Timeless Lessons in Church Planting

sermon transcript

Introduction: The Vision of Church Planting for FBC Durham

Church Planting is Central to the Great Commission

Oh, what a delight to be part of this, this grand, glorious work of redemption that God is doing in the world. Isn't it incredible that God has included us in that? I just can't get over that. As Paul said, “By the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder. I was willing to suffer. And so I praise God.” We're in a pluralistic country, we're in a country that has lots of different convictions, lots of different ideas. People are willing to sacrifice for their convictions. They're willing to fly their sentiments and convictions up on the flagpole of their lives. Even if their ideologies are ultimately satanic and deceptive and damaging, still, they have strong convictions. And how sweet it is that we, by grace, have had our eyes open to know the truth. And Jesus Christ is the truth. And He is building His empire, His kingdom, and we are included in it.

How do I know that Christianity is true? So many ways I could answer that question, but one of them is just the explosive growth of the Christian faith over the last 20 centuries. The fact that Jesus and his 12 disciples were there in the upper room, the Holy Spirit was poured out, and the church just poured out into the streets and hasn't stopped. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you'll be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth.” That's already happened. The job is clearly not finished yet because the Lord hasn't returned, but He has made such incredible progress. To God be the glory. And joy and my desire is to continue to be part of that. And to know that, as Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost,” and I want to be involved in that. I want us... Next week, we celebrate Resurrection Day, we celebrate the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. And in the upper room, He said, “Peace, I leave with you.” And then he said, “As the Father has sent Me, even so, I am sending you.” And so the fact that we are included in this commission, this movement of the Gospel to the ends of the earth is such a great joy and privilege.

Now, church planning is in front of us, and ultimately, church planting is about evangelism, I think. It's about reaching out to those who are not presently going to church, the unchurched. The joy of that story being multiplied again and again. And church planning, I think, is essential because it's so easy for churches to become stagnant, to sit back on their achievements and accomplishments. You can reach a certain level of attendance on Sunday morning, a certain level of financial giving, where you lose the sense of urgency, and you can just run on the machinery, and you can forget why it is we're here, and we can become self-reliant and that's such a danger.

I praise God for all of the gifts there are in this church I benefit from, the spiritual gift ministries that are here. I'm grateful for it. Our church has characteristic tendencies, and some of them are very, very good, but some of them, I think, are worthy of warning and worthy of us taking seriously the call of God to examine ourselves and to see if we're being fruitful in certain areas, and I think evangelism is one of them. I think we have a delight for theology, a delight for the Word of God, a willingness to hear anything if it's faithfully and rightly taught from the word, but sometimes, I wonder if there could be a disconnect so that we can become hearers, but not doers of the Word. And so if the theology isn't resulting in evangelistic outreach and missions and church planning, we've gone badly astray and then, frankly, in the end, even worse if it was based on good teaching because then, you heard good teaching and it did not result in the fruit that God desired, and that's dangerous. It would be better not to hear, than to hear and not obey.

And so for us, our desire as elders, we want to be passionately, continually committed to church planting. This, we hope, is just the first of many church plants. I know that Adam desires that his church would also eventually be involved in church planting. We like to be a grandparent church, if there is such a thing, I don't know what that is. And then we coined a phrase or expression here today, I don't know. But I mean just that we would be the parent of a church that's a parent of other churches. We just want to see this area reached for Christ; 12th fastest-growing area in the country. In my sense, it's not growing with Evangelical Christians. They are pouring in here, 100% of them converted and thriving spiritually. I'm not sensing that. Are you? There are lots of unchurched people pouring into this area.

This is a mission field, and so our conviction as elders - when I say "our", I want to speak now as the elders - there are certain steps, spiritual steps that have led us to realize we need to be involved in church planning for the rest of our time here. We believe that the God-ordained vehicle for making mature disciples of lost people is the local church. That's what God has set up to do that whole job. I think a street preacher can bring someone to initial saving faith in Christ, but in terms of the whole journey of salvation, it's the local church.

Secondly, there are far more lost and unchurched people in the Triangle Region than all the presently existing churches can handle. There's a lot more people out there than the number of churches can handle. So therefore, thirdly, we need more churches in the Triangle Region. There just need to be more healthy churches. Therefore, someone must plant those churches. They won't pop up by themselves, but God will use people to plant those churches. The best planting agency in the Triangle Region is a healthy theologically-sound church. I'm not minimizing the impact of parachurch organizations like Baptist associations or church-planting clubs or any of the other things. I think those are fine. But I think in the end, the best agency for planning a church in terms of accountability and ongoing shepherding and all that is a healthy local church. By God's grace, I feel that our church has been made healthy, theologically-sound, eager to see people converted and to grow, and therefore, FBC should plant churches. That's our rationale. That's our reasoning.

