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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture references are taken from the New American Standard

Bible (NASB), © the Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975,

1977.

© Copyright 1996

BEE International

Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.

All Rights Reserved

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iii

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................ vii

Course Introduction ..................................................................................................... ix

1. The Biblical Basis for Studying Growing Churches ............................................ 11

Growing Churches in Today’s World ................................................................................. 12

Defining “Growing Churches” ........................................................................................... 12

Growing Churches in the Gospels ...................................................................................... 15

Growing Churches in the Book of Acts .............................................................................. 17

Four Types of Growing Churches ...................................................................................... 18

Action Steps ........................................................................................................................ 20

2. Applying Church Growth Principles in Today’s Church ................................... 25The Importance of “Church Growth Eyes” ........................................................................ 26

Defining “Church Growth Eyes” ........................................................................................ 26

The Attitudes of a “Growing Churches” Person................................................................. 28

Three Kinds of Growth ....................................................................................................... 29

The Validity of Counting People ........................................................................................ 30

Applying These Principles to Your Church ........................................................................ 32

Action Steps ........................................................................................................................ 33

3. Developing a “God-given” Vision Statement for Your Church .......................... 35Illustrating the Problem ...................................................................................................... 36

Defining “Vision” ............................................................................................................... 36

Looking At Your Own Church ........................................................................................... 37

Hindrances to Vision .......................................................................................................... 38

The Role of Prayer .............................................................................................................. 41

Strategic Planning in Realizing the Vision Goals .............................................................. 43

Action Steps ........................................................................................................................ 47

4. The Church and Cultural Relevancy ..................................................................... 51Defining Culture ................................................................................................................. 52

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iv Growing Churches for God’s Glory

The Reason for Relevance .................................................................................................. 55

Jesus and Cultural Relevancy .............................................................................................. 57

The Apostles and Cultural Relevancy ................................................................................. 58

Helping the Church to Become Culturally Relevant ........................................................... 58

Action Steps ........................................................................................................................ 60

5. The Role of Reproducing Cell Groups in the Church .......................................... 63

Two Critical Issues for the Church Today .......................................................................... 64

Defining “Cell Group” ........................................................................................................ 64

The Biblical Basis for Cell Groups ..................................................................................... 65

Current Cell Group Models ................................................................................................. 66

Centralized Versus Decentralized Ministry ........................................................................ 75

Developing and Multiplying Cell Group Leaders ............................................................... 76

How to Begin ...................................................................................................................... 78

What to Do in a Cell Group ................................................................................................ 80

Evangelism and Cell Groups ............................................................................................... 81

Action Steps ........................................................................................................................ 82

6. The Life Cycle of Church Planting, Part I, “Conception” .................................. 87

The Life Cycle of a Church Plant ........................................................................................ 88

The “Conception” Phase ..................................................................................................... 88

Development of a Strategic Vision ..................................................................................... 88

Personal Preparation of the Church Planter ........................................................................ 90

Development of a Leadership Team ................................................................................... 93

Action Steps ........................................................................................................................ 99

Conception Checklist ........................................................................................................101

7. The Life Cycle of Church Planting, Part II, “Prenatal” ....................................103

The “Prenatal” Phase .........................................................................................................104

Initial Outreach and Evangelism .......................................................................................104

Developing an Expanding Network of Cell Groups .........................................................106

Agreeing on a Culturally Relevant Philosophy of Ministry ..............................................112

Strategic Planning Before Birth ........................................................................................115

Action Steps Summary ......................................................................................................116

Prenatal Checklist .............................................................................................................118

8. The Life Cycle of Church Planting, Part III, “Birth” ........................................121

The “Birth Phase” .............................................................................................................121

Celebrative and Reflective Worship .................................................................................122

Children’s Ministry ...........................................................................................................127

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Table of Contents v

Prepare Ministry Systems to Facilitate Growth ................................................................128

Action Steps Summary ..................................................................................................... 130

Birth Checklist .................................................................................................................. 132

9. The Life Cycle of Church Planting, Part IV, “Growth” and “Reproduction” 133

The “Growth” Phase .........................................................................................................134

Holistic Disciple-Making ................................................................................................. 134

Mobilizing Believers According to Spiritual Gifts ...........................................................140

Developing and Resourcing Leaders ................................................................................ 142

Appropriate and Productive Programming ....................................................................... 147

Networking with Other Churches .....................................................................................150

Action Steps Summary ..................................................................................................... 152

Growth Checklist .............................................................................................................. 154

The “Reproduction” Phase ............................................................................................... 156

Reproduction Checklist ....................................................................................................159

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vii

Acknowledgmentwould like to acknowledge my friend and colleague, Bob Logan, vice-president for New

Church Development with Church Resource Ministries in Fullerton, California. As

footnoted in the course, material for Lessons 6 through 9 on “The Life Cycle of Church

Planting” was adapted from his International Church Planting Guide with permission. Copies

of the guide and permission to translate it are available from:

Dr. Robert E. Logan

Church Resource MinistriesP.O. Box 1354

Alta Loma, CA 91701

U.S.A.

I

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ix

Course Introduction

rowing Churches For God’s Glory is designed to be a useful and practical course

for all those interested in assisting the church reach its highest potential. It has a

two-fold emphasis: first, it will explore how and why churches grow; second, it will

instruct how to plant churches, and give the reasons why. Whether you are a pastor, church

leader, church planter, layman, or new believer, this course will encourage you to trust God

for newer and greater things.

Since this is more a practical tool than a theoretical course, there are no exams. Instead,

there are practical assignments to complete in the form of questions, exercises, action steps,

and checklists. Depending upon your current involvement and interest in the church, these

assignments may or may not be applicable to you. For instance, if you are not currently

planning to plant a new church, the assignments for those lessons will not apply right now. In

that case, you should work through the assignments as if you were planting a church or in the

context of your existing church. Adjust them as you need in order to get the most out of them.

May God bless you as you embark on the adventure of Growing Churches For God’s

Glory!

G

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11

1The Biblical Basis for Studying

Growing Churches

elcome to the exciting world of growing churches! In this first lesson, we will

focus on defining the concept “growing churches” by exploring what the Bible

has to say about it. We will learn about our responsibility in reaching the lost

and helping them become witnesses themselves. We will also see how effective evangelism

results in church growth.

This course will seek to ask a lot of questions. And, it is hoped, that through your

prayerful study and discussion with others, you will discover many helpful answers. Expect to

have your thinking stimulated and even challenged. This course should “stretch” you, but in a

healthy way, leading to growth. Approach this course with an open mind and ask God to help

you take these principles and apply them to your situation and church.

LESSON OUTLINE

Growing Churches in Today’s World

Defining “Growing Churches”

Growing Churches in the Gospels

Growing Churches in the Book of Acts

Four Types of Growing ChurchesAction Steps

LESSON OBJECTIVES

After completing this lesson you should be able to:

1. Define “growing churches.”

2. Defend the legitimacy of growing churches from the gospels.

3. Trace the growth of the church through the Book of Acts.

4. Articulate the various types of growing churches.

5. Assess your own church’s previous growth patterns.

W

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12 Growing Churches for God’s Glory

Growing Churches in Today’s World

The Church of Jesus Christ is experiencing tremendous growth worldwide. The

advancement of Christianity is taking place at an unprecedented rate that surpasses anything

previously experienced in the past two thousand years. A study has indicated that every single

day some 78,000 people become Christians worldwide and each week some 1,000 new

churches are established in Asia, Africa and Latin America.1

In China, alone, it is estimated

that there are around 20,000 new converts per day.2

Yet, sad to say, not all churches are experiencing growth. In America, for instance, many

of the so-called “mainline” denominations have experienced decades of decline. The same is

certainly true for churches across Western Europe. We need to ask ourselves, “Why do some

churches grow while others do not?” An even better and more important question for you to

ask might be, “Is the local church growing?” and, if not, why not?

Perhaps, when you read statistics like the above, you immediately think of the many

problems that must accompany that kind of growth. What does the church do with new

converts? Does the church become diluted when it grows? How do you disciple many new

people? The pastor and leaders are already too busy so how can they handle even more

people? The church building is already filled to capacity, so what can we do? These are

legitimate questions, and we will deal with each of them.

There is one premise from which we are working, however, and that is this: God desires

churches to grow! Do you really believe that? If you don’t, it is likely that your church is not one that is growing. If you do, then this course will give you some tools to use in order to be

more effective. But first, we really need to understand what we mean by the concept “growing

churches.”

Defining “Growing Churches”

To begin with, we need to define just what we are referring to when we talk about

churches. In this course, our aim is to address the needs and issues regarding growth in localchurches. Except where the context would clearly indicate otherwise, the term “church” will

refer to a local church, assembly, congregation or fellowship.

There is something very exciting about a church that is growing. There is a spirit of

enthusiasm that is contagious throughout the church that, in itself, can lead to more growth. If

1Donald A. McGavran, Understanding Church Growth; 3d. ed., revised and edited by C. Peter

Wagner (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1990), 3.

2Ibid., 3.

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Lesson 1 13

something is alive and well it is growing. Conversely, dead things do not grow, but stagnate

and decay.

Second, what kind of growth are we talking about? One form of growth could be called

spiritual growth because it happens as members of the church grow in Christian maturity and

service to our Lord. This could also be called “qualitative” growth as it has to do with the

quality, in spiritual terms, of a church’s life.

Another form of growth is what could be called “quantitative” growth—when the church

increases numerically in size due to the inclusion of new people. It is easily visible when a

church that had fifty people now has sixty, and so on. As we will see later, this growth can

result from a number of different dynamics—young families in the church having children,

members of another church moving to a new city, and unbelievers repenting and joining the

church.Actually, church growth involves four aspects.

3

And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to

fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

All four of these can be seen in Acts 2:41-

47. The first aspect of growth that we see is what can be called Growing Up. In verse 42 we

read,

This indicates that there was a constant growth in their relationship to God and in their

maturity as Christians. In other words, the church was “growing up” in the spiritual sense.

Secondly, we see that they were also Growing Together . Note verses 44-46:

And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common;

and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them

with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day continually with one

mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking

their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart …

Not only did their love and commitment to God grow, but their love and commitment to

each other grew, as well. This was evidenced by two things: one was that they shared theirmaterial goods and the second is that they began using their spiritual gifts. In this way, they

were “growing together.”

The third aspect of growth we see in this passage is that they were Growing Out . This is

seen particularly in the first part of verse 47:

…praising God, and having favor with all the people.

3 These four points were taken from the course outline and syllabus by C. Peter Wagner,

Foundations of Church Growth, (Pasadena, CA: Fuller Theological Seminary, 1985), 6.

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This is very important, because there is sometimes a tendency for Christians to become

ingrown; that is, when the members of the church become content with the status quo. But, the

early church desired to be on the “cutting edge” of society. They did not just curry favor with

believers, but with “all the people”—they were thus “growing out.”

The fourth aspect of growth that we can see in this passage is that the early church was

Growing More. The second half of verse 47 says,

…And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being

saved.

The church, therefore, not only grew internally, it grew externally. Each day there were

more and more people being added to the church—they were “growing more.”

Which form of growth do you think is the most important? With which form do you think

the Bible is most concerned? The best answer is—all of them! The fact is, the Bible is equally

explicit about the importance and need for both qualitative and quantitative growth in the

church. It is a major mistake to think that a church must sacrifice one in favor of the other.

The focus of this course will be to deal primarily with the aspects of church growth that result

in increased numbers of people in the church. Other courses and materials are available to

help the church in the area of qualitative growth, but here we will focus on the principles

involved in quantitative growth.4

Exercise 1

At this point, stop and think awhile about growing churches and what it means to you.

Then write your own definition of “growing churches.”

Now that you have arrived at a definition of “growing churches” let’s look at one of the

most concise and accepted operational definitions of church growth:

All that is involved in bringing men and women who do not have a personal

relationship with Jesus Christ into fellowship with Him and into responsible

church membership.5

4In fact, quantitative growth cannot ultimately be separated from qualitative growth, and vice

versa. A church will not grow in numbers for long if the members are not also growing in spiritual

maturity. Conversely, if a church is spiritually mature, it will be heavily involved in disciple-making

which will result in numerical growth.

5C. Peter Wagner, Your Church Can Grow (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1984), 14.

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Lesson 1 15

Growing Churches in the Gospels

While considering the above definition of church growth, let’s look at some Biblical

principles that will help sharpen and develop our understanding. To begin with, evangelism is

a key ingredient in growing churches. It is because we believe that God desires to save lost

people that we also believe God desires churches to grow.

The mandate for the church is found in Matthew 28:18-20:

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and

make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and

the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded

you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Let’s study these verses in order to ascertain what Jesus wants us to do, and then answerfollowing questions:

Question 1

What does it mean to “make disciples”?

Question 2

What are the purposes of “baptizing them”?

Question 3

What is involved in “teaching them”?

Question 4

What implications are there from the word “Go”?

Question 5On what basis are we to carry this out?

Question 6

For whom did Jesus intended this command?

Now let’s try to summarize this passage. In the original, the primary verb in the whole

passage is the one translated “make disciples.” That is where Jesus placed the emphasis. A

disciple is simply a follower of Christ, so the foremost emphasis of Jesus’ command is tomake people followers of Him.

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There are three other words that modify that main verb. The first is “Go” (literally

“going”), the second is “baptizing” and the third is “teaching.” Making disciples requires

going to where the unbelievers are instead of waiting for them to come to you. Making

disciples requires baptizing them in order to incorporate them into the fellowship of the

church. Lastly, making disciples requires teaching them so that they are able to go out and

make disciples themselves.

This is the beauty of Christ’s command. If we obey, there will always be an increasing

pool of believers who are able to evangelize and disciple new people. But is it really our

responsibility to carry on this task with God’s help? Does He actually expect results?

Question 7

Look up the following passages and (a) summarize what the passage says, then (b) explain

what the passage tells us about God’s expectations; what is acceptable to Him and what

isn’t.

1. Luke 5:1-11

2. Luke 14:16-24

3. Matthew 13:2-9

4. Luke 13:6-9

5. Matthew 18:12-14

6. Luke 15:8-10

7. Matthew 9:36-38

8. Matthew 10:11-15

As you can see, these passages speak about the responsibility we have to be faithful to

God’s call. However, many today would say that faithfulness has nothing to do with results.

These passages, however, do not endorse that viewpoint! God is not satisfied when there is

fishing without catching, sowing without reaping, or proclamation without response. As

Donald A. McGavran has so aptly stated, the Scriptures speak not just of searching for, but

finding the lost. McGavran writes,Anyone who would comprehend the growth of Christian churches must see it

primarily as faithfulness to God. God desires it … church growth is

faithfulness … church growth follows where Christians show faithfulness in

finding the lost.6

The purpose of the Great Commission is to populate heaven. As believers who have been

born again through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are going to heaven and our desire should

6McGavran, Understanding Church Growth, 6.

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Lesson 1 17

be to take as many people with us as possible. God wants lost people found! When they are,

He and the hosts in heaven rejoice.

We need to view growth for our churches in this way. First, we go out to preach the

gospel, see people repent and come to faith in Jesus Christ. Then, we incorporate them into

the life and fellowship of the church through baptism. Next, we teach them and train them in

the Christian life and how to serve God. Finally, they go out and do the same thing with

others, to start the cycle again—this is the essence of church growth.

Growing Churches in the Book of Acts

The best evidence of dynamic church growth is seen in Acts 2, at the birth and ensuing

development of the early church. Let’s go through the Book of Acts and observe what

happened as the gospel spread.

Question 8

Look up each passage listed below. (a) Summarize the context of the passage and (b) note

especially the results that can be seen.

1. Acts 2:41-47 7. Acts 11:19-21 13. Acts 17:1-4

2. Acts 5:12-14 8. Acts 13:42-43 14. Acts 17:10-12

3. Acts 6:1-7 9. Acts 13:44-49 15. Acts 17:22-34

4. Acts 8:9-13 10. Acts 16:1-5 16. Acts 18:5-8

5. Acts 9:31 11. Acts 16:13-15 17. Acts 19: 8-20

6. Acts 9:32-43 12. Acts 16:25-34

As you can see from your study, the preaching of the gospel resulted in people believing

and being added to the church. Again, this is the essence of growing churches. As Donald

McGavran writes,

Church Growth is basically a theological stance. God requires it. It looks to the

Bible for direction as to what God wants done.7

Or, as C. Peter Wagner states,

… if we concentrate on church growth we get to the heart of the Great

Commission.8

7Ibid., 8.

8C. Peter Wagner, Strategies for Church Growth (Eastbourne, England: Kingsway Publications,

1988), 35.

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Four Types of Growing Churches

There is another way to describe the various types of church growth. This incorporates

some of the aspects previously identified, and expands on others:

1. Internal Growth

We have expounded on this type of growth already. The significant feature is that it only

involves those who are already inside the church. In terms of evangelism, the basic target

group would be those who are in the church, but who are not yet true believers. This would

include, among others, children of members who need to make a personal decision for Christ.

Since the target group for evangelism are those already in the church, we could say that

there are no barriers to evangelism taking place. If we use the letter “ E ” for Evangelism and

the number “0” for the number of barriers in evangelism, we can illustrate this type of growthin terms of evangelism: E-0, because there are no barriers to evangelism in internal growth.

2. Expansion Growth

“Expansion growth” takes place when members of the church go outside the church and

evangelize. As a result, the church expands numerically. It could be through a special program

at the church or simply by members witnessing to those they know at work, school or home.

This strategy is sometimes called near-neighbor evangelism.

We would say that expansion growth involves E-1 evangelism because there is one major

barrier to reaching these people with the gospel—they are outside the church. Other than that,

they are basically similar to the kind of people that belong to the church. This makes them

very accessible for a church that decides to grow by adding people from those outside its

walls.

3. Extension Growth

This type of growth also involves evangelism, but not with quite the same purpose.

Extension growth takes place when members of one church go out and do evangelism, but

then begin a new church with the converts. For example, say a church decides to put on anevangelistic campaign in an area on the other side of the city. Instead of expecting all the new

converts to travel across the city to attend church services, they decided to start a new church

in that area, which would be “expansion growth.” This is also called church planting and we

will devote several lessons to the subject later in the course.

Extension growth also involves E-1 evangelism. Although the evangelism takes place in

an area away from the church, it is still directed at “near-neighbors” in terms of ethnic, social

and basic economic factors. The difference is that numerical growth is seen through the new

churches that are started instead of the “home” church.

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Lesson 1 19

4. Bridging Growth

There is a major dividing line between the first three types of growth and “bridging

growth.” This type takes place when members of a church go out, evangelize, and plant new

churches cross-culturally. By this we mean that, among other things, the target group speaks a

different language. These new churches that are started are not like the old church because of

the cultural differences. We will deal with issues of cultural relevance in a later lesson.

There are two types of evangelism that are possible in bridging growth. One is E-2

evangelism. There is at least one more barrier to evangelism with E-2 than with E-1

evangelism—a different language. With E-2 evangelism, you are trying to reach people whose

culture, while different, is somewhat similar to yours. An example of this might be a Polish

person who goes to the Ukraine to plant a Ukrainian church or a Hungarian church that helps

plant a new church for Gypsies.The other type of bridging growth involves E-3 evangelism. This is where you evangelize

and start a church in a culture that is vastly different from yours. An example of this might be

for a Czech to go to Japan to start a church. Keep in mind that geographical distance is not

the main determinant in assessing evangelism. Again, we will expound on this further in a

later lesson.

Which type of growth should be a priority for a church? Minimally, a church should be

involved in both internal and expansion growth that involves E-0 and E-1 evangelism. When a

church fails to work towards these types of growth it indicates a total lack of understanding of or commitment to the Great Commission. When a church has been successful with these types

it should next give serious consideration to extension growth. As the vision, experience, and

resources of a church increase they can ultimately be involved in bridging growth.

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20

Action Steps

As you have seen, the root of church growth is the conviction that God has commanded

His people to preach the gospel in a way that will make disciples. When a church is faithful in

keeping this command of Christ, growth will occur.

Now it is time to do an assessment of your own church. Thoughtfully work through the

questions below as they pertain to your church. Feel free to talk to others in your church to

obtain the needed input.

1. Research as best you can to determine how much your church has grown in the past

year; three years; five years; ten years. Record your findings and explain how you came

up with these figures.

2. Using the material you have learned in this lesson, write down your revised definition of

“growing churches” in your own words.

3. Describe Jesus’ attitude toward growing churches, citing your reasons, from Scripture,

for what you write.

4. Summarize what the Book of Acts teaches us about growing churches.

5. Describe the various aspects and types of growth a church might experience. Include as

much detail as possible.

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21

Answers to Questions

Question 1

To “make disciples” implies a number of things. First, it means that Jesus’ disciples were to

repeat what He did to them in the lives of others. This involved finding them, winning them,

choosing them, training them, and commissioning them to go out and do likewise. Everything

that is required in this process is disciple-making, which is at the heart of the Great

Commission.

Question 2

The primary purpose of Christian baptism is identification with Christ and His Church. It is a

public display of this identification so that the members of the community, as well as the

church, would know of the person’s new faith in Christ. Symbolically, water baptism

demonstrates Christ’s death and resurrection, as well as our spiritual death and new life in

Christ. It was patterned after the ceremonial washings from the Old Testament law as was

John’s baptism (see John 1:19-28), but distinctive because it was to be “in the name of the

Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Someone who makes a disciple of Christ must,

therefore, see that they are properly incorporated into the fellowship of the church.

Question 3

The emphasis Jesus gave on teaching is that it was supposed to affect behavior. In other

words, the importance of teaching is not primarily “head knowledge” but learning to live out

the commands of Jesus in a practical way. This includes training in the basics of Christian

living and witnessing. One doesn’t have to learn everything before becoming a true disciple,

but one must understand the basics and be in process. A good criterion is that disciples

become responsible members of Christ’s Church who use their spiritual gifts for ministry.

Someone who makes disciples of Christ must, therefore, train them to the point where theycan responsibly live out the Christian life and make disciples themselves.

Question 4

The word “Go” (literally “Going”) implies that making disciples is an active rather than

passive endeavor. Just as Jesus went out and gathered His group of disciples, we must do the

same. Nowhere in the New Testament is the pattern for evangelism merely to wait for the lost

to find their way into our church buildings. The pattern is for the church to go out and find the

lost.

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Question 5

The basis of disciple-making is in the power and strength of God’s Spirit who is always with

us. In addition, Jesus Christ, who has been given all authority in heaven and earth, is the One

who has given this commission. Someone who makes disciples of Christ must, therefore, rely

upon God for His strength and power.

Question 6

Although this command was specifically given to the eleven disciples, it is clear that it also

applies to all future disciples of Christ. Therefore, anyone who follows Christ is subject to this

command—it is for all disciples throughout all time.

Question 7

1(a) After fishing all night and failing to catch anything, Jesus instructs Peter to take the boats

out again and to put out the nets. Reluctantly they do so and receive a catch so large that it

almost breaks the nets.

(b) It is not good enough to fish diligently and not catch anything, as the main purpose of

fishing is to catch fish.

2(a) This parable is about a man who gave a banquet but had trouble getting people to attend.

He sent his servant out several times until every seat at the banquet was filled. Many who

were not originally invited came, and those who had initially refused were not permitted to

come later.

(b) God is giving a banquet and He expects those seats to be occupied!

3(a) This is the parable of the sower whose seeds fall on four different types of soil. Only one

of the soils produced a crop that exceeded what was sown.

(b) The objective of the sower is to reap a plentiful crop, not merely to sow seeds. Sowing

without reaping is not acceptable.

4(a) This parable is about a fig tree that has not produced any fruit for three years. The owner

wants to cut it down, but the man who cared for it wanted to give it one more year to bear fruit

before cutting it down.

(b) The purpose of a fruit tree is to bear fruit. If it does not bear fruit it should ultimately be

cut down because a fruitless fruit tree is not acceptable.

5(a) This parable tells about a man who had one hundred sheep, but one was missing. He left

the ninety-nine and searched until he found the lost sheep.

(b) Even though the flock was 99% complete, it was not acceptable to lack even one.

6(a) This parable is about a woman who had ten silver coins, but lost one. She was not

satisfied until she had found the one lost coin.

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Lesson 1 23

(b) Even though she still had nine coins, she did not rest until the one last coin was found. It

was not acceptable to have even one missing.

7(a) While ministering to the multitudes, Jesus states that the harvest is plentiful but the

workers are few. He then gives instruction to pray for God to send workers.

(b) Having a plentiful harvest without enough workers to bring in the harvest is not

acceptable.

8(a) Jesus sends out the twelve on a preaching mission. He gives the instruction that if people

do not listen to them they are to “shake the dust off their feet” as a judgment against that town.

(b) It is not enough just to preach. The object of preaching is that people would listen and

believe. Preaching without a listening audience is not acceptable.

Question 81(a) This was the birth of the Church. In essence, they began to function naturally and

incorporated at least seven elements into church life: teaching, fellowship, worship, prayer,

power, ministry, and evangelism.

(b) The church grew dramatically in numbers.

2(a) God’s power was evident in their lives through miraculous signs and they all met together

in public. The church was held in high esteem.

(b) More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

3(a) The church developed an organizational problem and selected some men to deal with it.

Stephen, who later became the first martyr, was one of these men.

(b) The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests

became obedient to the faith.

4(a) Philip preached in Samaria.

(b) Many believed and were immediately incorporated into the church through water baptism.

5(a) The church enjoyed a time of peace as it was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy

Spirit.

(b) It grew in numbers.

6(a) Peter traveled and visited believers. He healed a paralytic and raised a believer who had

died.

(b) All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon turned to the Lord, as well as many people in

Joppa.

7(a) Those who had been scattered by persecution went to Antioch and preached.

(b) A great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

8(a) Paul and Barnabas preached and taught in Pisidian Antioch.(b) Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed them.

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9(a) After the Jews in Antioch got upset with Paul and Barnabas, they began preaching to the

Gentiles.

(b) All who were “appointed for eternal life believed” and the gospel spread throughout the

whole area.

10(a) Paul and his band of disciples traveled throughout Asia minor to encourage the

churches.

(b) The churches were strengthened in faith and grew daily in numbers.

11(a) In Philippi, Paul preached to Lydia.

(b) She and her household believed and were immediately baptized with water.

12(a) After being thrown in jail, Paul and Silas shared the gospel with their jailer as a result of

an earthquake.

(b) The jailer and his entire household believed.

13(a) Paul and his group preached in Thessalonica.

(b) Some Jews believed, as well as a large number of God-fearing Greeks.

14(a) Paul and Silas preached in Berea.

(b) Many Jews and a number of prominent Greeks believed.

15(a) Paul preached to the Athenians on Mars Hill.

(b) A few men and a number of women believed.

16(a) In Corinth, Paul preached to the Jews and then turned to the Gentiles.

(b) Some prominent Jews believed and many of the Corinthians believed and were

immediately baptized with water.

17(a) Paul ministered in Ephesus for two years.

(b) Many believed and were dramatically changed.

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25

2Applying Church Growth Principles

in Today’s Church

n Lesson 1, we studied the various Scriptures that teach us about the importance of

growing churches. We saw that this is a direct response to the Great Commission of

Christ to His Church (Matthew 28:18-20). As we are faithful to His call to “make

disciples,” our churches will grow. This is pleasing to God because it reflects the increasing

numbers of those who will be spending eternity with Him in heaven.

It has been said that every great idea eventually degenerates into work! This is certainly

true of the study of church growth. We must ultimately take the principles we learn from

Scripture and apply them to our own context and situation, which is what this lesson intends

to do.

LESSON OUTLINE

The Importance of “Church Growth Eyes”

Defining “Church Growth Eyes”

The Attitudes of a “Growing Churches” Person

Three Kinds of Growth

The Validity of Counting People

Applying These Principles to Your ChurchAction Steps

LESSON OBJECTIVES


1. Identify the areas of your church that are promoting growth.

2. Identify the areas of your church that are hindering growth.

3. Understand the attitudes necessary to facilitate growth.

4. Evaluate the source of your growth.

5. Articulate the value of research and record keeping.

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6. Understand your church in relationship to growth.

