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emerging church, emergent, simple church, house church, home church.Saturday, June 27
Making Disciple-Making Disciples (MD2) Practical training imparting vital principles from church planting movements around the world Why are we not seeing church planting movements happening in the West? Can the same disciple making principles, which underlie these movements, work here in Europe? We believe they can. We are discovering that when we actually put into practice some of these fundamental principles – they work! This, of course, is not apart from much prayer and total reliance on the Holy Spirit. Making disciples and training them to do the same is not easy or glamorous but it is what we are called to do – no matter what our ‘9-5’ job may be. The Purpose – The purpose of MD2 is to start multiplying movements of Jesus followers. The end goal is to see individuals, families and whole communities transformed and given a whole new way of living. MD2 - Is a discipling process that equips people to make disciples (followers of Jesus) who go and make more disciples. Jesus is Our Example - The inspiration for MD2 comes from Jesus himself. He called men and women to be his disciples, who in turn made more disciples. The first followers of Jesus were both young and old, rich and poor, men and women, educated and uneducated. MD2 - Equips new disciples with the skills and knowledge that will empower them to be part of the movement Jesus started 2000 years ago. Our Offer If your simple church or network might benefit from this training then we are available over the next 2-3 months to deliver it in a time frame to suit you. We can share the fundamentals in one evening or take longer to unpack the whole process in depth. Email us: alexander@simplechurch.co.uk posted by alexander @ 10:18 AM 0 comments 
0 Comments:Thursday, June 4
More than 200,000 baptisms in a single day Reports are coming in of more than 200,000 baptisms in a single day last Pentecost Sunday in a church planting movement in India. posted by alexander @ 2:03 PM 0 comments
0 Comments:The Rabbit and the Elephant: Why Small Is the New Big for Today's Church  If you wanted to sit down with an experienced couple of simple church planters in a North American context and pump them with questions on all they have learnt - here are the answers in book form. A wealth of useful wisdom, practical tools and inspiring stories. If you have questions - get this book, it will go part of the way to answering almost everything you could think of asking and probably several that never occured to you. Click here to buy from Amazon and also help fund this site. posted by alexander @ 1:42 PM 0 comments
0 Comments:Friday, May 29
Getting Ready for CPM - 6 - David Watson Obedience-based Discipleship/Leadership Training The first job of the Church Planter after a family has received Christ is to teach that family obedience to the commands of Christ. In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), Jesus said, “18 … All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”It is the responsibility of the Church Planter to teach new believers to obey the commands of Christ. This means the Bible. Obedience-based Discipleship is about knowing the Word of God and choosing to live in obedience to that Word. The Church Planter must establish a system by which new believers are exposed to vast amounts of the Word of God, and challenge the new believers to obey all they hear and learn from the Word. Maturity as a believer is defined by obedience, not by time. A mature Christian obeys Christ. One who is obedient matures more quickly and grows more rapidly than one who is not obedient. As Christians mature they take on leadership roles. Leadership training begins from the moment a Church Planter starts a Discovery Bible Study. Every new believer is expected to be a leader, and equipping is done as if everyone will be a leader. God calls some to be special leaders. It is the responsibility of the Church Planter to begin this leadership training process. In order to give each church the opportunity to be as knowledgeable and productive as every other church, leadership training is offered to all leaders. By localizing leadership training we insure that every potential leader is trained, and that every church has the same basis of training that keeps the church growing and developing. The Church Planter knows he succeeded when leaders reproduce new leaders and churches are start new churches. Obedience requires us to replicate as individual believers, leaders, or churches. Conclusion God causes church planting to happen. The Church Planter puts into place all the elements of church planting that God blesses and uses to start the church. We are God’s partners in the effort to take the Gospel to the ends of the World. When we do our job, God brings forth fruit beyond anything we could do on our own. posted by alexander @ 6:18 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Thursday, May 28
Getting Ready for CPM - 5 - David Watson Appropriate Evangelism/Church Planting Scripture is the primary tool of the Church Planter. Understanding culture and world view in order to present the Word of God to a community is the second tool. How we present the Word of God to a community is almost as important as the Word itself. If we are not sensitive to the culture, and present the Word of God in a way that is offensive to the culture, we cannot expect people to be responsive to the call of the Holy Spirit to salvation. Appropriate evangelism begins in right relationships. It is in relationship that the Church Planter shares his spiritual life. It is in relationship that the Church Planter shares the Word of God that leads to families discovering the Creator and His plan for their lives. Relationships are defined by culture, and in knowing the spiritual and family world view of a culture the Church Planter is better prepared to enter into significant relationships that leads to the evangelism of families and the establishment of new churches. There are several key principles that lead us to appropriate evangelism and church planting. The first principle is that God is the only one who can save. He may work through a miracle, dream or vision, testimony, or Bible study to touch the lives of a family. How God prepares a person to receive Christ may vary, but at some point that person must hear the Gospel in order to decide to commit his life to Christ and receive salvation. The second principle is that