Church Planting

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C h u r c h P l a n t i n g

Jesus commanded His disciples to extend the Kingdom into all the earth making disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19-20). In Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."
We see the New Testament church receiving the mandate to expand from the city, to the region, to the provinces, and the nations as in a stone thrown into a pool of water and the rings expand outward going out farther and farther and widening the circle. This is the result of just one rock making a "big splash"! Likewise when the church in Jerusalem suffered persecution, the church had experienced enough body life of intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit and with one another, and met from house to house, that they were ready to just "be the church" no matter where they were scattered.
The Jerusalem church was scattered, and the people of God, the Body of Christ moved from Jerusalem (city) to Judea (region) Samaria (province) and to the ends of the earth (nations).
As a movement, the house church movement by definition is a movement in flux and change that seeks to be in the current stream of what the Holy Spirit is doing. The Lord is expanding His church in the earth in incredible ways. Our passion and desire is to be "about the Father's business" (John 5:19) and to see His Kingdom established using whatever means and whatever strategies and methods that He gives to us.
One such strategy for church planting is with a very practical methodology that is multifaceted and very simple. Our earnest belief is that the Holy Spirit is the one who teaches (John 16:13) and that He is the giver all the gifts as He so directs (Romans 12; 1 Cor. 12; 1 Cor. 14; Eph. 4) to fulfill the purposes of God in the Church and in the world. As such it is God who enables through impartation and revelation which is the direct ministry of the Holy Spirit to believers, and through teaching and interactive instruction (ministry gift given to believers) to build up and equip and release the Body of Christ in the work of the ministry.
- This means that there will be mature believers equipping other believers to release them in ministry when they have matured in body life and relationally they are intimate with the Lord and with other believers and display both transformed character and demonstrable gifts that the Lord has imparted into their lives.
- The equipping will be done is either a semi-structured format utilizing one on ones, or small groups, or a larger study group setting usually dependent upon what is being taught.
- The teaching will have both structural, that is teaching will affect and effect change to categories of thinking and thereby affect patterns of behaviour. Also teaching will affect personal development in character and the inner man. The teaching will also enable the believer to be a conduit of grace and to pass on and give away what he has been taught. As one wise man said, "Teaching without application, is vain and useless and puffs up man. But teaching with application, transforms the inner man and reforms his outer world." This is the kind of teaching we desire to see. We aim for transformed lives!
There will be those who are mature believers who will desire and be encouraged to move in their ministry calling who will not need immediate teaching and equipping, but will be able to receive what they need at a later time as the Lord directs and leads. These people can serve in servant apostolic and prophetic ministry right away having demonstrated godliness and strong character and deep intimacy with the Lord and with others within the body, and have had their calling and ministry confirmed and affirmed by those with whom they are in relationship.
- They can plant a house church in their area of the city and reach out and gather around them those the Lord has united to them in relationship and also reach out to pre-Christian friends and acquaintances.
- They can also start a healing room, where direct ministry to the needs of people is the focus rather that building and expanding the Christian community through church planting. Both are needed, and we leave such things to the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit.
- They can move and participate in their gifting and calling and build up the house churches through their gift or gifts. This could be in the area of prophetic ministry in which the person moves around area house churches throughout the year to minister prophetically to the believers gathered there to encourage and strengthen the body. This can mean that a teacher likewise will have opportunity to teach and equip believers not just within his own house church but other house churches in the city or region.
- We also encourage believers to embrace the whole body of believers in the city, and if they are in relationship with other churches and are able to minister to the needs of that expression of the body, then we bless that and as the Lord to give more such opportunities, so that the whole body will be built up into the fulness of Christ Jesus (Eph. 4).
There will be those who have not been equipped and trained or released for the work of the ministry. This is why as servant leaders within the house church movement our current approach is to utilize and adapt a strategy that has been initiated through the Holy Spirit in the ministry of Robert Fitts, which he has coined as "home bible colleges" or ABC (Alpha-Omega Bible College) whereby people are equipped for and released in the ministry with the goal of planting house churches and healing rooms within a year of meeting together in a closed small group where all the training and equipping is interactive. The basic aspects covered are:
- Praise and worship
- Personal ministry/healing/deliverance
- Prayer and intercession
- Refreshments/meals
- The Lord's Supper
- Testimonies/evangelism/outreach
- Interactive Discussion Bible Study
For more information on the ministry of Robert Fitts (click here!)
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