Whenever we have done the Healthy Church Survey, there is one question which appears on the pastors survey. The question is, “Has this church planted another church.” I always answer “yes” to that question, but always have in my mind that it happened a long time ago. In the 60’s, our church planted four other churches, which now make up what is known in the EMC as Region #6. Each church was started for different reasons. Of the four churches, Roseisle and Morris were started because an opportunity was seen for spreading the gospel and building the church. Church planting was prompted by need, opportunity and obedience.
When I fill out this question, I often think, “that was about 40 years ago, what about now?” Should we think about starting a church again? If we did, what would prompt us?
I have a dream. My dream is that we as a church would send a team to plant a church in an un-reached people group. If this dream is not God’s will for us, it should not happen. If we do not share commitment to this dream, it will not happen. Last week, we began to think about this dream. We talked about the need in the world for people to meet Jesus. As we realized that there are many in the world who do not have access to the knowledge of Jesus, I hope that our hearts were stirred to think about our involvement. This Sunday, I would like to continue to think with you about this dream and specifically to think Biblically about God’s plan for the church and for building the church. Then next week I would like to think with you about how we will seek God to discern His leading for us.
Make Disciples!
I think we all agree that God has given us the assignment to go and make disciples. We get this understanding from the great commission which Jesus gave to all of His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20.
Jesus had completed his mission. He had died for the sins of the world and risen in victory over sin and death. Now He was about to ascend into heaven. As a parting word, one we should take seriously because it is a parting word, He said to the disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This word is filled with promise and prediction. The promise of Jesus’ authority and presence and the prediction of the end of the age. In the context of this support and hope, there is an imperative, the only imperative in the passage, which is, “make disciples!” Under the authority of Jesus, which is an authority which extends over all the universe, those who belong to him are called to make disciples. The process of making disciples begins with the task of baptizing them, which is intended as a public symbol of identification with Jesus Christ. This involves the work of evangelism, that is, making the name of Jesus known so that people can believe in Him and indicate their belief through baptism. The further process of making disciples is the task of teaching them everything Jesus commanded. In other words, to make disciples is to teach people to be followers of Jesus. This is the work of Christian education, of nurturing people to mature as followers of Jesus. This command is to be carried out as we go into all nations.
This is foundational, but it is important to lay this solid foundation. Do we agree that this is Jesus commission to us? Do we agree that He wants us to make disciples? Do we agree that this is God’s will for our congregation today? Do I hear any “amen’s” of agreement? If we agree, then we can go on to explore what that might mean.
Establishing Groups Of Disciples
As the disciples began to fulfill this commission, how did they do it? Scripture reveals that they did it by establishing groups of disciples, that is, churches. Why did it happen this way? Why is the church so important to the plan God has for building His kingdom?
The NT Pattern
There is no doubt that as the disciples began to make disciples, they did so by establishing churches.
The beginning of the task of making disciples occurred on the day of Pentecost. It was necessary for the Holy Spirit to come first in order to lead the mission. When he came, Peter stood up to preach the first sermon of the Christian era. When he had finished preaching, the people were ready to respond. Many of them had seen Jesus and had heard of all the things that had happened and when Peter’s Spirit inspired message explained all these things to them, they were ready and responded quickly. On that first day, 3000 responded to the call to follow Jesus. The disciples began to do exactly what Jesus had commissioned them to do. These 3000 were baptized. Then the process of teaching them all things began. How did it happen?
Acts 2:42-47 tells us. We read that these new believers, “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
What is evident from the very beginning is that the work of making disciples included the establishment of the church.
As we read on in Acts, we see more of the same things happening. People came to Jesus and were taught the truth about Jesus. In some cases, it was individuals alone, like the Ethiopian eunuch, but for the most part, the story of Acts is the story of the growth and spread of the church.
