XPRESS MANUAL - WHY

01

C 3 X P R E S S C O U R S E M A N UA L

Why.

C 3 X P R E S S C O U R S E M A N UA L

God wants His Church

influence in the world - th Each church planted is a

miracle of God’s presenc

established. As depicted w

“It shall come to pass in th

that the mountain of the h

shall be established as the of the mountains,

and shall be lifted up abov

and all the nations shall flo

and many peoples shall co

“Come, let us go up to the

to the house of the God of

that he may teach us his w

and that we may walk in h

For out of Zion shall go the

and the word of the Lord f ISAIAH 2:2-3 (ESV)

Each church established c

of heaven in that commu

can now flow from heaven

CHAPTER 01

WHY

to become the primary

“And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this

he chief of the mountains.

place! This is none other than the house of God,

miracle. Into that city, a

ce has been planted and

and this is the gate of heaven.”

GENESIS 28:17 (ESV)

well in Isaiah: Churches that are in the heart of God can change the

he latter days

whole face of communities, cities and even nations.

house of the Lord

Churches are a life force in the city - they help

e highest

reshape people, their spiritual foundations, their attitudes, their families, and their circumstances.

ve the hills;

ow to it,

ome, and say:

e mountain of the Lord,

f Jacob,

ways

his paths.”

e law,

from Jerusalem.”

creates and builds a gate

God wants His Church to become the primary influence in the world.

unity, where spiritual life

n to earth.

02

C 3 X P R E S S C O U R S E M A N UA L

Reasons to a new locat 01

A FOCUS O N TH E G R E AT CO M M I S S I O N

.

“The only way to be trul

the number of Christians the number of Churches”

It is continually restated that church planting is the

On average a new church g

most effective form of evangelism.

from those who are un

. .

“The newer a congregation, the more effective

churches over ten years

that church is in reaching those who don’t know

new members through

Christ” – Ed Stetzer. 1

established churches.4 P

“Planting new churches is the most effective

compared to established

evangelistic methodology known under heaven” –

people to Christ;5 on av

Peter Wagner. 2

more.6

CHAPTER 01

WHY

o start tion.

ly sure you are increasing

s in a town is to increase – Timothy Keller. 3

02

TO LO O K OUTS I D E OU R I M M E D I ATE N E E DS .

gains 60-80% of members

As a congregation ages, most resources and

nchurched, compared to

energy are directed towards concerns of members

old who inherit 80-90%

rather than concerns outside its walls.7 In general,

transfer from already

new congregations are forced to focus on the

Per-capita new churches

needs of its non-members to get off the ground.8

churches also win more

Therefore they are more focused on outreach and

verage this is 3-6 times

are more sensitive to questions and issues outside the church.9

03

C 3 X P R E S S C O U R S E M A N UA L

03

A FOCUS O N R A I S I N G N E X T G E N E R ATI O N

05

RENEWING O

E X I STI N G C H

LE A D E RS

Church planting is one

revitalise, refresh and ren New congregations empower new people much

and the whole body of Ch

quicker and more readily than older congregations.10

planting stimulates both

They can harness people and their gifts that might

local churches.16

otherwise not be utilised in the body of Christ.11

new believers not only

This allows us to outwork the Church’s mission - to

for the established local

build churches for the future, not just the present.

congregations can bui

A new

congregations that neithe

04

TH E QUA LIT Y A N D H E A LTH O F C H U RC H E S

However, it is inevitable attract some people out

it goes both ways. As ne we will not only receive

Church health must precede starting a new

locations but will also lose

location. It is the foundation for the next location.

locations started around u

With the intention to start new locations comes a

need to check whether ou

re-emphasis on the quality and health of churches.

church or the health and p

Church planting aims to develop a new location

of God. “Any church that

with new converts,12 it goes hand in hand with

small losses than gratefu

church growth.

13

New churches have the freedom

gains is betraying its narro

and incentive to innovate.14 When they succeed, it

Our overarching intent th

encourages other churches to do so too.

new locations can be foun

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O LD E R A N D

H U RC H E S

WHY

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted,

e of the best ways to

to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are

new older local churches

bound;

hrist in general.15 Church

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,

the sending and existing

and the day of vengeance of our God;

w congregation produces for themselves but also churches.17 These new

ild ministries with old

er could do alone.18

to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

e that new churches will

the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

of existing churches. But

They shall build up the ancient ruins;w

ew locations are started,

they shall raise up the former devastations;

current believers in our

e some members to those

us. As church leaders, we

they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.”

ISAIAH 61:1-4 (ESV)

ur mind is set on our own

The very people God sets free are the ones He

prosperity of the Kingdom

transforms. And the ones He transforms He

is more upset by its own

commissions to transform the cities in which they

ul for the kingdom’s large

live. It is for this ultimate reason that we plant

ow interests.”

19

churches. “Church planting is simply planting

hat motivates us to start

the gospel and seeing churches birth from that

nd in Isaiah Chapter 61.

planting.” 20

04

C 3 X P R E S S C O U R S E M A N UA L

Wha

CH

We need to be rooted in and convinced of the

of” and kaleo – “to call”, s

biblical definition of the Church. The Church

“the called-out ones.”

