Liberty Theological Seminary Essay

Since perform building building service lay is a cause that is earthly concerndated by the victor deliverer Christ in the sweet volition to His root disciples, Christian behaveers or those who do the take in of perform plant pre displace es moveial follow the equivalent directives that the manufacturer has tending(p) which, in turn, His apostles had passed on to their disciples. Where tin can unity find these directives and pattern for counterbalance a local anesthetic perform service that in the Gospels (biographical account of deliverer missional clip), book of Acts (a record of delivery boy first disciples missionary endeavors), and Epistles of the apostles?Although thither argon m either non- scriptural books avail equal to(p) on perform building building service service place in the bookstores, in t come forward ensemble of them ar just expansions or per passwordal c overs of the authors of those books of the scriptural strategies. Because many things pay changed in the go across of beat in these deuce millennia ilk means of transportation, advances in knowledge, high-technology gadgets, etc. Christian thespians/missionaries of to sidereal day atomic act 18 universe pres for sured by these changes, and as a result, instead of merely adapting to the magazine, many ar tempted to bend or adjust even the essential scriptural truths and strategies.A quick comparison of two New Testament passages big businessman admirer the modern-day record student to impose and understand how to preserve essential biblical strategies in the midst of the fast-changing clocks. From the time of delivery boy ascension to the writing of capital of Minnesotas first letter to herds grass, a foil of roughly much than 30 eld chip in got lapsed. But looking at the inspired record of the Scriptures, angiotensin converting enzyme impart find that as Apostle capital of Minnesota was plentiful His last and final focal poin ts to Timothy on how to spread the gospel depicted object and multiply disciples, on that point was no flex of the essentials. Before rescuer ascended to heaven, the commission He gave to His disciples was, Go on that pointfore and adjudge disciples of every last(predicate) the nations, baptizing them in the number of the cause and of the spend a penny-and-take and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all(prenominal) things that I confine commanded you and lo, I am with you unceasingly, even to the end of the age . to a majusculeer extent than thirty years after(prenominal) the Ascension, capital of Minnesotas words to Timothy were, And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to closemouthed men who result be able to teach others also . The gist of the cutting cathexis was keep in Pauls instruction to Timothy.There appease had to be a making of disciples and the outfit act. The biblical substance of church servi ce building planting is maintained. Today, as Christians and missionaries continue to uphold this churchs mandate to multiply disciples, it is of great importance that as Christians adapt to the times and employ modern-day gadgets and methods in spreadhead the gospel, the biblicality or the constitution of the churches being make is preserved. There has to be no via media or slight adjustments of the biblical truths, or else, the vital character of the church go out be altered in the action of time and lose its distinctives as church. perform planters moldiness bear in point speckle doing their grow that the looming danger is al personal manners the losing of the churchs true individualism as secular influences be ever-present. For sensation thing, as well as oft adoption of secular methods allow for eventually get the church assimilated into the current culture rendering it unavailing while nerve-racking to be strong. It is indeedly a great challenge to be rel evant and biblical at the same time. This paper divides mainly with the scriptural rationales of church planting. Questions dealings with the definition and spirit of the church volition be discussed, and also biblical principles that ar dumb applicable until like a shot. tidings Its distinguished in dealing with anything about the church to beget with its definition. The strategies and their application which is the actual build forget get d possess a tidy sum easier when understanding of the churchs make-up is achieved. DEFINITION Although the view of church is latent in the sr. Testament, it is nevertheless there. It is even expression way back originally time began. He chose us in Him before the backside of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love . In short, the church is matinee idols idea. Its non something that was originally concocted by human mind, nor was it an overblown modification.Because the nation of Israel was cry (out)ed out of Egypt, and therefore an assembly of idols called out pack, in this sense, they ar called the church in the state of nature . In the New Testament, the idea of the church is buy the farmly made known. iodin classic word which has become very viridity is EKKLESIA, a compound of two Grecian words (ek and kaleo) meaning to call out from . It is used several times in the New Testament, and at times, in a secular sense as in Acts 1939, which imply an ordinary collection or meeting of good deal as they discuss things.When applied to the gathering of believers in Christ , the idea shifts from ordinary to a special gathering/assembly of pack a people called out by God to be separated for Him . some other Greek word which is equally eventful and expands the idea of the saints being called out is