Now, as we look at statistics about what's going on in local churches, the general press of these stats is the older a church gets, the less evangelistically fruitful it is. Just lots of data to show that the longer the church is, the less people, fewer people it leads to Christ. Our church was established in 1845, that's 167 years, so those stats are against us. But to God be the glory, it doesn't have to characterize us. Amen? We could be really, really old and still really, really fruitful. Even to old age, this church can be vibrant and fruitful, evangelistically. But that's the press. Another aspect, I'm just summarizing here, but the more theological training that a church or a people has, the less evangelistically fruitful they are. It's weird, but it just seems to be the case. It doesn't have to be that way. But think of it this way: What nation on earth has the best teaching ministries available? The most books printed, the most bookstores, the most radio, TV, on and on and on? And yet only in North America is the church of Jesus Christ declining numerically. That's amazing! Think about that.

Now, I don't think that we should therefore conclude we should have less and less good Bible teaching, that's not the right conclusion. But the right conclusion is to be aware and to not think that because you have good Bible teaching, that all is right with the world. We need to be careful and we need to be willing to sacrifice and be willing to suffer for the Gospel.

What Do We Mean by “Church Planting”?

Now, what do we mean by our ongoing vision of church planting? What do the elders have in mind? Well, it's this: That FBC would intentionally develop a pattern of strategically planting and assisting in the planting of churches in the Triangle Region, churches whose DNA - spiritual DNA - meet our criteria and whose people would primarily come from those that are previously unchurched. So we're not sheep-stealing. Toward this end, we would seek to develop leaders and pioneering church members who are willing to go and populate those church plants. And develop strategies appropriate for each region that we're seeking to reach, there would be a culture or an atmosphere, an expectancy of personal growth, the internal journey; and evangelistic growth, the external journey at FBC; and a willingness not to stay comfortable year after year in the inward-focus ministries of a, really, in the end, stagnant church. People then would be expected, in an ongoing sense, to make sacrifices to see this goal attained. We are committed to these things for the rest of the time that we're here.

So what do we mean by our DNA? Well, our vision statement is that we exist to delight-in, display, and declare the glory of God, equipping His people to spread that delight to all nations through Jesus Christ. So we'd like churches that like that kinda thing. Write your own vision statement. We got that one. But something like that, something about the glory of God, something about Jesus, something about winning people, something like that. But a vision statement that characterizes the ministry, our core value is up on the wall: The glory of God, love for God and others, Christ's death, resurrection, and lordship being the centerpiece of the message we have for the world. Scripture, perfect and sufficient. Progressive sanctification and holiness, progressive disciple-making and evangelism and missions, and healthy body life, community life, spirit-filled families, and church.

The two infinite journeys, we think, must be equally emphasized. We can't choose one or the other. We need to continue to emphasize both internal growth and sanctification, and external growth and evangelism, and witnessing and missions. Both, you can't pick or choose; they have to go together. And the churches that would be planted would be self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating. So all that self is coming through next week, alright? And that's exciting. Praise God for that.

Twelve Lessons of Church Planting from  Acts 13-14

So now, what I want to do is just root this in Scripture, and I want to look at Acts 13, particularly one through four, but then, spread out a little bit more into these two chapters, Acts 13 and 14. And I've got 12 just lessons or principles of church planning from this section of Scripture. Obviously, don't have time to develop them, but they're really just suggested for future study, is what it is, but I just want to lay this out. And by this means, root the things I've already said so far, this conviction that we have to root it in Scripture, and to learn from the Scriptures what church planning ought to be.

Church Planting is the Fruit of a Healthy Church (13:1-4)

So let's start with point one, and that is that church planting is the fruit of a healthy church. Look at verses one through four again, “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. 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.’ And so after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.” So we see this church at Antioch and what a great church that was, how healthy was that church. And so the sending off of Barnabas and Paul was the fruit of the health of that church. It had developed a healthy root system. The City of Antioch, a very important Gentile city in the ancient near East, north of Judea, an economic crossroads, some different trading routes crossed in that city and grew and grew. It was a big city, an important city, culturally diverse, predominantly Gentile. And in due time, in the providence of God, people who have been scattered out of the Church of Jerusalem because of the persecution, in connection with Stephen, traveled as far, it says, in Acts 11, “As Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.” So at that point, they're only thinking, “Only the Jews,” they're only reaching out to Jews. “Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news of the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.”