The Importance of “Church Growth Eyes”

A good medical doctor is also a good diagnostician. This means that he is able to examine

a patient who has certain symptoms and, eventually, discover what the problem is. During this

process, the doctor will probably administer certain tests and evaluate the results. Once the

doctor has all the data, he or she can then give a proper diagnosis of the problem and a

prescription for the cure.

How are doctors able to do this? First, they must be trained in medicine and the human

anatomy in order to fully understand how the body functions under various conditions.

Second, they learn through the experience of working with real, live people. A young doctor

may have the advantage of recently learning the newest medical procedures in school, but an

older doctor has the advantage of years of experience. Of course, the doctor you want to go to

is the one who both has experience and has also stayed current with the latest advances and

procedures!

This same kind of analogy holds true for the pastor who is concerned about the health of

the church. He must be trained so that he knows what a healthy, growing church looks like

and how it functions. He must also know how to “treat” an unhealthy church. Like a medical

doctor he must know the kinds of things to look for that might be the source of problems. In a

real sense, there are cause and effect principles in church growth just like in medicine.

In addition, there are basic “tests” that the pastor can “administer” to the church that may

help him to determine not only the problem, but the cure. By carefully and prayerfully

studying the particular circumstances of a church, a pastor can begin to understand why things

are the way they are. By applying church growth principles he can also help to affect positive

change.

The combination of knowledge and experience, as in our doctor illustration above, is the

best. But you must be careful: many pastors have years of experience, but not in growing and

reproducing churches. Consequently, their experience might be more of a detriment than anadvantage. Most of the time, one needs some good, practical knowledge in order to have a

good, positive experience. In terms of church growth, one of the first things to learn is the

importance of having “church growth eyes.”

Defining “Church Growth Eyes”

In church growth, the more you know the more you can see—this is what we mean by

“church growth eyes.” It is the ability to look at a church and see all the various factors that

are either furthering or hindering its growth. Church growth eyes have been referred to as “the

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God is certainly able to find lost people without our help, but He has chosen not to! The

plan He designed uses people like us to accomplish it. He has given us all the resources we

need in Himself, His Word, other believers, and spiritual gifts. We just need to accept the fact

that He desires to use us in this way.

When our eyes see these things—the world from God’s perspective, the hand of God

working in the world and our place in His plan—we are ready to be involved in growth. If we

do not see them, then chances are that our church will not grow from our ministry. This marks

the importance of having “church growth eyes.”

The Attitudes of a “Growing Churches” Person

One of the factors that will determine the pastor’s effectiveness in helping a church to

grow is his attitude. In defining just what we mean by the word attitude, we have to consider

several things. Basically, an attitude is an inward feeling that is seen in outward behavior .

There are at least three key attitudes that a pastor concerned with church growth should

possess. The first attitude is that he firmly believes that God will cause his church to grow.

This is so fundamental that it may sound too obvious! However, churches across the world are

pastored by men who think that their church won’t grow. And because they think that way, it

won’t, because that pastor will never do the things necessary to lead the church to growth.

Why should he, if he doesn’t believe the church will grow no matter what he does?

The second important attitude to have is to be just as concerned about those outside the

church as those already inside the church. If a pastor is only concerned about his “flock,” or

the members of his church, then it will be difficult for him to add to his flock. Conversely,

when churches or pastors invest as much time and energy into reaching those outside the

church as they do ministering to those inside the church, they are going to experience growth.

The reason that we need to be concerned about them is that they are deeply important and

valuable to God.

The third attitude of church growth people is they are pragmatic. Pragmatism is often

misunderstood by certain Christians. However, at its root, pragmatism simply means that weconstantly evaluate the effectiveness of the things we are doing. If our desire is to see God

build the church, and we are doing something that hinders that, we change it. If we need to

start doing something we haven’t been doing, we do it. People who are not interested in seeing

the church grow will continue to do things in the same way they always have been done.

While we have many wonderful examples from Christ and the apostles in the Scriptures,

the Bible was not primarily intended to be a book on methodology. The beautiful thing about

God’s Word is that the principles it contains can be applied in many different ways depending

on the context. Most of us would have to agree that many of the things we do in our churchesare based more upon our “traditions” than upon Scripture. If that is the case, then we should

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Lesson 2 29

be able to change or modify certain things if it will help us complete the task that Jesus gave

us to do.

Do you possess these three attitudes? Do you believe that God will cause your church to

grow? Are you just as concerned about those outside the church as you are about those inside

the church? Are you pragmatic in your approach to what you are doing? The great thing about

attitudes is that you can develop the ones you wish to have. Perhaps you tend to be a

pessimist—it is possible for you to become more optimistic. Basically, it is a matter of choice

and discipline. Ask God to help you to have the attitudes necessary to lead your church to

growth.

Three Kinds of Growth

We have previously looked at different types and aspects of church growth that can be

readily identified in churches today. To these we now want to identify three kinds of growth

that can cause a church to increase numerically.4

The first kind of growth that a church may experience is what we call biological growth.

This, of course, comes when members of the church have children. These children represent

potential membership growth within the church. Of course, a church that is mostly made up of

older people will not experience much of this growth. However, a church that is made up of

many young families may be growing significantly because of this factor. New life in the

church is a great thing and most churches experience this kind of growth naturally.

Potentially, then, God’s kingdom can be enlarged through biological growth.

All three are good and should be expected in

any church. However, the last of the three is the most important because it is the only one we

have any control over and, therefore, can plan for.

The second kind is called transfer growth. This type of growth usually takes place when

one church member moves to a different place and joins a new church. Again, this is not

something a church can plan for or anticipate. The significant point to recognize is that this

kind of growth involves adding people who are already believers in Jesus Christ —they are

simply relocating to a new church. Transfer growth can also take place for less noble reasonsthan moving to a different city. Sometimes, church members have disagreements with one

another and change churches because of it. The result of transfer growth is that no new people

are added to the kingdom of God.

The third kind of growth is conversion growth, which takes place through evangelistic

effort. As a result of this evangelism, certain people will repent, believe, and convert. After

these people are brought into the church and incorporated into the fellowship, they become

new members of the church, resulting in a numeric increase of membership. This kind of

4McGavran and Arn, How To Grow A Church, 57-59.

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growth must be anticipated and planned for in order to take place. The result of conversion

growth is that many new people are brought into the kingdom of God.

As has been previously stated, all three kinds of growth are healthy and should be

anticipated in a normal church. However, it is easy to see that conversion growth is the most

important kind on which to focus because of two reasons: one, it is the only kind of growth

that involves the salvation of lost people, and two, it is the only kind you can act on. Too

many churches can trace the majority of their increased attendance to just the first two kinds

of growth. If we want to have a truly healthy, growing church, we need to be able to trace our

growth to the third kind.

The Validity of Counting People

This is an area of church growth that bothers some Christians. They might be concerned

for any one of several reasons. Perhaps it may appear that “counting people” is a worldly

pursuit that seeks to glorify the outward success of man. Or, since the ultimate realities of life

are spiritual in nature, counting people may seem to be a preoccupation with the temporal.

After all, some may reason, these people belong to God and we have no business counting

them.

These concerns certainly seem valid, but do they express the whole picture? Is it always

wrong when church leaders or pastors want to know for sure how many believers are in the

church? Of course not! As C. Peter Wagner states,

Using numbers is not intrinsically right or wrong. It depends on the motive.5

We need to think about the reasons, both right and wrong, for counting people, if it truly is

the motive that makes the difference.

Exercise 1

Right now, stop and list at least five right reasons and five wrong reasons for countingpeople.

Let’s consider the other objections to gathering numeric data on the church. In his

tremendously helpful book, I Believe in Church Growth, Eddie Gibbs answers a number of

the objections to gathering data. Here is a condensed summary of it:

“Data-gathering is unscriptural.” On the basis of 1 Chronicles 21, where it is

recorded that David incurred divine displeasure because he ordered a national

5Wagner, Strategies for Church Growth, 43.

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Lesson 2 31

census, some Christian leaders refuse to gather statistics of their membership. They

feel to embark on such an undertaking might spiritually jeopardize their work. But

the incident recorded in Chronicles must be balanced by other parts of Scripture. For

instance in the Book of Numbers Moses is expressly commanded to count the people

upon entering the Sinai wilderness to ensure that they can subsequently be accounted

for.

From the gospel record we know the precise number of Jesus’ select team of

disciples and that on one occasion seventy were sent out two by two on a mission to

prepare villages for Christ’s coming (Luke 10). In his account of the performance of

the Church in the Book of Acts, Luke displays no inhibitions in speaking about

numbers. We are informed that there were 120 believers meeting in Jerusalem

(1:15). Three thousand were added to the Church on the day of Pentecost (2:41), andbefore long the number of male believers grew to about 5,000 (4:4).

“Data-gathering is inappropriate.” Many people discount the value of statistical

analysis by saying that what matters is quality, not quantity. This viewpoint was

upheld by no less a missionary statesman than Max Warren. He speaks of the

“strictly limited value of all statistical assessments of the value of missionary work.

This is one of the quantitative fallacies of far too much missionary thinking. Quality

is indefinable and known only to God.”

While Max Warren is right to caution against an obsessive preoccupation with

numbers, I believe that he overstates the case when he is so dismissive of all

quantitative measurement. The task of mission, while depending on the empowering

and guidance of the Holy Spirit, also requires human planning. The interventions of

God do not set aside the need for careful evaluation. The surprises of God are not

intended as a substitute for strategy. Responsible decision-making requires well-

researched data.

“Data-gathering is unnecessary.” This may be the case in a small house fellowship,

or of a small church in a face-to-face village community where everyone knows

everybody else. However, most churches in today’s world, with its high population

density, complex relationship networks and mobility will need to take a more

sophisticated approach to alert themselves to the significant trends. It is inadequate

and misleading to rely on general impressions in such churches.

“Data-gathering is uncomfortable.” Some denominations and local churches reject

data-gathering because they are not prepared to face the truth about themselves.

Some growing churches which have broadcast their “success” do not want to look

too closely at where their new growth has been coming from. One further aspect

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needs to be mentioned for churches that experienced prolonged decline. Their data-

gathering can be a disheartening exercise.6

Exercise 2

In Lesson 1 of this course, we looked briefly at Luke 15:4-7. Turn to that passage again

and, after reading it carefully, respond to the following questions:

a. How many sheep total did the man have?

b. How many sheep were lost from this total?

c. What was the only way the man could have known that one of his sheep was missing?

As you can see, the only possible way for this man to have known that he was missing one

of his sheep was to count them! Certainly the God who knows the very number of hairs on our

head (Matthew 10:30) is infinitely more interested in the number of His children in our

churches.

The fact is, the Bible speaks often of numbers. This is especially true when it comes to

God’s people, as was noted by Win Arn:

The Bible takes the number of members very seriously indeed. Luke records

numbers with great exactitude … the Bible considers numbering really

important.7

Eddie Gibbs goes on to list a number of reasons why we should be involved in gathering data:

1. To be aware of general trends.

2. To evaluate their significance.

3. To allocate resources to responsive areas.

4. To draw up long-term plans for resistant areas.8

Applying These Principles to Your Church

Whether or not you are a pastor or a key lay leader in your church, it will be helpful for

you to begin to think through and apply some of the principles we have been learning so far.

You will need to become a “student” of your particular church or fellowship in order to learn

as much as possible from it. Carefully go through the following material and complete it as

accurately as you can.

6Eddie Gibbs, I Believe in Church Growth (London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., 1990), 103-108.

7McGavran and Arn, How To Grow A Church, 53. 8Gibbs, I Believe in Church Growth,108-110.

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33

Action Steps

Church Information

1. Does your church keep records of members, baptisms, and weekly attendance? What are

they?

2. How accurate and current are these records?

3. Does your church keep track of its rate of growth from year to year?

4. Does your church keep records of visitors?

5. Are visitors systematically “followed up”?6. Who is responsible for following up visitors?

7. Describe what is done to follow up visitors.

8. How effective is it?

Personal Evaluation of Your Church

1. Pretend you are taking a “photograph” of your church. Describe what it is like. We are

not talking about the church building, but a fellowship of believers. Another way to

approach it is to ask, “How would an outsider describe my church?” Use as much detailas possible.

2. Write an explanation of all the ministries of your church that are designed to help

believers.

3. Write an explanation of all the ministries of your church that are designed to reach

unbelievers.

4. What specific things is your church doing to help facilitate growth?

5. Identify as many things as possible that your church is doing that may hinder growth.

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35

3Developing a “God-given”

Vision Statement for Your Church

n Lessons 1 and 2, we laid the foundation for studying growing churches. First, we

learned the biblical basis for it and the rationale behind it. God wants people to come to a

saving knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to become responsible members of His

Church, resulting in church growth.

Second, we have learned that there are many factors involved in reaching the unsaved and

helping them to become active members of Christ’s Church. These factors involve practices

that either facilitate or hinder this process. Having “church growth eyes” enable us to identify

these areas in our church.

This brings us to the importance of developing a “God-given” vision statement for your

church. In this lesson, we will define what is meant by the word “vision,” and how to develop

one for your church.

LESSON OUTLINE

Illustrating the Problem

Defining “Vision”

Looking at Your Own Church

Hindrances to the Right Vision

The Role of Prayer

Strategic Planning in Realizing the Vision Goals

Action Steps

LESSON OBJECTIVES


1. Understand the importance of vision.

2. Deal constructively with hindrances in gaining a vision.3. Develop a prayer team.

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4. Develop a specific vision statement for your church.

5. Plan steps to realize your goals.

Illustrating the Problem

In the early morning hours of July 4, 1958, a thirty-four-year-old woman waded into the

icy waters off Santa Catalina Island and began swimming toward the California coast. Her

name was Florence Chadwick, and she was determined to be the first woman to complete the

forty-two kilometer swim across the Catalina Channel. She was not a novice to the world of

long-distance swimming. Already she had become the first woman to swim across the English

Channel, a feat which she had accomplished in both directions.

On this particular day, however, an obstacle loomed over the sea like a blanket. Fog, so

thick that you could cut it with a knife, made it difficult for Chadwick to even see her support

vessels. She was prepared for the numbing water and even for the sharks which had to be

driven away with gunfire but, in the end, it was the fog that defeated her. After fifteen hours,

fifty-five minutes, Florence Chadwick was taken out of the water—only to find out later she

was less than one kilometer from land!

As she reflected upon the experience, she said it was not the cold water or the fatigue or

the sharks that had caused her to fail. The fog alone was responsible. It had blinded her eyes,

her reason and her heart. Because she could not see the goal ahead of her, she quit. Two

months later, Florence Chadwick not only completed the swim, but in so doing, shattered the

men’s record by two hours!

Our ability to see the goals before us is called vision.

Defining “Vision”

For many Christians, the word “vision” conjures up various images ranging from Old

Testament prophets to demon-inspired seers. In this course, our working definition is much

more down-to-earth and practical. Very simply stated, “vision” is seeing what God wants todo and believing that he will do it . It is what brings clarity, purpose and progress to our lives.

In a very real sense, God will not do anything through us without our first “seeing” Him

accomplish it. Another word for this is faith. In Hebrews 11, where faith is described and

illustrated, we read in the first verse:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not

seen.

Faith causes us to live our lives with an assurance and conviction about things that are not

seen with the human eye. How is someone able to live like this? One must first understand

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Lesson 3 37

what God desires and then living accordingly. When we ask God to show us what He wants

for us or our church, we are really asking Him to give us a vision.

One church may have a vision for ministering to a particular group of people, like

prisoners or drug addicts. Another church may develop a vision to plant several new churches

in their area. Still another may gain a vision for starting a Bible school or training center. In

each case, before any of these things can come into existence, they will first be envisioned by

someone who desires to follow God’s leading.

This vision becomes a “road map” for our journey as we follow God’s leading. The old

axiom, “If you aim at nothing you will hit it every time,” is true when it comes to the church.

God always has a plan for the church and we must be able to see it before we can do it.

Unfortunately, many churches don’t understand this and are therefore floundering.

Scripture illustrates the importance of vision. One of the clearest passages is the narrativeof the twelve spies who entered Canaan, found in Numbers 13 and 14. Turn to this passage

right now and study it carefully. Then respond to the following questions:

Question 1

What were the basic differences between the report of Caleb and Joshua and the report of

the other ten spies?

Question 2

What was the response of the majority who heard both reports?

Question 3

What were the rewards/consequences for those involved?

Question 4

All the twelve spies observed the exact same thing. Why do you think only two saw what

God wanted them to see while the other ten did not?

Question 5

How might this same situation be seen in a church today?

Looking at Your Own Church

What do you see when you look at your own church in relation to fulfilling the GreatCommission (Matthew 28:19-20)? What can you see God doing now and in the future to

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reach the unreached in your community? Are you able to “visualize” God accomplishing what

He desires to do? Can you see your own church growing through evangelism and

discipleship? Another important question to ask yourself and your church is: what would you

do for the glory of God if you knew you could not fail?

All of these questions deal with vision. If you can’t see God helping your church to grow,

it most certainly will not grow! In a very real sense, we must see it before we can have it. This

was true of the Israelites and the Promised Land and it is true of us in regards to church

growth. Many churches are like the Israelites who were relegated to wander aimlessly for forty

years in the wilderness while being only a river crossing away from a land “flowing with milk

and honey.” If only they were able to visualize God’s victory instead of their defeat!

Hindrances to the Right Vision

Unfortunately, most of us do not come “empty-handed” to God. We come loaded with

many things that can block our ability to see what God wants. We can be just like a man who

is carrying a heavy load on his back; it has him bent over so that he is not able to look up in

order to see what is ahead of him. He can only see the next step in front of him and he is

walking very carefully so as not to trip and fall down. Not only this, but he makes sure he

stays on the familiar path so he knows the way to go.

However, if the man would lay down his load he would be able to look out ahead of him.

He might see a number of different paths that lead to where he wants to go. In fact, he might

even see that he has been taking the wrong path the whole time!

Just like this man, we might have hindrances to having the right vision for our church.

These hindrances could keep us from seeing what God wants us to see. Let’s look at some of

them.

1. Our Past

One of the greatest hindrances to having the right kind of vision is our past. It can blind us

in a way that makes it utterly impossible to see what God has for us. To put it simply, if you

are looking backward, you cannot see forward. Our past reminds us, “We tried that before and

it didn’t work” or “We’ve never done it that way before.”

Traditions can be very helpful in keeping us true to that which God has called us.

However, they can also make us slaves to the past and cause us to lose sight of what is really

important. An example of how this can happen may be seen in a very small group in the

United States called the “Hook and Eye Baptists.” During the last century, when there were no

laws pertaining to child labor in factories, many children were employed for excessively long

hours sewing buttons on clothing. This not only deprived the children of an education, it made

them work under terrible conditions with little pay.

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Lesson 3 39

Many Christians were upset by this practice. One church decided to protest this treatment

by refusing to wear clothing with buttons. They would only wear clothing that was fastened

with “hooks and eyes,” hence the name, “Hook and Eye Baptists.” This was a very good and

appropriate response to a social problem. However, there are still some “Hook and Eye

Baptists” today. Even though there are now laws that protect children from being taken

advantage of, they have clung to their tradition. The fact that the tradition is no longer relevant

seems not to be as important to this group as the tradition itself.

Another factor from our past that can blind us is failure. If you hit your head a few times

on a low doorway, eventually you learn to duck while walking through. The only problem is

that we then tend to duck through every doorway whether we need to or not! The American

author, Mark Twain, once said if a cat sits on a hot stove once, that cat will never sit on a

stove again, be it hot or cold!It’s sad when leaders in churches act like this cat. We try something, get “burned,” and

vow to avoid that experience again. Compare that attitude with the words of the apostle Paul:

... we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;

persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed ...(2 Corinthians

4:8-9).

...forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press

on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus

(Philippians 3:13-14).

Exercise 1

1. What are some things from past experiences that potentially could affect one’s vision for

the future? List as many as you can think of.

2. Now let’s get more personal. Take some time right now to reflect upon your past and

that of your church. What are some things you can think of that might hinder your

vision?

2. Criticism

Motion makes friction. You cannot move forward while standing still. Moving forward

means that some people, who want to stay where they are, may be opposed you. Remember

our study in Numbers 13 and 14? Will we be any different than Caleb and Joshua who were

almost stoned for their vision?

The fear of criticism will cloud our vision as sure as anything. No one enjoys being

criticized, but we must not allow that to hinder us. Anyone who does anything, says anything,

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or stands for anything will be criticized. Aristotle said, “Criticism is something we can easily

avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing.”

How can we deal with criticism in a positive manner? The following guidelines are

helpful:

A. Accept that it will come. Don’t be surprised by it as if criticism were some kind of foreign

invader! Turn to 1 Peter 3 and study verses 13 through 17. Respond to the following

questions:

Question 6

In what ways can other Christians cause us to “suffer”?

Question 7

What does it mean to “keep a good conscience”?

Question 8

Has there ever been a time when you have been criticized by another believer? Summarize

the situation and write down how you felt about it.

B. Learn from it. There will always be at least a grain of truth in most criticism. We must

seek to learn something positive from those who might criticize us. Turn to James 1:2-5 and

respond to the following questions:

Question 9

How is the asking for wisdom linked with encountering trials?

Question 10

In what ways might God speak to us through criticism?

C. Do not let it deter you. The effective Christian leader is not stubborn or unteachable. Since

he desires to be the person God wants him to be he is open to change. But, if God has clearly

led you through His Word to do something, you should do it faithfully even if you are being

criticized! Read Acts 4:1-22 and 5:12-29, and respond to the following questions:

Question 11

Summarize the situations in both passages.

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Lesson 3 41

Question 12

Were the apostles correct in disobeying the authorities? Why or why not?

Question 13

What were the results?

3. Our Problems

Every single one of us has problems. They might be in our family, job, or church, but they

are there. Problems, either present or past, can cloud our vision. When this happens, it’s like

being lost in a forest; all we can see are the trees. In order to find our way out, we must first go

to some higher ground so we can see over the trees. Then we can get our bearings and find our

way home.

We must learn to look at problems as opportunities instead of obstacles—opportunities to

trust in God. No one ever has learned to truly trust God in easy times. Paul wrote many of his

epistles while in prison and John saw the apocalypse while in exile. A sailor cannot learn how

to sail on calm seas; he must have both wind and waves.

Read Exodus 14 and respond to these questions:

Question 14

Summarize the problem the Israelites had.

Question 15

What was God trying to show them through their problems?

Question 16

Did the Israelites learn from this incident, and what is the proof?

These are just examples of some of the factors that can hinder us in having a truly “God-

given” vision for our church and lives. Basically, anything in our lives that somehow keeps us

from fully trusting and following God can be a hindrance.

The Role of Prayer

When God gives a leader a vision for his church, it usually happens while the leader is on

his knees. Prayer is an essential part of the process God takes us through in order to show us

what He wants us to see. Any great work of God is going to involve a great deal of prayer.

Remember, we are after God’s vision for us and not our own vision for ourselves.

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In his insightful book, Beyond Church Growth, Bob Logan emphasizes the mandatory

nature of prayer when he writes,

Many people, pastors and church planters among them, live as though they

consider prayer a last resort weapon in life’s battles. If all else fails, we get

down on our knees. We see prayer as a spiritual atom bomb, so to speak. We

try things our own way, and when our own way doesn’t work, we cry out to

God.1

Logan goes on to suggest the formation of a prayer team. He writes,

One of the most common but devastating mistakes a church leader can make is

to launch upon a ministry venture alone. Too many leaders burn out for lack of

a support group of peers—or other pastors, people in ministry, or churchplanters with whom they can test their ideas, seek wisdom, and unload burdens.

More important than a peer support group, however, is the formation of a

group of people gifted in and committed to the art and practice of intercessory

prayer on your behalf. This group needn’t be large, but it must be faithful.2

It has been said as well that we must first be the people of God before we can do the work

of God. We must spend significant time in prayer and worship to develop a vision that truly is

from God, thus the importance of a small group of like-minded believers praying with us.

Exercise 2

Right now, develop a plan for praying for God’s vision for your church by utilizing the

following format:

Where will you pray?

With whom will you pray?

For what will you pray?

When will you pray?

1Robert E. Logan, Beyond Church Growth (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1989), 32.

2Ibid., 33.

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Lesson 3 43

Strategic Planning in Realizing the Vision Goals

What do you do after God gives you some vision goals to accomplish? Do you just wait

around until they somehow come into existence all by themselves? Of course, the answer is

no! Gaining a vision is just the first step in the process. The next step involves strategic

planning.

Strategic planning helps the church isolate the critical issues in its vision statement and

goals, and develops a plan whereby that vision can be accomplished. It always involves

change and is proactive rather than reactive. Strategic planning makes the church look at the

“big picture” and is a long-term approach to ministry. It deals with the “now,” but more in

terms of how the present will affect the future.

Strategic planning is thinking and praying through the steps necessary to accomplishing

the vision goal. For example, if your goal is to be an effective witness for Christ, what might

some of the steps be?

1. Learn a clear and concise gospel presentation.

2. Memorize the Scripture verses that you would use.

3. Develop a clear and brief personal testimony.

4. Go places where you can meet unbelievers.

5. Develop relationships with these people.

6. Regularly pray for those with whom you are sharing.3

Under each one of these basic points you would develop specific, detailed steps to take, as

follows:

1. Learn a clear and concise gospel presentation.

a. Research as many different approaches to sharing the gospel as you can find.

b. Test some of these out to find which works the best for you.

c. Make a goal date for when you will complete this.

2. Memorize the Scripture verses that you would use.

a. Write out each verse you want to use on separate cards that you can take with you.

b. Schedule a time each day that you will work on these.

c. Make a goal date for when you will complete this.

3. Develop a clear and brief personal testimony.

a. Start by making a general outline of your testimony, i.e. Life before Christ; How I

met Christ; Life since meeting Christ.

3Taken from The Refocusing Process manual developed by Church Resource Ministries Australia

(copyright pending), 1-3.

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b. From the outline, fill in the details.

c. Practice it so that you can give it from memory in only four minutes.

d. Get feedback from others to improve it.

e. Make a goal date for when you will complete this.

4. Go places where you can meet unbelievers.

a. If you do not know many unbelievers, think through how and where you can meet

some.

b. Schedule a time each week when you will go to one of these places.

c. Make a goal date for when you will go the first time.

5. Develop relationships with these people.

a. Think through and list all the ways that you can develop a relationship with these

new acquaintances.b. Schedule a time each week when you will do a specific thing to build a relationship

with an unbeliever.

c. Look for the right opportunities to share with them.

d. Make a goal date for beginning.

6. Regularly pray for those you are sharing with.

a. Develop a list of people to pray specifically for.

b. Schedule a time each day for praying for their salvation.

c. Make a goal date for beginning this.

As you can see, even for a relatively basic goal like this one, there must be planning in

order to effectively accomplish it. The bigger the vision, the more strategic planning must be

done. For example, if the vision goal was to plant a new church, very specific things must be

planned and carried out far in advance. We will see this more clearly in Lesson 9 which deals

with church planting.

Some people, however, object to strategic planning when it comes to Christian ministry.

They say that by planning ahead you “leave God out” and so it is better to just let things

happen “by the Holy Spirit’s leading.” Some would even go so far as to not study in

preparation for teaching the Bible or preaching a sermon!

Among other passages in Scripture, people with this viewpoint quote James 4:13-16:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a

city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you

do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that

appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If

the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in

your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

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Lesson 3 45

Are these people right? Is strategic planning merely a human effort that attempts to

supersede the work that God wants to do? Eddie Gibbs responds:

Such passages of Scripture do not deny the possibility or legitimacy of

planning, rather they warn against wrong attitudes in planning. They caution

against substituting human schemes for a reliance on God’s power. They

remind us that nothing is impossible with God. They alert us to be prepared for

the unexpected to happen, for God is not scheduled by our programs. They

emphasize that no matter how diligent and energetic a person may be, it is still

God who plays the major part. And they point out that there is a question mark

hanging over tomorrow. All plans are provisional.4

Can the Holy Spirit only work in and through us if we fail to plan and prepare or, instead,

does He guide us as we prayerfully plan and prepare for doing the work of God? There are

numerous examples in Scripture to indicate godly planning as a forerunner to the work that

God accomplished through people. Spend some time studying these passages and meditate

upon them. Remember to focus on the issues and apply them personally.

