Parkside Baptist Church Commissioning Service

As we’ve already said today, a very special day, commissioning service for Parkside Baptist Church. We’re sending out 72 members and over 30 of their children to plant a new church, Parkside Baptist. We’re excited about that. Ordinarily, I would just be continuing our series through the book of Acts. And this morning I would’ve been in the very account that you heard Eli just read Acts 2:1-11, the outpouring of the Spirit, a great day of Pentecost, resulting in the formal beginning of the church of Jesus Christ on earth in this era of redemptive history. God willing, I do plan on walking through that passage in two weeks. But today I want to focus on this task, the sweet and solemn duty of commissioning these dear brothers and sisters in the work of church planting. But as I was thinking about this message, I thought it’s providential that we’re Acts 2. It’s not an accident.

And so, it made sense to just have that be the text read, even though I’m not going to do my usual verse-by-verse exposition. But just have these themes uploaded in our minds, having just recently walked through Acts 1 and now into Acts 2. As we think about the planting of this church, Parkside Baptist, is in a line of continuation from the work that was begun that great day, that first day, the day of Pentecost, until this present time. That incredible day that began a work of church planting and the spread of the gospel almost 2000 years ago. Now, as you just heard in the video, about five years ago our elders were looking ahead to the next five years. Little did we realize what would happen in some of those five years. I mean, you guys remember 2020, don’t you? And what an incredible time that was. We decided to do More Than a Building, and do a big fundraising drive, and a renovation of this sanctuary, and in many parts of this building.

And so, in order to make that happen, we couldn’t worship here. And so, we were in two spaces. Remember we were up in the gym and down in the Fellowship Hall and going through the Book of James. It was exciting time. Got to James 4, the passage that says, you don’t know what will happen tomorrow, and then COVID struck that week. I’ll never forget that. It was like, how true was that? We didn’t see that coming. So many changes that have happened. But one of the things that we saw even at five years ago, 2019, was the need for church planting. And we wanted to move ahead with church planting. And the logic of that remains, it’s still there. You already heard a little in Kevin’s prayer and in the video of why we’re doing this, why it makes sense. Thousands and thousands of lost people living in this triangle region, then thousands more pouring in every year. Most of those people, those thousands, are lost without Christ, without hope in this world. They are unchurched.

the best entity or entities for planting healthy local churches are other healthy local churches.

And we believed as we had a sense of the region, that there needed to be far more healthy churches than there are presently. We also believe that the best entity or entities for planting healthy local churches are other healthy local churches. We’re not looking to the denomination or any kind of independent agency to do that. Every healthy local church should be active in this task of church planting. And so, it was right for First Baptist Durham to do its part, to do its share, so we proceeded. And I believe that God has led us very well over that period. He has helped us to define the steps of church planting, what that involved. We had a lot of education to do in that. Also, the DNA of the church that we would plant. Some of that’s going to be in the sermon that I’ll preach today. What does a healthy church consist of? What kind of church do we want to plant?

Then God led us to a lead pastor, Chase Jenkins. And soon after that to a growing core team, including Elders West Treadway and Brian Ellison. And then others more and more interested in that work, praying about it, thinking about it, sensing God’s leadership whether they wanted to be part of it or not. So, we prayed, and we’ve learned. We’ve raised funds, prayed some more, lots of meetings, lots of planning and trusting God. And then, as you heard in the video, at one point received an incredible gift from 4D Church, a like-minded church, that just felt in the providence of God it was time for them to donate their building to our church plant. And it was an incredible gift. Most church plants have to struggle for a location. They’ll be in a movie theater or a strip mall or a public school.

I remember preaching in one church plant one time a number of years ago in an elementary school, and they had some kind of play going on I guess at that time. And behind me was a top hat with a little cane and it said, “Magical me,” behind me as I was preaching. And they were under strict orders not to take any of those decorations down. That was just there. But we were glad to have that space in that elementary school. So, that’s common for church planting. It’s common. So, it’s an incredible gift and we don’t take it lightly at all.

The core team has grown at this point to 72 members as of last count, and I hope there aren’t any more. Okay, I’ve said that. Its sheep stealing from today on, you guys know that. Okay, so you heard in the video if you’re interested in finding more so you can pray and donate, so those would be good things. So, at any rate, we’re just delighted about how God has led each person and the decisions that they’ve made, and they’re ready to step out in faith and see what is ahead.