A further example of this movement is found in Acts 14:21-28. Paul and Barnabas had been sent out by the church in Antioch. They went throughout the region of Asia and people were brought to know Jesus. For example, in Acts 14:21 it says that, “They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples.” They went to a number of places and when they had reached the end of their journey, they returned to visit each of the groups of disciples and we read in 14:22 that they strengthened the disciples and in verse 23 we read that they appointed elders. In other words, wherever they had spread the news about Jesus, they established groups of disciples called churches.
As we go on in Acts we see the same pattern repeated over and over again. In Acts 15 we read of a gathering of church leaders to discuss a difficult theological issue. Representatives came from the church in Jerusalem and the church in Antioch and the resolution was communicated to the churches Paul had established in Asia. Later in Acts 20, we read of an encounter Paul had with the elders of the church in Ephesus in which he instructed them to carefully care for the church.
I think it is important to note that God’s pattern for fulfilling the great commission involves the church. As people get to know Jesus, they are baptized and become part of the church. It is in the church that they are nurtured as disciples. In other words, establishing churches is the way in which God’s kingdom is built, the way in which the great commission is accomplished.
Why The Church?
Why is the church so important?
In the book, “Loving the Church…Blessing the Nations,” George Miley identifies eight reasons why God works to establish churches. In summary he says, “God has also placed each individual believer in His family – the body of Christ. There are crucial dimensions of our life with Jesus that can only be lived out in the context of this group.”
Specifically, the significance of the church includes these items:
Corporate Worship
A Christian community creates a context for corporate worship. We can worship alone, but there is something very powerful about lifting our voices together to praise God. Such worship is more than obedience, more than a nice feeling, it is a significant part of the defeat of the enemy. In Acts 16:25, when Paul and Silas were in prison, we read that they were praying and singing hymns to God. It was in this context of worship that God acted to release them from prison. When we worship together, we declare that the kingdom of God reigns in this place and thus Satan is defeated.
Community Prayer Life
Praying together as Christians is a way in which we can have a vital and sustainable prayer life. We can pray alone and have great times, but we are encouraged in prayer as we do it together. Those who attended the prayer times we had each month in spring remember what power and blessing there was as we prayed together. Whereas alone we may sometimes mumble a prayer, when we are together and we hear others pray, our prayers are encouraged. Corporate prayer is encouraging and powerful. In Acts 12:5, we see an example of the power of corporate prayer. Peter was in prison, but the church was in prayer to God for him and those prayers were significant in the release of Peter. On September 5,6, we will have an opportunity to pray together as a community in a 24 hour prayer vigil. We will pray for the work of our church and for God’s work in our community. Each of you is invited to choose a 15 minute prayer time during that 24 hour period. I invite all of you to participate.
Serving With Our Gifts
Another blessing of community is that we can serve each other with the gifts God has given. No person has all the gifts and so we have areas in which we lack. Where we lack, someone else’s gift will be a blessing to us. On the other hand, in the area of our giftedness, we have the blessing and privilege of serving others. Miley says, “If I have not been grafted into a group of Christians, my needs will not be met fully, and I will be frustrated in ministry. I will find no meaningful way to express the gifts Christ has given me.” Scripture reinforces this important truth. I Corinthians 12 speaks of the variety of gifts and the way in which we are blessed by one another as we use them. In Acts 13:1 we have a list of some of the gifts which were active in the church in Antioch. There we read, “In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.”
Community Support
The church is also a wonderful place in which we receive support. In loving one another, we are encouraged and helped in ways that we would seriously miss if we were alone. There is a wonderful example of such support in Acts 9:36-43. Dorcas was a believer in the church in Lydda. She died and after her death, all the people of the church grieved and sorrowed. Their grief was deep because she had been a person who had helped a lot of people and when she died, they realized how much she had done for them.