And so now, this is past the time of Cornelius and his conversion in Acts 10, this is now chapter 11. But here, we have a great ingathering of Gentiles, lots of Gentiles getting saved. And these were, it says, "Men from Cyprus," that little island in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean. We've already had Cyprus mentioned in the Book of Acts, in Acts 4 with Joseph, a Levite from that island. Joseph, a Levite, who owned a piece of property and sold it and put the money at the Apostles' feet and it was distributed to needy people, Joseph. Who's Joseph? Well, you know him better as Barnabas. And Barnabas was, that was just a nickname, Son of Encouragement. What a great man of God he was. An encourager, a godly man, but he was from Cyprus, a Levite, a Jew. And Barnabas was the church at Jerusalem's messenger to go to Antioch once all these new Gentile converts are coming in to assess the situation and to bring blessing to what was happening there.  And so in Acts 11:22-24, it says, “News of this,” these converts, “Reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. And when he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.” What a great ministry that was.

And now in Acts 13, it seems the Lord has laid on his heart and the hearts of some others an idea of going back to their home area, Cyprus, and spreading the Gospel there. So want to do some church planting there. And so we see the health of this church at Antioch, and later, centuries, Antioch would be a major center of healthy Biblical interpretation. The church at Antioch was a major player for centuries in that region of the world, blessed with Godly leadership, healthy teaching from all of these good teachers that are listed in verse one healthy life of worship, corporate expressions of love for God, and in the midst of all of this comes a calling to church planting and to missions. So it's just the fruitfulness of a healthy church. See? "Make a tree good," said Jesus, "And its fruit will be good." And so as the church is healthy, then just good fruit comes from it.

Church Planting is Led by the Spirit of God (13:2, 4)

Secondly, church planting is led by the Spirit of God. Look at verses two, and then again, at verse four, "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.'" And then verse four, "The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus." And so we have the Spirit's direct involvement, the sovereign third person of the Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit. We believe in one God in three persons. This is God the Spirit communicating His sovereign will to a local church. Powerful leadership of the Spirit. Spirit's direct leadership over the strategy and the various turns in the road of the advance of the Gospel is a major theme in the Book of Acts.

You're going to see it again in Acts 16, when Paul is on his second missionary journey, and Paul and his companions are there in Asia Minor, and they go throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, listen to this, "Having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the Word in the province of Asia." You might think there's nothing wrong with teaching the Word in the province of Asia, is there? No, there's nothing wrong with it, but the Spirit said no. The Spirit didn't want them to do that good thing. So one of the things is we rely on the Spirit to help us turn away from good things to what He has ordained. And so “…when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.” The Spirit's blocking them. So then they're like, "Okay, what should we do?" And it was at that point, “During the night, that Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia pleading with them, ‘Come over and help us.’” And so they concluded that the Spirit was leading them westward toward Europe, toward Greece, and they went over to Macedonia. And so South Durham Church, may the Holy Spirit continue to lead you. May the Spirit guide you and give you wisdom. And FBC, may the Spirit lead us. And may we be listening to Him. May we not be hard-hearted and unable to hear as He guides us.

Church Planting is Communicated by Worship, Fasting, and Prayer (13:2-3)

Thirdly, church planting is communicated through the Spirit by spiritual disciplines like good teaching and worship and fasting and prayer. The Sovereign Spirit can get his mind across any way that He chooses, but He chooses these means, what we call disciplines, by which we are able to hear Him speak. And so as we are saturating our minds in the Word of God with that good teaching that's implied in verse one, these great teachers that are there, teaching the Word of God, and as we're being transformed by the renewing of our minds, and then as we're gathered together in corporate worship, fasting is mentioned twice there, by which there's a tremendous spiritual focus, a desire saying, "God, we want to hear from You. We want to hear what You have to say. We're willing to sacrifice the usual blessings of life, or food and zero in on You so that we can hear what You're saying." And while they were praying, by this, Jesus says, "My sheep, listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me, and I give them eternal life." And so by means of these disciplines, the Holy Spirit communicated His will.