One thing I’ve learned in my almost 26 years of being pastor of a local church is that all local church ministry is temporary. It’s all temporary, all of it. People come and go. Structures come and go. Eras come and go. The universal church, the eternal church, that’s eternal. And all healthy local churches are just feeder systems for that. And so, we won’t be having those kinds of in a good way, healthy divisions up in heaven. We won’t have those local churches. There’s just that one beautiful Bride of Christ as I’ll mention later in this message. So, this morning, what I want to do is I want to celebrate what God’s done to bring us to this point. I want to give some words of encouragement and inspiration and perhaps guidance to the team that we’re sending out and also to us concerning this topic of church planting. And to assert again that I believe that the Bible is sufficient for everything when it comes to defining a healthy church, both for First Baptist Durham and for Parkside. And so, to go to the word again is a beautiful thing.

So, this morning I want to speak of some elements of church planting in this way: the purpose in church planting, the power for church planting, the pattern for church planting, the practicality of church planting, the price of church planting, and the perfection of church planting. Just so happens all of those begin with the letter P. I don’t know how that happened, but we’re going to walk through these.

First, the purpose in church planting, it is important for us again and again to understand God’s purpose for everything. It’s always the same. It is his own glory. God does everything for his own glory. We exist for his glory. The future is all about God’s glory. For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. As I said last week or two weeks ago, before God made the universe, God, the three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, in perfect, happy, fulfilled fellowship, one with another, without any lack, without any neediness, decided out of generosity to create the universe.

Out of the overflowing of a river of goodness has come all of creation because God wanted to share himself with his creatures. He didn’t need anything but did it for his own glory. And he wanted to make his creatures happy in himself. That is the beautiful generosity of God. And the thing that’s incredible is as dominant and terrible and dark as the whole journey of sin has been from the moment that our first father, Adam, ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that terrible education we’ve had in wickedness and evil, that whole thing is nothing but an interruption. It’s significant, but nothing but an interruption. When the redeeming work of God through Christ is done, that problem will be entirely removed for the redeemed, and we’ll be back to and even improved on what God originally intended.

He wanted us to drink in of his glory for all eternity. And so, everything we do must be for the glory of God. And what is that but the radiant display of the perfections or attributes of God, what is God like? What kind of God is he? And that we might know that and delight in it and put that on display we plant this church. Parkside will exist for the glory of God. That’s the purpose in church planting. God created all things for his glory. As Isaiah 6:3 says, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory.” It’s already full of his glory. And again, Psalm 104:31, “May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in his works.” What a great verse. He delights in his creation, and he made it for his own glory. And he created human beings for his glory. In Isaiah 43:6, it says, “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who was called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

all of the good works we do under the direction and the leadership of God should be to put God’s glory on display.

So, we were made, formed for the glory of God. We exist for his glory. And then, we were redeemed by the blood of Christ also for his glory. Ephesians 1:11-12 says, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” So, our redemption in Christ through repentance and faith in Christ is for the praise of his glorious grace, that we would study his glory for all eternity. Therefore, all of the good works we do under the direction and the leadership of God should be to put God’s glory on display. As Jesus said in the Sermon in the Mount, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14-16). “When someone lights a lamp, they don’t put it under a bedl. Instead, they put it up on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” So, Parkside is being planted for the glory of God.

Secondly, the power for church planting. The planting and development of a healthy church is a work of great power. It’s a work of great power. Now, I would say every one of us vastly underestimates the truth of that statement. How much power does it take to plant a healthy church? Much. I would say an immeasurable amount of power. Why do I say that? Well, it’s because we’re in enemy territory. We’re in Satan’s world. In some dark sense, he owns it and runs it. It has been given to him, and he can give it to anyone he wants to, he said. In 1 John 5:19, we’re told, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one,” the grip of the evil one. 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.”

So, he’s called the god of this age. What an incredible statement for Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to say about Satan. But he’s the god of this age, and he has blinded the minds of people so they cannot see the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ, two verses later. Satan does not give up his domains or his subjects easily. Therefore, it is a work of spiritual violence to win converts from that dark kingdom into the kingdom of light and to plant a healthy church right in Satan’s face. It’s a work of spiritual violence. Why do I say that? Well, Jesus put it this way concerning his exorcisms, driving out demons with a word. He said in Luke 11:21-23, “When a strong man fully armed guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.” Satan in that parable is the strong man fully armed with armor.