Question 17

Look up the following passages and summarize the principles that relate to planning:

a. Genesis 12:1-3 and Romans 4:16-17

b. Ephesians 1:5, 8-12c. Genesis 41:25-45

d. Matthew 25:14-30

From these passages, Eddie Gibbs relates four principles of planning that are pleasing to God:

1. We plan in the knowledge that we serve a God who plans.

2. We engage in planning in recognition that we are responsible co-workers with God.

3. As co-workers with God, Christians are held accountable for their actions.

4. We engage in planning in the understanding that in the final analysis we are utterly

dependent on God’s providence.5

God never honors laziness or irresponsibility, on the contrary, He desires that His servants

take His work very seriously and be diligent in their ministries. This is why strategic planning

is essential for us to be faithful to the vision and goals that God gives us.

Here are some important principles and guidelines in strategic planning:

4Gibbs, I Believe In Church Growth, 271.

5Ibid., 271-275.

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1. Always approach it prayerfully. We must be the people of God before we can do the

work of God.

2. Have a clear vision statement finalized. To begin planning before the big picture is

clear is both frustrating and futile.

3. Develop a series of specific, progressive goals. Begin with the long-term goals and

work your way down to the short-term goals. These need to be specific enough to

know when you have reached them.

4. Work out the detailed steps necessary to reach the goals. Begin with the short-term

goals and work up.

5. Establish time frames for reaching each goal and time frames for periodic review

of the process. Few things are worse than setting a goal and planning out the steps

and then just forgetting about it!

6. Set up a system of accountability. Whether it is the church council, the pastor or

some denominational leaders, we need to state our goals and ask others to hold us

accountable to them.

7. Continue to make prayer preeminent. Prayer helps us to remain faithful to and

dependent upon God.

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47

Action Steps

1. Right now, take some time to think about your own church. What are some of the things

God is doing to help you and your church grow? Don’t bother trying to figure out how these

things could happen, or whether you consider them possible or impossible. Just reflect upon

these questions and record your thoughts.

2. How do you know that God wants to do these things? What Scriptural principles do they

reflect? How are they related to Christ’s Great Commission for His Church (Matthew

28:18-20)?

3. With whom will you “test” your thoughts and ideas? Who do you know and respect that cangive you godly counsel?

4. With whom will you do your strategic planning? When will you do it? Where will you do

it?

5. For practice, think of one thing you know right now that God wants you to do. Using the

principles discussed in this lesson, plan out in detail how you will accomplish this:

The goal:

The steps to reaching this goal:Step-by-step time frame:

Those to whom I will be accountable:

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48


Question 1

The major difference between Caleb and Joshua’s report and the report of the other ten spies

was that Caleb and Joshua gave a good report, while the ten spies gave a bad one. The two

saw victory over the land, while the ten saw only defeat. The two felt God showed them that

they should take the land, while the ten felt they would die in the attempt.

Question 2

The majority believed the bad report of the ten spies so much that they wanted to stone Caleb

and Joshua for their report.

Question 3

The consequences for the ten spies, and all the rest of the people who believed them, were that

they were never allowed to enter the Promised Land but wandered in the wilderness until they

all died. Caleb and Joshua were rewarded and allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Question 4

The average person is unwilling, and therefore unable, to see things from God’s perspective. If

this account is typical, only one in six people will be able to see what God really wants them

to see. Addition-ally, it appears that the majority will often side with those who lack vision

and faith.

Question 5

This episode is lived out in almost every church. There are very few leaders with vision and

fewer congregations that are ready to follow them. When there is a visionary pastor or leader,

the congregation oftentimes ridicules and “stones” them. These types of churches are destined

to flounder.

Question 6

Other Christians can cause us to suffer through slander and false accusations. The whole

context of this passage is that it was written to believers, and so these causes for suffering

came from inside the church rather than outside.

Question 7

To “keep a good conscience” is basically to know, before God, that we have wronged no one

without then making it right. This also means that we keep “short accounts” with God and

with others. Confessing our sins and seeking forgiveness is how this is accomplished.

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Lesson 3 49

Question 8

This is to be personally answered.

Question 9One of the first things that we ask God when we experience trials is, “Why?” This is not a

question that can be easily or adequately answered most of the time. Wisdom helps us to see

how these trials can be of benefit to us and our spiritual lives. Wisdom looks for the

redeeming factors in difficult situations.

Question 10

There are a number of ways that God might speak to us through criticism. First, He might be

showing us that we have gotten off track from what He desires us to do or say. Second, He

may be revealing that we have a relational problem that needs to be addressed with the onecriticizing us. Third, He may be showing us that we need to persevere in our commitment to

please Him rather than man.

Question 11

In Acts 4:1-22, Peter and John were arrested by the Sanhedrin for preaching about Jesus. They

were ultimately released and given explicit instructions not to teach or speak in the name of

Jesus, but replied that they could not obey man rather than God. In Acts 5:12-29, the apostles

again were arrested by the Sanhedrin and told not to teach in the name of Jesus. Once again,

their reply was that they must obey God.

Question 12

The apostles were correct in disobeying the authorities. The hard part in disobeying authority

is determining that we are doing exactly what God wants us to do. In both of these cases, the

apostles had an unmistakable call to preach in the name of Jesus. They were so committed to

obedience in this call that they were willing to disobey any authority which attempted to stop

them. This must always be the case for the obedient disciple.

Question 13The ultimate result was that most of the apostles were martyred. Yet, the gospel was spread

throughout the entire known world. God’s blessing was on them because of their obedience in

placing Him first.

Question 14

The problem the Israelites had was that their escape from Egypt was threatened by the

Egyptian army. To complicate the matter, the Israelites were trapped between the Egyptian

army and the Red Sea. They were in a totally defenseless position and, humanly speaking, had

absolutely no chance of surviving.

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Question 15

More than anything, God was trying to show them that He was able to solve any problem they

encountered. He had already solved their greatest problem—delivering them from the

Egyptians. By doing so, He had demonstrated His ability to take care of their problems.

Unfortunately, the Israelites did not see it this way and, therefore, did not trust God to solve

their current problem.

Question 16

No, the Israelites did not learn from this incident. In fact, one can view their entire time in the

wilderness as a repeated lack of trust in God to solve their problems. Whether it was a lack of

water, a lack of food or the threatening presence of powerful people living in the Promised

Land, they never learned to trust God.

Question 17

a. In calling Abram to leave his country and to go to a new land, God expresses the plan

He had for him and all of his offspring, both physical and spiritual. Paul explained this

application through Christ. The principle is that God obviously had a plan that

encompassed hundreds of centuries, and involved countless people.

b. These passages talk about God’s foreknowing, predestining, and choosing us to be “in

Christ.” This means that things do not just happen by chance or natural course, but that

God plans them.c. In this passage God gave Pharaoh a dream that outlined the next fourteen years for

Egypt: there would be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine. In

revealing this to Pharaoh, God demonstrated His plan; one that involved not only

Egypt, but also Joseph and all of Israel, as well. Joseph’s counsel was to plan for

surviving the seven years of famine by storing up resources during the seven years of

abundance. Without this type of planning, survival would have been difficult.

d. In the parable of the talents, a man going on a journey gave five talents to one man,

two talents to another, and one talent to a third. The first two worked hard and doubled

their money. However, the man with one talent did nothing and merely returned it to

his master. He reasoned that his master was a hard man and that he feared losing the

one talent he had been given. Because he had not invested what the master had given

him, it was taken away from him, as he should have planned better for the final

accounting. In other words, he accurately assessed the situation (his master was a hard

man!) but failed to plan accordingly.

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51

4

The Church and Cultural Relevancy

he progression of this course so far has led us to discover the various biblical

principles that teach us about the importance of growing churches. We have seen that

God not only desires people to be saved, but also that as we incorporate them into the

fellowship of the church, growth results. This is the very essence of Jesus’ command to go and

“make disciples.”

We then began to apply these principles into the life and ministry of our church. We

discovered the various ways a church might grow and the importance of planning for it. These

things were then applied personally to your own situation.

In Lesson 3, we focused upon the importance of developing a God-given vision for your

church, resulting in a detailed vision statement that people can understand and agree upon.

Because God has a plan for you, He will also be faithful in helping you to accomplish it.

This brings us to our present lesson, where we will explore the various issues related to

helping the church to present itself and the gospel in a way that can be understood and

received by those outside the church. This lesson is designed to be very thought provoking, as

it deals with some of the most important issues related to the church accomplishing its task.

LESSON OUTLINEDefining Culture

The Reason for Relevance

Jesus and Cultural Relevancy

The Apostles and Cultural Relevancy

Helping the Church to Become Culturally Relevant

Action Steps

LESSON OBJECTIVES


T

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1. Define accurately the various components of culture.

2. Describe your own culture in terms of the various components.

3. Articulate how your church relates to your culture.

4. Trace how Jesus and the apostles related to culture.

5. Discover how to break down the cultural barriers you and your church have erected.

Defining Culture

Oftentimes, when we think about the word culture, we think of a ballet or the beautiful

sounds of a philharmonic orchestra. We think about classical music and some of the

magnificent pieces that the great masters of times past have written. We may also think about

going to a fine art museum and viewing paintings and sculptures. Perhaps the word culture

may even cause us to focus in on the idea of looking and acting properly by knowing the

protocol of any given situation. These ideas about culture are the more popular ones today.

Actually, however, culture goes much deeper than those things. In fact, the above are

merely expressions of a small facet of it. Culture, in its broader sense, is not just limited to

outward expressions. Defining it is not an easy task and understanding it is even more

difficult! However, if we truly desire to be able to effectively reach the lost with the gospel of

Jesus Christ , we must address these issues.

There are four basic systems that can be seen in any culture.1

1. The System of Beliefs

These four are progressive as

each one is built upon the previous one. Learning about them will help us understand

ourselves better, as well as those we wish to evangelize.

At the very core of every culture is a system of beliefs . This has to do with things like

what the people believe about God . Do they believe that God exists and, if so, in what kind of

form? Do they believe that God is good and will help them or do they believe that He is bad

and will hurt them? Do they believe that only one God exists or do they believe in many? Is

God a personal God or just some kind of “cosmic force” in their way of thinking?

Another aspect of this system of beliefs has to do with reality as understood by the people.

In other words, what is real? What do they believe is the primary basis for reality or where do

they believe reality is found? Is it in the temporal world or in the spiritual world?

Third, it is within the people’s belief system that the ultimate meaning of life is

determined. Questions like, “What is the ultimate purpose of man?” are asked. The beliefs

people have about ultimate meaning are at the very heart and center of their culture.

1Taken from lectures given by Don Larson [ed.: further information to follow].

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Africa, differs greatly from what would be acceptable in Moscow, Russia. All of these areas

are examples of the system of customs.

4. The System of Institutions

The fourth, and last, component of culture is the system of institutions. These would be,

relatively speaking, formal expressions of the beliefs, values, and customs of the culture. They

would include institutions such as churches, schools, police and fire departments, as well as

local and federal government. This is the component that generates laws that govern the

people.

If one looks at these four components of culture like a building, we can illustrate how they

work together. The system of beliefs is like the foundation of the building. It must be laid first

and the rest of the building sits upon it. Next, the system of values is like the framework or

structure of the building. You do not see it outwardly, but it is definitely there and without it,

the building could not stand. The system of customs is like the sides and roof of the building.

It completes the building from the outside and protects the contents inside. Lastly, the system

of institutions could represent the furnishings inside the building. The very last thing that is

done to complete the building is to paint, wallpaper and furnish it. The building is then

functional and can be enjoyed by everyone.

It is relatively easy, for example, for a European to identify the differences between

African and European cultures. It requires a bit more observation for them to identify the

differences between several European groups. However, as we know, most European

countries are made up of more than one ethnic group. Already in this decade, we have

witnessed the fierce conflicts between different ethnic groups within several countries. Just as

there are inherent problems with people from different cultures trying to live together, there is

difficulty in trying to relate the gospel to people from different cultures. This is why it is so

imperative for us to understand the components of culture.

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Lesson 4 55

Exercise 1

What is your culture like? Refer to the material just discussed, and describe your own

culture. Try to be as thorough as possible.

1. What are the beliefs held by your culture?

2. What are the values held by your culture?

3. What are the customs practiced by your culture?

4. What are the institutions established in your culture?

The Reason for Relevance

Why have we addressed these issues about culture in a course like this? The reason is

simple. The gospel of Jesus Christ is to be taken to “all the nations”—it is for everyone,everywhere. But how can we take the gospel to people who have beliefs, values, customs and

institutions that are different from ours and expect them to respond? The answer is by making

the gospel understandable to them. This is essentially what we mean by cultural relevancy.

Is the concept of cultural relevance valid only for missionaries and churches practicing E2

or E3 evangelism?2

This will become clear as we begin to understand that a church actually represents a kind

of sub-culture within the community. For example, Polish Christians will be part of the broad

culture of Poland because they share a common heritage and history living within Polish

society. However, there are a number of aspects of the sub-culture within a church that are

unique. This can be seen in the way believers dress, the places they go, the friends they have

or the terms they use when they speak.

What about the church that is merely trying to reach the unbelievers in

their community?

An outsider , then, would not know all the ways to be “culturally” acceptable in the church.

They might not know how to dress properly for the church service or even how to pray. They

probably go places and do things that are “unacceptable.” At the minimum, they won’t

completely understand the language used inside the church, even though it is in their native

tongue! The only way to truly know all these things (and more) is to be an insider of the

church.

This poses a problem for those who wish to be involved in evangelism and disciple-

making. Either the people we wish to reach have to first accept, and become part of, our

church’s sub-culture so that they can clearly understand what we are saying, or the church

must present the gospel in a way that people outside the church can understand it. In other

words, we must present the gospel in a way that is relevant to the people we desire to reach.

2See Lesson 1 of this course.

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Oftentimes, churches put “the cart before the horse.” We want people to conform to our

church’s sub-culture before they are able to respond to the gospel. This erects barriers that

hinder people from coming to Christ. The apostle Paul talked about the inherent barriers

contained in the gospel itself when he wrote,

… but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to

Gentiles foolishness (1 Cor. 1:23).

But are these barriers contained in the gospel the same as the ones that are inherent in our

church’s sub-culture? Usually, they are not!

This is where the issue of cultural relevance becomes so imperative. People want to be

able to come to faith in Jesus Christ by crossing as few “cultural barriers” as possible.3

… non-Biblical barriers must not be set up. It is non-Biblical barriers which we

must demolish …. To reach people living on the other side of a culture barrier

requires a conscious effort.

This

not only refers to the major cultural barriers that exist between different ethnic groups, but

also to the barriers that exist in the church’s sub-culture. We must, however, make clear that

we are not referring to differences like faith in the Bible or living a godly life. Those are

biblical differences that must not be compromised. Again, Donald McGavran addresses this

when he states,

4

In a very real sense, it is not ultimately what we say to people that is important, it is whatthey hear that really matters. Failing to understand this results in what Wagner calls “ people

blindness,” which he defines as, “the lack of cultural sensitivity.”

5

Bible translators often face this problem. For example, in parts of Africa, the care of sheep

is relegated to children or the mentally deficient. It is the care of cattle which is regarded as

man’s work. Therefore, when Jesus is presented as the Good Shepherd in John 10, further

clarification would be needed to avoid misinterpretation!

This can be a detriment to

growth in the church.

6

God is neither the inventor of culture nor the perfecter of it; He is neither for it nor againstit. Rather, He is above it, but works through it . In other words, God has, in a sense, limited

Himself in order to communicate to people in understandable terms within their culture. We

must do the same thing.

7

3McGavran, Understanding Church Growth, 163.

4McGavran and Arn, How To Grow A Church, 45, 51.

5Wagner, Strategies for Church Growth, 166.

6Gibbs, I Believe in Church Growth, 81.

7Ibid., 73-78.

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Lesson 4 57

To prepare ourselves for becoming more sensitive to those outside the church we wish to

reach, we have to know two things. First, we have to know who we are. Second, we have to

know who they are.

Exercise 2

Write out as many insights as you can about your church and its culture. Then write out

everything you know about the community outside the church and its culture.

Jesus and Cultural Relevancy

Jesus has given us many wonderful examples of cultural sensitivity throughout the

gospels. Being a Jew, He understood the various nuances of His culture and was therefore

able to speak in understand-able terms. Likewise, He also understood other cultures, as

evidenced in His encounters with various non-Jews.

One of the best examples of this is found in John 4:1-42. Carefully study this passage and

answer the following questions:

Question 1

Who were the Samaritans and how did the Jews relate to them?

Question 2

What cultural barrier (beliefs, values, customs or institutions) did Jesus cross by going

through Samaria?

Question 3

What cultural barrier did Jesus cross by initiating conversation with this Samaritan woman

(vv. 7-15)?

Question 4

What cultural barrier did Jesus cross when He asked her about her husband and why (vv.

16-18)?

Question 5

To which cultural barrier did the woman try to push Jesus back, and how might someone

do that today (vv. 19-20)?

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Question 6

After her attempt to “push Him away” how did Jesus respond? What cultural barrier did

Jesus then cross and why (vv. 21-24)?

Question 7

As a result of this, which cultural barrier did the woman ultimately invite Jesus to cross

(vv. 25 and 26)?

The Apostles and Cultural Relevancy

At the time that Jesus gave His final instructions to the apostles in Acts 1:7-8, it is unlikelythat they fully comprehended the breadth of His words. As we see later, God had to

supernaturally cause the gospel to spread outside the Jewish culture. Let’s study some selected

passages in order to trace the presentation of the gospel into different cultures.

Question 8

Describe all the cultural issues found in Acts 8:4-25.

Question 9

Summarize the events in Acts 8:26-40 and articulate their cultural implications.

Question 10

In Acts 10:9-48, how did God show His acceptance of Gentiles?

Question 11

What do we learn about cultural sensitivity from Paul’s encounter in Athens in Acts 17:16-

31?

Helping the Church to Become Culturally Relevant

All of the areas discussed in this lesson help the church relate to those outside. One

question that is crucial at this point is, “Are we essentially going to force people to become

like us (the church’s sub-culture) in order for them to become believers in Jesus Christ?” If

your church is not willing to become culturally relevant, the answer to that question will be

yes.

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Lesson 4 59

If our acceptance of people outside the church is strictly on our terms (i.e. they conform to

us), then we will have a difficult time reaching them. We must learn how to communicate

with them in a way that they can understand. Our goal must be to make a disciple and not to

add another member to the church’s sub-culture. Can you see the difference?

The way for us to do that is two-fold. First, we must understand ourselves and understand

those outside the church. Second, we must be able to break down some of the barriers the

church has erected that hinder people from becoming Christ’s disciples and responsible

members of His Church. This is what we mean by “becoming culturally relevant.” The action

steps that follow are designed to help you in this process.

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60

Action Steps

1. In order to understand those outside the church, conduct the following survey in at least

twenty-five homes around your church and prepare a summary of the results:

1. Do you regularly attend a church service?

a. How often do you attend?

b. Which church?

2. Why do you think most people don’t at-tend church regularly?

3. What do you think is wrong with most churches?

4. What would you like to see churches doing?

2. It is important to be able to effectively communicate with those outside the church. To

assist you in doing this, write out (a) a one-page testimony and (b) a one-page gospel

presentation that is without any “Christian” jargon or Biblical terms. In others words, speak

so someone outside the church can easily understand you.

3. Develop at least six ideas for helping the unchurched to feel welcomed and accepted in your

church.

4. Develop a detailed strategic plan for implementing these ideas into your church. Make it

step-by-step and take into consideration what needs to be done to help others in the church

accept these new ideas.

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61


Question 1

The Samaritans were a mixture of Jews and foreigners who had intermarried as a result of the

Assyrian captivity. Unlike the southern tribes, who had refused to intermarry during the

Babylonian captivity, the Samaritans were considered an impure race and were totally rejected

by the Jews. Basically, Jews would have nothing to do with them.

Question 2

By going through Samaria, Jesus crossed the first cultural barrier of institutions. A “good

Jew” would never have traveled through Samaria to go from Judea to Galilee, but instead

would have crossed the Jordan, traveled up the east side and then crossed again into Galilee.

Jesus broke a religious practice by going through Samaria and, in this way, crossed the

cultural barrier of institutions.

Question 3

By speaking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus crossed the second cultural barrier of customs. He

did this in three ways. First, it was not the custom for a Jew to speak to a Samaritan. Second,

it was not the custom for a Jewish man to speak to a woman that he did not know. Third, itwas not the custom for a Jew to put himself under obligation to a Samaritan or a woman,

which Jesus did by asking her for some water. In this way, Jesus broke through the cultural

barrier of customs.

Question 4

By asking the Samaritan woman about her husband, Jesus crossed the third cultural barrier of

values. Obviously, Jesus knew she was an immoral woman. When He inquired about her

husband, He was moving into a deeper level by addressing her own system of values. It wasn’t

that she or her culture lacked values, but that she had been violating her own values. This was

the real first step into getting personal with this woman.

Question 5

Apparently, this woman was not prepared to talk about her own values, and so pushed Jesus

all the way back to the system of institutions. She did this by asking a question concerning

religious practices. She was more comfortable talking in general about religious practices than

she was about her personal behavior. This is typified today when someone responds with

theological questions about creation versus evolution, or good versus evil, after being

questioned about their personal needs.

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Question 6

Jesus simply answered her question! In other words, He didn’t force her to discuss what she

was not ready to discuss. This is important because if we force people to address issues before

they are ready, the response will usually be negative.

Question 7

Because of Jesus’ cultural sensitivity, she invites Him all the way to her core of beliefs, by

speaking to Him about the Messiah. Jesus then crosses all the way to the fourth cultural

barrier of beliefs by proclaiming to her that He is the Messiah. It is important to realize that

Jesus didn’t begin at this point, but worked His way there through cultural sensitivity.

Question 8

After the stoning of Stephen, the church was scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Philip,for the first time, went to Samaria to preach the gospel, and therefore crossed certain cultural

barriers similar to those Jesus crossed in John 4. The result was that Simon the Sorcerer, along

with many others, were saved and brought into the fellowship of the church. This was the first

time people in this cultural group were welcomed into the church.

Question 9

Philip is led down a road to Gaza, where he meets an Ethiopian eunuch who is a “God-fearer.”

After being invited to share with him from the Scriptures, Philip tells him about Jesus. The

eunuch believes and is baptized with water. Undoubtedly, this eunuch returned to his land

where he shared the gospel. This is the first instance of the gospel being taken out of the

general area of Judea.

Question 10

Even though some Gentiles had become believers, the apostles still did not fully accept

Gentiles. To correct this, God gave Peter a dream about eating ceremonially unclean food.

Ultimately, Peter saw this as a sign that Gentiles should not be considered unclean by the

church. This was extremely important, because the church was still culturally biased against

non-Jews.

Question 11

When the apostle Paul was touring the objects of worship in Athens, he could have criticized

their culture for being superstitious and idolatrous. Instead, he utilized their own belief system

by focusing on one of their own objects of worship—the unknown god. He told them that this

was the God he wanted to talk to them about. This is key in demonstrating that we need to

approach people from where they are, regardless of how misguided they may be.

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63

5The Role of Reproducing Cell Groups

in a Church

n the first four lessons, we established a basis for growing churches. Obviously, if a

church is going to grow, it takes a lot of effort on the part of many people. God never

intended that all of the ministry would be done by just a few individuals. On the contrary,

the ministry is to be carried on by all the members of the church under the training, equipping

and supervision of the pastor.

Now that we have established that base, we are able to move on to one of the most under-

utilized principles for the church found in all the New Testament—the role of reproducing

“cell groups” in the church.

LESSON OUTLINE

Two Critical Issues for the Church Today

Defining “Cell Group”

The Biblical Basis for Cell Groups

Current Cell Group Models

Centralized vs Decentralized Ministry

Developing and Multiplying Cell Group Leaders

How to BeginWhat to Do in a Cell Group

Evangelism and Cell Groups

Action Steps

LESSON OBJECTIVES


1. Articulate the importance and role of cell groups in the church.

2. Understand biblically how cell groups fit into God’s plan.

3. Conceptualize and apply the various cell group principles in your church context.

I

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4. Design a method to continually train new cell group leaders.

5. Structure and lead a cell group meeting.

6. Make an action plan for implementing a cell group strategy for your church.

Two Critical Issues for the Church Today

Today, there are two critical issues facing the Church of Jesus Christ. Both of these issues

have to do with the Great Commission from Matthew 28:19-20:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name

of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that

I commanded you …

To put it simply, Jesus commanded us to reach those who do not know Him (evangelism)

and to provide a means for them to become all that He desires them to be (discipleship). The

Church, then, must ask itself two important questions. The first is this:

How can the church effectively reach those outside the church

with the gospel of Jesus Christ?

The second is:

How can the church provide a means for Christians to grow and

minister to others both in the church and outside of it?

Our suggestion is that the answer to both is found in the establishment of reproducing cell

groups within the church.

Defining “Cell Group”

There are basically three levels of participation that a church offers: celebration,

congregation, and cell. Each of these levels has a different dynamic and function which

determines how it operates.

The celebration is what we would call the worship service, when the entire church gathers

together each week. In the celebration, most of the attendees are passive, which means that

their participation involves following (as in singing certain hymns or praying at certain times)

and listening (to a sermon). The majority of actual ministry during the celebration is done by a

few people “up front.”

The congregation has some of the same characteristics of the celebration, but on a smallerscale. This might be like a special Bible study class that meets before the worship service each

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Lesson 5 65

week. Not everyone who comes to the celebration would come to the congregation. There is

usually more opportunity for people to actively participate, but the bulk of ministry would still

be accomplished by those in charge of leading.

The cell is much different than either the celebration or the congregation. To begin with, a

cell consists of four to twelve members, which means that it is significantly smaller in size.

Because of its more “intimate” size, each member becomes an active participant. It is

structured so that the leader does not do most of the ministering, but that the individual

members minister “one to another.” For this reason, when a cell grows larger than twelve

people, it must “multiply” itself into two smaller groups. Otherwise, before too long you no

longer have a cell, but a congregation!

The word “cell” is a technical term that refers to specific type of group that differs from a

normal “small group.” Just as in biology, the “body” is made up of millions of cells, whichgrow, reproduce and multiply. When these individual cells are together, they form the whole

body.

The same picture works well to describe a church that uses cell groups. The church is like

a body that, while one, is made up of many cell groups. These groups grow, reproduce and

multiply causing the church to grow. Regular small group meetings in a church do not share

this goal.

Basically, we have covered the definition and function of a cell group. Later on, we will

take a detailed look at what should take place within it.

The Biblical Basis for Cell Groups

The idea of cell groups is certainly not a new one. Even before the birth of the Church in

Acts 2, we can actually see an application of celebration , congregation and cell in the ministry

of Jesus. Our Lord, at times, preached to and taught the masses (celebration) as in the Sermon

on the Mount or the Feeding of the Five Thousand. He also had special times with a large

group of followers (congregation) such as when He sent out the seventy to preach and to heal

in Luke 10. However, we clearly see that Jesus invested the majority of His time and effort inHis twelve disciples (cell). This is where the truly “in-depth” ministry of Jesus took place.

An important question for every pastor or church leader to ask themselves is this: If Jesus

needed to spend the bulk of His ministry on earth with only twelve men in order to adequately

prepare them to minister in His place, can I do better?

Can a pastor be everything to everyone? Does any one person possess all the gifts and

abilities to equip the church? Is this what God intended for the church? Is this what Jesus

modeled?

Let’s look at how things worked when the church first came into existence, before anyformal “organization” developed. Read Acts 2:42-47 and respond to the following questions:

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Question 1

Name and define briefly at least seven activities or ministries of the church found in this

passage.

Question 2

Which of these ministries do you feel was done, or would be done, best in a cell group?