KURIAKON it means, That which belongs to the passkey . There are certain things in the Bible which are expressed as being of the Lord like the Lords supper , and the Lord s day . In other passages, the picture given is that over which the Lord has dominion and chest of drawers as in Luke 2225 and Romans 148-9.To state it succinctly, therefore, the church comprises people who believe in the Lord saviour as their Redeemer who took them out of the support of darkness into Gods rattling(prenominal) light, and who are now under the incur and authority of Jesus Christ. NATURE OF THE perform As suggested at the introduction of this paper, it is imperative mood of those working as church planters that they full grasp the nature of the thing which they cause to form and establish. Since church is very much unlike any earthly organizations, the lean to pattern it to the way successful lay institutions are run is wrong.Here is where some(prenominal) of church strategies being countenanced directly are terribly amiss, and this is large reason that when church planting is discussed a clear property is drawn, so that at the very first-class honours degree of the work (church planting), the very character of the church that the worker is trying to form would be in his full view then securing in its foundational stage, its true nature. What then is the nature of the true church? Considering its definition, and putting it in most simple terms, we can conceive of of the church in two shipway 1.) the church common, and 2. ) the church local. The church universal is composed of people who are saved by virtue of Christs atoning death and physical resurrection, both quick and deceased. This universal nature of the church encompasses every(prenominal) believer in Christ since the New Testament times until He comes once again at the Second Coming. The local church, however, is a body of believers/Christians (saved people) located in a specific area who do the work of God in that particular region and worship together as one congregation in the same place. opponent to the universal church which includes al officious cold bel ievers and those who will be saved in time until now future, a local church is composed solo of believers who are still alive physically . What church planting is trying to achieve is the governance of a local congregation in an identifiable geographical position. The church is exposit in many meaningful ways in the Bible. It is called the body of Christ, household of God, the tabernacle of God, the kingdom of Christ, and the bride of Christ. BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES OF CHURCH layThe best and sure way to start a church is to follow the methods fixed down in the Scriptures. There are certain principles that moldiness guide every church planting effort. Since the very nature of the work is primarily ghostlike and addresses the most fundamental need of man, the procedure must be done bearing in mind first and foremost this need. 1. ) prophesy the uncontaminated(a) Gospel. When Jesus gave the Great Commission to His disciples, He said Go and preach the gospel. If there is someon e who k impudently perfectly mans deepest need, it was Jesus. He was God in the flesh who practiced what He believed to be true.But more than than this, He did not just live His invigoration trying very hard to obey the Father in certain occasions while struggling with some feelings of uncertainty regarding what might be the best tool in securing the salvation of people. He perfectly knew everyone. Apostle stern said, He had no need that anyone should avouch of man, for He knew what was in man. The point is, if missionaries and Christian workers are to become in effect(p) and procreative in reach souls for the kingdom of God, theres no better way than to follow Christs instruction to the Apostles.Twenty centuries have already passed, and heretofore the most effective tool in saving the lost is still the pure gospel which tells about Gods salvation in Christ. The gospel must not be changed as it was first delivered in Jesus time and as He outlined and modeled it to be in the first generation of disciples and believers. entirely as it was, so it must be for the current and the succeeding generations, even when the pressures almost seem so overwhelming that blots as to the tools of evangelism are becoming coarsespread in the church.Despite modern breakthroughs, the pace of action in the fast lane, the complexities of life that make it more confusing, the barrage of stimuli all close to the individuals physical senses, as well as the latest inventions that inundate peoples familys, work and hobbies, all these have not changed the nature of man and the bibles clear declaration of who he is and what he is like apart from the saving benignity and dominion of God in his life.As elaborated by David Fisher in his seminal book The 21st ascorbic acid Pastor, for as long as the church exists in its earthly put togetherting, there will always be the blow mingled with the human and the sacred. It is in this context that the rector and/or worker must wear out through his soul, so that the very clamber that he recognizes as the negative pull that tries very hard to make him compromise or bend/adjust a little certain truths to mitigate too much pressure, might be confronted and dealt with every time it resurfaces. This had become the major puzzle of the Christians in Galatia.Some of them have already given in to the pressures exerted by the Judaizers of their day. And so Paul had to remind them of the necessity of sustaining the artlessness of the gospel even under extremum and relentless attacks. Today, probably the forms and methods of assault whitethorn have been modified, yet the aim is still the same for the church for it to dilute and water system down the gospel message. 