Jesus is the one stronger than him, infinitely stronger than him, who attacks Satan, overpowers him, strips some of the armor in which he trusted, and plunders his house. We are the spoils. People are the spoils. Satan didn’t give up any of us lightly. It’s a work of power. And so, Colossians 1:13-14 says, “he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” To that end, he gives to the church a measure of his power to do that work. Jesus at one point sends out 72 of his disciples and gives them power to go out and do their mission. In Luke 10:1-3, “After this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. Go, I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves.'” Ponder that statement.

A few verses later, “The 72 returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!’ Jesus replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, and nothing will harm you'” (Luke 10:17-19). I’ve given you that power to win over the demons and to win over Satan. “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Isn’t that incredible? Be much more excited about the fact that when you die, you’re going to go to heaven than anything you achieve for Christ here on earth. That’s an incredible statement. So, we want to be faithful, don’t we? We want to be fruitful, and it is good for us to be so, but what really matters according to Jesus in that verse is that he died for us, and he’s going to take us to heaven when we die.

So, in our day, we trust the same power of Christ through the Spirit will enable both this church, First Baptist Church and Parkside to do its work for the glory of God. We need power. Now, what is the nature of that power? I want to give you two verses that mention the word power, that show the aspects of this power. They’re both very well known, but they both have the word power in them. First is the power of the gospel, and the second is the power of the Spirit. Both of them are indispensable to this work. You must have both. So, the power of the gospel written in words, in the scriptures, in the Bible, plus the power of the Spirit together essential for this work. So first, the power of the gospel. Romans 1:16, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” The gospel message is powerful to save. But it’s not enough. It’s not enough.

If you read the words of the gospel faithfully, but the Holy Spirit is not active at all, not a single person will be converted. We must also have the power of the Spirit, therefore Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth.” That combination is unbeatable. The power of the word of God with the gospel as its center and the power of the third person of the Trinity in the church as witnesses together builds the kingdom of God. And has for 20 centuries. That’s a powerful thing. So, at this point, I just want to stop and say I’m aware that not everyone that’s here today came for a church planting commissioning service. You just came to church. Maybe you were invited by a friend or a roommate or a neighbor. And I just want to say to you, I believe God brought you here for this moment to hear that your sins can be forgiven by faith in Jesus Christ.

All you need to do is look to Christ crucified and dead and then raised on the third day, trusting in him. All of your sins will be forgiven, and you’ll be like those 72 whose names are written in heaven. Don’t you want that? Isn’t that the greatest thing that could ever happen to you? I yearn for that to happen week after week. I made a promise a number of years ago, I would never get up here in this pulpit without inviting sinners to repent and believe in Jesus so they could receive forgiveness. And I would urge Parkside to do the same, week after week. You never know who God’s going to bring there, that they’ll hear the gospel, that powerful message for salvation.

Third, the pattern of church planting. What kinds of churches should be planted? We’re all aware there are lots of kinds of churches out there, and I don’t just mean denomination. Let’s just have two categories, healthy and unhealthy. We don’t want to plant an unhealthy church. So, what is a healthy church? What is the DNA? We use that language of DNA. Well, health we believe is defined by the word of God. The word of God is sufficient to define a healthy church. We don’t need anything else. The cumulative effects of the 27 books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the Gospels. All right, also the epistles, all of the epistles and the contributions they make. And then, the Book of Revelation, even with Jesus moving through the seven golden lampstands and then Revelation 2 and 3, and the lessons to the seven churches, he is telling us there and in all the other places what a healthy church is. And scripture is sufficient for that.

But right in the passage that we’re looking at actually a little bit later than what Eli read, I want you to look down further in the page to Acts 2:41-47. And I just want to walk through that paragraph briefly. I am absolutely stealing my own thunder from some sermon I’ll preach sometime in October, I guess, I don’t know. Or maybe January or something. Just kidding. But Acts 2:41-47 has a wonderful listing of elements of a healthy church. All right, verse 41-42, let’s start there. “Those who accepted his,” Peter’s, “message of the gospel were baptized and about 3000 were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer.” So, stop there. First of all, these people accepted the message of the gospel with faith. They believed the message of the gospel and they testified to it by water baptism in the name of Jesus. And they were added to their number- though it doesn’t say anything, we read that as a covenant commitment. We are part of you, and you’re us. We are together. We will be a church together. So, they were added to their numbers, so they knew who was in, who was out.