Question 3

Look up the following “one another” passages that are listed. After each verse, summarize

what the verse is telling us to do and at which level (celebration, congregation or cell) it

can best be accomplished.

a. Romans 12:10

b. Galatians 6:2

c. Ephesians 4:2 and 32

d. Ephesians 5:21

e. Colossians 3:16

f. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

g. Hebrews 10:24-25

h. James 5:16

From this brief study we begin to see the importance of cell groups throughout the New

Testament. Why is it, then, that most churches today lack this vital element of church life? Or,

better yet, how can we begin to apply these things in our churches? Let’s look at what God is

doing around the world today in relation to cell groups.

Current Cell Group Models

Today, there are examples of churches that are based on reproducing cell groups onvirtually every continent on Earth. From Singapore to England and from Korea to Africa,

churches are growing dynamically from a new focus on the cell group level. The largest single

local church in the world is the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea with more than

600,000 members. Yet, virtually every member is part of a home cell group. To most of us,

those kinds of numbers are absolutely staggering and difficult to relate to. However, Dr. Paul

Yonggi Cho, the pastor, describes his church as,

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Lesson 5 67

… the smallest church in the world as well as the biggest … because every

member is part of a home cell group consisting of 15 families or fewer.1

Whether a church has 50 members or 50,000 members, there will be certain components,

or functions, that may be seen in their cell groups. Robert Logan writes:

Cell groups are not merely home Bible studies, small groups, discussion groups or prayer

groups. All these titles reflect but one aspect of what a healthy cell group should incorporate.

Healthy cell groups must fulfill at least seven key functions found in Acts 2:42-47:

* Teaching: Learning and applying God’s Word.

* Fellowship: Building supportive, mutually accountable relationships

* Worship: Praising God for who He is and what He has done.

* Prayer : Listening to and sharing intimately with God; inter-ceding on behalf of

others and God’s work in the world.

* Power : Experiencing the filling and outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

* Ministry: Using spiritual gifts and loving each other in practical ways to meet

needs.

* Evangelism: Impacting our society and sharing the Good News so that people

become disciples.2

Dale Galloway, Senior Pastor at New Hope Community Church in Portland, Oregon in the

U.S.A., lists twenty-one principles for successful home cell groups. Here is a condensedversion of those principles:

1. There are three elements in an effective home cell group which must be put into use

and kept in equal balance.

a. SHARING - People love to share their lives, one with another. There’s nothing like a

life-centered testimony to illustrate what is being taught. The more a person shares

with the group the more the person feels a part of the group. The other members also

feel they know that person better. The goal is to participate in each other’s spiritual

lives and to become a real family together.A word of caution. There have been groups in churches that do nothing but share.

Although this experience may be very exhilarating for a few weeks, it will eventually

deteriorate and get to be old stuff. Then people will grow tired of coming. In a

successful group, sharing is an important ingredient but much more than this happens.

1Paul Yonggi Cho and Harold Hostetler, Successful Home Cell Groups (Plainfield, NJ: Bridge

Publishers, 1981), 50.

2Logan, Beyond Church Growth, 124-125.

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b. CONVERSATIONAL PRAYER - In our cell groups we teach people to participate in

prayer by having a conversation together with God. The leader and other mature

Christians keep their prayers simple. New people begin to see that they, too, can pray.

It is far more beneficial for many people to pray together than it is for one person to

do all the praying. First we teach people to praise and thank God in short sentence

prayers. Then we teach them to share their needs and to respond by praying one for

another.

In every home cell group, prayer should be a growing experience together. In

praying, people find answers to the needs in their lives. In praying, people are drawn

together spiritually at a deep level.

c. APPLICATION OF BIBLE - The Bible must not only be studied but it must be

applied to daily life. Ask practical questions. What promise does God have here forme? What truth is here that God wants me to apply in my life? What principle does

God want me to learn in this lesson? Such questions help make application of the Bible

lesson to the daily lives of the people present in the cell group. More than just getting

Bible knowledge, they learn Bible application to daily life.

Sometimes a group will major on only one of the three above parts. Invariably that

group will burn itself out. But where these three elements are kept in equal balance the

group will be healthy and will produce healthy well-balanced Christians.

2. Participation is the key to success.The more an individual participates in a home cell group, the more he or she

receives from that meeting. As participation goes up, learning increases and enthusiasm

builds. We also develop leaders for new studies to come in the days ahead.

GOAL OF LEADER - The goal of the leader in our home cell system is not be the

authority, the teacher, but to be the guide. The leader guides people into participation,

prayer, and application of the Word. There are many people who could never be adult

teachers. But with some training and supervision they can become excellent leaders in

guiding people in home cell groups. ARRANGEMENT OF PEOPLE - It is amazing what a difference the way people are

arranged makes in their participation. For the best participation arrange your people in

a circle without any empty chairs. They need to see each other, feel close to one

another, and equally participate. You want to make everyone feel a part of this family

meeting together.

RULE - DON’T PRESSURE ANYONE TO PRAY, READ, OR SPEAK . Make it easy

for the timid person to participate, but do not directly ask anyone to pray, read or speak.

Some of you may remember from school days how you would fill up with fear when

you thought you might be called on to read or recite. Many adults carry the same fears

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Lesson 5 69

with them today. Recognize that fact and let people volunteer to read the Scripture, to

pray, to respond with insights.

The goal is to help each person in your group participate. In order for this to

happen, some outspoken people may need to be restrained. Do this by saying, “If

you’ve already read or prayed maybe you could let others participate before you take

another turn.” As a leader, keep things so that those who are timid can see that they,

too, have something to offer. Make it easy for them to get involved but don’t pressure

them. Create a comfortable atmosphere in which they feel valued and realize they have

something worthwhile to give.

3. Begin and close with conversational prayer.

You begin conversational prayer by thanking God for being with you. This brings

the group immediately into the presence of God. It also begins to tune everyone to the

Lord and what He wants to do in this special time together.

Sometimes people will come with heavy hearts. If you ignore that and proceed with

your study, they will get little or nothing from it. A sensitive leader, following the

leadership of the Holy Spirit, will make it easy for people to share needs. Then, in the

opening prayer lead the others in responding to those needs so people will get freed

from their burdens before you move on into the study.

We always close our time together with more conversational prayer. This time we

respond to the truth that we’ve learned and make application of it in our lives. Onceagain we pray for each other’s needs, interceding for the requests of individuals and for

our church.

4. Respond lovingly to a need expressed … immediately.

In James 5:16 we read, “Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other

so that you may be healed” (LB). We teach the people in our cell groups three

principles from this verse. 1 - We are to admit our faults and needs one to another. 2 -

We are to pray for each other. 3 - When we do this we become a healing fellowship to

each other. Cell groups are intended to be a healing fellowship.TEACH PEOPLE TO SHARE NEEDS BY EXAMPLE. As Senior Pastor there has

been many a time that I’ve had needs. When I have confessed those needs and asked

the people to pray, my own spirit has been touched and healed. The best way to teach

people in a cell group to share their needs is for the leader to open up and share areas of

his or her own life and ask for prayer.

RESPOND IMMEDIATELY . Through the years we have taught our people that

when a request is expressed, the time to respond is immediately. In fact there is

something very unloving about allowing a person to wait when they have just shared adeep concern of their life. When you say, “I’ll pray for you,” it’s too easy to walk away

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and forget it. Love responds not tomorrow but immediately. When we respond

immediately with prayers of love and healing, an atmosphere is created in which people

can feel free to share their needs, confident that they will be accepted, prayed for,

loved.

One technique you might use involves putting a chair in the middle of the circle of

your cell group. Sit in the chair yourself and ask members of the group to pray for your

needs. When they have finished praying for you, invite anyone else with a need to sit in

the chair and be prayed for. Show the people in your group that they can gently lay their

hands on the person sitting in the chair and in faith pray for them out of hearts of love.

Whenever we have done this we have seen the power of God flow, people’s lives

changed and transformed, and our home cell group bonded together in perfect love.

The rule is this—needs expressed demand immediate response. The truth is this—when we respond in prayers of faith we release the healing love of God into one

another’s lives. The miracle is this—as you pray for someone else your own prayer is

answered. When it comes to healing prayer, we really do need each other!

5. The Bible is our authority and guidebook.

In our home cell groups we tie our people into the authority of the Word of God. It

contains everything necessary for their salvation and Christian walk. It has all the

principles and promises that we need to be successful in every area of our lives. From

time to time, groups have wanted to study a particular book some author has written. Attimes, for special reasons, we’ve allowed them to do that. But over the years we have

discovered for the best results the curriculum needs to be the Word of God. It is just

what the doctor ordered in people’s lives.

6. Encourage sharing in the group.

We want to create an open, friendly atmosphere in which people present can

express themselves freely. Each person’s opinions and comments must be valued as

important. However, if an individual tries to dominate the time and persists in

diverging from the subject, the leader will have to insure that attention be centered onthe particular verse or passage being studied.

Dialogue is what you’re after . People need to discuss the truth of God, sharing with

each other and making application of that truth in daily life. Even while you’re studying

the Word of God, if someone expresses a need, stop right there and respond by praying

for the need. If they are encountering difficulties and need counsel or encouragement,

ask questions and help them at their point of need. However, a group is not a therapy

session. The leader is not a psychologist. People that have deep emotional problems are

not to be dealt with in the group but referred to the pastor or to competent counsel.7. Don’t allow doctrinal discussion that is divisive or argumentative.

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Lesson 5 71

Two things will polarize a group right down the middle: doctrinal disputes and

political debates. Don’t allow either one to take place in a group. One time during

elections this happened in a group that I was in and it created two sides instead of one

group. I learned my lesson right then never to allow a group to talk about political

candidates in one of our cell meetings.

If someone brings up a doctrinal issue of the kind that divides people, then simply,

as leader, make the statement that we do not dispute doctrine here at this meeting. Tell

the person you will be glad to talk privately afterward. There are people who at times

will use doctrinal differences to divert attention from what really needs to happen in

their own lives.

8. Practice mutual edification.

A home cell group in our fellowship is to be a mutual admiration society. We are a

team together helping each other be everything we can be for God. We want to help

build healthy self-esteem in one another. This is part of loving each other God’s way.

The principle we practice is the principle of edification—to encourage and build up

each other. The leader can best teach this by example. Express words of appreciation.

Tell people how wonderful they are and why they are so special. To edify is to build up.

In Romans 14:19 we read these words: “Let us therefore make every effort to do what

leads to peace and to mutual edification” (NIV).

9. Lead in love.

Our greatest need is to be loved and give love. Make your home cell group a loving

family. Give each other lots of good Christian love. In our home cell groups, when we

pray we hold hands in friendship. This brings us together in love. People are

encouraged to express their love for one another. It’s not unusual in our home cell

groups to see people giving each other hugs. Love, acceptance and forgiveness are

practiced continually in our home cell groups.

10. “Follow-up” on members between meetings is essential.

For a home cell group to be successful there must be contact between meetings.

Those that have not been present must be called on the phone and encouraged and

given love. New people should be called in friendship and invited to come and

participate and enjoy what’s going on. In our Lay Pastor training we help our leaders to

overcome their fears of the phone and to make the calls. We also help them learn what

to say. We teach them that phoning people is just loving people.

11. New members being brought into the group will keep it alive and growing.

Home cell groups that stop bringing new people in become ingrown. After they

have been together for five or six months they become very comfortable with one

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another. That is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It’s an advantage in that you

want people to have this close Christian heart-to-heart fellowship. It can be a

disadvantage if they get so comfortable that they don’t want to bring in anyone new.

Every time a new person is brought into the group it gives it a whole brand new

life. The way to keep from becoming stagnant is to keep adding new members to the

group.

12. Handle problem people away from the group on a one-to-one basis.

There are in our world not only a lot of troubled people but some very disturbed

ones. You cannot allow a disturbed person to become the center of attention in your

group. If you do this you will ruin your group. Someone who is disturbed, easily

misunderstood, or who has to have all the attention should be taken aside by the leader

and talked to on a one-to-one basis. Make it clear that you love him or her, that you are

glad to talk one-to-one, but that continually rehashing problems or using the group as a

dumping ground cannot be permitted. If a leader does not take action and handle this

particular problem, he will see his group dissipate.

It is important to have pastoral supervision of cell groups. One of the reasons is

that the person leading cell groups is not usually equipped to deal with getting troubled

people out of their groups. In three or four weeks the group will be ruined if something

is not done. A pastor in charge can move in and give the support and strength needed to

deal with the troubled person and save the group. No concerned, loving shepherd willallow harm to come to the sheep. Many times one must do what is best for the whole

group. You cannot afford to allow one troubled person to wipe out a whole cell group.

13. Don’t allow people to confess anyone’s faults but their own.

Tony and Martha, although they had been married for 26 years, had not yet learned

to live together in harmony. In front of a group Martha seized the opportunity to apply

the Scripture lesson to Tony’s life and to confess that he had a roving eye. Tony didn’t

say anything but you could see the anger swelling up inside of him. To be injured by

anyone is bad enough. But to be injured by your own mate in front of people you wantto think well of you is to multiply that injury many times. Needless to say the husband

never came back to the group. For years afterwards Martha kept asking why she

couldn’t get her husband interested in spiritual things.

Never allow anyone to get by with confessing another person’s sin in front of the

group. If this happens the leader must immediately take hold of the situation and in

good humor remind the group that we have this little rule: we don’t confess anyone’s

faults but our own (see James 5:16).

14. Don’t allow anyone to do all the talking.

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Lesson 5 73

If you have one person who has to do all the talking you must politely but firmly

intervene. You can do this by saying, “Thank you for your comment. Now let’s hear

what some others have to say.” If the problem persists, take the person aside and

explain the need to limit each person’s talking so that everyone will have opportunity to

participate.

Often over-talkative people do not realize what they’re doing. With a little teaching

and guidance they will come into line.

Preachers often do not make good leaders or participants in home cell groups. The

reason is that they sometimes do all the talking and become a hindrance instead of a

help in the group participation process. The truth of the matter is that we who are

preachers and teachers really need to listen to the feedback of other people.

15. Be tuned up spiritually yourself.

The Holy Spirit will be hindered if the leader is spiritually indifferent or troubled

with unconfessed sin. A person not free to the working of the Holy Spirit in his own

life can hardly be a channel for His working in the cell group. Before every meeting it

is essential that the leader spend time alone in fellowship with the Holy Spirit so that he

can be a channel through which the Spirit flows and does His work in the cell meeting.

16. Keep learning, don’t have all the answers.

To be a successful leader or guide of a small group, a person does not have to be a

seminary graduate, or even have attended Bible school for a year. One does not have to

know all the answers. But one does have to be a learner. We find that the best teachers

are all learners. The attitude we want in a home cell leader is: “I don’t know all the

answers but I am learning how to live God’s way. And here at our cell group we are

learning together .” A good way to handle a question is to ask other people in the group

if they know the answer. If no one knows the answer, have everyone study the question

for the week and bring back an answer next time.

17. Be relaxed and maintain a relaxed spirit in the group.

A good leader is one with honesty and openness who is not afraid to discuss or

consider other points of view. Trust the Holy Spirit to be the teacher. Do not feel like

you have to have all the answers. After all, you are a guide in leading people into truth,

not the expert or big authority.

It’s a tremendous asset when a leader accepts himself as a person of worth and then

can reach out to other people and make them feel comfortable in who they are. Let God

do the changing rather than feeling like you have to change every person to conform to

what you think he or she should be.

A good leader learns to be a shock-proof person. He is not judgmental or harsh or

opinionated, and not overly reactive when an individual says something that goes

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against the grain. If you’re really going to let God use your life to reach unchurched

people, then you’re going to have to be willing to listen to a lot of things that you don’t

agree with. Give God the opportunity to work and bring that person to Himself as well

as bring them to Christian maturity.

A good leader is not dogmatic or having to force his own ideas or opinions. He

believes in the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to work in the person’s

life.

We really can trust the Holy Spirit. If we create the loving atmosphere, He will do

His work.

18. A good sense of humor is a valuable asset.

In the Holy Scripture we read, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed

spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22, NIV).

We live in a time when people are heavily stressed. One thing they need to find at

the home cell meeting is relaxation. Good clean humor and laughing together is

marvelous for people who attend the meeting. Recently in a training session one of our

District Pastors was speaking on humor from Proverbs 17:22. The pastor pointed out

that laughing does these five things for us:

1) releases tension

2) relaxes our bodies

3) rests our spirits4) renews our hearts

5) reorients us to see life in perspective

19. When you have a need in your own life, ask your cell group for help.

Christians are not perfect but they are forgiven. A leader will have needs in his or

her life just like anyone else. You lead and teach other people to deal with their

problems by the way you deal with your own. If you are going through tough spots,

confess your need in your group meeting and solicit the prayers and help of your fellow

Christians. The best leaders are those who keep admitting that they need others.

20. When you have a problem or need help, quickly go to your pastor or leader and ask for

it.

One of the great successes of the New Hope home cell system is that our leaders

know they can go to their supervisors and find a listening ear and an understanding

heart. The supervisor is a fellow Christian who loves them and will pray for them in

their time of need.

21. Remember … it’s Christ who does the leading, not us.

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Lesson 5 75

A good leader is a good follower of Christ—no more, no less . As long as you keep

supplying the person and then saying, “yes, Lord; yes, Lord,” God will use you to do

“greater things than these.”3

As you can see from these examples, home cell groups offer the best opportunity for

evangelism and spiritual growth to take place. The ministry is brought to its lowest level in

order to include each member. Basically, it requires a decentralization of the ministry.

Centralized Versus Decentralized Ministry

What is one thing that characterizes most churches today? They are centralized rather than

decentralized . This means that they are run by a centralized bureaucracy or clergy thatoperates the various programs or ministries. The primary ministry can only take place through

this structure. Since most churches have few clergy, the flow of ministry takes place through a

very narrow opening.

On the other hand, a pastor who is willing to allow others in the congregation to minister

to those inside and outside the church will see dramatic results. This kind of decentralization

will result in a wide distribution of ministry throughout the church.

In churches that are built on a network of reproducing cell groups, ministry takes place on

the most basic level. In effect, each home cell group leader is a kind of “lay pastor” who is

caring for his flock. In reality, this is the only place where true care can take place. It cannot

take place in the celebration or the congregation for they contain too many people and cannot

focus on individual needs.

Does all this mean that the pastor relinquishes his duties and authority? Absolutely not! It

does mean that the pastor realizes that he does not possess all the gifts, abilities or time to

meet every need. He understands that God will use him to train and equip others to help him

with these tasks.

Question 4Turn to Ephesians 4:11-13 and take a few minutes to meditate on it. Answer the following

questions:

a. Who did God give to the Church?

b. Why (for what purpose) did He give these leaders to the Church?

c. Does this appear to be more of a centralized or decentralized style of ministry?

3 Dale E. Galloway, 20/20 Vision (Portland, OR: Scott Publishing House, 1990), 111-122. (In the

original, all emphases were boldfaced.)

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Developing and Multiplying Cell Group Leaders

One of the biggest concerns a church has about establishing home cell groups is how and

where to get the leaders for them. It’s one thing to talk about decentralized ministry and

another to solve the need for trained and equipped leaders. Again, God has a plan that is

thousands of years old. The basic nucleus for this plan is seen in a leadership crisis found in

Exodus 18:13-27.

Read Exodus 18:13-18 and respond to the following questions:

Question 5

Summarize the basic problem that Jethro saw.

Question 6

What did Moses see as his “duty”?

Question 7

How was it working?

Question 8

What was Jethro’s counsel?

Question 9

How might this relate to your church today?

The basic principles found in Jethro’s counsel to Moses are still applicable to the pastor

today. If a pastor attempts to assume the responsibility for meeting every person’s needs, he

will “surely wear out,” both himself and those around him. Let’s break down this “Jethro

Principle” into usable applications.

Starting at the bottom, Jethro counseled Moses to choose leaders of ten—the minimum

number that would require a leader. This would be like leading a cell group. Obviously, this

kind of leader would get to know his group well, and they would get to know him! This leader

would be able to handle the day-to-day needs of his small group. However, if something came

up that either by lack of training or experience he was unable to handle, would he go directly

to a “Moses”? No, he would go to the next level of leadership—to a leader of fifty.

A leader of fifty is a person who pastors (or supervises) five leaders of ten, which means

he is, in actuality, over fifty people. The wisdom of this situation is that he is only working

directly with five people, much like a cell group.

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Lesson 5 77

Next in progression are the leaders of hundred . This would be a person who is responsible

for two or more leaders of fifty. In most cases, this would be the pastor himself. But you can

readily see how instead of being personally responsible for the care of one hundred or more

people, the pastor is caring for two to five.

Using Roman numerals, let’s diagram this principle in several different sized churches.

We’ll use the following key:

X = leader of 10

L = leader of 50

C = leader of 100

D = leader of 500

M = leader of 1,000

Example 1: A Church of Fifty Members

Example 2: A Church of One Hundred Fifty Members

Example 3: A Church of Four Hundred Members

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As you can see, no matter how many (even thousands of) people you have in the church,

no one’s sphere of care is beyond a handful. The pastor is always in touch with the people

through the leaders he is working with. Moses made this work with two million people!

How to Begin

Like most endeavors, it’s best to “start small, go deep and think big” when beginning a

cell group ministry. Obviously, no church is going to start with a lot of trained leaders, but it

should begin with one group. The leader of the group would probably be the pastor.

Remember, though, he must adhere to the principles we have discussed in this lesson. He

must also have an apprentice leader with him in the group. The purpose of the apprentice is to

learn how to lead a cell group so that when it is time to “multiply” the first group into two

groups there will be a leader ready. When there are two groups, both must have new

apprentice leaders. This is an important principle! Every cell group must have a leader and an

apprentice leader. This insures that leaders for future new groups are always being trained.

Perhaps in the first group there might be several apprentices so that a number of new

groups could “multiply” off the one. Eventually, the pastor would move from an “X” (leader

of ten) to an “L” (leader of fifty). As the cell groups continued to multiply, the pastor would

move up to a “C” (leader of one hundred), a “D” (leader of five hundred) and so on. Each

level of leadership needs to have an apprentice so the growth can continue.

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Lesson 5 79

Example of Progression (a=apprentice):

1. First Level: One Cell Group

In this example, the pastor is leading one cell group of ten members. He also has with him

an apprentice leader for the next cell group of ten members.

2. Second Level: Two Cell Groups

In this example, the original group has “multiplied” into two cell groups of ten members.

The original apprentice is now the leader of the new cell group and has his own apprentice.

The pastor is leading the other cell group, but now has two new apprentices, which will allow

him to move out of being a cell group leader when necessary.

3. Third Level: Four Cell Groups

In this example, the two cell groups have now multiplied into four. The pastor has moved

out of the role of a cell group leader and is now supervising the four cell group leaders and

their apprentices. He is now a leader of fifty. Notice, however, that he also has two

apprentices. This is necessary so when the need arises, the pastor can move on to become a

leader of one hundred.

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4. Fourth Level: Eight Cell Groups

In this stage, with approximately eighty people in cell groups, the structure begins to

broaden. The pastor is now a leader of one hundred and has at least one apprentice. There are

now two leaders of fifty and they each have an apprentice.As you can see, this model utilizes the principle of exponential growth, which means that

it is based on multiplication rather than addition. This model will always provide the

leadership necessary to reach new people. It enables the church to have an ever-expanding

network of reproducing cell groups that will disciple the members you have and evangelize

the people you want to reach.

What to Do in a Cell Group

Earlier, we listed seven functions of healthy cell group from Acts 2:42-47. From those

basic components, let’s look at a possible cell group meeting and see what it looks like:

1. Opening: Introduction of guests and getting acquainted (5 Minutes)

2. Opening prayer (2 Minutes)

3. Open sharing (15 Minutes)

- Testimonies

- Singing

- Reports of answered prayer

- Expression of appreciation for each other- Thanksgiving to God

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Lesson 5 81

4. Conversational prayer (10 Minutes)

5. Bible lesson with practical application (30 Minutes)

6. Intercessory prayer to apply the lesson (10 Minutes)

7. Closing (3 Minutes):

- The Lord’s Prayer

- The Doxology

This particular meeting lasted one hour and fifteen minutes. These are just suggested

guidelines to give you some ideas of possible activities and their time allotment. You may

want to serve some light refreshments before or after the meeting, as well.

The Bible lesson can consist of some thought-provoking discussion questions on a passage

of Scripture. Sometimes, the pastor prepares these each week for all the groups and basesthem on what he will preach on Sunday mornings. The important thing is that the lessons

promote good discussion.

Evangelism and Cell Groups

There are two ways evangelism takes place in relation to cell groups. First, since the cell

group offers the best opportunity for growth, cell group members are going to be excited

about what God is doing in their lives. A natural outcome of this will be sharing their faith

with others.

Secondly, cell groups need to be “open” groups, meaning that a member could bring an

unbelieving friend. This unbeliever is then able to witness Christians caring for one another

and showing Christ’s love to them. The cell group, then, becomes a non-threatening entrance

into the world of Christianity. People really do respond to genuine love and caring! New

converts can then be brought into the broader fellowship of the church.

Evangelism is one of the ways that cell groups multiply, but is not the sole purpose of the

group. It will be, though, a natural result of becoming a vibrant, caring, loving group of

Christians.

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82

Action Steps

1. List as many principles concerning cell groups as you can think of.

2. Develop a plan for beginning a cell group in your church. Include possible members and

several possible apprentices. Also include the steps necessary to implement this, like

securing permission from church leaders, etc.

3. List, in order, the steps you would need to begin this process over the next month. What

possible materials could you use?

4. Make a list of specific things to pray for concerning the preparation for beginning your cell

group.

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Question 1

1. Teaching - The apostles, who were those Jesus had trained, were training the new

disciples through teaching. This probably involved teaching the Old Testament, as

well as those things Jesus had taught them.

2. Fellowship - New Testament fellowship was more than just getting together and

enjoying one another’s company. It’s really about developing relationships that are

edifying and mutually accountable.

3. Worship - There are a number of ways to understand the phrase “breaking of bread”

and “praising God.” Oftentimes the breaking of bread signified a love feast which

normally included the Lord’s Supper. If that is the case here, especially when

combined with praising God, it would signify the activity of worship.

4. Prayer - Prayer involved many aspects, including praise, adoration, thanksgiving,

confession, supplication and intercession. All of these aspects are present and

important parts of the church’s prayer life.

5. Power - The early church experienced many signs and wonders which demonstrated

the power of the Holy Spirit. Of course the greatest miracle is the changed life oneexperiences when born again into the Body of Christ. So, the power of the Spirit was

evident to all the believers.

6. Ministry - They were learning to utilize their spiritual gifts in loving and practical

ways to meet each other’s needs. This was done to the extent that believers shared

their possessions.

7. Evangelism - They did not become ingrown, but expressed their faith to those outside

the church, as well. The Lord was blessing their efforts and adding to their numbers

every day.

Question 2

Any of the above may be done effectively in a cell group. Things like fellowship, prayer and

ministry are very difficult to accomplish in a larger group context. Additionally, it could be

argued that teaching and worship are much more effective in a small group setting where

personal involvement is easier to accomplish.

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Question 3

a. We are to honor one another and to be devoted to one another. This means that we are

to place the interests of others above our own, and to seek to meet their needs. This is

done best in a cell group.

b. We can fulfill the law of Christ by carrying each other’s burdens. Just as Christ carried

our burden of sin to the cross, so we are to carry one another’s burdens. This is best

done in a cell group.

c. We are to be patient and compassionate with one another. This involves forgiving one

another when a wrong has been committed, which not only brings unity to the church

but reflects our Father in heaven. This is best done in a cell group.

d. Out of reverence to Christ we are to submit ourselves to one another. We have

freedom, but should willingly submit to one another. The principle is if you cannotsubmit yourself to an earthly authority, how can you submit yourself to a heavenly

one? Doing this denies selfishness in our lives. This can best be done in a cell group.

e. Teaching and admonishing one another is not the same as “lording it over one

another.” By our own example, we teach and admonish each other to become all that

Christ desires us to be. This can best be done in a cell group.

f. We are told to encourage and build up one another. Barnabas encouraged Paul and

John Mark, and they were later able to become leaders in the church. It is easy to

criticize another, but it’s better to be one who encourages and builds up. This can best

be done in a cell group.

g. The admonition is to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Doing this takes a

lot of thought and consideration. It is important to realize that we can stimulate

someone to love and good deeds or the opposite, if we are not careful. Doing the

former can best be done in a cell group.

h. When we confess our sins to one another and pray for one another, it brings about a

special kind of healing. Oftentimes a leader makes the mistake of thinking that if he

admits his sins and shortcomings he will lose respect. However, the opposite is true,

and when we model these things we set a Christ-like example. This is best done in a

cell group.