the Gospel must be presented in a way that the family will accept. In highly resistant areas this is usually through a study of the nature of God that leads to a fear of God and questions of how to relate to the Creator who hates sin, judges those who sin, but provides a way for sinners to be saved. The third principle is that the focus of evangelism is families, not individuals. We are told over and over again in the New Testament that a person received the Gospel and he and his entire household were saved and baptized. Read the story of Cornelius in Acts 10, or the story of Lydia in Acts 16. The focus of evangelism in the New Testament is family. In Luke 10 and Matthew 10 Jesus instructed his disciples and followers to go to the villages He was about to visit and find the man of peace or worthy person and stay with him in his home. They were not to move from house to house. Jesus wanted His followers to focus on households, especially those He had prepared to receive the Gospel. When families become our focus for evangelism and church planting we cause several things happen. When a family receives Christ and is baptized, a nuclear church is formed. This embryonic church can depend on each other, and do not have to fear each other. Because the minimum cultural unit made the decision to change their belief system, it is easier for others to accept, and it is easier to transmit this change to others. Often, the Church Planter’s relationship begins with an individual. This is usually the case in student work. When an individual comes to the salvation, the Church Planter sees him or her as a doorway to a family or affinity group, and works to see the Gospel move into the family or group. The methodology that is most effective in church planting begins with a relationship, not a tract, book, Bible, or witnessing method. As we build relationships our lives speak the message as well as our words. Jesus lived with his disciples for almost three years before they were ready to declare that He was the Son of God. In our experience, it takes about six months for a committed Church Planter to lead a family to the Lord and start a new church. posted by alexander @ 6:11 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Wednesday, May 27
Getting Ready for CPM - 4 - David Watson Scripture The basis of all we do is found in Scripture. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our salvation. This Gospel is fully revealed in the New Testament, but has its roots in the Old Testament. Scripture is the Word of God, and we are commanded to obey God. In John 14:21 Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (NIV)Moses writes in Deuteronomy 6 1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,God told Israel that possessing the Promised Land was contingent on their obedience to His Word. I think this continues to be the case, today. As we are obedient followers of God’s Word, He blesses our church planting efforts and we possess a land that does not worship the Creator. Scripture must be at the heart of everything we do and everything we teach. As we plant the Word of God in the hearts of people and teach them to obey the Word, the Holy Spirit of God works. The salvation of families and the establishment of churches are the natural outcome. The Church Planter uses Scripture in all situations. He is a student of Scripture. He reads (listens to) Scripture and teaches others what the Word of God says. He meditates on Scripture and allows it to shape his thinking and his actions. Obedience to the Word of God is central to the spiritual life of the Church Planter. Church planting begins in Bible study. This may be done through Chronological Bible Story Telling, Inductive Discovery Bible Study, or any other method that focuses on hearing and obeying the Word of God. It is through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit works to convict of sin and righteousness and judgment. It is through the power of preaching (proclaiming) the Word of God that salvation comes. 1 Corinthians 1:21 says, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom didThe Church Planter has one primary tool to do his job – Scripture. The Church Planter must know Scripture, obey Scripture, teach and preach Scripture, and help others to understand and obey Scripture. The natural result of planting the Gospel into the lives of others and teaching them to obey what they have heard is a reproducing church that transforms communities. posted by alexander @ 6:02 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Tuesday, May 26
Getting Ready for CPM - 3 - David Watson Access Ministry “Where do I start?” and “How do I get there?” are among the first questions a Church Planter asks. In restricted access work where the community or community leaders may be resistant or hostile to the Gospel, answering access questions is very important. It is through access ministries that the Church Planter comes into sustained contact with the people God laid upon his heart. It is through access ministries that relationships are established and the Church Planter has the opportunity to meet the person of peace who will be the first to open the community to the Good News of Jesus Christ. We train our Church Planters that their primary responsibility is to locate the person of peace, build a relationship with that family, and start a new church: beginning with that family. Every community is different, and will require creativity on the part of the Church Planter to gain access. The kinds of access ministries that can open the doors to a community are as varied as the Church Planters and the teams who share the love of God with a community. It is in access ministries that church planting teams practice their creativity. Almost anything and any circumstance can be used as an access ministry if the team is creative and single-minded in their approach to a community for the purpose of starting a new church. Traditional access ministries include medical work, education, recovery, relief, development, agriculture, and more. In these ministries funding flows one way. These social ministries can be used for church planting if the goal is meeting people’s needs, building relationships, and keeping an eye open for the person of peace in order to share the Gospel with families. An underutilized area of access ministries is business. Most of us have not been trained that it is ministry to provide goods and services to people who need goods and services. Again, the purpose of meeting needs is to build relationships. But when we do legitimate business, the people we help are paying the bills for those who will build relationships, discover the person of peace, and start new churches. We must carefully plan our access to a new group of people, especially if they are part of a resistant, closed, or hostile population. Look for the needs of the people we want to reach, and recruit the right people to meet those needs through access ministries. The best access ministries meet needs, but allow for the building of long-term relationships that provide opportunities to meet the person of peace. posted by alexander @ 5:55 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Monday, May 25