And they devoted themselves to some things. Four things that are listed here. Devotion means a steadfast adherence to or perseverance in.  What were they devoted to? First to the apostle’s teaching. There was a doctrinal side to their life. They gave themselves fully to the word of God that came through the apostles, accepting it as the word of God as it actually is, not the word of men. So, this translates both for first Baptist and for Parkside into a high view of the scriptures and the role of scriptural teaching in the life of the church. It’s the centerpiece. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. Secondly, to the fellowship. So again, I think that gets to the sense of that covenant commitment we have to each other. We will be a church together. And that fellowship, that koinonia, is a sharing of things together. They’re sharing life together. And then lesser things like finances, food, clothing, shelters needed, whatever, but they shared a life together.

They devoted themselves, thirdly, to the breaking of bread. Here, I believe this means the Lord’s Supper. Later in Acts 2 in a moment, I think there’s a hospitality/fellowship aspect, but here I think it’s a Lord’s Supper where Jesus established communion or the Last Supper as an ongoing pattern. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So, this is that ordinance life of the church. And then fourth, they devoted themselves to prayer. Essential to healthy church life and ministry is a life of prayer. Every good and perfect gift that we could ever want in this life, whether material or spiritual, starts in the hand of Almighty God, all of them do. And he opens his hand and gives those gifts often in an answer to prayer. And so, we devote ourselves. If we’re healthy, we’re going to devote ourselves. We are the spiritual beggars. He is the spiritual benefactor. He is the rich one. He gives everything. And so, we go to him always in prayer.

prayer may be one of the most important central lessons of discipleship for all of us. We all underestimate it. We all are very independent, and we don’t pray like we should.

And I think prayer may be one of the most important central lessons of discipleship for all of us. We all underestimate it. We all are very independent, and we don’t pray like we should. And so, both churches need to devote themselves to prayer. Jesus told many parables about this, many parables about persistence like the persistent widow and the unjust judge, and the friend at midnight banging on the door asking for some bread. And the guy finally just out of exhaustion, just to get rid of him says, “All right, give him what he wants.” Like interesting parable, Lord. No, I’m better than that. I’m better than the friend at midnight. Just come banging on my door but keep banging. These parables are rich and powerful, and they teach us about prayer, don’t they? Persistence. And he said, “If you have faith like a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain be thrown in the sea and it will obey you” (Matthew 17:20). Faith-filled, mountain-moving prayer for the building of the kingdom of God. Now in verse 43, it says, “Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.”

Clearly, the apostolic era is now over. It’s not a common experience of the church worldwide to see miraculous signs and wonders as it was in the age of the apostles. However, God still does astonishing things. And I think it’s marvelous when the church is consistently filled with awe at what God is doing. And there is nothing more significant than the conversion of a sinner. A genuine conversion from darkness to light should fill us with awe. And it’s a far greater and more important thing than any of the healings Jesus ever did. And so, everyone filled with awe.

And then in verses 44-47, so many elements of healthy church life,

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day, they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved.

So, the believers were together. They spent time together. They liked being together. They enjoyed life together. They had everything in common. They shared their possessions and goods as any of them had need. Even the point later in Acts of selling properties and putting the money at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. They met every day. They met every day. So, Parkside, what are you going to do about that? We’re not going to do that. But people in the church do meet every day. Throughout this region, there are members of FBC that meet. Seven days a week, every day.

And so, there was that drinking in of God’s word and fellowship, accountability, and prayer. That was a life together. It was beautiful. And they enjoyed hospitality. They opened their homes to each other, and they shared meals together, and they were truly glad. Their hearts were glad. They had glad and sincere hearts; they were not fake or hypocritical.

And the Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved. Oh, both churches would be challenged by that statement. How sweet would that be? How awesome would it be to take that one statement to the Lord consistently in prayer, like the persistent widow or the friend at midnight and say, “Lord, would you add daily those who are being saved?” So dear friends, this is timeless transcultural description of a healthy church. This is what FBC wants to be. This is what Parkside wants to be. This is the DNA of the church that we’re planting.

