Establishing churches in the NT 

Christ is serious about His Church being rooted and built up in Him.    
                                                             
After the Gospel was proclaimed and people were converted, the New Testament puts a great emphasis on forming churches and those churches becoming established. The word used commonly in the New Testament letters to the churches that expresses this idea is the Greek word steridzo, which means to establish or strengthen. This was the very purpose the letters to the churches were written by the Apostles.  A study of the word used in Acts and the Epistles shows what the New Testament concept of establishing churches consisted of[1]. Here is a summary of the concept in these passages.

After disciples are brought together in committed partnership in a newly planted local church, the Apostles and their team members place a priority on an ongoing process of strengthening them in the teaching and practice of their new identity as the Household of Christ. The Apostles main concern is an ongoing faithfulness that does not waver in adversity to the darkness around them or the attacks within them so that they press on in the faith and advance the Gospel of Christ for the glory of His kingdom. The Apostles make it clear to the new disciples and the churches that they should not be surprised about adversity and affliction. Suffering is not to be avoided, rather it is the necessary forming process they must go through to enter the kingdom of God as it was for the Head of the Body, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hearts that are steadied and comforted and unified in the eternal truths of their new identity and purpose become the thrust of the letters and visits the apostles and their representatives make to the New Testament churches.

This receives priority in the New Testament even to the pausing of open doors to new Gospel possibilities if an existing church needed to be strengthened (2 Cor. 2:12-14). The apostles understood that it was wiser in the long run to strengthen an existing church first before pursuing other opportunities because existing churches are to be beachheads and bases for bringing the gospel to the new frontiers.
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In order to establish and strengthen the churches it is key that they understand the eternal purpose the church has been appointed for--the church displays the glory of God in His multifaceted wisdom to the seen and unseen universe. Because of its great purpose, the Church must grasp Christ’s majestic plan for Her and see all of life from that fixed navigation point. In order to provide additional stability and leadership to the Household of God, qualified elders are appointed to teach the glories of Christ and His church to transform them by the Spirit and the Word into the likeness of Christ, and to lead the advance of the Gospel through disciples being made and churches planted and strengthened in accordance with Christ’s commission.
The continued pattern of the New Testament process of establishing churches can be summarized in the following activities.

• After the Holy Spirit converts people through the proclamation of the risen Christ, the people were gathered into a new family where they were strengthened in the new life they had in Christ as a church (Acts 14:21-22).
• Leaders were identified and appointed in the new church to guide and continue the mission (Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23).
• The establishing process was not finished. Additional letters and visits and continued training for men to help in the strengthening deepened and anchored the church (1 Thess. 3; 2 Tim. 2:2).
• The churches were strategic launching points, beachheads, for the advance of the Gospel to new frontiers. Their partnership in the advance of the gospel was crucial to fulfill Christ’s commission, so it was imperative that they were strong and established.
• This process is repeated in the new frontiers for the glory of Christ.

 
Christ loves His church enough to see Her not stay as infants in a spiritual nursery, but to mature to growing Christlikeness, rooted and built up in Him.
Do I? Do we?
 
-Pastor Jamie


[1] Acts 14:21-23; 15:36-16:5; 18:22-23; Eph. 3:8-10; Rom. 1:8-15; 16:25-27; 1 Thess. 3:1-13; 2 Thess. 2:17; Titus 1:5; 1 Tim. 3:14-16

• Know that the greatest hindrance to missions is a weak sending church and put major effort into establishing the church as the Pastoral Epistles direct.
  

• Understand the task of missions is to evangelize strategically, establish congregations by instructing disciples and forming them in the context of the local church, and entrusting them to faithful leaders who will replicate this process.
  

• Support the centrality of the local church in the role of commissioning and sending equipping leaders for church establishment and expansion in mission work.
  

• Identify faithful men who can be trusted with the kerygma and didache with the process of testing, training, and affirming their entrustment.
  

• See multiplication of churches as the form of expansion of the church and the Gospel rather than simply building bigger and bigger churches.
  

• Expect that the bulk of mission work, that the church partners with and supports, agrees and practices these principles. 
  

• Partners in missions should have proved themselves in their local church in character and competency.
  

                        -They should be recognized by their local church as elders if they are going to be engaged in appointing other                                     leaders over the church(es).

                       -They should see their primary allegiance and accountability to their local sending church rather than their mission                          board or organization.

                        -They should be committed to the establishment, growth, and expansion of local churches, and their role as a tool                          that is not indispensable in that process.

                        -They should be diligently working on passing on the baton to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Christ is the Head of the church. He has revealed his plan for the world through the administration of the church, the household of God, according to Ephesians 3.

