Top 10 Church Planting Questions!
The following article is written by Mark Irmler who is a contributing writer for the following website from which this article is taken: http://www.ministry127.com.
Top 10 Church Planting Questions
1. What is the pressing need of our generation? For every Christian to be a reproducing Christian (Matthew 4:19) For every pastor to be a reproducing pastor (2 Timothy 2:2) For every church to be a reproducing church (Acts 1:8)
2. How old or how large must a church be to plant another church? The church at Jerusalem had only 120 members when they were commissioned to reach the entire world (Acts 1;8,15). The church of Thessalonica was about one year old when Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians 1:8. The church at Antioch was only a few years old when they set out to reach the world.
3. What if our church has no extra leaders to send? “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38). Develop leaders within the church. The Jerusalem church sent Philip (Acts 8:5), Barnabas (Acts 11:22), and Silas (Acts 15:25-27).
4. Where does a church get the funds for new church plants? Ye have not because ye ask not (James 4:2). Where God leads, God provides, and He does above all we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20, 4:12). A current missions’ budget as well as special midweek offerings or even banquets can be used to birth new churches.
5. What if our own church has pressing needs? Give and it shall be given unto you (Luke 6:38). May God help us overcome a “scarcity mentality” when it comes to our local area, our finances, and even our own people.
6. Is it wise to plant a church at the same time we’re building our Jerusalem church? “Both” equals simultaneously “both in Jerusalem and in Judaea, etc. (Acts 1:8). The Bible mandate is to reach the entire world in each generation.
7. Are there materials available to help in the process of church planting? Start with the book of Acts for your philosophy of church planting. Study 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus with a church planting focus.
8. What is the Great Commission? The Great Commission includes evangelizing. The Great Commission includes baptizing. The Great Commission includes mobilizing, “Teaching them to observe all things.” We cannot obey the command to go to Judaea, Samaria, or the uttermost part of the earth without also starting new churches as we go.
9. Where did the church in Jerusalem first choose to plant other churches? The first churches planted in Acts were in Judaea and Samaria (Acts 9:31). Every church needs to have a plan to start additional churches in their own Judaea and Samaria.
10. Why is church planting so important? Jesus said, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). The Lord’s building program involves the multiplication of local New Testament churches. We cannot reach our world without embracing the need for reproducing churches that will reproduce more churches.