Next, the practicality in church planting. Practical question, why does Parkside need to exist? Why do we need to do this? After all, it’s only what, 20 minutes from here? I don’t know. It’s real close. I’m glad they didn’t want to use the gravel lot across the street and build something over there, that would’ve been odd. But no, it’s close. So why are we doing that? Well, also you would ask why do we need lots and lots and lots and lots of healthy churches? That’s a good question. I started thinking about it in terms of the limitations of Christ’s incarnation because I’m kind of a geeky theologue type person, so I started there. There were practical limitations to Jesus’s time on earth. He could only be one place at one time, and you really couldn’t get near him generally. Even his family couldn’t get close to him because of the crush of the crowds, because he was giving out free healings every day. You just physically couldn’t get near him.

And therefore, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I go away.” What an incredible statement that is. John 16:7. So, what that means is once Jesus ascended to heaven, he would send the Counselor, the Spirit. And it would be better in that sense for the Spirit of Christ to be acting all over the world. And so therefore, Jesus could say in John 14:12, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do and greater works than these will he do, because I’m going to the Father.” Wow. No one has ever done the signs and wonders Jesus did, still hasn’t. Then, what are the greater works? It’s greater in number and greater in significance and greater in scope. The church of Jesus Christ made up of countless local churches every day of history is doing cumulatively greater works.

And in that conversion is greater than physical healings, greater in that sense, too. This was God’s plan. And so therefore, speaking practically, every local church has limits. If God abundantly blesses that church, and people like being there, and they like worshiping. And lots of people come, and they keep coming and keep coming and, well, you must know that can’t go on forever. And so, the church can either get physically larger and larger building ever bigger buildings. Or they can go multiple services and many churches do that. Or they can church plant. Or they could just say to people who couldn’t get a seat, “Sorry.” And that’s not very kind. So there has to be some kind of plan. And the plan for us, the elders at FBC, was church planting five years ago. We thought that that was the right answer, and we still do.

Not only that though. We also have a lot of gifted brothers who have the ability to preach and to teach the church. And in a local church, there’s only going to be so many of those kinds of slots. And those gifted individuals need to use their gifts. And so there need to be more and more sites for them to use their gifts. And brothers and sisters similarly have similar overlapping gifts. And sometimes we can get in the way of each other with those gifts. And it’s good to have multiple local churches so that gifted servants can use their spiritual gifts. Romans 12:4-5 says, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body and each member belongs to all the others.” We have different gifts according to the grace given us.

Now, this goes beyond just within a local church and its individual members. I think it’s within the overall universal body of Christ, different local churches have different gift sets and different personalities and different flavors and a different approach to ministry. They’re just different because of the personalities that are involved there. And so, Parkside will develop differently than FBC and have a different approach to ministry, and that’s a beautiful thing. And so therefore, I think those are some of the practical aspects.

Now we get to the price of church planting. And I said to the brothers, I said, “I almost went with another P, the pain.” Nothing worth doing for the Lord is free. It’s all costly. What did it cost the Father to save you? What did it cost the Son? It’s costly. The Book of Acts shows again and again how costly it is for a local church to give up gifted leaders. Clear example is in Acts 13 the church at Antioch.

Nothing worth doing for the Lord is free. It’s all costly. What did it cost the Father to save you? What did it cost the Son? It’s costly.

In the church at Antioch, there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul, Paul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

What must that have been like for the church at Antioch to send off Paul and Barnabas? Paul and Barnabas?

These are two of the greatest church leaders there have ever been in 20 centuries of church history. They’re not replaceable. I mean, you’re not going to get another Paul and Barnabas to take their place. Now, history shows us that the church at Antioch flourished for centuries. It was a strong pillar church in that whole region, didn’t go anywhere. But that must’ve been a huge sacrifice. The apostle Paul himself talked about this in his heart-rending farewell address to the Ephesian elders. They had come to have some time with him, and in Acts 20 he said goodbye to them. And at one point he said this, in Acts 20:25, “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.” Wow. I don’t think they saw that coming that day.

And then later in that same chapter, “When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed, and they all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them the most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.” Now the work of God does cause, it does necessitate temporary physical separations between brothers and sisters. It’s a good thing. It’s part of his plan. It’s not a division, it’s not factions or any of that. It’s just that they have different callings, and they’re going to go geographically to different places. I’m mindful of the heart-rending farewell said between John Patton and his father when he went off to the New Hebrides Islands. I believe he traveled physically farther on the globe, John Patton did, than any other missionary I’ve ever known about, something like 11,500 nautical miles to get to the South Pacific.