A local church needs to filter partnership with a parachurch organization through the lens of the household order of the church. Here are several rough guidelines that will follow then in working with parachurch organizations.

·         The parachurch organization must recognize that they are not the local church, cannot function as a local church, or cause the local church to function as a parachurch organization. The parachurch organization is a manmade structure created out of response to a context. It is not an eternal organism as the church is.

·         The parachurch organization must have a strong understanding and commitment to the gospel.

·         The parachurch organization must serve the church as their high calling. This must not just be on paper, but in their practice.

·         The parachurch organization exists to protect the church and its purity of truth and love by providing resources or opportunities that advance local churches rather than stifling them.

·         The parachurch organization defers to the authority to the local church in issues that are the biblical missionary work of planting and establishing churches through evangelism, forming churches, and passing on the deposit to faithful men who will shepherd the local churches.

·         The teams that work under the organization have been commended by the local church and its leadership.

·         The parachurch organization defers to the authority of the local church and the local church, at the same time, recognizes that when the church participates with them, it operates voluntarily under the guidelines of the organization for the purpose of common ministry betterment.

Acts 13:1-3 gives us a window into describing the process of commending leaders in Gospel ministry to ministry within the local church and beyond in planting or establishing other churches.

Acts 13:1 begins with a list of the equipping leaders in the church at Antioch. While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, The Holy Spirit lets them know that He has a work to for two the leaders, Saul and Barnabas, and the leaders are to set them apart for that work He had called them to. The rest of the leaders left behind would continue the work of establishing the church at Antioch and Saul and Barnabas would be sent out for the Gospel expansion work of evangelizing strategically, establishing congregations, and passing the baton by entrusting the deposit of the Gospel to faithful equipping leaders.

The leaders, after hearing the message from the Spirit, fasted and prayed, and laid hands on Saul and Barnabas to send them off. This laying of hands is symbolic of the authority of the local church in commending ministers of the Gospel.  The local church is the mediating sending authority, not the mission board, not the Christian college, not any other parachurch organization. If the church is responsible for the realization of the Great Commission (Mt. 28:18-20) since it is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15), then the church is responsible to send out her ministers.  The laying on of hands that occurred in Acts 13 to send out the ministers of the Gospel, testifies to the significance of the authority of the local church in this action. It is the church accepting responsibility in missions under the authority of Christ.

But not only is the symbolism of laying on of hands to send out ministers symbolic of the church’s responsibility in the Great Commission, it also symbolizes the delegation of that task to worthy individuals under her authority. It is the church that recognizes the call of the individual and trusts and affirms it, because it is the church that recognizes faithful leaders in 2 Timothy 2:2 and invests in them with the expectation that they do the same as they are placed in ministry. The church identifies these leaders, trains them, tests their effectiveness and calling, and affirms them through the laying on of hands. When the church reaches the stage by way of affirmation of laying on of hands, the church is identifying with that individual in their call and ministry and delegating her authority to that person to carry on the task.

The connection of the laying on of hands unites the local church and the one sent forth in the common purpose of evangelizing, establishing congregations, and entrusting to faithful leaders. There is mutuality in responsibility for the task as the minister of the gospel represents that local church and the local church supports them through the various means such as prayer and finances available to them and as necessary. The church goes with them, goes by that person, stands with them, prays with them, sacrifices with them and helps in support as much as she can.

The church assumes great responsibility and authority for the one being affirmed to gospel ministry. The church therefore has the ultimate authority and responsibility as the mediating sending agency, not the individual, mission board, Christian college, or other parachurch organization.

But if this is true for the church’s side of the laying on of hands, then there is a parallel truth for the one who has the hands being laid on them for sending to gospel ministry. The individual who receives this recognizes the authority of the church as the sending agent, has identified with that church body as being part of it, believes in the accountability and authority of the sending body of the local church, and will not forgo his responsibility to be a faithful representative of that church. 

So from the example in Acts 13:1-3, it can be observed that:

1.       “God called the Antioch church leadership to commend Paul and Barnabas. God did not directly call Barnabas as individuals, but worked through the church.

2.       God selected men that demonstrated ability to minister in a local church setting (11:25-26).

3.       Ministry directive came in the midst of worshipping and fasting.”[1]

Michael Griffiths in his book, Who Really Sends the Missionary?, upholds this NT concept and fleshes out the relationship between the church and the missionary in a refreshing NT way in four chapters as he observes that:

1.       “Ministers and congregations have the chief responsibility for the selecting and sending of new missionaries.”

     a.       The local church possesses the responsibility to act as the sending authority and financial base.

     b.      The volunteer missionary practice is suspect on biblical and practical grounds.

     c.       Missionaries selected by local churches are ore able to create and sustain a vital church relationship that strongly contributes to the commitment and financial support of the congregation.

     d.      They are supporting roles that are valuable for mission agencies.

