HOW DOES GOD PLANT A CHURCH? CHURCH PLANTING is something like what a farmer does, he plants the seed, cultivates the seed, fertilizes the seed and then patiently waits for it to grow.
Church planters basically do the same thing. They have to plant the seed (Gospel), cultivate the seed, fertilize the seed and patiently wait for it to grow. Like the farmer, when it grows they get excited!
There are three things that have to be considered before there should be any planting, cultivating and fertilizing. Such as:
(1) IS THERE A DEMAND FOR A NEW CHURCH?
A farmer is not going to plant a crop when there is an abundance of food already. IT IS CALLED SUPPLY AND DEMAND! If there is no DEMAND, then he does not plant. And the same should be true for any church planter.
Illus: For example, in one of the real estate magazines there was an article that was dealing with the problem of builders overbuilding apartment complexes in Atlanta, Ga. Builders began to build thousands of apartments without determining if there was a demand for more apartments. THERE WAS NOT! And now they have the problem of having more apartments than they have renters.
The problem is, they built these apartments when there was NO DEMAND FOR THEM TO BE BUILT.
Illus: A city can only accommodate so many:
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Colleges and Universities
• Real Estate agencies
• Service stations
• Walmart and K-mart stores
When people are unwise and build when the need is not there, they are going to suffer a great loss.
Likewise, in church planting there has to be a NEED FOR A NEW CHURCH TO BE PLANTED. When you go into a town and they have churches on almost every corner, and these are not filled, it would be foolish to build another church.
• Some have planted churches where there was a need, and the church began to grow rapidly
• Some have planted churches where there was no need, and they struggled to survive
What is THE DIFFERENCE? Many times churches are flourishing because they planted when there was a DEMAND. Naturally these churches began to grow immediately.
(2) IS IT THE RIGHT TIME TO PLANT A CHURCH?
You can ask any farmer, and he will tell you that one of the most important things about planting is the TIMING. In fact, he will tell you that to plant at the wrong time, will almost guarantee failure.
This is also true of church planting. You might go down a road and see a large field that would be ideal to build a church on, but there are no homes for miles. The land might be right, but the timing isn’t.
Ten years from now, you might drive by that same piece of property, and there are homes all around this piece of property, perhaps then would be the right time to build a church.
Church Planting asks, “IS THERE A DEMAND” and “IS THE TIMING RIGHT”, but also-
(3) IS THE SOIL THE RIGHT KIND OF SOIL?
For example, suppose some Bible-believing preacher is going to Salt Lake City, Utah to build a strong fundamental Bible-believing church. If he is wise, he will take into consideration the fact that that the Mormons have permeated this area with false teaching, and the soil is not going to be conducive to church growth. He might be able to plant a church there, but it is going to be very difficult.
He might consider that if he spent the same time and resources to do this somewhere else, he could win more souls to the Lord.
Thank God for all the Bible-believing pastors who are willing to sacrifice their lives to PLANT BIBLE-BELIEVING, BIBLE-PREACHING CHURCHES.
The apostle Paul was a CHURCH PLANTER. In Acts 17, we see Paul’s trip to Thessalonica. Notice:
• He went to the crossroads of the Roman Empire. All roads came to this point, so it was a key place to win people to Christ and start a church
• Paul started with the Jews but it spread to the Gentiles also
With the working of the Holy Spirit, Paul won many folks to Christ.
Look at Acts 17:4, we read, "And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few."
In a short time, Paul was used of God to PLANT A GREAT BIBLE-BELIEVING CHURCH. Later when Paul left, in his writings in 1 Thessalonians, Paul is wondering about those who had been saved.
He had heard about some of the difficulties they were running into. He did not know all that was going on in the church, but he knew that a growing, thriving church was there. Their faith was widespread through the entire area where the church was.
Why? Because these people did not keep their faith to themselves. As we look at the scriptures today, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, we will see three evidences of the impact of a life lived for Jesus Christ.
I. IT IS A LIFE MARKED BY CHANGE
Look at verse 3, we read, “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith,...” They professed faith, and they had the works of faith.
There are churches all over the world where people profess to have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus, but their lives do not reflect that this is the case. We do not question that they have placed their faith somewhere, but it is obvious it was not in the Lord Jesus.