And in the mid-nineteenth century for a godly father with tears to hug his son and say goodbye was basically like a funeral, that he would never see him again. And that was hard. That was the plan of God. Tears flowed, prayers prayed, tender moments of embracing, and then they say goodbye. Now, we don’t have that same kind of pain. I think God willing we’ll see each other, but it won’t be the same. It won’t be the same. Your church will be different. Our church will be different. And that’s the price of it. And it’s reasonable for us to feel the pain of saying goodbye to brothers and sisters with whom we’ve enjoyed such close fellowship.

Let’s finish with the perfection of church planting. As I said, all local church ministry is temporary. What is eternal is the bride of Christ. And we have a picture of it in Revelation 21.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men. And he will live with them, and they will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God.” And he will wipe every tear from their eyes, there’ll be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.

And then later in that same chapter, “One of the seven angels said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain, great and high, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel like a jasper, clear as crystal.” As both FBC and Parkside maintain faithfulness to Christ and to his word by the power of the Spirit, we are going to adorn the bride of Christ with new jewels, with new glories, with new beauties, just as every healthy church around the world and in every nation will do.

And the time will come when we won’t say goodbye. I believe everything that causes pain in this world is temporary. Everything. Because pain is no part of our future world. And that means separations. We won’t be doing that. And so, we’ll be able to be together. And so, we should look ahead to that glorious day when we see the bride completed and know that Parkside Baptist Church and First Baptist Church each fulfilled their roles by the power of God. So, I’m going to close this time now in prayer and then we’re going to have our commissioning. Father, we thank you for the word of God that we’ve heard today. We thank you for its power and its clarity. And as we focus now on commissioning and sending these brothers and sisters out, give us the power of the Spirit to do that in a way that glorifies you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

As we’ve already said, today is a very special day in the life of First Baptist Church in Durham! Today we are commissioning and sending out seventy-two members and over thirty of their children to plant a new church called Parkside Baptist Church.

Ordinarily I would have just continued our series through the Book of Acts, and this morning I would have been at the account in Acts 2 of the great day of Pentecost… the outpouring of the Spirit resulting in the formal beginning of the church of Jesus Christ in that era of redemptive history. And I do plan on preaching that sermon in two weeks, going carefully through Acts 2:1-13 on that day.

But today, I want to focus on this task… the sweet and solemn duty of commissioning these dear brothers and sisters in the work of church planting.

It is right for me to stay right here in Acts 1-2 to do so, though I will not be preaching a standard expository sermon this morning. But our planting of Parkside Baptist is in a line of continuation from the work that was begun on that sacred day almost two thousand years ago.

Over five years ago, our elders determined that the Lord was leading FBC to plant another church. The logic was clear… thousands of lost people were living in the Triangle region, and thousands more were pouring in every month… there need to be far more healthy local churches than there presently are; the best entities for planting healthy churches are other healthy churches; we at FBC needed to do our share. So… we proceeded.

God has led us well over that period… he helped us define the steps of church planting, and what our DNA would be (what kind of church we wanted to plant); he led us to a lead pastor, Chase Jenkins, and then soon after to a growing core team, committed to the work. We have prayed and learned and raised funds and prayed some more… lots of meetings, planning, trusting God. We received an incredible gift from 4D church… the building at which Parkside will begin their life as a church next Sunday. The core team has grown to 72 members and their children… a total of over 100 souls ready to step out in faith to plant.

This Sunday, in addition to our normal purpose of gathering on the Lord’s Day to celebrate Christ and to preach the gospel here, we are also gathered to send those brothers and sisters off to plant.

To that end, I want to give a few comments, roughly based on the Book of Acts, but not exclusively. God’s Word defines everything for us, including church planting.

This morning, I want to speak of the Purpose in Church Planting, the Power for Church Planting, the Pattern for Church Planting, the Practicality of Church Planting, the Price of Church Planting, and the Perfection of Church Planting.

I. The Purpose in Church Planting

A. God’s Ultimate Purpose: His Glory Seen and Savored

Remember: God created the universe out of his fullness, not out of his emptiness!

Habakkuk 2:14  For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Before God made the universe, he was perfect in his being and perfectly happy in his inter-Trinitarian fellowship.