2.       “Ministers and congregations have a crucial responsibility for the retraining and encouraging of furlough missionaries.”

     a.       Home churches have the potential of making strong contributions to the life of missionaries.

     b.      Local congregations should accept a larger share of a few missionaries than a small portion of a larger number of missionaries.

3.       “Ministers and elders have the central responsibility for ensuring that missions are a principle passion of their congregations (and not a peripheral program for the super saints).”

     a.       The missionary calling is the burden of the whole church.

     b.      It is in the greatest interest of the health and obedience of the local church and its members to participate in global missionary work.

4.       “Ministers who are experienced pastors/teachers have a certain responsibility to consider missionary service themselves.”

     a.       Those chosen to be missionaries in the NT churches were ministers already.

     b.      The greatest need in missions is missionaries with church experience.

     c.       Experienced, matured leaders have a responsibility to train up younger ministers with the experience and ability to minster cross-culturally.

Is there a role for organizations outside of the local church to be involved with the expansion of the Gospel if the local church is the mediating sending authority? The answer is yes, with some qualifications.

·         The parachurch organization recognizes the authority of the local church in the roles of identifying, training, testing, and affirming gospel ministers and relates their cooperation in relation to that recognition.

·         The members in parachurch organizations are under local church leadership themselves and those involved in coming alongside the church and assisting the church in Gospel expansion have been affirmed as a minister of the gospel by their local church leadership themselves.

·         They are not looking to replace ministries that are going on in the local church but assist and propel them on if they do exist, or if the organization exists to fill the lack of a ministry that exists in a local church, they operate as a spoke in the wheel of ministry with the local church as the hub of centrality. The parachurch organization is a tool for the local church, not an end in and of itself.

·         If a local church cooperates with a parachurch organization, and a need to operate under the policies of that organization is assumed, then the local church voluntarily places themselves under those policies and guidelines in order to cooperate, but has the freedom to withdraw due to the autonomous nature and authority of the local church.



[1] p. 28 Leader’s Guide for Acts: Keys to the Establishment and Expansion of the First Century Church. BILD Leadership Series.

• Paul’s principles of evangelizing strategically, establishing congregations, and entrusting to appointed elders seems to be the normative process for Christ’s Church for the following reasons:
  

• His authorization
  

o   Ephesians 3:8-11 explains the unique role among the Apostles that God had given to Paul.  Paul is to declare the mystery of the administration of the household plan of God. The order for the oikonomia has been passed by the Spirit to Paul to outline in his instructions for the churches. Jew and Gentile are fellow heirs of the unfathomable riches if Christ and formed into one new man and Paul has been chosen divinely to be the person responsible to make plain the household order, house law, administration, stewardship, plan, or administration of the Household of God. Understanding and abiding by the Household order for the churches is so important that it is the very vehicle the glory of God is put up for and displayed. This household of God and how it is to operate has been God’s eternal plan and purpose since before the creation of the world. Paul’s instructions and principles for the establishment of the churches cannot be underestimated and his principles are to continue in order to reflect the same priority in the proper order of the churches so that God is glorified as His wisdom is put on display. There is strong normative authority therefore that is derived from this text.

• His application
  

(In Acts)

§  In Acts 14, after Paul has evangelized and gathered disciples, he has them instructed in the faith to foster perseverance in their Christian lives, and then prays and fasts to select Elders to shepherd over them.

§  In Acts 20, Paul rehearses his process and then turns it over to the Ephesian elders in the entrustment stage with the understanding that this to be continued in perpetuity—evangelize strategically, establish congregations, entrust to faithful shepherds over the congregation to continue the process. Paul anticipates this is to continue with no end to it  (just as Christ did-“until the end of the age.”).
 
(In his epistles) 

§  Titus 1:5 shows us that the work in Crete that remained that Titus was designated to complete fits the stages of the process of Paul’s strategy of evangelizing strategically, establishing congregations, and entrusting to shepherding elders. Evangelization had resulted in congregations that needed more establishing and Paul ask Titus to appoint elders over the congregations to continue the shepherding and establishing process. These elders would d be entrusted to continue the work Paul had begun.