Illus: There was a young man who was emotionally carried away one night while on the telephone with his girl friend, and he said to her:
• I would climb the highest mountain to see your face
• I would swim the widest ocean to be by your side
And if it does not rain this Saturday evening, I plan to come see you!
Many folks get caught-up in the emotion of some church service, but they have never been born again. TO THEM, CHRISTIANITY IS NO MORE THAN WORDS!
They make you think of a talking parrot. A parrot can hear certain words over and over again, and soon they will start to repeat those same words.
Illus: One of the most exciting aspects of the talking capabilities of the Quaker parrot is the sheer number of words these birds can acquire. The one year old Quaker parrot averages between 50 and 60 words.
HOW DO THEY LEARN? They hear folks talk, and soon they begin to repeat what they hear.
This is the way some folks are in the church. When they are called upon to speak certain words they can do it. BUT THESE WORDS THEY SPEAK ARE NO MORE THAN WORDS THEY HEARD MANY TIMES IN CHURCH.
Illus: Did you hear about:
• The woman that had a female talking Parrot. Every time she walked into the house, she would say to her, “Hey beautiful, let’s play!”
• But down the street, a minister had a male talking parrot that had been taught to say, “Let’s pray!”
One day this woman was talking to the minister about her female parrot, and she said, “I wish I had not taught her those words, ‘Hello beautiful, let’s play!’” He asked why, and she said, “Because it really does not sound good.”
The minister said, “Well, my male parrot only talks about spiritual things.” He said, “I tell you what, bring your female parrot to my house and put her in the cage with my male parrot and he will teach her how to be spiritual.” She brought him and placed him in the cage, and sure enough, she said, “Hello beautiful, want to play!” The spiritual male talking parrot said, “Hallelujah, God has answered MY prayers!”
Parrots can talk, but they only repeat what they have heard. Today, we have many “talking parrot” Christians. Christianity to them is no more than REPEATING WORDS!
But Christianity is much more than WORDS. Once we place our faith in Christ, we will have the WORKS to support what this Bible teaches.
In 2 Cor. 5:17, we read, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Illus: Leighton Ford said, “God loves us the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way.”
When God PLANTS A CHURCH, it is filled with people who have placed their faith in Him, and now they have -
A. A CHANGE OF DIRECTION
Look at verse 9, we read, "For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how YE TURNED TO GOD FROM IDOLS to serve the living and true God;"
There are many people today who claim to be Christians, but their lives have never changed.
SHOW ME A LIFE THAT HAS NO REAL CHANGE, AND I WILL SHOW YOU A LIFE THAT DOES NOT HAVE CHRIST.
Anyone who rebels against the Bible and its clear teachings, has failed to understand that:
• Growing up in a Christian home is not salvation
• Going to a Bible Believing, devil-hating church is not salvation
• Getting baptized is not salvation
Let’s look at a few passages that reveal salvation is a change of direction.
Look at Mt. 7:18 23, "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Some folks are going to have a very hard time convincing anyone that they are saved.
• Their lives are filled with idols
• They have not turned from their idols
Again, this Bible church that God used Paul to plant was a church filled with people who CHANGED THEIR DIRECTION. The Bible says they “,…TURNED TO GOD FROM IDOLS to serve the living and true God;"
Just because many Americans do not have some little statue of Buddha in their homes, they think they do not have any idols in their lives. The reason they think there are no idols in their lives is because they do not know what an idol is. Simply defined, an idol is anything that you put before God.
• Your family can be an idol
• Your job can be an idol
• Your possessions can be an idol
What does the Lord say about this?
• Look at 1 John 5:21, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen."
• Look at 2 Cor. 6:16, "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
We need to cast out anything in our lives that comes between us and God.
• That doesn’t mean we are not to love our families
• That doesn’t mean we are not to enjoy our jobs
• That doesn’t mean we are not to enjoy possessions
It does mean that none of these things should come before God in our lives!
We need a change of DIRECTION once we make Christ Lord of our lives. Not only it is a change in direction it is....
B. A CHANGE OF DESIRE
Look at verse 9, "to serve the living and true God". They had been serving these dead gods before conversion, but now the Bible says they are serving the, “LIVING AND TRUE GOD.”