Question 4

a. Christ gave gifts to the church of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

b. The reason He gave these gifts was so they could prepare God’s people for works of

service, so that the body of Christ would be built up. In other words, He did not give

these people to the church so that they could personally perform all the primary

ministry but, rather, to prepare others for ministry.

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Lesson 5 85

c. The living out of these truths would definitely lead to a decentralized style of ministry.

In this way, church leaders see their primary responsibility as training others for

ministry, allowing it to flow from the bottom up.

Question 5

When Jethro visited Moses, he observed that Moses alone was responsible for solving all the

problems and disputes that the Israelites had. Because of this arrangement, people were lined

up from sunrise to sunset to get an opportunity to stand before Moses. Because of this never-

ending process, the Israelites were practically immobilized.

Question 6

Moses saw his personal duty to fulfill the role of judge.

Question 7

From Jethro’s observation it was not working well at all! In fact, he saw that eventually both

Moses and the people would experience burn-out, as no one could fulfill such a role. This

would lead only to frustration for Moses and the people.

Question 8

Jethro’s counsel was to select and train different types of leaders. Some would be leaders over

ten, others over fifty, others over hundreds, and so on. This way there was a chain of authority

which began on the lowest possible level, so that Moses only had to judge the most difficultcases. Moses would ultimately be responsible for the entire process, but would not be

personally involved in each and every situation.

Question 9

This situation is very much like many churches today where the pastor is the one who is

carrying out most of the ministry. It’s not that others are incapable but, rather, the pastor and

perhaps even the church, view it as his duty. This is why many pastors and churches become

worn out.

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87

6The Life Cycle of Church Planting

Part I “Conception” Phase

eginning with this lesson, we move from the principles of how an existing church

grows to how to plant a new church. Naturally, the principles that we have learned

thus far are all applicable in the context of starting a brand new church, which is the

most effective way to reach new believers.

LESSON OUTLINE

The Life Cycle of a Church Plant

The “Conception” Phase

Development of a Strategic Vision

Personal Preparation of the Church Planter

Development of a Leadership Team

Action Steps

Conception Checklist

LESSON OBJECTIVES


1. Understand the steps involved in gaining a vision for church planting.2. Identify a team of individuals to join you in church planting.

3. Know how to communicate a vision for church planting to others.

4. Objectively look at your own strengths and weaknesses.

5. Select a target group for a church plant.

6. Prioritize your time to optimize your effort.

B

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The Life Cycle of a Church Plant1

In the previous lesson, we likened church planting to “birthing a church.” This analogy

also illustrates the progression of planting a church. Just as in the human life cycle, there are

various phases a church plant goes through: conception, prenatal, birth, growth and

reproduction. By understanding the planting of a church in this way, we will be able to

visualize the steps necessary not only to plant a church, but to help it grow to maturity.

The “Conception” Phase

There is a rather mischievous saying which explains that each of us began as “merely a

glimmer in our parents’ eyes.” It is true that before actually having children, most parents

dream about what they will be like. Will they be boys or girls? What color eyes and hair willthey have? What will they become when they grow up? Will they make us grandparents by

marrying and having their own children? All these things and more are thought about by those

who desire to have children.

The conception phase deals with the new church at its foundational stage—when it is

“merely a glimmer” in the church planter’s eye. And yet, just as conception is a vital time in

human life—the time when life is formed and given its basic characteristics—so too the future

health of a new church hinges on the process of conception. At this crucial time in the new

church’s development, the church planter must focus his energies on three separate areas in

order to give vital substance and structure to the unborn entity. The three crucial areas are:

Development of a Strategic Vision, Personal Preparation of the Church Planter, and

Development of a Leadership Team.

Development of a Strategic Vision

In Lesson 3, we learned how to gain a God-given vision for our church. The principles in

that lesson apply here as well, as we focus specifically on a strategic vision for church

planting. There are four steps in developing a strategic vision for a new church.

1. Spend Time in Prayer

Prayer, praise, worship, and meditation both precede and produce effective and fruitful

ministry. Throughout Scripture, God’s instructions for ministry were conveyed to believers in

worship settings. Even the Great Commission was given as the disciples were worshipping the

newly risen Christ in Galilee. The Lord commissioned Moses, while he worshipped before the

1The basic content for Lessons 6 through 9 of this course is adapted from The International

Church Planting Guide, by Robert E. Logan, and is used by permission.

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Lesson 6 89

burning bush, to demand freedom for the Hebrews from Pharaoh. Isaiah also received his

instructions from God while flat on his face in worship.

But perhaps the clearest example of this principle comes from the early church. In Acts

13:2, we read:

And while they [the prophets and teachers of the early church at Antioch] were

ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me

Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Brackets

added.)

As a result of that commissioning in prayer and worship, it could be truly said of Barnabas

and Saul that they “were sent out by the Holy Spirit” (verse 4). And we all are familiar with

the tremendous results that followed—the explosion of the early church into the then-known

world, through the multiplication of churches. Do we desire the same thing to be said of us—

that we were “sent out by the Holy Spirit”? If so, we must spend time worshipping and

“ministering to the Lord.”

2. Trust God for Great Results

We know that God has promised to bless his people, that this is His heart’s desire. The

story of the Patriarchs can be thus summarized; that God approached these men—Abraham,

Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph—and made a covenant with them, that they would be blessed beyond

their wildest dreams. Their part was simply to believe. The promised blessing came when God

raised up and set apart the people as His chosen ones.

Do you believe the promises of Scripture personally? If so, the story of the Patriarchs is an

analogy of what God wants to do in your country and around the world: to create a people for

Himself! We know that it is His will that churches grow and reproduce, and He wants to use

you as His instrument to accomplish this. He wants you to receive the promised blessing; your

part is only to believe.

First, ask God for His direction. Then listen carefully to the voice of the Holy Spirit

speaking to your heart, so that you may discern what God wants you to do, and how to do it.

3. Set Faith Goals

This third step will make your vision come alive. Ask God to give you a strategic vision of

what He wants to do through you. Then be bold enough to ask Him to do it! Ask God to give

you a vision of how your new church will look in each of the following specific areas:

♦ Evangelism - Who could you reach? What specific group or groups of people

should you target for your church?

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♦ Cell Group Development (see Lesson 5) - How will your church be

organized? Will cell groups be at the “heart and soul” of your church? How

will you find and train cell group leaders?

♦ Growth and Reproduction - How will you maintain growth in the new

church? How many “daughter” churches do you envision planting out of this

church?

4. Consider Your Role as a Leader

Who has God called you to be? What has He gifted you to do? What style of leadership

comes most naturally to you? What kind of people do you need to help you lead? What areas

in your life need to grow in order to become the most effective leader? Answering questions

like these will help you formulate your strategic vision.

Personal Preparation of the Church Planter

Examine the following five areas to ensure that you are personally prepared for a church

planting ministry:

1. Consistent Spiritual Development

The church planter must first of all be fundamentally Christ-centered. Ministry must be the

result of one’s love and devotion to the Person of Christ. No other motivation will be honored

by a God who has given all authority into the hands of His Son. Unless we “die to self” and

can acknowledge with Paul that, “for me to live is Christ,” we will not experience the blessing

God desires to give to us.

Christ-centeredness springs from four things: meditation upon God’s Word, visionizing

faith, prayer , and personal worship and praise. Thoughtful daily meditation upon God’s Word

will bring into focus within your heart and mind the focus of God’s Word—Christ Jesus.

Expressing your faith in God’s promises, and in the vision He has given for your ministry,

will acknowledge and reinforce your dependency upon Him. And expressing daily

thanksgiving and praise to God in worshipful prayer will further strengthen that growing faith,

and establish the centrality of Christ’s lordship in your life.

2. Evaluate Your Leadership Ability

Before you begin, it is important to develop a realistic view of yourself and how your own

leadership strengths and weaknesses can help or hinder your efforts. There are seven key

leadership qualities that characterize the effective church planter. This leader will be able to:

♦ Articulate a Vision - The effective church planter can develop and communicate toothers a God-given vision of how the cause of Christ’s Kingdom will be advanced

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Lesson 6 91

through the planting of churches and making of disciples. He is intrinsically motivated

by a commitment to the growth of God’s Kingdom through the planting of new

churches, and must be able to rally and unify others who can pursue this vision with

him. He must be able to set accomplishable and realistic faith goals, and inspire those

who follow by giving them ownership of ministry in which they are involved.

♦ Mobilize a Team - A man of true humility, while acknowledging and giving glory to

God for the gifts God has bestowed upon him, must also recognize his own limitations

and seek to surround himself with a team of individuals who will help to accomplish

the goals and vision for the new church. After mobilizing and motivating this team, the

effective church planter continues to identify and utilize the diverse giftedness of the

individuals on his team. The true leader recognizes this principle as God’s modus

operandi on earth—for even Christ Himself gathered, trained and released a team toaccomplish His work.

♦ Establish Leaders - A true leader doesn’t seek followers crippled by dependency;

rather, he works to build up the leadership abilities of those followers. In doing so, he

assumes three different “situational” roles:

◊ Trainer: Gives his team the resources they need to be equipped to do the job.

◊ Supervisor: Sends his team out for hands-on experience, supervises their ministry

efforts, and evaluates their successes and failures.

◊ Encourager: Maintains group morale and enthusiasm for the task.

♦ Demonstrate Compassion - The leader must relate well to the unchurched. Jesus came

“to seek and to save the lost.” He invested time with them in places where they were

comfortable and told them the Good News in ways they would understand. A crucial

quality in the church planter is the ability to reach out to the unchurched in a genuine

display of God’s love and compassion.

♦ Build Relationships - Without strength and health on the cellular level, the human

body cannot function effectively. So too, the effective church planter must realize the

importance of establishing a strong network of cell groups as a structural basis of the

church. He should know the importance of interdependency, and how to build strong

relationships to accomplish this result.

♦ Exhibit Resilience - Aerospace engineers understand the secret of advanced aircraft. Its

wings and other flight surfaces are construct-ed of materials which must be stronger

than steel and light enough to overcome the forces of gravity with minimum thrust, yet

flexible enough to yield to the forces of wind and physics without fracture. Likewise,

the church planter must have the flexibility to overcome difficulties and to adapt to

changes in plans and methods to accomplish the ultimate goals.

♦ Exercise Faith - Perhaps this final point should be listed first, because the

distinguishing characteristic of those men and women of Scripture who accomplished

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God’s purposes was that they exercised faith. Though thoroughly human (and vitally

flawed!), they believed what God said He would do and, as a result, were used by God.

“God’s strength is made perfect in human weakness;” for He desires to receive the

glory for what is accomplished. True leadership believes the revelation of God, and

proves it by taking risks for God. To “play it safe,” like the servant who buried the

talent given him for safekeeping, will ensure failure. The spiritual leader sets the

example of faith so that others may observe and believe that God will accomplish what

He has promised.

3. Manage Your Time

This is one of the most valuable—and limited—resources God has given us to accomplish

His purposes. As faithful stewards, we must learn to make the most effective use of our time

as possible.

Time management must be as carefully administered as any other resource that God has

given you. Effective administration involves three aspects: careful planning, controlled

execution and honest evaluation.

Evaluation is also the first step in the planning process. How are you spending your time?

Keep a log of how your days are spent, and reflect upon what the most and least effective uses

of your time are.

Next, think through your activities beforehand. Plan how you can effectively invest the

time that you have to gain the maximum results for the activities that are most important in

achieving your goals.

An important aspect in consistent use of time is learning to say “no” to requests that would

require you to spend time in ways not relevant to your goals. A wise and kind person will

discover tactful ways to explain to others that he has a God-given agenda, and that although he

is flattered by the confidence they have in him, his first responsibility is to accomplish the

tasks that God has given him.

Finally, it is important to secure a tool that will help you in the task of managing your

time, such as a notebook calendar. This will help you to effectively manage and increase your

available time.

4. Concentrate on Priorities

Concentration, whether physical, mental, or spiritual, can be defined as the ability to

prioritize and focus one’s entire energy in single-minded devotion to the tasks one has

established. Your success as a church planter will depend upon your ability to define your

priorities and to focus your attention upon those activities that will bring you closer to

achieving your goals.

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Lesson 6 93

5. Make Right Decisions

First, prioritize and focus on the most important decisions that you will need to make.

Often, the least important decisions are those that will consume most of our time and energy

and we may never get around to dealing with the most important ones.

Second, spend the time necessary to understand what the real problem is. Often, a surface

analysis of the situation deceives us about the true nature of the problem. If we do not invest

the time and thought energy into understanding the real problem, our solutions will be

temporary measures and will not address the true issues hindering the achievement of our

goals.

Third, multiply your options. This means considering any possible solution to a problem.

What are the true costs of each solution? Do the costs outweigh the benefits? Asking these

questions is integral to the process of finding the most effective solution to a problem.Fourth, ensure that the means for implementation of the solution are built into the

decision. A solution is worthless until we have determined—and everyone in the problem-

solving process is made aware of—the means by which the solution can be applied.

Fifth, and finally, establish a feedback system to monitor the effectiveness of a solution.

You must be able to know if the supposed solution is accomplishing the desired results and, if

not, what changes must be made.

Development of a Leadership Team

One of the great follies of the twentieth-century church is the perpetuation of the idea that

God’s kingdom will be advanced by “super Christians” of such keen leadership ability that

they can single-handedly win the world for Jesus! It is true that God has greatly blessed

individual men and women who believe Him in this century, as well as those from times past.

Yet in reality their fruitfulness may be less than the perception of that fruitfulness.

For instance, church growth studies tell us that far fewer than 1 percent of established

church members were led to Christ and discipled as a result of the ministry of prominent

evangelists or religious leaders. On the contrary, the vast majority of Christians established in

churches are there due to the witness of a caring Christian neighbor, friend or other contact.

The clear truth of Scripture is: the world will never be won by our efforts alone. We were

created by God to function as a team. Scripture demonstrates that when people function

together in unity, God reacts, and a powerful and immediate result is seen., The negative side

to this was demonstrated in the building of the Tower of Babel, where God intervened to

scatter men so that they may not reap the fruits of a godless unity. The positive side can be

seen in Christ’s assertions in Matthew 18:18-20:

“Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;

and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you,

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that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be

done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have

gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.”

Do we truly believe these powerful promises of Scripture? If so, our imperative is the

formation of a unified ministry team of individuals whose complementary strengths and

weaknesses, combined with the power of unified agreement in prayer, will be an integral part

of accomplishing the vision God has given us. In the next section, we will focus on how you

can go about building such a team.

Seeding Your Leadership Team

Perhaps you are already surrounded by mature Christians who share your vision for

advancing God’s kingdom. If so, developing a leader-ship team should be a relatively simple

proposition. But more likely, you live and work with few Christians, and fewer still who share

your commitment to the cause. How can you raise up a leadership team of committed

Christians when you don’t know any?

When Christ was in Galilee, He surrounded Himself not with established religious leaders

and “experts,” but with simple fishermen. In the unchurched and “everyday” folk around Him,

Christ saw potential spiritual maturity and leadership. His first efforts were directed to getting

these men simply to “follow Him”—to accept His premises, to observe His way of life and the

solution it offered to the problems they felt. His first task was disciple-making at the groundlevel.

Jesus understood that the Father was drawing to His leadership the men that would

comprise His team of disciples. Yet He understood the importance of His role in selecting

from among the hundreds who were His followers the leadership core who would eventually

be called “apostles.” Scripture records how He spent an entire night alone in prayer before

commissioning the twelve. Likewise, you must under-stand your role in seeking God’s

guidance, until you know who it is He is placing in your care to disciple as your team of

leaders.

In order to form a leadership team, you must invest time and energy in evangelizing and

discipling these few unchurched individuals around you, and bring them to a point of

commitment that will qualify them to serve as your foundation leadership team.

With Christ, this process took three years. We also need to be committed to a long-term

first step of evangelizing and discipling a leadership team. Our first church may be years away

from completion. You may be impatient to “get going,” but one of the first and most tragic

mistakes a church planter can make is to launch a church single-handedly when there has been

no effective discipleship or preparation of a committed leadership team. All steps in the

conception phase, as well as the prenatal phase which follows, should be completed first.

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Lesson 6 95

With patience we must follow the example of Christ, who established His church on the

shoulders of committed people in whom He first invested time and energy discipling.

Develop Your First Cell GroupYour early leadership team may comprise only three individuals, including yourself. For

starters, this is a perfectly legitimate leadership team (Christ said, “Where two or more are

gathered ...”). This young leadership team will also serve as your first cell group.

Spiritual Cells Versus Physical Cells

The cell group bears several important similarities to its micro-biological namesake:

• The cell is the fundamental, indivisible unit of the organism. Each of us begins as the

union of two solitary cells, too small to be seen with the naked eye, and many living

things can identify their origins as a single cell. Your church can spring from a single

cell. It may seem, at first, “microscopic” in significance; but, given time and nurture,

your cell can reproduce itself into a church organism which is as vital and alive as that

first century church that turned the world upside down for Jesus.

• The purpose of living cells is growth. A healthy, nurtured cell will multiply again and

again. Scientists tell us that as an organism, you and I are “replaced” many times

throughout our lifetimes by the trillions of cells that grow, reproduce, and die within

us. When these cells can no longer reproduce, the organism will stagnate and die.

• The very first cell contains the genetic blueprint for the organism. The strands of DNA

within that very first cell will dictate the characteristics—as well as many aspects of

the health and wholeness—of the organism which will result from its growth and

reproduction. So, too, the practices, patterns, and relationships that you establish

within your first cell group will shape your church. If that first cell group mirrors

loving, caring, growing relationships founded in a devotion to Jesus Christ, your

eventual church will reflect those same characteristics.

• The cells which comprise an organism are integral to it, and interdependent upon it .

How the cells relate to one another will affect the organism; what happens to theorganism will affect the cells. Successful cell groups will be an integral and

indistinguishable part of your church body.

Advantages of Cells

The early establishment of cell groups promises many advantages for your growing

church:

∗ Cell groups decentralize leadership, taking the burden of ministry off a single man or

just a few people.

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∗ Decentralization of leadership ensures the continuing health of a church, in spite of the

persecution or death of an individual leader.

∗ Cell groups fulfill our responsibility as shepherds to care for every single “sheep” in

our pasture.

∗ Cell groups ensure rapid dissemination of vital information and teaching to every

individual in the church.

∗ Cell groups encourage active involvement in the church, rather than passive

observation. Participating members will discourage the anti-Christian notion that the

church is a mere “teaching society” whose members discuss irrelevant concepts but

lead unchanged lives.

The Role of the Leader/Pastor

One of the verses that is the greatest encouragement to pastors is Matthew 16:18: “… I

will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.” We can rest in the fact

that the building of the church—the final outcome of our history—is Christ’s responsibility.

And yet this does not let us shirk our responsibility. While Christ is the builder of His

church, we are managers of the local church projects that He leads and directs. Throughout

Scripture, we see that while God always led His people, He selected men and held them

accountable to manage His flocks. In Exodus 18, we see an exhausted and ineffective Moses,

in that he was not doing a good job judging the children of Israel. His father-in-law, Jethro,

offers advice on more effective management, which would prove to be motivated by the Spirit

of God. Likewise, in Acts 6, the twelve apostles in their management of the rapidly growing

church find themselves doing what is expedient rather than what is best. Recognizing the need

to be good managers, they select seven leaders, known to be filled with the Spirit and wisdom,

to manage their “compassion” ministries, and they turn their attention instead to the apostolic

functions of prayer and the ministry of the Word. Pastors are responsible to focus their

energies on the tasks God has called them to and, in the process, to manage the church well by

ensuring that qualified leadership is selected, equipped, and released to minister.

The first place a pastor can practice his management skills is in the development of the

initial cell groups, and the first step for a leader mobilizing his church planting team is to

identify, select and equip potential leaders for these groups. An effective team can be built if

you can identify and encourage the following characteristics in its members:

♦ Common vision and goals, and the ability to communicate them

♦ Common values and philosophy of ministry

♦ Complementary strengths

♦ Mutual respect, affirmation, and loyalty

♦ Open and constructive communication

♦ Understanding the importance of group relationships and productivity

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Lesson 6 97

♦ Modeling of godly character and leadership traits

Once a leadership team is selected, the training process must begin immediately. Training,

as you know, is basically a function of modeling, and for each skill or task that you desire totrain there are four steps:

1. Complete the required task by yourself, alone.

2. Complete the required task while the one you are training observes.

3. Have the one in training complete the required task, while you observe.

4. Have the one in training complete the required task on his own, then discuss

the event with you afterward.

This process demonstrates the “coaching” aspect of leadership training. However, there

are other aspects of task-oriented leadership training. You must also function as a spiritual

encourager , that is, as one who:

• Builds anticipation about the potentially successful completion of a training task

• Encourages the trainee throughout the actual performance of the task

• Leads the celebration when the task is successfully completed

Train Leaders to Train Leaders

A key dimension is training leaders to train their own apprentice leaders. As you can see, a

constant awareness of the urgent mandate for church reproduction must be built into all your

transactions with your leadership team, from the very beginning. First, keep before your

people at all times your collective vision of multiplying cell groups. Second, using these same

principles, train your leaders how to train others. This cycle is illustrated by Paul in 2

Timothy 2:2:

“And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many

witnesses, these entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Build Group Cohesiveness

The second step for team mobilization is to build group cohesiveness. The group must be

knit together into a smoothly functioning unit. In 1 Peter 2:5, the comparison is made between

such a group and a house:

… you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy

priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus

Christ.

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Peter goes on to identify Christ himself as the “Chief Cornerstone” of that house. Is Jesus

Christ the “Chief Cornerstone” of your group—the one factor on which the entire group

stands or falls? Worship, praise, and seeking direction from Him will provide the “cement”

that will bind your group into a cohesive entity.

The purpose of these lessons on church planting is to equip pastors and leaders with a

solid foundation. You may be taking this course with the express plan to do church planting in

the near future. If so, the following exercises will be extremely helpful to you. If, however,

you are not currently planning to plant a church, you need to work through these exercises as

if you were going to plant a church out of your current church.

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99

Action Steps

1. Every church planter must keep in mind that God is the One who builds His church. Any

new church project is doomed to failure unless God is behind it. Every church planting

effort, therefore, must be based on a commitment to pray. Prayer is not merely the start of

the battle—it is the battle!

A. Work with God in prayer to develop a vision for your new church, then record how

that vision provides guidance in answering the following questions. (It might be

helpful to review Lesson 3.)

1) Who do you want to reach for Christ?2) How many cell groups should you have before you begin your first worship

service?

3) Who will be your cell group leaders and how will you locate and train them?

4) What do you envision your new church will look like in three years?—in five

years?—in ten?

5) How many daughter churches would you like to have in three years?—in five

years?—in ten?

B. No person can begin a project such as planting a new church without adequate support

systems. List below resources you can draw on as support systems in response to the

following questions:

1) To whom are you spiritually accountable?

2) List other Christian leaders who may be able to join you on your church planting

team. What steps will you take to soli-cit their support?

3) When will you meet and pray together with these individuals?

4) Who will you recruit to pray regularly with you?

5) How frequently will you meet or have contact with one another? How will you

keep these individuals informed as to the progress of the new church?

6) How are you planning to arrange your financial support?

7) Who will you need to contact, and by when?

2. Evaluate your personal leadership qualities by rating yourself using the following scale

(circle the appropriate number). It may be useful to allow someone you know to evaluate

you, as well. Then compare the results.

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Circle One:

Poor Excellent

1. I do not hesitate to take faith-motivatedrisks for God. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. I have the ability to formulate andcommunicate a God-given vision. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. I am committed to church growth anddiscipleship. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

4. I am self-motivated.1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5. I am responsive to the needs of people.1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6. I am able to create ownership of ministry.1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7. I can utilize the gifts of others.1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8. I build relationships effectively.1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. I am flexible and adaptable.1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10. I have the cooperation and support of myfamily. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

11. I relate well to unbelievers.1 2 3 4 5 6 7

12. I can “bounce back” from problems.1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Please do not be intimidated by this exercise! First, this depicts what might be considered

the “ideal” church planter and no one is going to score perfectly. Second, these are areas

that we can and need to grow in. We are all in process and our journey, taken one step at a

time, will not seem so impossible.

3. Develop a comprehensive, step-by-step plan for building a church planting team. Include

how you will train and evaluate your progress along the way.

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Lesson 6 101

Conception Checklist

√ Strategic Vision

__ I believe it is God’s will that our new church grow and reproduce.

__ I believe Christ will bless His Church and cause it to grow, just as He promised.

__ I honor Christ as Head of our church in the worship services.

__ I encourage others to put Christ first in their lives.

__ I have developed a clear vision of what God wants to do in our church.

__ I have clearly defined our target group.

__ I put Christ first in my life each day.

__ I listen daily, during planned times of prayer, for God’s direction for our church.

√ Personal Preparation

__ I have secured a spirit-filled advisor who can give good counsel.

__ I am committed to work with and through a team of other Christian leaders.

__ I am seeking to depend on the Holy Spirit in all matters.

__ I am seeking to develop a life-style of faith and prayer in my leader-ship.

__ I believe God wants me to be a good steward of His church.

__ I have learned and am committed to follow the basic principles of time management.

__ I am learning to prioritize my time and to say “no” when necessary.

__ My spouse fully shares my vision.

√ Team Development

__ I have identified a network of people who share the vision for this new church.

__ I have established a prayer team.

__ I have made necessary financial arrangements.

__ My team shares the strategic vision fully.

__ I understand my personal role and contribution to the leadership team.

__ I have selected at least three others who compliment my strengths and weaknesses.

__ I am seeking to develop the members of my team to their full poten-tial.

__ I am committed to resolving conflict appropriately and quickly.

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103


Part II “Prenatal” Phase

n physical child birth, the next step after conception is the prenatal phase; the time when

all the essential formation takes place. The exact same thing is true in the life cycle of a

church. But unlike physical child birth, this “prenatal” period is not a set amount of time.

Rather, the length of this phase will be determined by how well the church develops during

this time.

LESSON OUTLINE

The “Prenatal” Phase

Initial Outreach and Evangelism

Developing an Expanding Network of Cell Groups

Agreeing on a Culturally Relevant Philosophy of Ministry

Strategic Planning Before Birth

Action Steps Summary

Prenatal Checklist

LESSON OBJECTIVES

After completing this lesson you should be able to:1. Develop leaders for your initial cell groups.

2. Implement a program to train and resource cell group leaders.

3. Assimilate new people in the church through cell groups.

4. Articulate a culturally relevant philosophy of ministry.

5. Help your leaders adopt the philosophy of ministry.

6. Be prepared to meet the needs of your target group.

7. Know when to begin your public worship service.

I

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The “Prenatal” Phase

How many mothers wish they could simply bypass the prenatal phase of human

development? It is a trying time—a time of preparation, of some discomfort, perhaps

anxiety—always waiting. And yet there is hope and the knowledge that someday soon a

beautiful new child will arrive.

It seems that many new churches somehow bypass the prenatal phase. There is little

preparation, little planning, little behind-the-scenes growth, but suddenly one day—surprise—

a new church appears! Unfortunately, such a church is often ill-prepared for the challenge of

existence (let alone growth), and thus resembles a premature infant. Such a church may limp

along for months or years, with feeble attendance and scarce resources. It is an unfortunate

fact that the majority of new church projects will thus fail.

