““All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
Could it be that these famous words of Jesus at the end of Matthew represent a call to plant churches? What does it even mean to “plant churches” and why would we spend a week praying about and for that type of work?
Let’s firstly address the question of “What is church planting?”.
Church planting is the work of the local church to equip and send out a group of leaders and other believers to start a new church in an area where there is a need for the gospel.
Jesus told his people they would be His witnesses “...in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). The book of Acts is the unfolding of that “witnessing work”! The pattern of the early church was to send out pastors, leaders and missionaries to preach the gospel where there was a gospel need. As people responded to the gospel they were gathered together in local assemblies where they were shepherded by pastors and where they also found the encouragement and support of other believers.
Next, “How does church planting fulfill the great commission?”
Jesus commands us to make disciples, and he specifically notes that a disciple is baptized and taught to obey the commands of God. During our baptism services we will often highlight how baptism signifies our union with Christ in His death and resurrection. It is also true that baptism signifies our union to the people of God…to a particular local church. So in that sense when a new believer is baptized, they are baptized “into” a local family of faith…a local church.
As the gospel is preached and people respond in faith, they are drawn into the local church to be baptized and for the church to aid in the discipleship and care of that new believer. The 13 letters written by the Apostle Paul were to individual local churches, or leaders/believers in those churches, who came to faith through the evangelistic and missionary activity described in the book of Acts. Simply put, the gospel was preached…people believed and were baptized…and a church was established! Over and over!
With this NT pattern in view, we strongly believe the local church, and more specifically the multiplication of the local church, is God’s chosen mechanism to reach the world and mature the believer. That’s why we plant churches!
If you would like to read more about this topic, we would encourage you to read “Why Plant Churches?”, an article by the late Tim Keller.
Each day this week we will ask you to pray for a particular church plant we support. Today, please take time to pray for Crossway Burgaw and Genesis Church (Charlevoix, Michigan).
CROSSWAY BURGAW: Jason Faircloth is the pastor of Crossway Burgaw and previously served as one of Crossway Wilmington’s pastors before being sent out in 2021 to plant the church.
GENESIS CHURCH: Jim Desmond is the pastor of Genesis Church, Charlevoix. Jim came to faith in the early years of Crossway Wilmington and served in various leadership roles at Crossway before planting Genesis Church a couple years ago.
PRAY for protection over the pastors and leaders. Pray for them to love their families and prove to be examples to the believers in their congregations.
PRAY for additional elders and leaders to be raised up to help lead and shepherd the church.
PRAY for gospel impact and influence in their cities – that many would come to believe and be baptized.
PRAY for vibrant gospel community to be formed and experienced in the life of their church.