When God plants a church, He plants a church where people that come to know Him will have a CHANGE IN THEIR DESIRES. Does this mean that everyone in the church has a CHANGE OF DIRECTION and a CHANGE OF DESIRE? No!
This would be the ideal church, but there is no such thing as an ideal church. Even in a BIBLE PLANTED CHURCH, you will have people in it:
• That profess to be saved, yet they are going in the same DIRECTION they did before they professed to be saved
• That profess to be saved, and have the same DESIRES they had before they professed to be saved
The best churches in the world have such people. So what do we do with such people? We do two things with them:
(1) We pray for them, and try to show them that perhaps they have never really been born again. Just because they go to a church that teaches and preaches that a person MUST BE BORN AGAIN TO BE SAVED, DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THEY ARE BORN AGAIN!
(2) We do not let them become a discouragement to the church that God has planted.
• The devil will often plant these people who have a false profession among us, because they are constantly a discouragement to the pastor who studies hard, and they stay home to worship their false gods.
Illus: Howard Hendricks said, “From research and personal experience, I've come to the conclusion that in every church, 16 percent of the members will never change. The tragedy is, I see young pastors every day leaving the ministry because of that 16 percent. It's as if they're butting their heads against a brick wall. What they should be doing is concentrating on the 84 percent who are ready for change.”
• The devil will often plant these people in a God planted church, because this discourages Sunday School teachers, and they quit trying to reach the lost.
• The devil will often plant these people in a God planted church, because they make God’s church look bad before a lost world.
These will be the ones who will stand before the Lord one day at the Great White Throne Judgment.
Look at Matthew 7: 20-23, we read, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
One of the sad things about a God planted church, is the reality that many who attend are deceived and have never been born again. But just because they are not willing to let the Lord do in them what the Lord wants to do, we can not let them DISCOURAGE us from doing what God wants us to do.
IT IS A LIFE MARKED BY CHANGE, and -
II. IT IS A LIFE MARKED BY COMMITMENT
Look at verse 3, we read that their labor was a "labor of love". When you do not serve God, you have a love problem.
Just think about it. Remember when Peter denied the Lord Jesus three times? When Jesus turned and looked Peter in the eyes, the Bible says that Peter departed and wept bitterly. When you look up the words "wept bitterly" in the Greek, it means a loud wailing.
Peter had a love problem. And Jesus acknowledge it in John 21:15-17. We read, "So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep."
Jesus questioned Peter’s LOVE for Him. If you don’t have a genuine commitment to Christ, then you have a love problem.
• When you don’t read your Bible, you have a love problem
• When you don’t pray, you have a love problem
• When you don’t witness, you have a love problem
• When you are not faithful to the house of God, you have a love problem
• When you do not faithfully give unto the Lord, you have a love problem
• When you consistently put yourself and things ahead of God, you have a love problem.
Illus: Listen, there are hundreds of books that you can buy in the Christian book store on how to get people to:
• Give
• Go soul Winning
• Pray
• Read their Bible
• Attend all the church services
But people are not going to do these things until they allow God to do a work in their heart, and place within them A CHANGE OF DESIRE. Until they do, they are going to be a continual disappointment to the Lord.
There are folks today who do not have the slightest idea what commitment means. Folks who love the Lord are COMMITTED to serving him.
IT IS A LIFE MARKED BY CHANGE, IT IS A LIFE MARKED BY COMMITMENT, and ...
III. IT IS A LIFE MARKED BY CONFIDENCE
Look at verse 3, "Patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." This patience of hope means CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST.
The entire book of 1 Thessalonians is geared to the return of Jesus Christ. The Bible planted church knows that Christ is going to return, and they live each day as if this might be the day.
Look at what Paul said to this God planted church in verse 10a, "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,...."
We need to have a commitment to Christ, a commitment to serve Him. We can have an impact on those around us if our lives are marked by commitment.
Listen, we know that one of these days, Christ is going to come back for HIS GOD PLANTED CHURCHES, and we are going to be raptured from this world of sin.
Conclusion:
Today, will you dedicate your life afresh and anew to the Lord Jesus, and tell Him that you want your life to be used in His service?
I. IT IS A LIFE MARKED BY CHANGE
II. IT IS A LIFE MARKED BY COMMITMENT
III. A LIFE MARKED BY CONFIDENCE