Church Planting is Commissioned by a Local Church (13:3)

Fourthly, church planting is commissioned by a local church.  In Verse 3, it says, “After they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.” Now, this is a very important gesture, and we're going to have an opportunity later to do this, the placing of hands on, we believe that this is a symbol of the blessing in the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that the commissioning is really a commission with the Spirit - with God the Spirit. And so the laying on of hands in the New Testament frequently is linked with the giving of the spirit, and initially it was when Peter and John laid their hands on the converts there in Samaria and the Spirit came, many times, there's that. You remember how Simon wanted to give money so that he could give the Spirit by the laying on of hands, but I'm just saying there's a link between the Spirit and the laying on of hands, and Paul also mentions this to Timothy that his gift came through the laying on of hands, by the elders, etcetera.

And so as I've been meditating about this laying on of hands, it brings me to my Wednesday night studies in John, and in John 15, and Verse 26, it says, “'When He, the counselor comes... '” Jesus says this, “'When the counselor comes, he will testify about me.'” That's verse 26. 15:27, “'And you also must testify.'” Friends, those aren't two separate things, it is by the Spirit that we testify to Jesus. That's what Acts 1:8 is all about, the Spirit comes upon us and we are His witnesses. And so the commissioning is the giving of the Spirit, but it's done in the context of this healthy local church. They prayed for them. They laid their hands on them and they sent them off. It's not an independent thing where individuals are off over here and the Spirit comes, etcetera, it's not that. I'm not saying the Spirit doesn't move in individual lives, he absolutely does, but this commissioning here in Acts 13 was done in the context of a healthy church, and that's the symbol I think, of the laying on of hands. The word church can either mean that universal body of Christ of all of those elects that have come to genuine faith in Christ, whether they're alive or dead, the invisible church, so to speak, but it's not the invisible church that does the works of God in the world, is it? It's the visible church, and that means local church, and so the local church is there to lay hands on and to commission and to send people out. Okay?

Church Planting Requires Sacrifice (13:2)

 Fifthly, church planting requires sacrifice. Again, in verse 2, they sent out Barnabas and Saul, the best they had. Look, I'm not down on Simeon and Lucius and Manaen and all those guys. I'm sure they were great, they're listed and they're good teachers, the two best, Barnabas and Paul, and what a sacrifice for the church in Antioch to make that. Think about these men. Barnabas was one in a million. Maybe one in a billion. A very, very special individual. Godly man already has a testimony in Acts 11, he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit in faith, and a great number of people who were brought to the Lord. He was the one that first put an arm around Saul after his experiences on the road to Damascus and introduced him and brought him into the church at Jerusalem when they were deadly afraid of him. And it was Barnabas that brought him in. What a good man he was. And they sent him off. And then the Apostle Paul, I think we would have to say that other than Jesus Christ, the greatest tool of God for the advancement of the church there has ever been. I mean, how many people do you think are in heaven now because of Romans? The Book of Romans. Just think about that.

Just reading this letter that Paul sat down and wrote. Has anyone ever articulated the doctrine of the gospel more clearly than Paul in Romans? That is the gospel, and that's what they were getting from Paul week after week. And the church in Antioch said, we're going to send you. We're going to send you to go. It's a sacrifice. It's a sacrifice. The best that they had to offer at that local church, the best, and the individuals had to make a sacrifice, Barnabas and Paul had to leave fruitful, exciting comforting ministries to go to uncharted waters into difficulties and suffering, and their sacrifices just continued to have to be made, they had to keep sacrificing, they had to keep being willing to suffer for Jesus. We'll get more to the suffering in a minute, but sacrifice.

Church Planting Requires Going Forth (13:3-4)

Six, church planning requires going forth. Verse 3, “So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.” Verse 4, “The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed.” They're out of there. They're gone. So I think Adam, that kind of came down, you're not going to be here anymore on Sundays, we will be surprised to see you next Sunday, you won't be here, will you? No, you're going to be out there. And so you have to leave, but in a bigger sense, this church, people of this church has to go forth or go out to meet lost people. We can't stay in here to do it. The answer is not a better ad campaign. You understand that? Billboards. Look, I'm not against billboard. Well... Another time, alright? But billboards, yes or no, is not in front of us. What I'm saying is, going forth is what's in front of us. We need to be going and making disciples, and so basically, there's this Tributary or river of lost people out there, you have to go and intersect with it, you have to go and wade in that stream, because it's not coming here, and there's nothing wrong, there's everything right with inviting people to church on Sunday, I hope you do every single week, I commit to you before God to make the gospel plain to lost people, and I'll do it this morning again, even though it's a commissioning service, I will explain plainly what the gospel is, if there are any lost people, you will know how to be saved and not go to hell when you die, but this is not where the primary place is, it's out there. And so it is for South Durham Church as well. You guys have to go out, you have to keep doing the things you've been doing and meet that individual, meet more of them. So do we... And so we have to go out.