No matter how strong the temptation to give birth early to the new church (“birth” starting

at the first worship service), if you have not yet gone through the full prenatal phase of cell

group building, planning, and preparation—resist the urge! A strong and healthy church, like a

strong and healthy infant, is worth the wait!

There are four key issues which must be addressed during the prenatal phase of a church’s

development: initial outreach and evangelism among your target group; the development of an

expanding network of cell groups; the agreement upon a culturally relevant philosophy of

ministry; and strategic planning for the actual birth of the new church.

Initial Outreach and Evangelism

First, we must rid our minds of the idea that our church will be “all things to all people”—

that is, that anyone and everyone will feel comfortable with our particular style of worship and

ministry. They won’t—and that’s why we will need all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of

people.

We must tolerate and even appreciate the wide diversity in the Body of Christ. Just as God

created many different types of animals to give Adam pleasure in the Garden of Eden, so God

has created many types of “people groups” to bring glory to Himself. When the apostle John

told Christ, “We saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop,

because he was not one of us,” Christ responded, “Do not stop him.” He indicated that he has

anointed different people to minister in different ways; we must therefore be tolerant, lest we

find ourselves speaking or working against God’s anointed.

Knowing this, however, we must also realize that our individual church will have the

capacity to attract only a specific type of person. These people are our target audience. Our

target audience may be a more broadly defined group (like Gypsies, or all ethnic Germans, for

example); or it may be more narrowly focused (young families living in a particular housing

project). You, as the pastor, must come to understand what these people are like and what

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Lesson 7 105

their needs are. Then you must realize that, when planning your style of worship and ministry,

you must focus your efforts specifically upon those needs.

Action Step 1

1. What is the target group you want to reach?

2. What resources can you use that will help you determine the needs of your target group?

How will you go about conducting a demographic study?

“Felt Needs” Versus “Real Needs”

There are two types of needs—“felt needs,” or those perceived to be needs by the personmanifesting them; and “real needs,” those underlying root needs of that person. You must

consider both types of needs.

For instance, a strong felt need of your chosen group may be their desire to motivate their

children to study with greater intensity for their secondary school examinations. But you may

identify the underlying real need as an assurance of security in the midst of a competitive and

insecure environment. You must recognize both needs because this will form the basis of your

of worship, programming, and ministry style planning. It will also be valuable to know what

the needs of a target group are before you approach them to join your group. A caring

shepherd must understand the needs of his flock.

Finding out the needs of your target group may require more careful research than you

might expect. You may, for instance, wish to conduct an in-depth study of your target group in

order to learn their needs and characteristics. Expect to spend anywhere from ten to fifty hours

on such a study.

Once you have established the needs of your target group, you are ready to penetrate your

chosen community. The first step involves more hard work than refined technique. You will

be required to make many contacts with your target group in whatever way is appropriate and

effective; whether it be door-to-door, by telephone, or by mass gatherings at special events.

Anticipate that a very small percentage of the people with whom you will establish contact

will actually be convinced to become involved in one of your community cell groups.

Therefore, to maximize results, you and your leadership team must make contact with a very

large number of people.

Feel Free to Experiment

This will be a phase during which you will do a great deal of experimentation to discover

what evangelism and discipling methods work best among your target group. Try everything

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you can think of, compare notes with your leadership team in order to ascertain what methods

have been most effective, and then capitalize on those methods!

Action Step 2

1. What are some felt needs of this particular target group?

2. What are some of their real needs?

Action Step 3

1. Develop and detail your strategy for penetrating your target group. Include the methods

you will use, when you will begin, and how many people you will initially contact.2. What method(s) of evangelism do you think will work best with your target group?

Once a small core of new Christians is established, begin quickly to integrate them into the

process, training them how to identify and reach their own networks of relationships. Making

your initial converts will be the most difficult part—their ability to establish networks and

bring new people into the cell groups will be where true growth for your prenatal church will

occur.

Developing an Expanding Network of Cell Groups

The cell group concept was developed in Lesson 5 of this course. All churches will benefit

from establishing an expanding network of cell groups. However, the easiest and most natural

way to have a cell group based church is to begin with this philosophy and commitment

before the church is even planted. The following summarizes the basic characteristics of a cell

group from Lesson 5:

♦ It is intimate - both in size and structure as well as in dynamic. Numbering ideally

between four and twelve members, it meets in the comfort of its members’ homes and

is designed to foster intimacy and interdependency among the members. A cell group

may meet daily, twice weekly, weekly, every other week—whatever frequency is

dictated by the needs and constraints of the people.

♦ It is open - the ideal cell group is rooted deep within the community. It is not closed to

outsiders, but rather its mission is to include new outsiders, quickly making them cared-

for insiders. This results in rapid cell growth until the time when it can successfully

expand into two groups. (A cell group may be considered “crowded” when a dozen

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Lesson 7 107

members take part; an expansion at this point renders two—or even three—healthy new

cell groups of four to six members each.)

♦ It is focused - although your church can minister to a broader range of people, a cell

group should be more focused. Each cell group must establish its own target group of

individuals who will feel comfortable with the people and the style of the cell.

♦ It is caring - the leader or leaders of a cell group, like the leader or leaders of a church,

should not be simply “professors” or “preachers,” but shepherds. Their primary duty

will be to see that the members of their groups are adequately cared for, that their needs

are met. Although Bible study and teaching doctrine may be a valid part of these needs,

this should not be the primary concern of the shepherd. The shepherd invests his time

and energy primarily in prayer for and caring contact with the members of the group.

♦ It worships and prays - just as the church is called to worship and pray, so should thesedynamics characterize the cell groups. Worship in such an intimate setting may even be

a new experience for established believers, but one that they will wonder how they ever

did without! Worship will be culturally relevant for the cell group, consisting of

whatever forms and styles of music, singing, recitation, sharing, or liturgy the particular

people find enjoyable. The form of prayer, likewise, will be culturally appropriate,

although the group leaders will need to ensure that the form of prayer communicates

the truth of the nature of God’s relationship with man in (1) our submission to and

respect for His sovereignty; (2) our ability to bring our requests directly before Him as a

result of the work of our High Priest, Jesus Christ; (3) the privilege of intimacy with

Him as His adopted children, as a result of the role played by the Holy Spirit; and (4)

the important concept that we are not merely “sending up a message,” but that God is

present among us (“where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am among

them also”).

♦ It seeks to minister - each cell group should establish ministry goals of outreach among

its targeted people. This outreach may be in the form of visitation of the sick,

community service, evangelism and discipleship activities—whatever form of outreach

the group determines will help meet the needs of its target group. Such outreach will

not only help the group to grow in size, but will establish a “ministry mindset” in the

group’s participants.

♦ It focuses on obedience - complacency presents a great danger to cell groups, just as it

does to the church. It is too easy to merely “come and be fed.” To prevent this, the

focus of the group should be upon obedience to Christ’s word, and responsiveness to

the leaders of the group. Since the establishment of focus is the responsibility of these

leaders, they will need to be trained and reminded continually to “stimulate their group

to good works” by stressing and teaching practical obedience to the truths of God’s

word.

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♦ It appropriates spiritual power - whether or not the group finds itself aligned with

what has been termed the “Pentecostal” or “Charismatic” inclination, the vital

importance of acknowledging the role of the Holy Spirit as equipper in the life of the

believer must be brought to pre-eminence by the group’s leaders. The members of each

group should be taught how to discern and develop their spiritual gifts, then apply them

to ministry within the context of the group. The group must have no passive

participants. The Holy Spirit empowers and equips every believer, and a group, like a

chain, is only as strong as its weakest link. Each person must be taught to appropriate

for them-selves the spiritual power God offers them.

♦ It is a source of practical training - the study of God’s revealed will for the lives of

believers and how it may be practically applied, is most effectively accomplished in the

intimate setting of the cell group. The teaching should be culturally appropriate,focusing on observation (what Scripture says), interpretation (what truth God is

seeking to communicate to us through this Scripture), and application (how this truth

can be applied to our lives today).

♦ Its goal is to multiply itself - the mandate of growth is always before the cell group

which is seeking to do God’s will. The group must continually ask: “How can we be

reaching out to new people and incorporating them within the group? What ministry

needs to occur? What contacts need to be made? What realistic faith goals can we set

for this month—this quarter—this year?” Your vision as a church planter must live in

the hearts of your leadership team and your cell group leaders, who must likewise make

it alive in the hearts of their cell group members, if your church is ever to achieve the

success God desires for it.

Action Step 4

1. List eight needs of adults in your chosen target group. How will you meet these needs in

your various cell groups?

2. How will you develop an ongoing system to resource your cell group leaders in the

following areas:

a. Recruitment, selection and training of new leaders

b. Networking leaders with new group members

c. Tying leaders into a supervision/support system

d. Supplying leaders with resource materials

e. Developing cohesion among group leaders

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Lesson 7 109

Establish a Ministry Community

“Ministry community” is the name for the organization of cell group leaders that meets

together. The ministry community can meet together weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, as best

fits the situation. The purpose for meeting together is four-fold:

• Inspiration - Victories are celebrated and the vision for the mission of the cell group

leaders is reinforced by the pastors of the church, and by sharing among the leaders.

• Devotion - Worship and prayer. In some ways, the meeting together of ministry

community parallels the function of the church meeting itself. In worship and prayer,

the focus is on concerns of church health to which these leaders of the church are

particularly sensitive, as well as issues related to care groups.

• Instruction - Two facets of teaching are accomplished: Biblical instruction on

character qualities that must pervade our lives and the principles of leadership; and

development of leadership skills essential to cell group leaders.

• Relationship - During one hour of the ministry community meeting, clusters of cell

group leaders meet together as small groups with the leaders in their supervision

structure. Sharing, encouragement, praise, prayer, and leadership support characterize

this time together.

Position Description: Cell Group Leader (Leader of 10)

A cell group leader serves and encourages a growing group of people who enjoy beingtogether, so that the leader and all the group experience the Christian life together. A cell

group leader walks with God and takes responsibility to love and influence people so they

progress from where they are to where God wants them to be. The following is a list of the

duties of a cell group leader:

1. Organize and lead regular cell group meetings.

2. Provide pastoral care to all members of your group and their families, as appropriate

(visit in hospital, home, etc.).

3. Pray for all the people in your cell group each week.

4. Listen to the Holy Spirit on how He wants to work in and through the people in your

group. The cell group leader needs to ask, “How does the Holy Spirit want to utilize

the unique gifts of people in this group?”

5. Train an apprentice leader who will branch off to begin his or her own cell group.

6. Be available to help baptize, lead communion, collect offerings, etc. This, of course,

would depend upon the type of government and practices of the individual church.

7. Be faithfully involved in the ministry community.

The cell group leader is responsible to the pastor or the cell group coordinator who is a

“leader of 50.”

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Position Description: Cell Group Coordinator (Leader of 50)

A cell group coordinator is responsible for five cell group leaders and their ministries.

Since, in our example from Lesson 5, we referred to the cell group leader as a “leader of 10,”

the coordinator of five cell groups is considered a “leader of 50.” The following is a list of the

duties of a cell group coordinator.

1. Facilitate cell group effectiveness.

• Help cell group leaders formulate goals and plans, and monitor the implementation

process. Encourage and affirm care group effectiveness and growth.

• Attend each cell group every third to sixth meeting and person-ally debrief the

leader.

• Help leaders to discern group and individual needs. Ask probing questions to enable

leaders to identify priorities and deter-mine next steps to be taken.

• Guide leaders to facilitate the use of spiritual gifts in their groups. Build team spirit

through ministry community meetings and prayer times together.

2. Shepherd cell group leaders.

• Pray consistently for each leader. Spend extended time praying to determine

ministry community agenda.

• Build personal relationships with every cell group leader you supervise. Make

regular contacts outside the ministry community setting. Offer personal

encouragement and/or guidance to each leader.• Schedule periodic planning times with your cell group leaders (at least quarterly).

Follow-up cell group leaders who miss ministry community so that they receive the

training and complete assignments on time.

3. Cultivate apprentice leaders.

• Help cell group leaders to identify and invest in potential leaders. Meet with

potential cell group leaders and give vision for future ministry possibilities.

• Invite them to cell group leaders’ orientation meetings. Follow-up to enable

apprentice leaders to launch their groups. Identify within the cell group those withgifts and/or burdens for target group ministries.

• Recruit and train an apprentice coordinator.

The cell group coordinator is directly responsible to the pastor or, in a large church, the

cell group supervisor who is a “leader of 100.”

The initial establishment of your cell group leadership structure will be a critical time in

the development of your church. “Coordinators of 50” must be prayerfully and carefully

selected, for theirs will be an important responsibility requiring great diligence, energy, and

communication skills. Just as the cell group leader is responsible before the church and the

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Lesson 7 111

Lord to ensure that every cell group member entrusted to him is adequately cared for, so the

“coordinators of 50” are responsible to ensure that each cell group leader under their

supervision is adequately supported and cared for. Coordinators must be aware of frustrations

and problems within cell groups, and must seek to facilitate each cell group leader in the

management of these problems. Frequent communication—and not just in the context of

ministry community alone—will be required to accomplish this.

The Pastor’s Role

The pastor is naturally the one who is at the top of the leadership structure, so in the

beginning of your church plant, he would probably lead the very first cell group. As

multiplication takes place and there are a number of cell groups, the pastor would move to the

role of cell group leader coordinator. In a church with several hundred members in cellgroups, the pastor would assume the role of the cell group coordinator supervisor. Here the

various coordinators would report and answer to him. The pastor is also in charge of the

ministry community and must be in constant communication with the various coordinators

and leaders.

The pastors must be concerned that bonding of supervision groups occurs from the

beginning. Many churches make the mistake of sending out leaders without a support

network, but the success of the cell groups will depend upon the level of support these leaders

receive.We have treated the establishment of coordinators and supervisors with as much caution

and scrutiny as a business leader would exercise in selecting his subordinates. Each leader has

a specific job description, and is aware of and agrees to the commitment required to fulfill the

responsibilities of that position. The job descriptions given earlier are for reference and should

be customized and adapted to individual situations.

Multiplication of Cells

Cell groups need to be designed and started with the goal of multiplication clearly in mind.

One good way to demonstrate this is to make sure that there is always one empty chair in the

group. This symbolizes to groups the fact that they exist to grow. The groups pray each week

that God would bring another person to fill that empty chair. When the chair is filled they

rejoice, and another empty chair is set out. The key to the growth of your church is the growth

of cell groups. Cell group growth must be built into the group structure from the very

beginning.

You will need to come up with a strategy for involving newcomers into the cell groups.

Some of these newcomers will actually be new believers, but others will still be seekers.

Consideration needs to be given as to how best to assimilate both groups of people into yourcell groups.

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The cultivation of apprentice leaders within cell groups will be a vital step to securing the

future growth of those cells. Leaders of a new cell group should, from the outset, be

examining their groups for the natural sub-groupings of people within it. Trust the Lord to

place one or two qualified apprentice leaders within the group; prayerfully seek to determine

who they are, recruit them for the task, and begin training them to lead their own groups. Thus

when your group has grown to the point where its numbers will support multiplication, the

leadership will be ready.

In the setting of your ministry community, teach your cell leaders to define the essential

qualities of leadership, and to be able to discern the apprentice leaders God has placed within

their groups. Help them learn how to know when an apprentice leader is ready to take on their

own cell group themselves. Have them work with the supervision structure of ministry

community in helping that new leader start his own cell group.If you can establish an effective cell group structure from the very beginning in your new

church, the potential for growth is limitless. The structure you establish must have built-in and

comprehensive support for your leaders, a method of raising up new apprentice leaders in

large numbers, and a focus upon and support of cell group growth. Cell groups must be all

important to the life of your church. Cell groups are not just another program of the church,

they are the church! With an effectively established network of caring, ministering and

multiplying cell groups, your church could truly “turn the world upside down” for Jesus

Christ.

Agreeing on a Culturally Relevant Philosophy of Ministry1

In order for any church to be successful, the people within it need to embrace the goals of

the church. If the people of your church do not share your vision and goals, frankly, you are

doomed to failure!

Therefore, it is important to define and establish at the very beginning precisely what your

vision and goals are. They must be dynamic and far-reaching, for they will be what motivates

your people to ministry and builds enthusiasm within the church. They will be the sharedburden of your cell group leaders and the basis for growth in your church. And they must be

the consensus of the individuals God has selected to comprise your church.

1Refer to Lesson 4 in this course to review the issue of cultural relevancy. In addition, please

refer to the BEE course Church Dynamics, Lesson 12, for a detailed study on “Philosophy of

Ministry.”

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Lesson 7 113

Growth Power Through Cultural Relevance

In order for your church to be in a position to reach the unbelievers in your community,

you must design a philosophy of ministry that is culturally relevant to those people. To do

this, you must fully under-stand your culture and how it differs from the traditional churches

surrounding it. Then design your church to be different!

Action Step 5

Designing Your own Philosophy of Ministry - Part 1:

1. Examine and summarize the following Scriptures and explain how they might be used

as a basis for determining the purpose of your church:

Matthew 28:19-20 Hebrews 10:24-25

Acts 1:8 Ephesians 4:11-16

Ephesians 2:1-10 Acts 2:42-47

Colossians 4:5-6 Colossians 3:12-16

2. On the basis of the above Scriptures, combined with the vision God has given you,

define the purpose of your church.

3. Why should your church exist in this particular community? What unique contribution

will it make?

Action Step 6

Designing Your Own Philosophy of Ministry - Part 2

1. Answering the following questions will help you develop a philosophy of ministry for

your church:

a. How will your church be different from others?

b. What will attract unbelievers to your church?

c. What sort of person will be attracted to your church?d. What particular programs and ministries will contribute to your church’s

success?

2. List what will be unique or distinctive about your church in the following areas:

a. Worship g. Social issues

b. Teaching and training h. Missions

c. Outreach and evangelism i. Doctrine

d. Fellowship j. Leadership and administration

e. Children’s Ministry k. Staff f. Youth Ministry l. Other

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3. Summarize how your philosophy of ministry will be reflected in the ministries of the

church.

The Development of Your Philosophy

As you begin to develop a culturally relevant philosophy of ministry, it should:

♦ Involve your entire leadership team. The first step in creating ownership will be to

ensure that your philosophy of ministry is developed together and not the result of one

person’s work. Make sure the leadership team is involved from start to finish.

♦ Discuss the most fundamental issues. What is the reason for starting a church? What

is the vision for the church? What are the goals? The preliminary process will involve

discovering biblical wisdom for the purpose of the church.♦ Be written with the practical mindset of producing ministry. Your philosophy of

ministry must be “down to earth.” What types of ministries will be necessary to

accomplish your goals? Who will do certain ministries? Which ministries will you

start with? Which will you add later?

♦ Consider the needs of your community. It will not be simply an ideal, but a practical

solution to the needs of your particular target group.

♦ Be carefully examined for cultural relevance. In this respect, you must be a student

of your target culture. Do not be afraid to use innovative means of meeting needswhich you can identify within your culture. Worship and ministry take on many

different forms throughout the world.

Action Step 7

Included in your plans must be the development of the initial worship team. This will be

done to complement your philosophy of ministry. Write out a detailed plan including the

following issues:

1. Who will your worship leaders be? What leadership will be profiled before your

congregation? How will they be trained?

2. How will you use the worship time to communicate your church’s philosophy of

leadership?

3. What role will corporate worship play in evangelism and disciple-ship?

4. What components will comprise your corporate worship time?

5. What style of music and prayer will you employ?

6. What content will be communicated through the preaching? What needs will

preaching/teaching address?

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Lesson 7 115

Strategic Planning Before Birth

In addition to a written philosophy of ministry, you will need to establish a specific plan of

your church’s goals and how it will be implemented. Your preliminary plans should cover the

first three years of your church’s existence.

Another crucial aspect of your planning at this phase will be the development of an

effective children’s ministry. It must be carefully designed and implemented before your

church ever “goes public” with its first worship service.

How Will Your Church Be Administered?

Many other administrative issues may need to be addressed at this point. You will need to

establish a structure for government and authority in the church. You will need to determine

how to set up a church office. There will be issues of financial support and facilities. These,and many more, administrative points will need to be worked through.

Prepare to Open Your Doors

You will want to establish a solid core of cell groups with ministry leaders and teams

before you open the doors of your church for its first worship service. Realize that the failure

of new churches is often the result of church planters who underestimate what’s necessary to

begin worship services. Remember, there is no danger of having too many people or resources

for your first worship service! Patience is a valued virtue.

Select a target date for your first worship service that is the result of a consensus of your

leadership team. Consider carefully the time and place based on the needs of your target

group.

Action Step 8

You have decided to plant a church in a nearby town. Develop a week-by-week plan of

things you will do for the next two months in preparation for this. Think of as many details

as you can.

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Action StepsSummary

Developing a Target Group

1. What is the target group you want to reach? What resources can you use that will help

you determine the needs of your target group? How will you go about conducting a

demographic study?

2. What are some felt needs of this particular target group? What are some of their real

needs?

3. Develop and detail your strategy for penetrating your target group. Include the methods

you will use, when you will begin, and how many people you will initially contact. What

method(s) of evangelism do you think will work best with your target group?

Cell Groups

1. List eight needs of adults in your chosen target group. How will you meet these needs in

your various cell groups.

2. How will you develop an ongoing system to resource your cell group leaders in the

following areas:a. Recruitment, selection and training of new leaders

b. Networking leaders with new group members

c. Tying leaders into a supervision/support system

d. Supplying leaders with resource materials

e. Developing cohesion among group leaders

Designing Your Own Philosophy of Ministry

1. (Part 1)

a. Examine and summarize the following Scriptures and explain how they might be

used as a basis for determining the purpose of your church:

Matthew 28:19-20 Hebrews 10:24-25

Acts 1:8 Ephesians 4:11-16

Ephesians 2:1-10 Acts 2:42-47

Colossians 4:5-6 Colossians 3:12-16

b. On the basis of the above Scriptures, combined with the vision God has given you,

define the purpose of your church.

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Lesson 7 117

c. Why should your church exist in this particular community? What unique

contribution will it make?

2. (Part 2)a. Answering the following questions will help you develop a philosophy of ministry

for your church:

1) How will your church be different from others?

2) What will attract unbelievers to your church?

3) What sort of person will be attracted to your church?

4) What particular programs and ministries will contribute to your church’s

success?

b. List what will be unique or distinctive about your church in the following areas:

1. Worship 7. Social issues

2. Teaching and training 8. Missions

3. Outreach and evangelism 9. Doctrine

4. Fellowship 10. Leadership/administration

5. Children’s Ministry 11. Staff

6. Youth Ministry 12. Other

c. Summarize how your philosophy of ministry will be reflected in the ministries of

the church.

Worship Details

1. Included in your plans must be the development of the initial worship team. This will be

done to complement your philosophy of ministry. All the following must be considered:

a. Who will your worship leaders be? What leadership will be profiled before your

congregation? How will they be trained?

b. How will you use the worship time to communicate your church’s philosophy of

leadership?c. What role will corporate worship play in evangelism and disciple-ship?

d. What components will comprise your corporate worship time?

e. What style of music and prayer will you employ?

f. What content will be communicated through the preaching? What needs will

preaching/teaching address?

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Prenatal Checklist

√ Expanding Network of Cell Groups

__ We have defined our target group.

__ We have determined who will lead the initial cell groups.

__ We have established a plan for recruiting new cell group leaders.

__ We have three cell groups in operation now.

__ We have a leadership training program developed to train four new leaders each

month.

__ We have written a description of who our leaders should be, what they should know,

and how they should carry on their ministry (character/knowledge/skills).

__ Our cell group leaders have each identified and are training an apprentice leader.

__ We have a leadership training meeting on a regular basis to encourage and develop our

cell group leaders and supervisors.

__ New people are being assimilated into the church through our cell groups.

__ The cell groups have begun ministries among specific target groups.

__ Cell groups are meeting at least every other week for private worship.

__ All cell group leaders meet at least every other week for development and resourcing.

√ Culturally Relevant Philosophy of Ministry

__ Each member of the leadership team has embraced the same vision and bears the same

burden for the church.

__ We affirm, respect and love one another in Christ.

__ We have agreed on the foundational issues confronting our church.

__ We have agreed on the essential elements our congregation needs in order to become a

growing and reproducing church.

__ We are committed to develop ministry principles that will enable us to do practical,

effective ministry.

__ We have thoroughly considered the purpose of our church.

__ We have examined the needs of our community in each of the following areas:

♦ Culture

♦ Economic and social needs

♦ Knowledge of Christ and Christianity

__ We have discussed what is unique about our church.

__ We have examined the Scriptures in order to discover and affirm the purpose of our

church.

__ We have defined our philosophy of ministry based on vision and direction from theHoly Spirit.

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Lesson 7 119

__ We have developed a focused and culturally relevant philosophy of ministry which

describes our church’s:

♦ Purpose

♦ Priorities

♦ Style of worship

♦ Style of ministries

♦ Kind of ministries

♦ Our vision is spelled out in specific goals and actions to implement our

philosophy of ministry.

√ Strategic Planning Before Birth

__ We have planned by faith the first three years of our church’s growth.

__ We have designated an official worship team to launch our first public service.

__ We have designed an initial children’s ministry.

__ We have taken care of important administrative issues.

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121


Part III “Birth” Phase

ou have planned and prepared for this moment! The “birth” phase is the time when

you hold your first public worship service. While it is more of an event than the

other phases, there are many important details to take care of beforehand.

LESSON OUTLINE

The “Birth” Phase

Celebrative and Reflective Worship

Children’s Ministry

Prepare Ministry Systems To Facilitate Growth


Birth Checklist

LESSON OBJECTIVES


1. Define your purpose and style of worship.

2. Organize and train a worship leader and team.

3. Know how to evaluate your worship services.4. Articulate what you want to achieve in your children’s program.

5. Have trained leaders for the children’s ministry.

6. Know how to resource your children’s ministry workers.

The “Birth” Phase

Many exciting formative months have passed since you first began developing your

leadership team, and finally you have achieved the momentum required to launch your first

worship service. You have incorporated a substantial number of believers, through cell

groups, who are committed to the formation of the new church. You have defined a

Y

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comprehensive philosophy of ministry, and laid out your strategic plans. You are ready for the

birth of your new church!

In these first few months of development, a dual focus will occupy your heart and mind:

the nurturing of celebrative and reflective worship and the development of essential

programs.

Celebrative and Reflective Worship

Deciding upon a style of worship is an essential part of defining your culturally

appropriate philosophy of ministry. Although many times people think that the particular style

of worship with which they are comfortable is the accepted norm for all of Christendom, the

reality is far different. There may be as many different styles of worship as there are churches

on the planet! Different types of people are comfortable with different styles of music,

instruments, preaching, teaching, prayer, liturgical forms, and traditions.

The Importance of Worship

An elevated sense of the importance of worship will create a more dynamic and relevant

worship in your church. A key part of this will be the complementary emphases of planning

and flexibility—the careful and creative planning (perhaps even to the point of rehearsal) of

corporate worship times together, coupled with the flexibility and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit

to take the worship service in a direction that He is leading.

Regardless of the style of worship, its tone should be essentially the same the world over:

worship should be both celebrative and reflective.

Celebrative Worship

Celebrative worship accomplishes the dual purpose of giving God the glory and praise He

so richly deserves, and of lifting man’s soul up beyond the everyday problems of life, to a

higher plane where he can see the meaning of life in the perspective of God’s plan. When

King David returned the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he celebrated by removing his

kingly garments and danced in the streets. When criticized for his seeming lack of royal

dignity, he proclaimed, “… I will celebrate before the LORD. And I will more lightly esteemed

than this and will be humble in my own eyes …” (2 Samuel 6:21, 22). David recognized that

God desires to be worshipped in his own way—that He is worthy of praise, thankfulness, and

celebration. And if He doesn’t get it from us, He can bring it forth from the rocks, the trees,

and the rest of creation! Our worship, regardless of style, must therefore be celebrative in

tone.