But the universe flowed from his mind through his word in order that God might display his glory to his creatures and make them happy… and that he might obtain offices and achievements for himself he would not otherwise have had.

B. God does everything for his glory

1. Creating all things for his glory

Isaiah 6:3  “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Psalm 104:31  May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works

2. Creating human beings for his glory

Isaiah 43:6-7  Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth–  ⁷ everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

3. Redeeming us by the blood of Christ for his glory

Ephesians 1:11-12  In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,  ¹² in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

All the good works we do in service to Christ should be for this:

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

II. The Power for Church Planting

A. The Planting and Development of a Healthy Church is a Work of Great Power!

1. It may not seem like it… but those with a spiritual understanding of this present evil age know why

2. We are in enemy territory… Satan’s domains

1 John 5:19 the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

3. Satan does not give up his domains or his subjects easily

4. It is a work of spiritual violence to take ground from the evil ruler of this age

Luke 11:21-22  “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.  ²² But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.

Satan is the strong man, fully armed… his possessions are people

Jesus is infinitely stronger than Satan; Jesus is attacking Satan, overpowering him, stripping him of his armor, and plundering his house. He is taking SPOILS… and those spoils are people he is rescuing:

Colossians 1:13-14  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,  ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

B. To That End, He Gives POWER to His Church in this Present Evil Age

Luke 10:1-3  After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.  ² He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  ³ Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

Luke 10:17-20  The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”  ¹⁸ He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  ¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.  ²⁰ However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

So in our day, we trust the same power of Christ through the Spirit will enable both FBC and Parkside to gain victories over Satan’s dark kingdom

So… what is OUR POWER??

C. Key Verses

1. The power of the gospel

Romans 1:16  I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

2. The power of the Holy Spirit

Acts 1:8  you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth

D. This is the Power of the Church Planting

1. The WORD OF GOD… with the gospel of Jesus Christ as the centerpiece

2. The POWER OF THE SPIRIT… enabling weak, selfish, fearful servants to overcome Satan and build Christ’s kingdom

STOP: Here I make an appeal to all of you here today… make sure that you have believed this gospel yourselves!!

III. The Pattern for Church Planting

A. What Kind of Churches Should Be Planted? Answer: Healthy Churches!

B. What Is a “Healthy Church?” How Does It Do Its Work?

1. Health is defined by the Word of God

2. The cumulative effects of the New Testament, the Four Gospels and all the Epistles, as well as the Book of Revelation… all taken together and rightly mined for truth, that is how you will define a healthy church

3. But thankfully, we have a very powerful display of a healthy new church at the end of Acts 2

Acts 2:41-42  Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.  ⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

·      Accepting the message of the gospel in true faith

·      Baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus Christ

·      Added to the number of the church… implying commitment to the church

·      “Devoted”: steadfast adherence to; persevering in it… BUT what were they devoted to?

·      Devoted to the apostles’ teaching: giving themselves fully to the word of God that came through the apostles; accepting it as the Word of God, not the word of men… this translates now into a high view of the Scriptures at Parkview, as well as a respect for the elders of the church whose task it is to feed the flock

·      Devoted to the fellowship: Gk “fellowship” is koinonia “joint sharing”; committed to the church, committed to sharing what they had with each other, “All for one and one for all”…

·      Devoted to the breaking of bread: it could be just hospitality, sharing meals together; BUT most likely the Lord’s Supper… the ordinance of communion; “as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”

·      Devoted to prayer: essential to healthy church life and ministry is a life of prayer… individually and corporately; prayer unleashes the power of God’s promises on a lost world; it establishes total dependence by the church on God for everything; we are the spiritual beggars, and all blessings start in God’s hand. Following the pattern of Christ’s commitment to prayer… Jesus told many parables about persistent prayer, teaching they should always pray and never give up; of the power of faith-filled prayer to move mountains and build the Kingdom on earth

Acts 2:43  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

·      Clearly the apostolic era is now over, and it is not the common experience of the church worldwide to see miraculous signs and wonders as in that era

·      However, God still does astonishing things in answer to prayer…

·      SO the church was FILLED WITH AWE… that can and should still happen

·      The greatest miracle of all is the salvation of former enemies of God into genuine lovers of God

Acts 2:44-47  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  ⁴⁵ Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,  ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

·      All the believers were together: they spent time together, liked being together, enjoyed life together

·      They had everything in common: they shared their possessions and goods as any of them had need… even to the point of selling houses and property and putting the money at the apostles’ feet so it could be distributed to any as they had need

·      They met together EVERY DAY… they loved drinking in God’s Word and feeling his awesome presence through the Spirit

·      They enjoyed hospitality and sharing meals together

·      Their hearts were made TRULY GLAD… “glad and sincere hearts”… it was not fake or hypocritical

·      Evangelistic fruit: the Lord ADDED TO THEIR NUMBER DAILY those who were being saved! WOW! What a fruitful church that was!