Getting Ready for CPM - 2 - David Watson Prayer I do not understand it, but God answers prayers. He often waits on our prayers before He fulfills His own nature in action. The partnership between God and man is established on prayer. God commands us to pray, and expects us to be obedient in prayer. We are commanded to pray all the time. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, ”16Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (NIV) Part of what we are to pray about is the spread of the Gospel. Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:1, “Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.” (NIV) There are three primary areas in which the Church Planter must develop prayer. Prayer begins with the Church Planter. He or she must be a person of prayer. Daily time spent in meditating on the Word of God and in prayer to God are essential to the success of the church planting effort. The Church Planter is the leader, and if this person is not in tune with God, listening to God, and petitioning God on behalf of the team and the lost, then there is little reason to think that God is going to move. Church Planters are extremely vulnerable to the attacks of Satan. Without prayer they will fall to these attacks. As the Church Planter prays, he or she becomes an example to the church planting team and the emerging church. By example the Church Planter leads the team in prayer. The Church Planter spends time with the team in prayer. The team prays for each other, and for the people to whom they are witnessing. They pray for the local and national political leaders and situations. Prayers for the gate keepers and bridges in the community are central. But perhaps the most important among all the prayers is that God will raise up a man or woman of peace who will receive the Gospel into the family and community for the first time. This is the beginning point of church planting. The Church Planter needs to have two prayer networks. One network is made up of friends who pray for the Church Planter and his team. The other network is made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of people who pray for the people the Church Planter is trying to reach. Both networks are essential, and both networks require a great deal of communication. The personal prayer network is the frontline of spiritual warfare for the Church Planter. This group of friends is made up of people who fall to their knees and pray for the Church Planter’s requests for himself, his family, and his team. They do not rebroadcast the Church Planter’s requests to others. These people are not gossips, and can be trusted with intimate struggles all of us have. The personal prayer network is usually small, but can grow to be quiet large over years of ministry. Communication with this network is by personal visits, phone calls, cards and letters, and e-mail. Confidentiality is a part of the covenant between the Church Planter and their personal prayer network. The ministry prayer network needs to be as large and widespread as possible. It is made up of individuals, churches, and agencies that have an interest in the Church Planter’s ministry or in the group the Church Planter is trying to reach. Communication with the ministry prayer network is through newsletters, articles written for publication, and personal appearances to advocate for the lost. There is certainly more to be said for the central position of prayer in church planting efforts. Personal prayer, team prayer, personal prayer networks, and ministry prayer networks are critical elements of church planting that require significant effort and time on the part of the Church Planter. posted by alexander @ 6:46 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Sunday, May 24
Getting Ready for CPM - 1 The Church Planter The first essential building block is the Church Planter. God could certainly make church happen without us, but in His economy He chooses to partner with His followers to accomplish the task of church planting, as well as other ministry tasks. 1 Corinthians 3:9 (NIV) says, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building."And 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 (NIV) says: 1 As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in The Gospel of Jesus Christ moves from community to community when the people of God obey the Great Commission and purposefully take the Gospel to new communities. The best way for the Gospel to move to new communities where there are no relationships is through a trained Church Planter. If we want to see Church Planting Movements happen, we must train Church Planters on a large scale. Those of us who know how must train those who want and need to know how. It is our responsibility to replicate ourselves frequently. The best Church Planters are always training more Church Planters. It is the Church Planter who is responsible, in partnership with the existing church, to put into place the basic ingredients for church planting to happen. posted by alexander @ 5:42 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Saturday, May 23