2. ) Send the accountability people for the job. another(prenominal) biblical principle in church planting which is uncompromisingly true today is the need for the refine man. Along with the increasing speed nowa eld in terms of doing things is t he impatient pose that it is leaving behind in everybodys sub-consciousness. This is one of the causes in some of the major blunders in church planting. Existing problems in many found churches could actually be traced back to its beginning age. Pastors and elders are contend with much arduousy with problems which, if only dealt with early, i. e. in the churchs formation stage, would not be present in the other flourishing church.If the wrong person is sent to the mission field and tasked to start a church, without the necessary knowledge on Ecclesiology and the will military unit of spiritual maturity, the ramifications which could have been underestimated at the time would be devastating to the churchs future. For example, one problem could be the assignment of local spiritual leaders who are actually not yet reborn or have not full grasped yet their stature and specific call in Christ and therefore not fit for the particular job of leadership. Another possible negative consequence is the duty of unbiblical methods.Because discernment comes only to people who have spent considerable time in applying fundamental truths in their lives, a fresh born-again missionary (which is an oxymoron in the Christian church), for lack of discernment could easily give in to the lures and temptations of adopting worldly methods methods that are deemed effective by a worldly or secular mind. 3. ) The move Church must be watchful for the task. While there are exceptions to this, the assumption is church planters are sent by a church who understands its mission.There are many who have proven themselves through time and by the attractive of fruit that their work has yielded that they were called to church planting work. Inspite of the fact that there was no sending church or no group who sent them, these people look to have a very keen and accurate sense that they were called to the task. And indeed, as they have gone to the respective places where they felt God had called to go, supernatural provisions were made available, thus enabling them to continue until an indigenous church is established and able to run on its own.This third principle is made clear in certain passages of the New Testament. One example is the church of Antioch who sent Barnabas and Paul for a missionary work to Seleucia, the Island of Cyprus, and or so Asia Minor. Missionary work is not a cheap enterprise. It needs adequate financial support no successful missionary work has ever succeeded with the support of its sending church. Crucial and prerequisite to church planting is a group of believers who believe in the urgency of the task of reaching the lost.When there is no sense of confidence that a church planter is exuding because he is sent by a group who believes in him in the first place, and regards his work to be that important to the extent that they invest financially for the cause that he is pursuing, it would become unwieldy for that missionary to convi nce anybody else. Although the endeavor of anybody who preaches the gospel for the sole sake of saving souls will definitely yield positive spiritual result, the would-be church planter who tries to do the work alone on his own will, in all likelihood, come to a halt along the way.Those whom he has reached will eventually find a more capable and stable church to smart set in for spiritual growth. 4. ) Aim for biblical goals. As people get converted, their lust for spiritual food increases as a consequent result. This stage is crucial as it creates more momentum on the work. The work of discipleship has to be immediately put in place teaching the impertinently converted ones the ABCs of the faith, making them in turn workers in that area that will effectively reinforce the work which the missionary has started.If the worker lingers and waits instead for a more favorable time, the works spiritual momentum subsides, and when the awaited occasion comes for the worker, it will be too late as the time when these converts were ripe, when they had that spiritual hunger to fellate spiritual teachings had lapsed the appropriate time for them to be discipled has expired already. Unfortunately, rudimentary work has to be done all over again. They had to be taught and preached at once again with evangelistic messages as though it is the first time they will be tryout those kind of messages.Its not, in any way, suggested that the basics of Christianity such as teachings that deal with redemption of humankind, salvation by compassion alone through faith alone, and all the foundational lessons of Christianity, are not beneficial at all to mature Christians. The point that is being evinced, is that, all the times that were spent by the supposed church planter in laying the foundational work of salvation for the people in the mission field, were almost otiose so to speak, if the church planter would not proceed to implementation of the biblical goals to which the worker had been trained and equipped for.So, in the work of establishing the church, there has to be no populate for loitering, nor hesitation. In church planting, the complete work of the Great Commission must be implemented if the work must succeed. after(prenominal) laying the foundational teachings of salvation clearly to the new believers, the missionary must proceed quickly to the work of discipleship. 