21

traces its origins back to the New Testament, in

The original concept o

the book of Acts. What we now know to be called

been developed and trans

“The Church” was originally described by the Greek

across the space of a co

word Ekklesia as stated in the New Testament. In

modern society considers

its cultural context, Ekklesia simply meant “called

cases looks quite differen

out assembly.” Derived from the words ek – “out

and function we see desc

CHAPTER 01

WHY

at is

HURCH?

so it could be translated as

This perspective, though, isn’t exclusive to those outside the Church but has also impacted those

of what the Church is has

inside. Many evangelicals believe that the purpose

sformed quite significantly

of the Church is just fellowship and being spiritually

ouple of millennia. What

fed. Although this view isn’t wrong, the Church

s to be the Church in many

needs to rediscover the importance of fulfilling the

nt to the original pattern

Great Commission, that is – making disciples of all

cribed in the book of Acts.

nations.22

05

THE CHURCH HAS TWO KEY COMPONENTS:

The Church is a GATH with the purpose of TR of Christians.

01

HERED community RANSFORMATION 06

C 3 X P R E S S C O U R S E M A N UA L

The focus of the gathered community is the work of God IN US. Once we turn to Christ, the purpose of the church

we sinned, we still had tha

is to facilitate an environment that transforms

was distorted. The purpo

believer’s lives into the image of Christ.

to see that image re-forme this transformed life that

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is

we live in. As we read i

taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where

groaning, waiting for the

the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we

God to be revealed.

all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with

The Church is the place o

ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord,

that counteracts the influ

who is the Spirit.”

states this most clearly:

2 CORINTHIANS 3:16-18 (NIV)

“Do not be conformed This is a restoration of God’s original design. The

transformed by the renew

restoration of His glorious image in our lives. We

ROMANS 12:2 (ESV)

were made in his image and formed by God. When

CHAPTER 01

at image in our lives, but it

ose of Christ in our lives is

ed back into our lives. It’s impacts the communities

in Romans 8 the earth is

e sons and daughters of

of kingdom transformation

uences of the world. Paul

to this world but be

wal of your mind.�

WHY

The Church is a SCAT with the purpose of the of community.

02

TTERED community e TRANSFORMATION 08

Too many Christians have only a partial perspective on what the CHURCH IS.

e e .

CHAPTER 01

WHY

Jesus launches the purpose of his mission in Luke 4:18; amongst other things He states the message is one of freedom for the captives. In Isaiah 61:14 we see how the freed captives are strengthened (they become oaks of righteousness) and once strengthened, become the ones who transform the ruined cities.

2 Corinthians 5:16-20 lays out the “scattered” purpose of believers - to be reconcilers of the world to Christ. We are his ambassadors!

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” 2 CORINTHIANS 5:16-20 (ESV)

09

C 3 X P R E S S C O U R S E M A N UA L

A complete understanding of the nature and mission

increasingly post-Christia

of the Church is essential for us to understand what

effective and has inevita

we are starting, and live out this reality. The Church

plant churches.27 Gone a

isn’t just a gathered community where God works

automatic for people, incl

in us, neither is it just a scattered community where

Church on a Sunday.28 W

God works for others through us. It is both. We need

people will be coming to c

to balance these two realities of the Church so we

to take the Church to the

can truly declare, “Your kingdom come, your will be

the community, do the a

done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” 23

and take worship to the

a building, but the Chur Too many Christians have only a partial perspective

together make the comm

on what the Church is. As belief precedes behaviour,

a way that reflects this. “

so an incomplete view or belief, of the Church,

city is not through evan

results in an incomplete outworking as the Church.

evangelistic churches.” 29

It’s commonly taught that the Church is something we go to, and not something we are.24 But there

This transition to a p

is a shift that is on the horizon. You are that shift.

reflective of the nature of

There are an increasing number of church planters

book of Acts. We don’t live

that have decided that church planting isn’t just a

in a post-Christian culture.

strategy but is a way of life.

25

we don’t live in Jerusalem

to be careful not to read A The

Western

Church

has

commonly

been

operating in a fashion that is quite evangelistic and 26

attractional,

but as the world we live in becomes

manual,30 but due to our c

can assume that just like i

planting will be as centra

CHAPTER 01

an this has become less

our world.31 In Acts, church planting was a common

ably shaped the way we

event, and contrary to popular belief should not

are the days when it was

be traumatic or unnatural.32 New, or multiplying,

luding Christians, to go to

worship services should feel like an overflow of

We can no longer assume

community life,33 and as Tim Keller states “the

church, but rather we need

multiplication of Churches is as natural in the

people. We need to serve

book of Acts as the multiplication of individual

acts of love and service,

converts.” 34

WHY

Keller continues with this thought

people. The Church isn’t

stating that church planting is natural and it is just

rch is the members that

another one of the ordinances of the Church.35 To

munity. We need to act in

develop such a natural church planting mindset,

“The way to evangelise a

you must be willing to:

ngelism but through fully

post-Christian society is

01

money, members, and leaders.

