Using A Biblical Basis For Church Planting
The Biblical Basis For Missions and Church Planting
Learning Objectives
1. The students will be able to explain five Biblical basis for evangelism and church planting.
2. The students will write three plans for doing evangelism and church planting.
3. The students will give three reasons to their church why supporting missionaries is important.
Introduction - A certain man read in Mark 16:15 that Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Sincerely wanting to be obedient to the Lord’s command, he raised hundreds of thousands of naira to travel to 143 different countries to preach the gospel. However, he misunderstood what God wanted him to do. Upon arriving in each country’s airport, he went into the town, stood in the middle of the largest market he could find, preached for one hour, and then left for his next destination.
After one year of traveling into every country he could gain a visa, the man came home and said;
``Now that I have completed what the Lord told me to do, I can go back to being a teacher and I will tell others to do as I have done!’’
That poor man was mis-guided. He failed to understand the Biblical mandate, the message, the models, and the methods for Christ’s great commission found in Matthew 28:19,20 which says:
``All power in heaven and earth is given to you. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age!’’
I. A Mandate for Evangelism and Church Planting
A. God called Abraham and made a covenant with him (Gen. 12:1-4) promising that He would bless him and all of his posterity (followers in faith).
B. Christ reinforced that mandate for his disciples in Matt. 28:19,20 where He emphasized going to all nations, not just to the Jews. In the original language all nations is ``Ta ethne’’ meaning every people.
1). The Lord expects us the gospel to be preached to every people group.
2). There should be a church for every people group.
Example - Today, it is estimated that there are 17,500 different people groups in the world. People groups are tribes, language groups, interest groups, castes or classes which see themselves as uniquely belonging to one another. For example, the Jarawa tribe of Plateau State are an unreached people group. Approximately, 5,000 of those people groups are yet to be reached with the gospel of Christ. Many of these unreached people groups are in countries like Nigeria, yet no one has to effectively reach them with the gospel!
One man in Plateau State was told about Jesus Christ by an EMS missionary and he said,
``Fine, I would like to meet the man. Does he live in Jos? Does he have a family? Where does he work? What tribe does he belong to?’’
Other people groups which were once reached with the gospel need to be re-evangelized because they have returned to idol worship, carnality, or secular materialistic humanism!
C. Acts 1:8 tells us that our source of power to be witnesses for Christ will be given to us in the person of the Holy Spirit.
D. In Matt. 9:36-38 Jesus gave us a mandate to pray as he looked to the multitudes as sheep without a shepherd and said, ``The harvest is plenteous, but the workers are few. Pray therefore, to the LORD OF THE HARVEST, that He would send forth workers into His fields!’’
1). God is a missionary God, Christ is a missionary Christ, and the Holy Spirit is a missionary Spirit!
2). The Lord expects us to be involved in bringing lost souls to him. We should not just spend our entire time solving people’s problems in the church.
3). The Lord tells us to ask the Lord to send more workers. It is God who convicts, leads, directs, and calls his evangelists, Pastors, teachers, and church planters into His field.
E. In John 15:16 Jesus said: ``You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you that you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit . . . that whatever you asked in my name it will be given to you.’’
1). Christ calls certain people to the ministry of evangelism, missions, and church planting. He correspondingly gifts them with the abilities to do His work.
2). Not just anyone can successfully do church planting and missionary work. You must be led by the Lord to do so.
3). We are called to preach, teach, and bring forth fruit.
Example - One missionary in Kangiwa Sokoto State had labored for 30 years seeing only 20 people come to Christ in his entire term. When he left, the station closed because no one was available to replace him. Years later, the chief, found several evangelistic tracts left by the missionary. After, reading them, the Holy Spirit convicted him to become a Christian. The next morning, he told all the people in the village about his decision. Many argued with him that it was just a demon that had tricked him into making a foolish decision, but he insisted that his decision to follow Christ as Lord and Savior was genuine.
Today there is a small church meeting in that village led by that chief.
Even though the missionary did not see the real reaping of his efforts, the seed had been sown through his 30 years of labouring. Jesus said,
``Do you not say, ’Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvest the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together . . . I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour.’’ (John 4:35-38)
F. God’s mandate for world evangelization is found in his creation (All human beings are responsible to fellowship with Him, give Him glory, do His will, and know Him). (I Cor. 1:9)
G. God’s mandate for evangelization is found in His character (His love, fellowship, authority, truth, holiness, honesty, compassion, mercy, and persistence. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance in Christ. (II Pet. 3:8,9)
H. God’s mandate for missions is found in His promises (Abrahamic covenant - ``For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ``Yes’’ in Christ . . . ’’ (II Cor. 1:20)
I. God’s mandate for evangelism is in Christ. (John 3:16)
J. God’s mandate for evangelism is in the Holy Spirit .
``But when He the Spirit of truth is come, He will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment . . .’’ (John 16:8)
K. God’s mandate for evangelism is in the church, His body, the church is under orders to evangelize until Christ returns.
II. The Message of World Evangelization, Missions, and Church Planting
A. Evangelism is defined as follows;
``To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe.!’’
