lord to help you utilize lay people to multiply the God’s glory, kingdom and church through the exciting witness of new believers. Their enthusiasm is often the catalyst that helps the church grow fastest through the network of their family, friends and contacts in the community.
6. PROVIDE ON THE JOB TRAINING FOR LAY LEADERS. Paul knew how to entrust to faithful people through a mentoring process that would multiply the growth of his new life in Christ. (2 Tim. 2:2) Bring lay leaders in to positions of responsibility as soon as possible so that they can learn to assume the tasks of leading the praise and worship team in singing. Trust the Lord to give you helpers in visitation, evangelism and follow-up ministries. Eventually assign lay leaders new areas where they can begin new fellowships in the community where new prayer meetings, Bible studies and share groups can meet for mutal edification, evangelism and encouragement. The early church in Acts 2:41-47 met daily in the houses of the godly lay people and God added to their number daily those who were being saved. Paul utilized this prescriptive model from the early church as a guideline for planting and growing many new fellowships. He guided the new lay leaders through worship, prayer, giving, serving, and teaching ministries that were lay led. The mutual caring for those who were in need attracted many new people as they heard and saw how the new fellowship was concerned about meeting holistic needs of people in the community.
7. BEGIN HOUSE OR CELL FELLOWSHIPS WITH A PERSONALIZED LOVE FOR INDIVIDUALS. Paul encouraged the new fellowships to begin small where people would have personalized care and attention to their individual needs. This is essential as Paul wrote, "As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well because you had become so dear to us." (I Thes. 2:6-8)God blessed and multiplied Paul’s ministries because people knew that he cared about them individually according to their needs. A gentle mother cares deeply for her children to a point of being self-sacrificing. The Thessalonicans sensed this in Paul’s concern and so the love of Christ overflowed from his life to the entire fellowship of the new church. This agape love is patient and kind does not seek its own interests and is not easily angered, but bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things." (I Cor. 13:4-7) Ask the Lord to help your new fellowship be birthed out a personalized love for people right where they live.
8. BASE YOUR AUTHORITY ON THE BIBLE. Paul wrote, "We also thank God continually because you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is the word of God, which is at work in you who believe." (I Thes. 2:13) Believe that the word of God has the power to transform lives and instill in them the faith that is necessary to plug in to the power of God. Do not think that you have to do more than just stay faithful to teaching, preaching, and living by the power of the word of God. Point people to reliance on God and His word as the chief source of their fruit. Do not rely on fancy presentations or methods, but the Bible for your life source and nourishment and source of truth, love and grace. David wrote, "Blessed is the man who delights in the law of the Lord for he will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in its season. His leaf will not wither and in whatever he does he will prosper." (Psa. 1:1-6)Most fellowships that do not grow fail because their members are not staying in a close abiding relationships with God through His word and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit for their directions.
9. ASK GOD TO HELP MUTLIPLY LOCAL LEADERS. Paul wrote, "For you brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews." (I Thes. 2:14)Ask the Lord to use you to multiply the planting and growing of many churches through a church planting movement that is conducted through local lay leaders. Help people realize that local leaders are the ones who have vested interests in their communities. These are the people who know the needs of their neighbors the best and will be able to work through the natural networks of communication that exist in the neighborhoods. Many of the lay leaders will be bi-vocational and will come from a general cross section of the population. Work with the people that God brings to you, do not discriminate. Eventually, the group may grow big enough where it is able to employ a paid Pastor, but wait until the fellowship starts to evidence both qualitative and quantitative growth. Let the growing edge of your fellowship be seen through its outreach to the lay people in the community using lay leaders. This utilization of lay leaders provides for the biggest pool of people power. This way you are not dependent on seminary trained people to advance the work.
10. OVERCOME THE OPPOSITION WITH GOOD INSTEAD OF BEING OVERCOME BY EVIL. Expect opposition as you seek to advance the kingdom of light into the kingdom of darkness. All those who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Paul wrote, "You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews. Who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. In their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they might be saved." (I Thes. 2:14,15) Bless those who persecute, bless and do not curse. Leave room for the wrath of God. Take full assurance and appropriate the promise, "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome, over-power and prevail over evil with by initiating good by taking coffee cups to the people in the community, giving out tracts to people in your area and inviting people to special food and fellowship events where people can celebrate the goodness of a special holiday. Ask the Lord for the wisdom to do things that can best reach your community and He will provide you with all the creativity you will need. He is more eager to see the lost won than any human being. Know that there is a price to pay for being a representative of Jesus Christ and His church. All of the apostles gave their life as martyrs for the sake of the gospel. The very word for witness in the New Testament is martyr in the Greek. Yet, church planting movements often emerge throughout the world in areas where conversion to Christ is not easy or is it especially socially beneficial. A church planting movement is a rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment.
Yet, the gospel is the power of God for salvation for ALL who will believe both to the Jew and to all the Gentiles. (Rom. 1:16) Let us know that greater is He who is in us than the one who is in the world. (I JOhn 4:4) Let us put on the full armor of God so we will be able to stand in the evil day. We are assured of the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (I John 5:4,5) We can find strong support in the testimony of Jesus and the early church that experienced persecution for the sake of righteousness and were greatly blessed. (Matt. 10:17-25)Jesus said, "But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Rejoice that the Lord will fight the battles and give you the victory through every trial, adversity and obstacle.
Conclusion:David Garrison writes, "The strategy coordinator began with a small core believers in Yanyin Churches in China whom he discipled and then trained in basic church planting methods. The missionary calls his church planting method a POUCH approach. POUCH is an acronym. P stands for participative Bible study/worship groups, describing the type of cell group meetings through which seekers are led to faith and new believers continue as a church afterwards. O refers to obedience to God’s word as the sole measure of an individual’s success or church’s success. U refers to unpaid and multiple lay or bi-vocational church leaders. C stands for cell churches rarely exceeding 15 members before reproducing into new groups. H indicates home or storefronts as the primary meeting places for these cell churches. Each of the five characteristics contributed to the reproducibility of the churches in a manner that did not rely upon outside funding, technology or initiation. The strategy coordinator instilled in these initial converts a vision for reaching all of Yanyin with the gospel. He shared with them his research on where the various unreached people groups of the region lived and assured them that Christ has equipped them with all they needed to reach the entire region with the gospel. May Lord help us to follow their multiplying faith and obedience!