Growth In Faith
Not only do we receive support, but we also have a great resource for growth. Alone we may learn about obedience to Christ, but in community we are reminded, encouraged and challenged. I appreciate what Miley says when he observes, “We can neither love nor learn to love by ourselves.” The most important command Jesus gave us must be learned and lived in community. A Biblical example of that is found in Acts 18:24-28. A good teacher, by the name of Apollos, came to the church in Ephesus. Although a skilled teacher, he was a new believer and didn’t have it all together. These verses tell us that Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside in order to instruct him more accurately and, as a result, he became a very powerful teacher in the church.
Discerning God’s Will
God reveals Himself to us in a number of different ways. Nature gives evidence of God. Scripture is a clear revelation of the truth of God. God’s Holy Spirit is the one who reveals truth. But we cannot ignore that God also speaks through His people. It is often in community that the subjective interpretation of Scripture and the subjective hearing of the Holy Spirit is tested and affirmed. In Acts 13:1-3 there is an example of how the church, in the context of worship, heard God speak regarding the new mission of Paul and Barnabas.
Witness To Jesus
Another important aspect of the church is that it is a picture of Jesus for the world to see. Although it is true to say that Jesus lives in me, it is even more accurate and significant to say that Jesus lives in His people. The world sees Jesus in the church. As seekers come to church, they see what a community of Jesus is all about and they meet Jesus. Miley says, “Many times the most powerful agent of evangelism is simply the life of Jesus lived out in the group.” This happened in the early church. In Acts 2:47 as the believers met together, loved each other and shared meals together, the surrounding community saw the life of Jesus lived and it says that “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Miley tells about a time when he and his wife were involved with Operation Mobilization and were serving on the ship Doulos. In one port, in a city in South America, Miley’s wife had many relatives, all of them Jewish. Miley says that he and his wife saw the ship as a place of constant chaos, but as her family came on board to visit them, they saw something different. They saw it as a place of peace, they saw Jesus present among His people.
A Community Of Encouragement
Finally, a Christian community creates a context for motivation to be sustained. When it gets tough and we are discouraged and the work is too much, we receive much encouragement from God’s people to keep going in our Christian walk and to keep going in the ministry. A Biblical example is that of Peter and John in Acts 4. They had been arrested and then were released with a strict warning not to proclaim the name of Jesus. After their release, they gathered with the church and prayed together and were encouraged, in spite of persecution, to keep on proclaiming Jesus. Verse 31 says, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
Why Should We Be Involved?
So from Scripture we have established that God calls us to make disciples. We have also established, from Scripture, that as disciples are made, they must be gathered into groups for nurture and servanthood. Thus we could say that church planting is the way in which to accomplish the great commission. If we only invite people to come to church, we have not finished the job. If we only go out and invite people to meet Jesus we have not finished the job. God has sent us on mission to establish His church.
Brunner says, “The church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.” What is fire? You can’t have fire if it isn’t burning. There is no such thing as a box of fire which you can pour out and observe. Fire only exists as it is burning. The church only exists by mission. It is only as it is on mission, making disciples in all the world that it is the church. If it stops being on mission, it is no longer the church, it is a social club.
We are the church for we are making disciples. The dream God has given me is to become more intentional and more active in that task. Can you imagine what it would be like for us to plant a church in an unreached people group?
Imagine that it would be a team of people. Each would contribute their gifts to the mission and each would support the other. Imagine that all the members of the team came from our church. They would already know each other and so could prepare together, go together, work together and hear God together. Imagine if they were able to work in an unreached people group and actually plant a church in that group. Imagine what kind of excitement and involvement such a project would mean for us back home – praying, giving and perhaps even short term teams going to help. Imagine how we would see God at work.
Conclusion
Thirty or forty years ago our forefathers believed that God’s call was to establish churches in Rosenort, Roseisle and Morris.
What is God’s call to us today? Does the knowledge of people who have never heard stir your heart? Does the Biblical mandate of establishing groups of disciples into churches encourage us to do it? Will you join me in praying that God will reveal His direction for us? If this idea interests you, talk to me and join me in prayer.
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