Church Planting is Based on Evangelism (13-14)

Seven, church planning is based on evangelism, as we've already said this, it's not rearranging the deck furniture on the Titanic. It's not sheep stealing. Look, there's not a lot of benefits in just continuing to work with the same people, and then there's a new flavor or a new approach or whatever, and then they go over there, etcetera. There's a great benefit to godly people going out on mission to plant a church, that's exactly what we're encouraging, we're all for that. But it's the lost people, that's what we're concerned about. The unchurched people, it's that this church will reach them better because they are an independent church focused on that area and concentrating on how to do it. And so there has to be evangelism. Verse, chapters 13 and 14 are filled with evangelism. You look at Verse 5, Acts 13:5, “When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaim the word of God. In the Jewish synagogues, they proclaimed the word of God.” Verse 7, “The proconsul [Sergius Paulus] sent for Barnabas and Saul, because he wanted to hear the word of God.”, so that's what they were doing. They were preaching, preaching, preaching the word of God, and Acts 13, later in the synagogue of the city in Antioch, Paul gave a very powerful gospel address, clearly explaining the gospel of Jesus Christ. Acts 14, in verse 3, “Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there speaking boldly for the Lord.” Acts 14:7, they continued to preach the good news, Acts 14, 20 and 21, “He and Barnabas the next day left for Derby and there they preached the good news and won a large number of disciples”, so just continual gospel ministry. Now, what do we mean by the Gospel? The Gospel, Romans 1:16 is “…the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” The gospel is the message that God is the creator of heaven and Earth. He is the King of all things, and because He made all things and created all things, He is the law-giver, and He has given us laws, the Ten Commandments, and the two great commandments to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves, and God as the law giver is also the judge. God.

We human beings created in the image of God have violated God's laws. We have broken His commandments, we have turned away. We have dishonored Him, we have worshipped and served, created things rather than the Creator. We have been idolaters, and we are lost, and we will be condemned to hell if we are not saved, but thanks be to God, there is a Savior, God sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, born of a virgin. Human being, fully God, fully man, incarnate, who lived in every respect an ordinary life, tempted in every way just as we are. Ate food, drank drink, walked on street, slept and woke, but a ministry testified to by the Holy Spirit by signs and wonders, and great miracles, feeding the 5000, walking on water, raising the dead, healing the sick, testifying all of these miracles that He was the Son of God, and that He had power to forgive sins. And this Jesus was betrayed, crucified, died on the cross, dying in our place, because God had ordained the transfer of guilt from us to Him, and He suffered under the wrath of God, so that we might not go to hell. But He did not leave Him dead. On the third day, He raised Him from the dead. And He appeared to many people, we'll talk exactly about this next week on Easter Sunday, bring lots of lost people, friends bring them. I think you'll hear about the same message next week. The same message, and that is, if you as a sinner, repent of your sins and turn to Jesus in simple faith in the abandon of faith, you will be forgiven of all of your sins, and when you die, you'll spend eternity with God in heaven. That's the message you need to preach. That message, God, man, Christ and response, that's what they need to hear, that's what South Durham needs to hear, that's what we need to speak to our neighbors and friends, and I don't know what brought each one of you here today. You may be lost, you may be here in this church, you may be at a commissioning service. What's that? Well, for you, that's beside the point. For you, the point is what I just said. This Jesus can save you from hell, and that salvation can happen right now. All you have to do is look to Him and believe in Him, and you'll have eternal life. Adam, South Durham Church, preach that. Preach it until the Lord returns or calls you home.