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Lesson 8 123

Reflective Worship

Meditation and reflection are, throughout the Scriptures, corner-stones of man’s rightful

response to God. Meditation on God’s Word brings the light of His righteousness into focus in

our inner lives. Reflection, then, gives us an accurate picture of our inadequacy before God. It

not only appropriates God’s forgiveness but cleanses our heart, and therefore serves as a

foundation for celebrative worship. The two go together, and must be dual components of a

worship that is pleasing to God and uplifting to man’s soul.

Elements of Worship

While the attitudes that are to characterize Christian worship are very specifically defined

and relatively independent of culture, the specific actions that comprise worship may vary

widely from one culture to the next. This diversity is a good indicator that the elements of worship have been appropriately determined by culture.

Some elements of worship will uniquely reflect the heritage of your own culture. It will be

your challenge as a Christian leader to creatively weave into the worship style of your church

these appropriate forms, while at the same time safeguarding your congregation from the

potential danger of distracting from the main focus—worshipping God.

The Role of Leadership

The Christian leader will not only lead worship, but model and facilitate it as well.

Modeling worship requires the adaptation of a lifestyle of celebrative and reflective

worship. Are “his praises always on your lips”? Is worship an occasional event, or a way of

life? Like King David, are you willing to shed your preconceptions and inhibitions and

commit yourself to truly worshipping God the way He desires to be worshipped? If so, the

example of your life will serve as a pattern that people can follow. Too often, while everyone

else sings, pastors are sitting in front of the church reading their sermon notes! In contrast,

your job is to communicate to the people in your church the vital importance of truly

worshipping God.

Facilitating worship means that you are responsible to see that the people in your churchare provided with the resources and environment that will best enable them to worship God.

This means two things: first, they must be taught how to worship, just as Christ taught His

disciples how to pray. And second, your role as a facilitator means you will be concerned and

watchful that an environment exists where worship is encouraged. This means everything

from making sure the lighting and sound systems are working at optimal efficiency, to

structuring worship services in such a careful manner that quality worship is encouraged.

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The Role of Team Leadership

Quality worship will not be a “one man show,” but rather will involve a whole team of

people. What will your role be on that team?

Your job, first of all, is to see that the appropriately gifted people are given involvement in

the team. And more than involvement, they must be given ownership of their role on the team.

Worship must not reflect the efforts of just one man, or even of a professional staff, but

should be a mirror of the efforts of the entire congregation. It is in this respect you will be a

team leader. You must remember that although a team leader cannot take credit for the

accomplishments of the team, he can certainly incur the blame for the failures!

Develop a Worship Leader

As team leader, you may be actively developing a person who will be the “up-front”worship leader. This person should be a creative and faithful individual who can be given

overall responsibility for the flow of the worship service. Very often this person is the song

leader or chief musician.

Your worship team may actually have three distinct parts; only one of which is “visible”

during the worship service:

• A creative planning team - this will be your “idea squad,” which actually plans the

content and progression of the worship services. It is advisable to do this planning up

to three months in advance.

• An administrative team - responsible for arranging the necessary details called for by

the planning team (e.g. organize the music presentation, schedule the speakers,

conduct rehearsals, etc.).

• A production team - these are the people leading the singing, playing the instruments,

doing the puppet shows, etc.

As you can see, each component of the three-part worship team requires different gifts.

Setting up such a team will involve some work, but will pay off great dividends in terms of

both quality and ownership of worship.

Prepare a Quality Worship Environment

In addition to the aspects discussed in the previous section, several other factors relating to

the worship environment must be taken into consideration:

♦ Time of service - Determination of the service day and time, as well as the duration of

the service, must all be taken into consideration in light of the needs of your target

group. Sunday is generally assumed to be the day for a worship service, but there are

churches which have chosen other days of the week with great success. The

relationship of the service time to meal and sleep schedules (which has a bearing on

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Lesson 8 125

the alertness of your congregation!), and to the presence of traffic, public

transportation schedules, and other factors, should all be considered.

♦ Location of service - Centrality among your target group will be the key consideration

here. Can the people you desire to reach find convenient transportation to your

location? Also, the dynamics of the location will be a factor in determining the image

of your church—a dark, cold, run-down building will promote a different atmosphere

than a warm, bright auditorium. Also, an urban setting will have a much different

atmosphere than a country one.

♦ Size of facility - The size of the facility is crucial to the growth prospects for your

church. Your meeting hall should not be so large that a sense of isolation is created,

yet you need to allow plenty of room for growth. Remember that when your attendance

reaches eighty percent of the seating capacity of your facility, the limited size of thefacility will become a cap on your growth potential. The key here is to think ahead in

accordance with the vision God has given you for the church’s growth. This is

precisely why it is better to rent your facilities instead of building or buying. This way

you can adapt to the church’s growth without being tied down financially to a

particular facility.

♦ Facility appropriate for children’s ministry - An effective children’s ministry has

unique needs in terms of classroom space and play equipment. Can your facility

accommodate the children whose presence or absence will be a controlling factor in

the growth of your church?

What Is Your Worship Atmosphere?

Another aspect of a quality worship environment focuses more on the atmosphere that we

intentionally want to create. This has to do with things other than the content of the service or

the facility in which the service is being held. This atmosphere is created by the attitude of the

participants. Is celebrative and reflective worship being modeled freely for the church by the

pastors, leadership team, and other key people in the church? Does a spirit of joy and

anticipation pervade the service? Is the congregation truly participating in the worship events,

or is it merely observing as one would who is attending a concert? These factors will create an

atmosphere for your worship service in which the Holy Spirit can easily work in the hearts of

the participants

Evaluate Your Worship Service

Like all other aspects of your church’s ministry, worship services must not only be

carefully planned from the beginning, but continuously evaluated as the church progresses.

The leadership team should regularly consider the various factors affecting the quality of the

worship service, and seek the Lord’s guidance to try out new ideas or omit things that aren’t

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working. Worship is a dynamic process, and you will find your worship service evolving as

your church matures. Cooperate with that evolutionary process by continuously evaluating and

modifying your service.

The congregation, too, can play a useful role in evaluating worship. Speak with

congregation members or attendees with different perspectives. Be sure to talk to those who

sit in different places in the church. Question people with different levels of involvement in

the service, from worship team members to newcomers who have never experienced a

worship service before, to get their feedback.

Action Step 1

Answer the following questions:

1. How would you define worship within the context of your culture?

2. What is the goal of worship within your own church?

3. What are three unique forms of worship you could incorporate into your own church

that would maintain the integrity of Christ-centered worship?

Action Step 2

Look up the following verses and summarize the various expressions of worship:1. Psalm 8 5. Psalm 145:1-3

2. Psalm 33:1-3 6. Psalm 149:1-5

3. Psalm 34:1-3 7. Psalm 150

4. Psalm 48:1

Action Step 3

What role do each of the following elements play in your worship service and will each

element contribute to your unique style of worship? What other elements can you think of?

1. Music Style 6. Drama Presentations

2. Sermon 7. Announcements

3. Prayer 8. Lord’s Supper

4. Scripture Reading 9. Baptism

5. Liturgy 10. Congregational Involvement

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Lesson 8 127

Children’s Ministry

The first thing to realize when considering ministry programs that will be offered by your

church is— you can’t be all things to all people! The second thing to realize is that, in answer

to your prayers, God will raise up a leadership base for any new programs He considers to be

truly important. The leadership base must always precede the programming.

Your programs should be carefully selected to effectively meet the most significant needs

of your target group. Generally, your foremost priority—and this will often make or break a

new church—will be in the area of children’s ministry.

First of all, a culturally appropriate philosophy of children’s ministry should be a separate

and significant component of your church’s overall philosophy of ministry statement. What

are your objectives when it comes to the children of the church? Are you merely providing

baby-sitting services to enable the parents to worship, or are you building the future of your

church by seeking to disciple the children the Lord has given you?

If your answer is the latter, then the recruiting and training of a quality, committed

teaching staff will be a first priority. If you would like to attract and hold newcomers to your

church, then you must provide excellent nursery care. If people can trust you with their

children for an hour, chances are they will trust you to tell them the truth about God’s will for

their lives.

Your church will need to provide consistent and quality care for each family as a whole—

including its children. This becomes particularly imperative when you realize that, more oftenthan not, children will be the key to reaching their parents with the gospel.

Action Step 4

1. What will be the purpose of your child care program? (Bible teaching, baby-sitting, etc.)

2. For which children’s age groups would you like to provide Bible teaching?

3. What facilities will be required to provide for:

a. Infant care (0-2 yrs.)

b. Early childhood (2-5 yrs.)

c. Elementary (6-12 yrs.)

d. Youth (13+ yrs.)

4. What resources will be used for teaching your children?

5. When do you plan to begin these children’s ministries?

6. Who has God provided to lead in the following ministries:

a. Supervisor of Children’s Ministries

b. Infant

c. Early Childhood

d. Elementary

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e. Youth

7. How do you plan to provide training for these workers?

Prepare Ministry Systems to Facilitate Growth

A “ministry system” is simply a comprehensive plan for a ministry, including why it is

necessary, what it will look like when operating successfully, what sort of resources will be

needed, how it will be implemented and supervised, how it will be evaluated, and how any

necessary corrections will be made. There are five further areas in which you must plan

ministry systems if your church is to grow:

1. Spiritual Gifts Mobilization - Jesus Christ created His church to be mobilized along

the lines of spiritual gifts—“each member doing its own part.” The maturity of your

congregation (as well as your own sanity!) will depend upon whether the members of

the church are using their gifts in ministry as God intended. How do you facilitate this?

a. Teach about spiritual gifts at the entry point of your church. New Christians

should immediately be made aware that they have a spiritual gift, and are

obligated to exercise it. Later in this lesson we will deal with ways to do this.

b. Require as a condition of membership that each person should serve in a

ministry that utilizes his gifts.

c. Continue to teach periodically on the principles of spiritual gifts.

d. Conduct periodic assessments to determine who within your church needs to

be placed in a ministry position where their gifts can be utilized.

2. Assimilation Process - If you want your church to grow, you will need to map out

processes by which new people can be assimilated into active participation in your

church.

Few newcomers will take initiative to reach out and involve themselves in the

groups of the church. You will need to create a process whereby the cell groups and

various ministries of your church will take the initiative to reach out and “snatch up” a

newcomer into that group or ministry. Treat new people as a valuable resource whichneeds to be placed and discipled as quickly as possible. Commit yourself before God

to develop a system making it impossible for even a single newcomer to “slip through

the cracks” unnoticed! Remember that the Good Shepherd left the ninety-nine sheep to

search for and recover the one which was lost. The lesson here is that if we allow

ourselves even 1% attrition, we are not following the standard set by our Master, the

Head of the Church, Jesus Christ.

3. New Member Orientation - A regular orientation of new members will be an

important aspect of the assimilation process. We’ve already mentioned theeffectiveness of a “newcomer’s class” for accomplishing this objective. Design a

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Lesson 8 129

system for identifying newcomers and approaching them about joining the newcomer’s

class.

4. Leadership Development and Resourcing - A church committed to a biblical

principle of body life and ministry will hold in high regard the value of continual

training of lay leadership. This can be accomplished through many avenues, including

special cell groups, periodic classes, ministry training seminars, denominational

conferences and seminars, and a ministry community concept.

5. Ministry Planning and Implementation - A fail-safe method of identifying evolving

needs of your target group, as well as evaluating and implementing new ministry

proposals should be created by the leadership team. Along with this, be sure to develop

a method to evaluate existing ministries for continued effectiveness, and build in some

relatively painless ways to abandon ministries which have accomplished their purposeor lost their effectiveness.

Action Step 5

How do you plan to implement each of the following ministry systems:

1. Spiritual gifts mobilization

2. Assimilation of newcomers

3. New member orientation

4. Leadership development and recruiting

5. Ministry planning and implementation

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Action StepsSummary

Worship

1. Answer the following questions:

a. How would you define worship within the context of your culture?

b. What is the goal of worship within your own church?

c. What are three unique forms of worship you could incorporate into your own church

that would maintain the integrity of Christ-centered worship?

2. Look up the following verses and summarize the various expressions of worship:

a. Psalm 8 e. Psalm 145:1-3

b. Psalm 33:1-3 f. Psalm 149:1-5

c. Psalm 34:1-3 g. Psalm 150

d. Psalm 48:1

3. What role do each of the following elements play in your worship service and will each

element contribute to your unique style of worship? What other elements can you

think of?a. Music Style f. Drama Presentations

b. Sermon g. Announcements

c. Prayer h. Lord’s Supper

d. Scripture Reading i. Baptism

e. Liturgy j. Congregational Involvement

Children’s Ministries

1. Work through the following questions in detail:

a. What will be the purpose of your child care program? (Bible teaching, baby-sitting,

etc.)

b. For which children’s age groups would you like to provide Bible teaching?

c. What facilities will be required to provide for:

1) Infant care (0-2 yrs.)

2) Early childhood (2-5 yrs.)

3) Elementary (6-12 yrs.)

4) Youth (13+ yrs.)

d. What resources will be used for teaching your children?

e. When do you plan to begin these children’s ministries?

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Lesson 8 131

f. Who has God provided to lead in the following ministries:

1) Supervisor of Children’s Ministries

2) Infant

3) Early Childhood

4) Elementary

5) Youth

Ministry Systems

1. How do you plan to implement each of the following ministry systems:

a. Spiritual gifts mobilization

b. Assimilation of newcomers

c. New member orientation

d. Leadership development and recruiting

e. Ministry planning and implementation

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Birth Checklist

√ Strategic Vision

__ We have defined the purpose of worship in our church.

__ We have defined the style of worship at our church according to the needs of the target

group.

__ We have incorporated meaningful worship into our private lives.

__ The leadership team sets the example by their actions.

__ The senior pastor takes the lead in determining the overall direction of the worship.

__ We plan the themes for the worship services at least a month ahead.

__ We have chosen a worship leader who is qualified to oversee this area.__ We have regular planning and rehearsal times for worship.

__ We have an easily identifiable sign for our church.

__ We have publicized our worship times in an appropriate manner.

__ We evaluate worship on a regular basis.

√ Children’s Ministry

__ We have defined what we want to provide for our children.

__ We have trained leaders for our children’s ministry.

__ We provide excellent nursery care that pleases the parents.

__ Our children’s program is effective in reaching and assimilating new children and their

families.

__ More leaders are being trained to provide more children’s classes as the church grows.

__ I am seeking to develop the members of my team to their full potential.

__ I am committed to resolving conflict appropriately and quickly.

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133


Part IV “Growth” And “Reproduction”

his lesson deals with the process of the church maturity and subsequent reproduction.

As you will see, there are many aspects in the developmental process of a maturing

church, eventually leading to a commitment to reproduce itself and thus fulfill the

Great Commission.

LESSON OUTLINE

The “Growth” Phase

Holistic Disciple-Making

Mobilizing Believers According to Spiritual Gifts

Developing and Resourcing Leaders

Appropriate and Productive Programming

Networking with Other Churches


Growth Checklist

The “Reproduction” Phase

Reproduction Checklist

LESSON OBJECTIVES


1. Develop ongoing effective evangelism and discipleship in your church.

2. Understand how spiritual gifts work in the church.

3. Help those in the church discover and use their spiritual gifts.

4. Delegate specific tasks to others.

5. Determine which programs would best achieve the church’s goals.

6. Seek out a networking relationship with a nearby church.

7. Plan for reproducing your church by planting others.

T

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The “Growth” Phase

Birth may not be so much a phase as an event in the life of an organism. It is prepared for,

then experienced. If birth is successful, then the new church will immediately find itself

confronted with the everyday problem of growth to maturity.

The growth phase may take only a few months, or it may take years. In reality, a church

should always be growing, but the growth during this initial phase is different than that which

occurs after the church reaches a certain level of maturity. During this initial phase, the church

focuses on gathering internal strength and growing in numbers, spiritual depth, quality of

relationships, and in ministry ability. Growth after maturity will continue in these areas, but

will focus on the added dimension of the establishment of daughter churches.

Holistic Disciple-Making

In reflecting the true balance of discipleship commanded by Christ, a church that

successfully involves its members in holistic disciple-making does so in three steps.

1. Demonstrating Social Concern

The first is often referred to as the “cultural mandate of the Great Commission.” There has

been, in recent years, a rift between those who have seen our responsibility toward spreading

the gospel as solely cultural, and those who have seen it as solely evangelistic. Such

divisiveness, in addition to its counter productivity, misses the entire point of Christ’s life and

ministry! The true love which Christ exhibited sought both to identify and meet people’s

physical needs (the cultural mandate), as well as their spiritual need for salvation (the

evangelistic mandate). He fed the five thousand, then spoke of their need to accept Him as the

“bread from heaven.” Our Lord drew no artificial boundaries between meeting physical needs

and meeting spiritual needs. He knew that the latter flowed out of the former. Likewise, our

churches must seek to fulfill the cultural mandate hand-in-hand with the evangelistic mandate.

Recapturing RelevancyIt may seem that we are stating the obvious here, but it is a tragic fact that in many places

throughout the world the church is considered to be a society which exists merely to discuss

moot points. We are dismissed as irrelevant to the needs and problems of daily life in the

modern world. Surely this situation breaks the heart of God!

How can we become relevant to the needs of hurting people? We can focus our attention

on two desperately needed processes:

a. Identify needs of the target community. We already discussed the importance of

defining both the felt and the real needs of our target audience—speaking not just of

those inside the doors of our church, but of the community beyond—and of designing

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Lesson 9 135

strategies to meet those needs. It is interesting to note that Christ spent thirty years in

silent preparation for a whirlwind three-year ministry. What was occurring during that

span of time? It is a fairly safe speculation that, among other things, he was silently

observing the people around him, noting their needs and prayerfully developing a

strategy that would seek to meet them.

b. Respond in love through ministry. This twentieth-century rift between meeting

physical and spiritual needs is probably the direct result of a lack of love in our hearts.

True love seeks to meet needs wherever they arise. True love feeds the starving child,

then seeks to slake his spiritual thirst by telling him of the true river of life flowing

from the throne of Christ. A healthy and growing church is characterized by love.

Christ said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for

one another” (John 13:35). And the natural response of love is ministry that meetsneeds.

Every Christian leader who truly desires to serve Christ and others should ask himself: Is

my church effectively meeting the needs of the community? Are we known abroad for our

heart of love? How could we offer a more Christ-like response to the needs of our church and

community?

2. Develop Appropriate Evangelistic Efforts

The second step is to define what evangelism and assimilation will look like in your

church. Evangelism is not a solitary event, but a process occurring in three states:

Conviction → Conversion → Maturation

You can see why the cell group is the best setting for evangelism. After all, individuals

acting on their own are not likely to risk making the life-changing affirmations involved in a

profession of faith in Christ. As a member of a loving cell group, however, that individual can

be coaxed and coached through the process of conviction, then conversion, then on to

maturity. A new convert is not “left out in the cold,” but allowed to continue the conversion

process through to maturation, with the helpful and loving support of the cell group.

Incarnational Evangelism

The effectiveness of your church’s evangelistic efforts will depend upon the ability of its

members to practice what is call “incarnational” evangelism. Many people consider

evangelism simply to be a one-sided communication process of verbal message-giving.

Incarnational evangelism, on the other hand, recognizes that communication involves far morethan simply the words we speak. The well-worn saying “actions speak louder than words”

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demonstrates this principle. The first and foremost means of communication is the life that you

live. If your life is not manifesting the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness and self-control that marks the Spirit-filled Christian, then your listeners will

receive a mixed message. The good news brought by the angels to the shepherds near

Bethlehem was that Christ was incarnated —God would dwell among men. Men could see His

life-style, could witness the heart of God and be touched by His healing hand.

If Christ is incarnated again through the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer, it is not

this incarnation—rather than our spoken message alone—that forms the basis of evangelism

that attracts men to God? If you want your church to evangelize, the first and foremost thing

you must do is to disciple the believers God has given you already, teaching them to obey and

allow Christ to be fully incarnated in their hearts.

Incarnational evangelism therefore presents three facets:♦ Presence - being who God wants us to be in the presence of others and demonstrating

the character qualities of Christ through the fruit of the Spirit.

♦ Proclamation - stating the plan of salvation and telling our own story of what Christ

has done in our lives.

♦ Persuasion - seeking to stir cognitive and emotional response in our hearers in order

to call them to a commitment to Christ: “Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we

persuade men ...” (2 Cor. 5:11).

Oikos Evangelism

Thus, Christians living the Christian life will be the means of evangelism. There are many

methods, but one of the most effective we have discovered is what we call oikos evangelism.

Oikos is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word bayit , which in the Old Testament, referred

to several generations in a family, as well as all the slaves and the servants that belonged to

them. In the New Testament, oikos literally means “household.” To the Greek, “household”

meant your family, including your extended family, your friends and associates. Thus, one’s

oikos includes the entire network of a person’s family, friends and associates.

Action Step 1

Look up the following verses and summarize the idea of “house-holds” in each:

1. Mark 2:14-15 5. John 4:53

2. Mark 5:19 6. Acts 10:24, 44

3. Luke 19:9 7. Acts 16:15

4. John 1:41, 45 8. Acts 16:30-34

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Lesson 9 137

These verses demonstrate the fact, widely ignored by twentieth-century evangelistic

methods, that coming to Christ was once a family event. And more than just that—oikos refers

not just to the immediate family, but to all who were interrelated with them in their

household—servants, friends, and relatives. New Testament evangelism often occurred in a

group.

Evangelism efforts often fail because they single out the individual and require him to

make an individual decision, independent of the wisdom and authority of his household. If

evangelism were instead to target the entire household—approaching, as in the book of Acts,

the head of the household, while still recognizing personal and individual responsibility for

each member to respond to the Lordship of Christ—how much more fruitful might those

evangelistic efforts be!

Oikos evangelism recognizes the importance of identifying and taking advantage of relational networks. The cell group should diagram the relational networks of each of its

members, and establish its evangelistic goals targeting those networks, and not merely the

individuals in them.

Selecting Target Group for Evangelism

Once evangelism and assimilation have been defined for your church, the next step is to

uncover groups that will be receptive to your efforts. Having the members of your cell groups

map out their networks of relationships will be of great help to you in accomplishing this. As

you undoubtedly know, there is often a direct correlation between the degree of felt need

experienced by a particular people group, and their level of receptivity to the gospel. The most

difficult to reach are those who are satisfied with their lives. Christ said, “ It is not those who

are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick … for I did not come to call the

righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13). Therefore, it is wise to evaluate the level of

spiritual need of a particular household or group before making the decision to target them

with your evangelistic efforts.

After evaluating the need, design a strategy for reaching out to a household. This strategy

should recognize that effective evangelism is a process comprised of many steps and a serious

investment of time and energy. You should set specific goals regarding contacts with

members of a household, activities that you will share in common, and a general time line by

which you would like to see that household collectively progress.

Building Bridges With Unbelievers

The primary energy spent will be in the process of building relational bridges with these

targeted unbelievers. For too long the church has considered itself too holy to reach out and

make contact with un-believers; it has desired instead to seal itself away in a fortress of its

own design, supposedly to avoid “being tarnished by the world.” For too long we have not

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recognized that, like the Pharisees who were “whited sepulchers—clean on the outside, but on

the inside full of dead men’s bones”—the sin of worldliness arises from within, and not

merely from contact with unbelievers.

Each person needs to evaluate and recognize what his own part will be in reaching out and

building relational bridges. Leadership must be developed that is aware of the need for this

training, and that can accomplish it in the setting of the cell group, newcomer’s class or

ministry community. On a larger scale, the church must strategize how it will train and

encourage its members to do this, and how the existing networks may be best employed for

the cause of Christ.

3. Assimilating New Believers

The third step in successful disciple-making is the assimilation of new believers. All the

evangelistic effort you expend and the fruit which results from it will be pointless if your

church cannot effectively assimilate the new believers the Lord gives you. Be sure that Satan’s

“hungry crows” are waiting by your harvest fields to snatch up any harvested grain which is

left untended and exposed. New believers must be quickly assimilated into the life and

ministry of the church, lest they be snatched away by the enemy. This will involve:

♦ Linking into a caring and supporting cell group, if the new be-liever isn’t already in

one.

♦ Ownership given in the body of Christ, through involvement in a newcomer’s class

and subsequent membership in the church.

♦ Evaluation of the new believer’s spiritual gifts, and placement into active ministry

according to those gifts.

Measuring Assimilation

In line with the above, a measurable system for assimilating new believers will therefore

allow you to ask the following questions:

• Has the new believer been incorporated into a cell group?

• Has the new believer been inducted into a ministry where he is using his spiritualgifts?

• Is the new believer attending corporate worship on a regular basis, as well as giving

regularly?

Your assimilation system should not allow you to put the new believer’s “file” to rest until

each of these questions has been answered in the affirmative.

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Lesson 9 139

Tracking Registration and Attendance

One of your first and most crucial administrative tasks will be to develop an efficient

registration and tracking system. The reason for this is that as you experience increased

growth and reach more people, it will become more and more difficult to give care and

personal attention to the various individuals in your church. There will be a greater danger of

someone “slipping through the cracks.” If the development of an effective tracking system can

prevent even one person from being lost in your church, it will be well worth the effort!

A registration system has the dual benefit of allowing newcomers as well as regular church

members to communicate important facts to you. They can share needs and decisions,

allowing you to respond in a considerate and systematic manner. Furthermore, a tracking

system will allow you to get a handle on the attendance trends necessary for you to evaluate

your growth goals and plan for continued growth.Registration of attendees can be done at cell groups as well as at worship services,

enabling church leadership to track what is happening in the realm of cell groups, as well as in

corporate worship times.

Your tracking system should not only alert you to the presence of new people, allowing

you to make appropriate contact with them, but also to the absence of those whose attendance

has been previously established. This is valuable in that you can, through the cell groups,

“check up” on such an individual to see what action, if any, is necessary to restore them to

attendance. Such notification is also valuable when the person is experiencing a crucial needthat they might not otherwise have communicated to you or to their cell group.

Tracking will also give you the information necessary to enable you to encourage a person

toward involvement in a cell group or ministry, if needed.

Beyond the purely mechanical aspects of tracking assimilation, it is important to provide a

climate in which assimilation can occur. We spoke earlier of the “atmosphere” of a church,

created by the attitude of its members. This plays an important role in assimilation. If your

members demonstrate an attitude of openness and friendliness that motivates them to reach

out and make contacts with newcomers by establishing relationships, new Christians will be

rapidly linked in to existing networks in the Body of Christ.

You must realize at this point, too, that in order for this linkage to occur there must be a

sufficient number of cell groups to accommodate new members. Ideally, you should have one

cell group for every ten people who attend your church; six to eight cell groups per one

hundred people in your church should be a required minimum. Once again, to have an

abundance of cell groups means you must have an abundance of leaders, which means

existing cell groups must be training apprentice leaders. You can see how the health of your

church and its ability to grow relates back to the plans and accommodations you made back

during the prenatal phase of your church’s development—when your leadership system was

put into place.

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Action Step 2

Develop a comprehensive plan for tracking attendance and assimilating newcomers into

cell groups and the life of the church.

Mobilizing Believers According to Spiritual Gifts

Another characteristic of a growing church, and one of the key factors of its success, has

been largely ignored. In most churches, the pastor is “the” minister—the only man God has

gifted with every manner of spiritual ability—and the sole doer of ministry. You, as the

church planter, can choose—you can accept this erroneous image as a life-long curse, seeking

to do all the ministry of a church yourself and assure yourself an early retirement in an insane

asylum! Or, you can dispel this crazy notion at the outset, teaching the believers in your

church to understand that God has gifted them to do the ministry of the church. That is why

He has given everyone spiritual gifts—not for our own edification, but that we might minister

to others.

You can accomplish this “miracle of emancipation” in nine simple steps:

1. Study the Bible to learn the biblical basis for gift-based ministry—how Christ has

gifted each member and desires each one to do their valuable part in ministry to the

body. How He has designed the body to function as one unit, giving glory to Godrather than bickering over gifts. How the gifts are complementary, functioning together

in an orderly and efficient manner.

2. Compile a list of the spiritual gifts that will be used in your church. This will serve as a

tool in helping others to see how valuable they are in the scheme of things.