Getting Ready for CPM - intro We are going to begin a series of articles on CPM, written by various practitioners working in different parts of the world. These are taken from the Jan-Mar 2006 issue of the CPM Journal published by Write Words and edited by Paul D Watson. The full journal can be downloaded by registering on www.davidlwatson.org and going to the downloads section. LET’S BAKE A CAKE David Watson A friend of mine is a pastry chef at a five star restaurant. He spends his days creating recipes for cakes and then baking these cakes to the delight of the customers. I am always curious about how things work,and a few years ago I spent some time quizzing my friend regarding his profession. My friend is passionate about baking. He loves to create and to perfect recipes. When he enters his kitchen everything is ready for him to do his thing. He doesn’t shop for kitchen supplies. He doesn’t shop for ingredients. All is ready for him when it is time to bake. Assistants take care of the logistics – making sure everything he needs is at his fingertips when he begins to create and perfect cakes and pastries. For every hour the chef invests in preparing and baking a cake, assistants spent hours making sure he has everything he could possibly need in order for that cake to make it to the customers. Where CPM is concerned, God is the Chef. One of the most common mistakes many Church Planters make is to think they are the chef. At best, Church Planters are chef’s assistants, making sure the chef has in hand everything needed for church planting to happen. We must never forget that CPM is a God thing. Without Him it does not happen. Church Planters are God’s assistants, helping to make sure that everything needed for CPM is in place for God to use at His good pleasure. There are some ingredients that are optional for cake baking. Flavors, fillings, toppings, and textures can change, but the basic building blocks of a cake are always the same. Almost every cake includes flour, milk, eggs, sugar, baking powder, shortening, salt, and vanilla extract. A good chef takes these basic ingredients and produces perfection. I can make sure the ingredients are available, but I will never be a pastry chef. In the same way that there are basic ingredients for a cake, there are basic building blocks for church planting. It is the responsibility of the church and the Church Planter to gather these building blocks and have them in place when God decides to move. Remember, we can have all these building blocks in place, but nothing happens until God decides to move. David L. Watson is the Vice President for Global Church Planting, CityTeam International, San Jose, CA. David and his wife, Jan, are among the pioneers of Unreached people work and helped develop the methodologies that led to one of the first Church Planting Movements. His ministry is highlighted in David Garrison’s book, Church Planting Movements. posted by alexander @ 11:27 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Saturday, April 18
starting with a group not an individual Starting a new simple church - do you try and lead individuals to Jesus, then bring them together to form a new simple church? Or, should you start with an existing 'oikos' (network of relationships)? This is something we have wrestled with constantly. In the excitment of someone new coming to Jesus we often forget about this person's existing network and how open they may be to the gospel too. Starting a community with an existing web of relationships is far far easier than trying to create community from a group of strangers. Here is David Watson on this subject: It is very important to start new groups with the Core Values (DNA) you want to see in the church. This is probably the most common mistake I see in church planting. People start groups without the essentials of church and hope to reform the group once they become Believers. Or, they establish unintentional DNA that hinder replication and/or growth.Go here for the full article by David. Labels: Planting posted by alexander @ 8:48 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Monday, April 6
cpm consultation quotes 5 Some quotes from a global consultation between CPM/SCP practitioners, March 09. Click here to see full notes. # Person of peace is the person in whom you see a genuine interest in knowing the truth. May not be a peaceful person, but have a spiritual hunger. A person who is loving their neighbour, doing good things (ecology, human rights - they may also be the gatekeeper) may be that person – they may also have great respect among their community. They are the people God has prepared. As you make more spiritually–oriented statements, they respond positively. They know their community, are networked already. Invite others to join the group. # Often persons of peace were already philanthropists. They were already generous leaders in their community. # Or, they may be extremely unlikely. Imams, village chiefs, opinion leaders, and heads of secret societies of traditional African religions have also emerged as people of peace after much prayer. Sometimes their first reaction is violent and then they experience a change of heart. posted by alexander @ 8:46 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Saturday, April 4
cpm consultation quotes 4 Some quotes from a global consultation between CPM/SCP practitioners, March 09. Click here to see full notes. PoP: # A person of peace has a spiritual hunger (he connects when there is a spiritual person around). # We must be creative in identifying a person of peace. Just because someone is friendly and well-meaning doesn’t necessarily make him/her God’s choice. Also, there are those who just like to raise spiritual issues but, in fact, only for the sake of discussion. Beware, they will waste your time. Who it’s not: Friendly people, people of good will, willing to help you but not interested in spiritual things, those who like to talk about God, but only want to discuss, don’t want to look at scriptures. posted by alexander @ 8:42 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Thursday, April 2
cpm consultation quotes 3 Some quotes from a global consultation between CPM/SCP practitioners, March 09. Click here to see full notes. Church planting is not a job - it is a lifestyle. - It is this kind of obedience that makes the next generation of believers impressed with God. Without this, we will not see CPM. If we are flawed, the system will be flawed. - “Wearing it on our forehead”= living in an obviously spiritual way. 1 Cor. 12:12: The doorway to the church is baptism. Discipling is about bringing people to the point of baptism. posted by alexander @ 8:39 AM 0 comments
0 Comments:Tuesday, March 31
cpm consultation quotes 2 Some quotes from a global consultation between CPM/SCP practitioners, March 09. Click here to see full notes. A mentor should be able to detect three generations of people connected to him or her; if this many generations are not present, there is a problem in the process, most likely in the relationship between the mentor and his/her immediate mentoree. Never, ever, ever give an answer from our own knowledge and experience. Point them to the Bible. posted by alexander @ 8:34 AM 0 comments
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