02

f the city of Athens in the

e in a Christian culture but

. Metaphorically speaking,

Give away resources and lose control of your

Give up some control of the shape of the ministry itself.

03

Care for the kingdom even more than for your tribe.

m, but in Athens. We need

Acts as a church planting

When we seek to develop such a mindset we

contextual similarities, we

develop a greater understanding of the Church, a

in the book of Acts church

greater understanding of what we are starting, and

al a strategy to reaching

what our mission and purpose as the Church is.

10

C 3 X P R E S S C O U R S E M A N UA L

The Biblica Issue of Expansion.

We need to understand the difference between

church wishing to redisc

growth and expansion. We enlarge before we grow.

of the early church shou

Sometimes we may need to be convinced about

churches.” 36

the New Testament method of reaching people for Christ. Due to intense persecution, the early Church

“Enlarge the place of your

dispersed and was forced into expansion. “Any

and let the curtains of you

al

.

CHAPTER 01

WHY

be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.

For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.”

ISAIAH 54:2-3 (ESV)

Apostolic expansion is all about expansion by intent.

New Testament believers witnessed and proclaimed the Gospel, with a specific and deliberate purpose of starting new communities of believers.

Even though some people oppose the idea of church planting, we must do it anyway because it’s biblical.37 John Wesley was criticised for preaching outside the traditional walls of the Church. It’s time again, in a new way, to get outside the current confines of the Church’s ‘walls’ and expand!

cover the dynamic nature

uld consider planting new

As the Church, we should be on the front foot of expansion rather than on the back foot of passive maintenance. The future to reaching our

r tent,

communities and cities begins with starting new

ur habitations

congregations.

11

C 3 X P R E S S C O U R S E M A N UA L

References 1

Ed Stetzer, and Daniel Im

Churches:Your Guide to Star

Multiply. Second edition. ( B&H Academic, 2016), 7 2

Dr Timothy Keller. “Why

Gospelinlife.com, 2 3

Ibid, 1

4

Ibid, 3

5

Stetzer, Planting Mission

6

Keller, “Church Planting

7

Keller. “Why Plant Churc

8

Ibid, 2

9

Timothy Keller. “Church

Timothy Keller. Accessed O

www.timothykeller.com/bl planting-is-what-we-do, 1 10

Keller, “Why Plant Churc

11

Ibid, 4

CHAPTER 01

WHY

s.

m. Planting Missional

12

Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches, 6

rting Churches That

13

Martin Robinson and Stuart Christine, Planting

(Nashville, Tennessee:

Tomorrow’s Churches Today, (Kent: Monarch, 1992)

Plant Churches?”,

14

Keller, “Church Planting is What We Do,” 2

15

Keller, “Why Plant Churches?”, 4

16

Robinson and Christine, Planting Tomorrow’s

Churches Today 17

Keller, “Why Plant Churches?”, 5

nal Churches, 7

18

Ibid, 4

g is What We Do,” 1

19

Ibid, 5

20

Ed Stetzer. “Cities and Multiculturalism: Two

ches?”, 3

Trends in Church Planting Today.” The Exchange | Planting Is What We Do.”

A Blog by Ed Stetzer. Accessed October 25, 2017.

October 25, 2017. http://

http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2017/

log/2015/12/3/church-

february/cities-and-multiculturalism-two-trends-in-

ches?”, 2

church-planting-t.html 21

“Lexicon :: Strong’s G1577 – ekklesia” Blue

Letter Bible. Accessed November 2, 2017. https://

12

C 3 X P R E S S C O U R S E M A N UA L

www.blueletterbible.org/la cfm?strongs=g1577 22

Matthew 28:19-20

23

Matthew 6:10 (ESV)

24

Stetzer, Planting Mission

25

Ibid, 83

26

Ibid, 86

27

Mike Breen. “Church Pla

Modern Missional Commu

Com.” ChurchLeaders.Com,

Accessed October 13, 2017

com/outreach-missions/ou

articles/168517-mike-bree

the-modern-missional-com 28

Carey Nieuwhof. “5 Dis

That Will Rule 2016.” Care

2016. Accessed October 13

ang/lexicon/lexicon.

nal Churches, 84

anting 101 for the

unity • ChurchLeaders.

CHAPTER 01

https://careynieuwhof.com/5-disruptive-churchtrends-will-rule-2016/ 29

Timothy Keller. Center Church: Doing Balanced,

Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012, 359 30

Ibid, 358

31

Ibid, 359

32

Ibid, 355

33

Breen, “Church Planting 101 for the Modern

, June 30, 2013.

Missional Community”

7. https://churchleaders.

34

Keller, Center Church, 356

utreach-missions-

35

Ibid, 356

36

Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches, 42

37

Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches, 14

en-church-planting-101-for-

mmunity.html.

WHY

sruptive Church Trends

eyNieuwhof.com, January 4,

3, 2017.

13