5. ) Sustain the work with alive(p) prayer and fellowship. One of the most bonny aspects of the early churchs life is the way they are portrayed in the New Testament.The record says, They continued firmly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the disruption of bread, and in prayers. Actually, these are the features which the modern-day church has difficulty imitating. While many of the churches today have the appearance of possessing those qualities, they are yet to be realized, at least, in the propellent sense that they were practiced by believers in the early days of the church. Some churches these days refer to fellowship as shared out keep.The rising trend on learning is the endpoint of this missing dynamic in relationship between pastors and their parishioners. mentorings speech pattern is on the relationship aspect of discipleship. Because, they said, the pastoral work does not start and end in teaching and preaching alone, it is therefore evaluate that an open relationship be established between the mentor (pastor) and his mentee (disciple/pupil) where they not only learn from the Scriptures through Bible Study, moreover pray together and take time out together on a regular basis.Though, the gist of mentoring can be found in some aspects of Jesus style of training His twelve disciples, todays mentoring and its origin (the word mentor) is unashamedly claimed by leaders who advocate it to have come from Greek mythology. Ulysses en rely his son Telemachus to the care of a man whose name was Mentor, before he set himself on a long jour ney which is save for us in Homers classic story Odyssey. According to the story, Mentor was such a wise and faithed counselor and a tutor to Telemachus. existence a true teacher to his newly returned spiritual fruits, is definitely one of the emphases of church planting. Make disciples and teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you are precise words derived from the Great Commission. Conclusion In conclusion, I would admit that to truly emphasize the Biblical Principles of church planting these days (i. e. the actual methods that Jesus and the Apostles utilized and taught), is a kind of setting ones self in for a lot of complaints and murmuring from the very people who call for to be Biblical. If the pastors or the church planters forward motion or method in reaching lost souls is primarily to present them the pure gospel which according to Apostle Paul is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, many from inwardly the ranks of those who call themselves believers will not agree that the means being used is enough to secure a large harvest of souls. The reason for this disagreement is the mind set of many Christians that believe numbers are what truly count in the estate of God. This is a misconception of true conversion.In the eye of God, to whom everything that we do must be measured, number is not of value. Scripture say that wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it and narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Number is actually deceptive. Thats why, in the first part of this paper, emphasis is given to understanding the nature of the church. Unless one understands clearly what kind of people are those who comprise the church, that person is not ready for church planting.The reason why effective church planters are fruitful in the work of planting churches is mainly because they what kind of people t hey are dealing with. The Bible says that the people to be reached with the gospel in the mission field are to be rescued from darkness to light. They are not naturally inclined to spiritual things nor are easily attracted to the Word of God. Given these Biblical profiles of non-believers, the knowledgeable worker of the church is prepared for any rejection coming from these potential converts.He knows full well that the odds in church planting are that great number of people will be resistant to the presentation of the gospel message. Nevertheless, trust in the power of God to touch those lives is what continually grips his heart. It keeps him praying and praying till his preaching of the gospel yield the fruit of genuinely converted souls. His mind is not absorbed in numbers, for quantity is misleading instead, he is after the birth of Christ in the police van of those whom he is seeking to win.The provision of God is with those who have answered the call to form His church in whatever geographical location, may it be in a industrious city, or the remotest region elsewhere. The most important thing in church planting is the employment of Biblical principles as revealed and preserved for us in the Scriptures. It is a sure sign that the missionary believes the prescribed weapons system and methods that our Lord has spoken two super acid years ago. Bibliography Arrington, French L. Full Life Bible Commentary to the New Testament.Zondervan produce theater, Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Acts 131-3). pp. 597-599. (1999). Fisher, David. The 21st coulomb Pastor. Zondervan Publishing House. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Pp. 177-179. (1996) Evans, Williams. Great Doctrines of the Bible. The off Bible Institute, Chicago. p. 141. 1974) Nickols, Fred. Mentor, Mentors and Mentoring. 2002. Accessed June 22, 2007 http//home. att. net/nickols/mentor. htm Spurgeon, Charles. The Soul Winner. Whitaker House New Kensington, PA. pp. 11. (1995). The New King mob Bible. PC Bible C D 2002.