STEPS TO CHURCH PLANTING (Based on Luke 10:1-10)

STEPS TO CHURCH PLANTING

(Based on Luke 10:1-10)

Good News: The harvest is ripe and ready.
The Problem : Laborers are few

Job description : Search and destroy the strongman; find the man of peace; plant a church; equip laborers and send.

1. Go two by two : Carry no excess baggage. Go as lambs among the wolves. Go quietly, spy out the land, prayer walk, waste no time greeting or in friendship evangelism. Rather find and invest in receptive persons like Lydia, Cornelius, the Ethiopian Eunuch and others like them.

2. Bind the Strongman : Plunder all the strongholds and all the centers of demonic activity, such as religious places including Christian centers and release them from the bondage of religious spirits. (Matt. 12:28-30)

3. Find the House of Peace : Finding the Shalom Bayit, the “house of peace”, remains central to the strategy of church planting. This house becomes a discipling hub and the “house of prayer” for all nations. (Mark 11:17)

4. Eating not Meeting : Bless every family (Genesis 12:3) until a “person of peace” welcomes you. Eat and stay there. Eating together is the best way for breaking down class, caste, gender and race divides. One day Yeshua will knock on your door and expect to eat supper with you. (Matt. 10:5; Luke. 10:5-8; Acts 20:20; Rev. 3:20 )

5. Spiritual Warfare : Like Cornelius and Lydia, the “persons of peace” will gather their ‘oikos’ (friends and relatives). First, expel demons and pray for the sick and then preach. (Matt 10:8; Mark 16:17; Luke 10:17)

6. Now make disciples : Yeshua modeled life-style disciple making by living with his disciples. Yeshua taught his disciples by casting out demons, healing the sick, helping the needy, and laying down his life for sinners. 

7. Bring them to Repentance :  The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart, which He will not despise. All generational curses must be broken. (Psalm 51:17)

8. Baptize without delay : In the NT times, they got baptized anywhere - Ethiopian in a pond, Lydia in a river, and Cornelius at his home. NT does not say that clergy is required for this. (Matt. 28:19; Acts 19:5,6; 22:16)

9. Teach Obedience : Hebrew 6:1-2 lists six topics for foundational teaching. These include, repentance from dead works, faith towards God, doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment. Teaching must lead to “Apostolic Conversion” that challenges everyone to go make disciples and plant churches. (Luke. 24:47; Psa. 51:17; Acts 1:8)

10. Share Material Blessings : New believers must learn to share their material blessings starting on day one. They must open their homes to be a blessing to others. They should bring offerings to the “feet of the apostles” for distribution to the needy. (Acts 4:32-35; 5: 2)

11. Start a house church with an open format based on 1Corinthians 14: 26-31. Do not plant a single sustainable church but plant a flexible and reproducible Church Planting Movement (CPM) that multiplies. (Matt. 18:18-20)

12. Equipping and sending out the saints should result in strengthening, numerical growth and geographical expansion of the church.(Acts 9:31;11:19;16:5; 19:8-10)