This, dear friends, is a timeless, transcultural description of a healthy church

This is what FBC wants to be

This is what Parkside wants to be!

Thank God he’s given us these words as a pattern to aim for!

IV. The Practicality in Church Planting

A. Practical Question: Why Does Parkside Need to Exist?

1. After all, it’s only twenty minutes from FBC

2. Why do we need lots and lots and lots of healthy churches?

B. Practical Answers

1. Christ’s limitations in his physical body

John 16:7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away.

Luke 8:19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd.

Ascending to heaven, Christ sent the Holy Spirit; by him we all have access to Christ immediately

By him we also can do amazing works in MANY PLACES all over the world:

John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

The only way that was true was by the multiplication of true followers of Christ by the spread of the gospel and by church planting to the ends of the earth… greater works in scope and number

So, this begins to answer the practical questions of why many many churches need to be planted

2. Every building has its limits…FBC could not keep growing numerically; building a larger sanctuary was not the answer

3. Also, more and more gifted brothers who have the gifts of preaching and teaching, as well as both brothers and sisters who have many other gifts as well… there need to be many churches with openings for those roles to be filled

4. Also, each local church develops its own flavor and personality

a. Like the doctrine of spiritual gifts and the body

Romans 12:4-6  Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,  ⁵ so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.

1 Corinthians 12:12  The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

b. As each church is led in slightly different ways with slightly different approaches to ministry, it will develop different functions in Christ’s overall strategy for a region and for the world

V. The Price of Church Planting

Nothing worth doing is free… it is always with sacrifice

I almost chose the word “Pain” here!

The Book of Acts shows again and again how costly it is for one local church to give up gifted people and send them off to do the mission of God:

Acts 13:1-3  In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.  ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  ³ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

What must that have been like?? To send off two of the greatest servants and leaders a local church has ever had… Paul and Barnabas. Undoubtedly, the church at Antioch still thrived and was blessed. But it was COSTLY. Those kinds of people can never be replaced.

We see this again in the heart-rending farewell Paul gave to the Ephesian elders

After giving them a powerful speech preparing them for the work of the ministry, he dropped this bombshell on them

Acts 20:25  “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.

Acts 20:36-38  When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.  ³⁷ They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.  ³⁸ What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship

The work of God causes temporary physical separations that are painful, indeed feel like dying sometimes.

I am reminded of the heart-rending account of John Paton when he said goodbye to his godly father in order to go overseas as a missionary to the South Pacific. In that day and age, there was no Facetime or air travel. To put a son on a ship to the South Pacific was effectively to say goodbye to him for the rest of his earthly life.

Tears flowed, prayers were prayed, many tender moments of embracing… but at last, the time came to walk away.

It is reasonable to feel the pain of saying goodbye to brothers and sisters with whom we’ve enjoyed such close fellowship.

VI. The Perfection of Church Planting

A. All Local Church Ministry is TEMPORARY

B. It All Feeds the True Church… the Eternal Bride of Christ

C. It Points to that Final Perfection Depicted in Revelation

Revelation 21:1-4  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21:9-11  One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  ¹¹ It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

As both FBC and Parkside maintain our faithfulness to Christ and to his Word, we are adorning the bride of Christ and preparing her for that eternal marriage, our heavenly union with Christ

We are beautifying her and adorning her with faith-filled good works

We are preparing her heart with longing for the Bridegroom

For indeed, we ARE the Bride… and we also are PREPARING OURSELVES for our own perfect union with Christ forever

Now, as we conclude this service, we have the opportunity to partner with these dear brothers and sisters as they go forth and plant a healthy church for the glory of God. We will sing a song and then summon them forward to send them off in the name of the Lord and for the glory of the Lord!