Church Planting Will Encounter Bitter Opposition (13-14)

Number eight, church planting will encounter bitter opposition. If you preach that, Satan will fight you. You already said that Adam. I'll say it myself. They get there to Cyprus, they start preaching to Sergius Paulus. And this weird guy, Elymas, the sorcerer, starts to oppose them. A wicked man. Do you remember what Paul did? Filled with the Holy Spirit, said to Elymas the sorcerer, "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that's right. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of God? Now, you are going to be blind and for a time unable to see the light of the sun," and instantly, he was struck blind. Wow, that's power evangelism right there. I'm not saying that God would be calling you to do that kind of thing, but I'm just telling you these people received opposition, and once they crossed over to Asia Minor and started going from synagogue to synagogue, it only escalated in every city, persecution and opposition. You just read about it, city after city.

Acts 13:45, in Pisidian Antioch, Jews “…were filled with jealousy…” and “…stirred the whole city against them, and they were expelled from that region.” In Iconium, same thing, “…they stirred up the gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.” In 14:19, “Jews came from Iconium and Antioch and won the crowd over and they stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city thinking he was dead.” I just think one of the greatest moments in church history is when Paul got up out of the pile of rubble and went to the next town and preached. How do you explain that? Other than the power of God through the Holy Spirit. The rest of us would be saying, I've done enough. I'm now retired. I'll give the work to the next generation. None of us has been pulled up out of a pile of stones and then went on to keep preaching the message that got you stoned to begin with. Supernatural perseverance and courage.

Church Planting Is Blessed by God with Fruit (13-14)

Ninth, for all of that, church blessing, church planting is blessed by God with fruit. There are lost people out there waiting to be saved, and they were chosen before the creation of the world for that salvation, and nothing's going to stop it. Now, it doesn't mean you'll be involved or we'll will be involved. God will raise up someone to take them to gospel.

But wouldn't it be sweet for us to be involved? Wouldn't it be awesome for us to be involved? Why do I say what I said? Well, look at Acts 13:48, it says there, “When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.” The appointment came first, then the faith. Not the other way around. I hate it when people say, mushy-headed weird things that say, the more people believe, the more elect there are. Where did you get that? The number of elect was set before the foundation of the world. Read about it in Ephesians 1 and many other places. Paul says, “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” That's who we're seeking, the elect, as many as were appointed for eternal life, that they believe and they will believe, they will believe. Praise God for it. Fruit, fruit, fruit, the Word of God spread through the whole region, Acts 13:49. Acts 14:1, “There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.” Acts 14:21, “They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples, great number, whole region, large numbers. It's an awesome thing.”

Church Planting Moves from Individual Conversions to Structured Churches (14:23) & Church Planting Results in Local Eldership (14:23)

Tenth, church planting moves from individual conversions to structured churches. In every place they went, they organized these disciples and brought them into organized churches. They didn't leave a trail of individuals, but they brought them together into churches, and I'm going to combine it with point 11, church planting results in local eldership, the supporting verse for both is Acts 14:23, “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, and with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their trust.”

We also get the independence of those local churches in that, they committed to them to the Lord and left, so you have these local elders, plurality of Elders, which our church has come to believe in, we praise God for it. And the same pattern also in the South Durham Church. The idea is a plurality of elders, and those elders lead the church in the context of congregational polity as we believe, but it's healthy, well-organized churches that are left there.

Church Planting Results in Joy for the Disciples and the Sending Church (13:52, 14:27)

Point 12, church planting results in the glory of God and the joy of those who did it. I mean, that's really why God does everything, God does everything for His own glory and for our joy. He gets the glory, we get the joy. Amen. Isn't that awesome? What a great deal. I think that's a great deal. We'll sign on for him getting all the glory, we get the joy. He gets joy too, by the way. He really delights in these things. It's your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. He enjoys it. But we get joy too. Look at Acts 13:52, “…the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” And then at the end of this section 13 and 14, look at 14:27. “On arriving back [in Antioch] back where it all started, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, and they all rejoiced together in what God had done.” They celebrated, Acts 15, everywhere they went with the story, they celebrated the goodness of God.

Applications

South Durham Church, 10 years from now, when you're a healthy thriving church, you will look back with joy on what God has done. You need to see it ahead of time by faith, and then by sacrifice make it happen with the power of the Spirit, and then you'll look back with satisfaction, I want to look back at my ministry here with joy. I want each one of your individual Christians who are members of this church or South Durham Church to look back on your lives with joy, God led you to be fruitful, to Him be the glory, to Him be the glory. I want to close now briefly in prayer, and then we're going to have a prayer time for this church.

Father, thank You for this word that we've heard from Acts 13 and 14, thank You for these 12 points. Lord, help us to be faithful to them and to embrace them and to live them out, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.