B. There is one gospel message, but it may be expressed in different culturally appropriate ways.
Example - The apostles expressed the gospel in various ways:
1. Sacrificial lamb - The shedding and sprinkling of Christ’s blood.
2. Messianic - The breaking in of God’s promised Messiah and ruler.
3. A New legal system - The judge pronouncing the unrighteous forgiven and righteous . . .
4. A Personal Father - One reconciling his wayward people back into His family.
5. A Liberator - One coming to the rescue of the helpless.
6. A Shepherd - One who goes out to find lost sheep.
7. A Farmer - One who went out to sow his seeds.
8. A Fisherman - ``Let down your nets on the right side of the boat. And when they had done this, they enclosed such a great quantity of fish that their nets began to break!’’ (Jn. 21:6)
9. A Person Looking for a Lost Coin - One with a holy urgency about finding the lost!
C. The gospel is not to change, but the form in which it is communicated may vary to suit the needs of the hearers.
III. The Model For Evangelism, Missions, and Church Planting
A Model is an example for us to imitate or a pattern for us to follow. Christ is our model for evangelism, missions and church planting.
A. Identification - Christ came to the earth and became a man. He temporarily surrendered His rights as God and became 100% man while maintaining his 100% divinity.
``And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on the cross!’’ (Phil. 2:8)
B. Language - Christ learned to speak the language of the people. (John 1:14)
C. Culture - Christ learned the cultural aspects of communicating the gospel in a culturally relevant form. He taught fishermen through His life, His associations, His teachings, and His encounters with people’s problems.
D. Motivations - Christ learned what motivated people and said, ``Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’’ (Mt. 4:19) He motivated them with eternal incentives.
E. Soldier - Prepared for oppositions and rejection - Christ recognized that not everyone would accept his message.
F. Discipling - Christ appointed 12 that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach. (Mark 3:14)
G. Preaching - Christ showed the disciples how to preach, how to proclaim the gospel with clarity, simplicity, and boldness.
H. Teaching - Christ was the supreme Master teacher. . .’’In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’’ (Col. 2:3)
I. Missionary - ``Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus.’’ (Phil. 2:4,5)
J. Prophet - Christ said, ``I tell you, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish and be lost for eternity.’’ (Luke 13:5)
K. Pastor - Christ said, ``I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and they follow me.’’ ( John 10:11)
IV. Power for Evangelism, Missions, And Church Planting
Power means the authority, credibility, strength, energy, drive, motivation, influence, protection, enablement, facilitation, and intercession. These all come from the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and Christ!
A. An evangelist is helpless if he is to rely on his own power to do the work of a missionary. (II Cor. 3:5,6)
B. A missionary is extremely vulnerable to attack without the weapons of warfare supplied to us by God . . . ``For the weapons of our warfare are not from the flesh! (II Cor. 10:4) For our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the devils’ schemes, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil.’’ (Eph. 6:10-18)
1). Sword of the spirit - The Bible
2). Belt of truth - Honest Character
3). Breastplate of righteous - From Christ’s imputed righteousness.
4). Helmet of salvation - Assurance of salvation
5). Feet Fitted with Readiness of the Gospel - Training
6). Shield of Faith - Protect from the attacks of Satan
7). Prayer in the Spirit - Alertness, Dependency, and Hope!
Conclusion - The power we have for evangelism and missions is illustrated in the story of one man who had memberships in nine secret societies. This man used his powers to sneak into people’s homes, poisoning their food, setting fire to their houses, and listening to their conversations, with the aid of a charm that allowed him to become temporarily invisible.
One day when he was walking by a Pastor’s house in Bauchi with his invisible charm on, a Pastor said, ``Come here, I want to talk to you.’’ The man became frightened of the power of that Pastor since no one had ever seen him with his invisible girdle on before, so he ran away. The next day he came back to the Pastor’s house with his girdle reinforced with special powder, but again the Pastor said, ``Come here, I want to tell you about Jesus Christ’s power to forgive your sins!’’ The Pastor was able to see the man because of God’s greater power.
Two months later, the man found himself so convicted by the Holy Spirit about the terrible things that he had done, that he went to the Pastor’s house. The Pastor told the man that the only way he could make a genuine break from his old ways was to bring all his charms, idols, and secret society items to the Pastor’s house where they would burn them in public. The man hesitated, but consented. That day, the wicked man surrendered his life to Jesus Christ to become his Savior and Lord.
Soon after that, several people tried to kill the man, but they could not succeed. They took all five of his children away from him. They also took 3 of his four wives away. They also attempted to poison him. Some even tried to burn his house to the ground and steal his secret papers, but they were unsuccessful. One day, as the man was traveling to Jos on his machine, a lorry tried to run over him, but God caused a whirlwind to lift him over the top of the lorry placing him safely where he was put back on the ground. In the mean time, the lorry went into the ditch where the driver was killed instantly. God has delivered the man from death many times, since his conversion.
Now, this former evil man is preaching Christ, showing gospel films, and seeing hundreds of people become Christians!
