Church Planting - Not an Option (Part Two)

Part Two: Planting churches in our context

(By context I mean 2005 North American, post-modern culture)

1. The culture does not change the method

• Seeker-sensitive
• Emergent
• Purpose-driven

• All are essentially attempts to adapt our message (or the God-ordained method) to our culture. Will not take the time to refute each individually other than to say that my belief is that the Gospel message and method are the same today as they were in the days of Jesus.
  

2. Central to planting is preaching

· Evangelism and Proclamation mark the effective church plant

• Acts 8:1 And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

3. Prayer is instrumental to everything

• Ephesians 6:18 To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

4. An emphasis on developing the genuine relationships described in the NT

• See every NT epistle! At least one third is dedicated to “how to live” instructions...