3. Define the need for workers for the ministry opportunities which exist in your church

as a result of your evaluation of the needs of your target group. To do this will require

you to list on paper every single role or task in your church, and then to write a “job

description” for each position defining what gifts are appropriate and what the positionwill entail.

4. Design a placement system suitable for your church. Decide how you will structure

gift-based ministry in your church, and prepare the written materials and resources you

will need before starting the process of interviewing and placing your members.

5. Admit your leadership core into the process before introducing your new placement

system to the congregation. Get their per-mission first. This will also involve working

with the ministry coordinators and key leaders to figure out how the placement system

will specifically benefit from and work with their ministries.

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Lesson 9 141

6. Recruit and train “ministry placement advisors” who can counsel the members of your

church, helping them to discern and implement their spiritual gifts. Establish

leadership for these advisors. They must be well aware of the biblical basis of gift-

based ministry, as well as the characteristics of each gift; how to discern spiritual gifts

or administer an inventory designed to do this. They must also be well acquainted with

the ministry structure of your church, with the available ministry positions and their

requirements. And they must be in good communication with the ministry leaders.

7. Educate the congregation about spiritual gifts. Develop your plan to introduce the

concept of gift-based ministry to your church. This should be done from the pulpit, in

cell groups, in new-comer’s classes, and in gift discovery groups or special work-

shops.

8. Guide your members into appropriate ministry positions where they can use their gifts.Conduct spiritual gift interviews, establish a first step for involvement in a ministry

(link them to the ministry coordinator), and then follow-up to ensure the step has been

taken and involvement has occurred.

9. Continue the process of spiritual gifts education and placement on an ongoing basis.

There should be regularly scheduled opportunities for people to receive spiritual gift

instruction. The minis-try job descriptions should also be updated on a regular basis,

and advisors should meet together regularly for training and support.

Action Step 3

List the gifts from 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12:3-8, Ephesians 4:11-13 and 1 Peter 4:10-

11 and define what they are.

Action Step 4

1. Once you have determined what gifts will be needed for the various ministries of your

church, you can go a step further. Think through and write out each role or ministry and

list the gifts that would best fulfill each one.

2. Design a spiritual gifts placement system for your church.

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Developing and Resourcing Leaders

There is an important principle of church management that will not only help you to

effectively meet the ministry goals of your church, but will also help you determine God’s will

as to what those goals should be. This principle will direct the focus of your responsibility for

conducting ministry upon the person of Christ, thus refreshing and strengthening your faith in

Him, and will give you marvelous freedom and flexibility in designing ministries to meet the

needs of your target group. It is called the “pyramid principle.”

Simply stated, the pyramid principle recognizes that “the leadership base in your church

must be at least as broad as the ministry is designed to support.” If a pyramid was heavier at

the top (the parameters of the ministry itself) than at the bottom (the leadership base necessary

to effectively conduct that ministry), it would collapse upon itself in a heap of rubble—and

buried beneath the rubble would be a pile of burned-out and fed-up church workers!

The pyramid on the right shows the dynamic of increasing ministry. The proper way to do

this is to first increase leadership—an increase in ministry will then follow. Too often,

however, we attempt to do the reverse: increasing ministry before the leadership base is

sufficiently broad.

When God promised Moses He would bring His people into the land of Canaan, He set a

biblical precedent from which the pyramid principle can be deduced:

I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not

become desolate, and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I

will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take

possession of the land (Exodus 23:29, 30).

Applying the pyramid principle to any new ministry proposal will give you a tool forhelping to determine the will of God regarding it. Jesus never said, “Pray for a harvest,” He

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said, “Pray for workers to go out into the harvest.” When confronted with an attractive-

sounding ministry proposal, your job will be to evaluate whether a leadership base exists to

support the ministry. If not, “pray for workers.” This puts the burden of decision on God’s

shoulders—if He desires the ministry to be accomplished, He will supply the workers. If not,

simply shrug and say, “It was a good idea. Perhaps at some point in time God will provide the

leaders so we can start this ministry.”

Do you see how this principle is one more way that you, as a church leader, can “cast your

cares upon Him”?

Develop a Leadership-Building Plan

The power of God is the church’s “supernatural” resource, and it is unleashed through

prayer and worship. Aside from this, the church has only one “natural” resource—people

committed to do God’s will. With these two resources working together, amazing things can

be accomplished! It follows, then, that in order to effectively utilize your church’s “natural”

resources you must invest your time and energy in equipping existing leadership and

developing future leadership. There are five key factors to consider when doing this:

1. Select and recruit people with leadership potential. Like Christ gazing out over the

seashore where Peter and John tended to their nets, you must examine your members

for their future potential, bringing discernment and studied evaluation to bear on this

process. Remember that you select leaders primarily on the basis of character qualities

and willingness to serve; but you train them on the basis of existing or needed skills.

Realize that to do both these things you must first define the requisite character

qualities desired, and then the needed skills.

2. Agree together with your leadership team on areas upon which you should focus your

training and development resources.

3. Recognize the dynamics of an effective training process. Learning is not simply a

cognitive phenomenon, but one which involves feelings of self worth and group

identification, as well as practical experience. Your training process must be product-

oriented: what kind of leaders are you putting out, and how can the process be

modified to produce better equipped leaders?

4. Link leaders into a support network. Schedule regular appointments for reporting on

the status of their ministry, as well as encouragement and accountability.

5. Remember the dynamic of a task-oriented training process, which we highlighted

earlier. First, create an anticipation for a task, and the results if it is successfully

completed. Next, supervise the actual doing of the task—trainer does it first alone;

then, trainer watches while trainee does the task; and finally, trainee does the task

alone, meeting with the trainer later for feedback and support.

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Cultivate Leaders Through Delegation

Perhaps you have heard the story about the Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps two

centuries before Christ. Hannibal was faced with an extremely difficult problem—carrying a

large amount of war equipment into position for his invasion of Italy. A less prudent man

might have loaded up his gear on his own back and cried “Let’s go!”—as he and his men

plunged into the snow far below the Alps’ lofty peaks. However, Hannibal, in his wisdom,

chose to delegate this seemingly impossible task to one who was trained and equipped to

accomplish it—the mighty elephant. As a result, Hannibal was credited with “doing the

impossible”: launching a surprise attack and overcoming the enemy in very short time.

This illustrates a simple but crucial point:

No Christian leader can accomplish alone and unaided theagenda God has set before him.

This may be stating the obvious, but the fact is few Christian leaders are very good

delegators! Generally, the catalytic personality type that motivates one to become a leader is

the same personality type that says, “If you want a job done right—do it yourself.” What we

need, however, is to learn how we can delegate effectively.

The Motivation for Delegation

First, we must start with the proper motive for delegating. A proper view of self will tell

us that, although we may be terribly gifted individuals (and chances are, we are closer to

“normal” on that particular scale!), there are only a very few things that we can do better than

those around us. God gifts each of us in different ways; He has done that intentionally so that

we might be required to depend upon one another and function as one body with many

members.

Moreover, delegation should be motivated by the desire to serve the one to whom we are

delegating. God doesn’t have to use us to minister to others; He certainly has other means at

His disposal. But He does it anyway. Why? So that we might grow in service and be blessed

in the use of the gifts He has given us. Likewise, the blessing of ministry and service should

be a motive that compels us to delegate ministry to other gifted individuals around us. Listed

below are four essential steps involved in successful delegation:

1. Determine what you can and cannot delegate. Some tasks God may have gifted you

alone to accomplish, so you should not dele-gate what can truly best be accomplished

by yourself. Everything else, though, should be under consideration for delegation.

2. Develop an initial job description for each activity to be delegated. Some people desire

to have their tasks spelled out very clearly in writing; others are more innovative and

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can develop their own job description once they have an idea of what needs to be

accomplished. The detail written into this job description will depend upon the type of

person you are dealing with.

3. Recruit people for their potential. Once again, multiply your options. The more

selective you can be, the better your chances of successful delegation.

4. Provide ongoing support, encouragement, and training. This will be your continuing

investment as a mentor in their lives.

Strive for Goal Ownership

As one who is involved in creating goals for a group, you will come to recognize that

setting the goal is only half the process. One of your greatest challenges will be to transfer

your sense of ownership of that goal to each member of the group. Here are some principles

that can help:

♦ Human beings generally exhibit the strongest ownership over something they create,

whether it be their children, a work of art, or an abstract concept. The most

straightforward manner of instilling goal ownership, therefore, is to involve the group

in the creation process. Goal-setting should be done as much as possible on a team

basis. A talented leader will be adept at coaching a team to “give birth” to an idea. He

simply sees to it that they recognize the problem at hand, and that they have all the

information on the relative merits of the various proposed solutions. A goal will be

born when the team comes to realize the best solution to an agreed-upon problem.

♦ In your planning, focus on your church’s “opinion leaders.” These may or may not be

people in established position of authority. Regardless, you will generally not have

difficulty determining who they are—theirs are the voices which always seem to give

form to the group consensus. If you can successfully “sell” these individuals on your

goals at the beginning, the rest of the church will follow almost effortlessly.

♦ A wise leader transfers ownership by asking questions and listening carefully to the

answers. Will Rogers once said that asking an earnest question and listening carefully

to the answer was the highest form of compliment. People must feel that their opinion

matters. If they aren’t allowed opportunity to impact the process with a positive

contribution, it won’t be long before they will seek to impact it with criticism and

objections.

♦ Allow time for this process. People adjust to change at different rates and hate to be

“left in the dust” by significant changes. The wise Christian leader will allow adequate

time for adjustment to a proposed change. Time allays people’s fears that things are

being done “in the dark” and are ill-conceived.

♦ Remember that the formula for motivation is 80% information plus 20% persuasion!

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♦ The loss or lack of goal ownership can result in rapid disunity—a serious and often

fatal church disease.

Action Step 5

1. Name and evaluate both your current and potential leaders using the suggested outline:

Name:

Ministry Area(s): _____________________

Strengths: __________________________

Areas to Grow in: ____________________

2. What training will be required for your leadership to give them the needed character

and skills to be better equipped for their ministries?

Focus Ministry Through the Lens of Spiritual Gifts

When matching a ministry leader to their job description, it is important to bear in mind

their spiritual gifts, and how well they are equipped to accomplish each task.

Likewise, if you are a pastor, you should be ministering only in ways supported by your

gifts. There exist certain preconceived notions about what types of things a pastor should be

doing in a church—the most common being that pastors should spend a significant portion of

their time in preparation and delivery of sermons. The result of this is that many pastors

throughout the world are preaching without that particular gift, while someone else on their

leadership team who is gifted to preach sits idle during the service! To prevent this tragedy,

match ministry along the lines of giftedness.

Arrange Leadership by Spiritual Giftedness

As a pastor, your leadership team should complement your giftedness. That is, it shouldcontain individuals whose strengths lie primarily in areas in which you are weak. To actually

do this may be hard on your ego—but it makes for a dynamic and effective leadership team.

In addition to your team, you should also utilize ministry assistants to whom you can

delegate many of the tasks required for the ongoing administrative management of ministry.

This is particularly true if you have a “catalytic/organizer” type of working style and prefer to

focus your involvement on pioneering new ministries.

Recognize the principles of gift-based ministry that God lays down in His Word. Your

church will receive God’s fullest blessing to the extent that it structures its ministries to fully

utilize the spiritual gifts of its members.

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Lesson 9 147

Extend Your Effectiveness Through Discipleship

One of the privileges and responsibilities of leadership is to shape the environment of a

church. Will your church be one in which discipleship is expected and encouraged? At all

levels of training and ministry involvement, the question should be asked, “How could more

effective discipleship improve this process or yield a more fruitful result?” All leaders should

be trained to be specialists not only in their specific ministry area, but in mobilizing other

church membership for ministry, as well.

Appropriate and Productive Programming

Another important factor in church management is appropriate and productive

programming. An example of this is seen in Acts 6:1-5:

Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number , a complaint

arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because

their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. And the

twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not

desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. But select

from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and

of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote

ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” And the statement found

approval with the whole congregation ...

This passage demonstrates the following facts about the nature of appropriate church

programming:

♦ It is need-responsive. The apostles implemented programming in response to a specific

need of the body. The particular need in this case was physical rather than spiritual in

nature.

♦ It is planned and agreed upon by the leadership team before it is actually launched.

♦ It is administered in accordance with the priorities and gifting of church leadership.The apostles realized that to invest their own time in this ministry would be an

unproductive use of resources.

♦ It is led by those who are recognized to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.

♦ It is responsible. The apostles did not retain the reigns of constant supervision and

authority, but rather released the ministry into the hands of men who had proven

themselves capable.

♦ It creates unity among the church body.

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An astonishing result of this appropriate programming—even though it dealt strictly with

a physical rather than a spiritual need—is alluded to in verse 7:

And the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples

continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were

becoming obedient to the faith.

All this resulted because the apostles established, in an appropriate manner, a ministry to

meet an existing physical need.

Put Yourself in a Planning Mode

Appropriate ministries spring from faithful prayer. Prayer sensitizes us to the true needs of

our target group. It helps us to see, with “eyes of faith,” what astonishing results of our own

could be accomplished if a potential ministry was in place.

A first crucial step is an honest evaluation of your present situation. The apostles realized

the unpleasant alternatives to this needed minis-try. Discord was beginning to arise in the

body, people were going hungry, and their focus was being taken off the crucial task of prayer

and the ministry of the word at a critical time in the church’s growth. They saw that unless this

ministry was established in the appropriate manner, dire consequences would result.

Likewise, we need to evaluate the growth condition of our church. Timing is everything!

Ask yourself about the consequences, for example, if you do not establish a ministry for

secondary school children at this time. What will be the effects on your church? Will you lose

existing families? Will you be prevented from gaining new families? One of the biggest

mistakes made by many new churches is inadequately or poorly focused children’s

programming. The clear link between appropriate children’s programming and the growth of

the church’s adult population is often ignored.

Use Your Philosophy of Ministry

When considering any new ministry, you will need to review the philosophy of ministry

statement which was created during your church’s prenatal phase. Remember that ministry

should fall in line with the specific philosophy you have established for your church, based

upon your target audience. At this point, you then need to consider whether your church’s

understanding of its philosophy of ministry has been shifted, and whether your original

statement needs to be revised to remain in tune with God’s plan for your church.

When you have defined all these factors, you are ready to begin planning an appropriate

and productive program. Determine the faith goals you are going to establish for the ministry,

and design the program to meet the needs at hand. Also build into the program practical ways

it can be evaluated for effectiveness in meeting your goals.

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Lesson 9 149

Implement the Program

If you have given adequate planning and thought to a proposed program, four simple steps

should guide your implementation of it:

1. Obtain goal ownership - ensure that the ministry is the personal pro-perty of the entire

church, and particularly of those who will be active-ly involved in it.

2. Select and equip your leaders.

3. Manage implementation of the plan so all steps proceed smoothly.

4. Make necessary decisions and quickly solve any previously unfore-seen problems

which arise.

Evaluate the Program

A very practical principle to guide church programming efforts is:

Find out what God is blessing—

and do more of it!

The converse of this principle is:

Find out what isn’t working— fix it or gently

eliminate it!

Occasionally, church leaders run across a problem eliminating an un-productive program

because someone has tenaciously clung to owner-ship of it. Generally speaking, though, most

people are happy to see a program eliminated if it is creating a drain on time, energy, and

other resources.

The growth phase of your church will truly be a time when trial and error will shape the

body that God is creating. Be bold in experimentation—do all that you can to succeed, but

don’t be afraid of failure! Just as some of the world’s most renowned leaders failed multiple

times before experiencing their greatest success, so some of the most effective programs nowbeing utilized by churches were once someone’s “crazy idea.” The pace of creative

experimentation in a growing church may make some people dizzy, but it is a preventative for

the disease of boredom and complacency which has beleaguered so many modern churches.

Action Step 6

1. List your ministry goals in (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year, and (d) five

years from now.

2. Prayerfully review your current ministries. What is God blessing in your church? Howcould you increase your effectiveness in these areas?

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3. Which of your current ministries are not as fruitful or productive as you had hoped?

What corrections or adjustments should you make, or which need to be eliminated?

4. How and when are you going to evaluate each ministry for effectiveness?

Networking with Other Churches

The final characteristic of a healthy and growing church is its desire to seek

companionship and mutual support from other growing churches. You may or may not be

affiliated with a denominational structure that provides such a network of churches. But

regardless, don’t be afraid, as a pastor, to take the initiative to reach out and establish

friendships with churches in your area.Christ’s admonition to love one another applies not only within the confines of our

churches, but to Christians in other local church bodies, as well. Too often the world has

dismissed the church because all it sees is splintered segments bickering over seemingly inane

points of doctrine. The unspoken message is: “They must hate each other! Why would I want

to become one of them?” You can go a long way to counter that notion by reaching out and

establishing fellowship with other churches.

We’re not talking about ecumenism here—yielding to doctrinal compromise and dilution

which erodes the distinctive contribution of each independent church body. Rather, we are

asking for a recognition that the Body of Christ extends beyond our four walls, and that

someday we will worship as one at the wedding feast of the Lamb. Why not experience a bit

of that marvelous event now?

The Value of Shared Ministry

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of establishing a relationship with other churches is

that of shared ministry. A community outreach that has the backing of all the local churches

can send a tremendously significant message to the community: “We are one in our desire

that you experience with us the joys of knowing Christ.”

Fellowship among local churches can also play an important role in church growth. Since

churches vary in style and the type of people they appeal to, you may find yourself “sending”

to a neighboring church a newcomer who might be more comfortable with their style.

Knowing this enables you to challenge your church to commitment: “If for some reason you

aren’t comfortable being a fully committed member at this church, I know of some other

churches nearby where you might better fit in.” You don’t want to be in the business,

generally speaking, of driving people off, but it is certainly more satisfying to refer them to a

church that may better meet their needs than to see them fade away into an unchurchedlifestyle.

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Lesson 9 151

Pool Your Resources

And finally, you will sometimes find it valuable to pool your resources with other local

churches when it comes to specialized leadership training and discipleship. It may not be

uncommon for three or four churches to host together a seminar on spiritual gifts utilization or

ministry planning. Such an effort will yield the same or greater return on a smaller investment

of resources—and that means wiser stewardship.

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Action StepsSummary

Relevancy and Outreach

1. Look up the following verses and summarize the idea of “house-holds” in each:

a. Mark 2:14-15 e. John 4:53

b. Mark 5:19 f. Acts 10:24, 44

c. Luke 19:9 g. Acts 16:15

d. John 1:41, 45 h. Acts 16:30-34

2. Develop a comprehensive plan for tracking attendance and assimilating newcomers into

cell groups and the life of the church.

Spiritual Gifts

1. List the gifts from 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12:3-8, Ephesians 4:11-13 and 1 Peter

4:10-11 and define what they are.

2. Once you have determined what gifts will be needed for the various ministries of your

church, you can go a step further. Think through and write out each role or ministry andlist the gifts that would best fulfill each one.

3. Design a spiritual gifts placement system for your church.

Leaders

1. Name and evaluate both your current and potential leaders using the suggested outline:

Name:

Ministry Area(s): _____________________

Strengths: __________________________

Areas to Grow in: ____________________

2. What training will be required for your leadership to give them the needed character and

skills to be better equipped for their ministries?

Planning

1. Work through the following issues writing as much detail as possible:

a. List your ministry goals in (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year, and (d)five years from now.

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Lesson 9 153

b. Prayerfully review your current ministries. What is God blessing in your church?

How could you increase your effectiveness in these areas?

c. Which of your current ministries are not as fruitful or productive as you had hoped?

What corrections or adjustments should you make, or which need to be eliminated?

d. How and when are you going to evaluate each ministry for effectiveness?

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Growth Checklist

√ Holistic Disciple-Making

__ We have established a strategy for outreach and evangelism.

__ Unbelievers are coming to faith in Christ as a result of our outreach.

__ We have identified at least three crucial needs in our community which we can help

meet through appropriate ministries.

__ We have established at least eight cell groups for every one hundred persons attending

our church.

__ New cell group and ministry leaders are being regularly recruited, trained, and

mobilized.

__ New people are being assimilated into our church in various ways.

__ All members are being trained in oikos evangelism.

__ Our members frequently bring their friends and neighbors to their cell groups and

worship.

__ Advanced training in evangelism is available to those who want it.

__ Our church models incarnational evangelism and outreach.

__ An adequate tracking system is in place.

__ We are doing a good job in assimilating new people into cell groups.__ Responsible members are serving in the cell groups and attend worship regularly.

√ Mobilizing Believers According to Spiritual Gifts

__ We have developed a plan to implement spiritual gifts in our church.

__ We have determined what spiritual gifts are needed for the minis-tries of our church.

__ We have trained a person to assist people in ministry placement.

__ We have developed a job description for every ministry in our church.

__ We have a system to help new believers discover their gifts and to begin involvement

in a ministry.

__ We have sixty roles or tasks for every one hundred adults in our church.

__ We have highlighted the use of spiritual gifts for ministry in the worship service.

__ We include teaching on spiritual gifts in our newcomer’s class.

__ We have a system to regularly update the ministry needs of our church.

√ Developing and Resourcing Leaders

__ The quality of Christian character and commitment is increasing in our church.

__ Our people clearly understand, and are committed to, the goals of our church.

__ Ministries are developed according to our philosophy and priorities.

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Lesson 9 155

__ People are being effectively delegated to fulfill ministry needs and roles.

__ We are training people in pastoral/caring ministries.

__ New leaders are regularly recruited, trained and mobilized into new and existing

ministries.

__ We have defined the process by which leaders are discipled.

__ Every leader is apprenticing another for their ministry.

√ Appropriate and Productive Programming

__ We have studied and understood our church’s growth patterns.

__ We have identified at least three areas that require more attention.

__ We have developed goals to meet those areas of need.

__ We are training the leadership needed for these programs.__ We evaluate our leadership regularly.

__ We evaluate our ministries regularly and make adjustments, occasionally eliminating

those that are no longer effective.

√ Networking With Other Churches

__ We have established a caring relationship with at least one other local church.

__ We have expressed our commitment to encourage and resource believers in other local

churches.

__ We have worked to develop at least one shared ministry with another local church.

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The “Reproduction” Phase

When God created Adam, one of his first assignments was to give names to all the

creatures in the garden. Imagine this scene: God parades the various creatures, two by two, in

front of this man. “Let’s see. That’s a big fellow. Careful with those horns! You look rather

belligerent—I think I’ll name you ‘Bull.’ And who’s this? Another bull? No, you’re somewhat

different, aren’t you? I see there are some strategic anatomical distinctions here! Well, we’ll

call you ‘cow.’” And so on it went. Goose and gander. Stud and mare. Lion and lioness.

Always male and female. Do you wonder if Adam soon began to get the picture? And there he

was—all alone.

Adam soon got the point. “But for Adam no suitable helper was found.” It was after this

realization that God caused him to fall into a deep sleep, and from his own flesh created

woman. God blessed them with the admonition, “Be fruitful and multiply.”

It’s interesting to note that God first gave Adam the example of the differentiation of the

sexes, and resulting multiplication. Perhaps this whetted Adam’s appetite to fulfill God’s

command, “Be fruitful and multiply.”

Healthy Cell Groups Lead the Way

Reproduction will be an exciting and logical step of maturity for a church that has already

had its appetite whetted by example. Your church is full of cell groups which have already

witnessed the blessings of the Lord as they have grown and reproduced. It’s members havereproduced themselves by discipling others—by training leaders to train new leaders.

Reproduction will be a joy and a blessing for a church that has already had reproductive

processes modeled in microcosm in its group life and in the discipleship of new believers. In

spite of this fact, however, reproduction won’t come naturally, but will need to be carefully

prayed about and planned for.

Cultivating the Commitment of Your Congregation

The first step in cultivating the commitment of your congregation was taken long ago

when you embraced church planting as an essential element of your church’s philosophy of

ministry. “Someday,” your members agreed, “we are going to mature into all that God wants

us to be and we are going to plant daughter churches.” A church that has established this

attitude at an early age will find that gaining the commitment of their anticipating and joyful

congregation will be an easy task!

The issues to decide may therefore focus on logistics: “When can we plant a daughter

church—and how? Are we ready now? Have we matured to the point where we can

successfully give in order to establish a new church ourselves?”

You can lead your church to consensus and commitment by asking these straightforwardquestions, and by dealing directly with any objections which might be raised.

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Lesson 9 157

Common Objections to Church Planting

Churches in two very different situations often share the same problem. The church which

has struggled long and hard, finally establishing a foothold on survival may share the same

problem as the church which has experienced great success and is resting on its laurels—that

of complacency. This may be particularly true if your church is entrenched in a society which

places high value upon stability and abhors the dynamics of change. To think of stepping out

in faith to plant a daughter church raises horrific visions of “rocking the boat” and the

accompanying fear of sinking.

One common objection that reflects this fear is, “The resources in our church are stretched

to the breaking point. Can we really afford to spend the energy establishing a new church just

now?”

These fears may be allayed by gaining a broader perspective from the experience of churches worldwide which have been obedient to Christ’s mandate to multiply. Yes, there is a

cost involved in planting churches! You will spend time and energy in planning, recruiting

and equipping leadership; you may very well give away some of your own key leaders, and

you may be required to lend financial support to the project. Yet a fundamental biblical

principle must be considered which sheds revealing light on the nature of these investments:

Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken

together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of

measure it will be measured to you in return (Luke 6:38).

This principle is borne out in practice by churches which have given away significant

resources in the establishment of a daughter church. In addition to the time and energy it

requires to reproduce a church, the most substantial investment is the active, committed

leadership that must be sent to the new church. The experience of many who have done this is

that God honors it by replacing those leaders in the mother church. He measures it back to

you, using the same measure you have used when giving to your daughter churches.

God Blesses ObedienceFaith demands that we believe—and therefore act upon—the notion that God honors

sacrificial obedience. It is no coincidence that the strongest churches in the world are church-

planting churches.

A second common objection is, “Won’t our resources be more effectively utilized by

expanding our own facilities, and thereby our capacity to reach newcomers?” But the practical

experience of the church throughout the world has shown this to be a fallacy! Throughout

history, new people have been reached with the gospel not by centralized mega-churches, but

by new churches multiplied throughout a society. A mega-church can minister effectively to

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only one type of person, but a hundred new churches planted throughout a society can reach a

hundred different types of people within that society.

Cultivating the commitment of your congregation will entail your skillful use of the same

principles of ownership and group consensus which were discussed earlier. Acting in unity of

heart and mind, there will be nothing that can stop your church from planting the daughter

churches that God desires to further His kingdom.

Planning for Reproduction

Once the commitment of your church to plant a daughter church has been established, you

will need to begin the planning process for the new church. You will find useful many of the

same procedures which you employed under the conception and prenatal section of this

workbook. Your first step will be to select a church planting task force, which will be

responsible to:

♦ Establish faith-stretching goals.

♦ Pray for workers to reap the harvest (Matthew 9:35-38).

♦ Consider possible church planters and team members and oversee the selection

process.

♦ Evaluate the cell groups of the church for new church potential.

♦ Examine church planting models which have proven effective for other churches.

♦ Consider how the mother congregation can lend support to the new church.

♦ Guide and supervise the church planter and his team through the conception and

prenatal phases of the new church.

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Lesson 9 159

Reproduction Checklist

√ Cultivate Congregational Commitment__ Our church is effectively making disciples in its own community.

__ Our members understand and are committed to the need for new churches.

__ Our church regularly “prays to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers.”

__ Our philosophy of ministry expressly states our commitment to reproduce daughter

churches.

__ Our church budget reflects our commitment to start new churches.

√ Reproducing Daughter Churches

__ We have developed a specific plan to reproduce other churches.

__ We have targeted the next place to establish a church and have identified the target

group.

__ We have identified several church planters in our congregation.

__ We have assisted the church planters by encouraging quality leaders to join their team.

__ We are providing training for the church planting leaders.

__ The church planting team has begun several new cell groups in the target area.

The church planting team is committed to planting a reproducing church

gcgg(교회성장론,셀) (1)

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