§  Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:14-15 that he is writing so that Timothy will be able to tell the church how to conduct themselves as the household of God. Paul is referring to the local churches. These verses come on the heels of the preceding verses in which Paul has laid out the leadership qualifications for the Household of God who would have the care over the local church/ It is only as the Household of God conducts themselves in the proper conduct of the household order that their testimony of faithfulness will lend to their witness to the truth in the world and the basis of presenting the gospel as evidence of Gospel change from reprobates afar off into redeemed brothers and sisters held together in the Household of God for the display of God’s wisdom to the watching world. Again, evangelism has occurred, congregations are being established as leaders (such as Timothy) are entrusted to continue the process.

§  Even in the last days of Paul’s ministry, Paul is imploring Timothy to continue this normative process in 2 Timothy 2:2 as he asks him to pass the baton through the entrusting of the deposit (1:13-14) to men whose character would be observed within the Household as faithful. Paul describes 4 generations and leaves it open-ended with the assumption of this entrusting to continue until the return of Christ. This puts great thrust into the normative understanding of Paul’s principles of evangelizing, establishing congregations, and entrusting the deposit to faithful shepherds. This entrusting is not just teaching but living the teachings of Christ and His Apostles and, if need be, dying for them.

From Acts:

13:1-5 Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus, Salamis 
The sending church in Antioch is key to Paul’s missionary activity. The Holy Spirit delegated the authority of the church to send out Paul and Barnabas for the task He had foreordained. The fellow prophets and leaders of the church are made aware of the task after prayer and fasting and the church sends them on their way. The authority of the church as the entity that affirms the call of the missionary is vital to the proper trajectory of the task and it is to the Antioch church Paul will return and report to when He is finished.

13:6-12 Paphos 
Paul continues his strategy of contacting an audience and communicating the Gospel. In the previous verses he contacted his audience through the synagogue. Here he God brings them into a searching individual who occupies a government post. A fo9retaste of Jewish opposition is represented through the Jewish sorcerer’s efforts, but despite the opposition, hearers are converted by the power of the Gospel message. Saul’s name is changed to Paul at this point. Could it be because of his connection with his convert Paulus?

13:13-50 Perga, Pisidian Antioch
This part of the 1st missionary journey allows us to lean over Paul’s shoulder and read the content of what would probably be typical of the message of the Messiah he proclaims to a Jewish audience, usually in the synagogue. He declares Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law, Prophets, and Psalms, who was resurrected after dying at the hands of the Jews, and offers the forgiveness of sins and justification only through Christ apart from the Law and a warning against rejection.

The second time Paul speaks in the synagogue, Jewish opposition breaks out in fervor, Paul turns his message specifically to the Gentiles upon the Jewish rejection, and Gentiles turn to Christ in great number as the Jews expelled them from the region.

13:51-14:5 Iconium  
As Paul returns to the synagogue in the new city, Jewish opposition g=follows him and seeks to stir up the people against him. Many Jews and Gentiles did believe and and a plot to stone Paul and Barnabas was sought after.

14:6-20 Lystra 
A miracle of healing convinced a heathen crowd to worship them as gods, and Paul argued that it was the true God they should worship. Paul was interrupted before he could proclaim Christ as the Jews seized the opportunity to cause a riot against Paul and stoned him for dead, but God raised him up and they headed out.

14:21-28 Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch (Pisidian), Pamphylia, Perga, Attalia, Antioch 
Disciples are made in Derbe and Paul begins the trip back to the sending church of Antioch to report back. On his way back he visits the disciples that were made in journey in the cities and strengthens them in the faith, appoints elders to shepherd them, thus setting place local churches, and commits them to their care and the Lord through prayer and fasting.  The work is described as completed for that journey as the first phase of the task the Holy Spirit has set them apart for. The Antioch church gathers and they rehearse what God had done with the Gospel to the Gentiles and stayed there for a while.

Acts--The Problem of Historical Precedent, by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart:

"...he (Luke) was trying to show how the church emerged as a chiefly Gentile, world-wide phenomenon from its origins as Jerusalem-based, Judaism-oriented sect of Jewish believers, an how the Holy Spirit was directly responsible for this phenomenon of universal salvation based on grace alone. The recurring motif that nothing can hinder this forward movement of the church empowered by the Holy Spirit makes us think that Luke also intended his readers to see this as a model for their existence. And the fact that Acts is in the canon further makes us think that surely this the way the church was always intended to be--evangelistic, joyful, empowered by the Holy Spirit." (p. 98)

 "...we believe that much of Acts is intended by Luke to serve as a model. but the model is not so much in the specifics as in the overall picture." (p. 93)

South Hope Community Church focuses on 5 essential principles that under-gird who we are and what we do:

1. The CORE of the Gospel is what is known as the kerygma (Romans 16:25). It is the announcement from God and through the prophets of a promise of a Savior from sin and death. It announces the story and facts of His life, His sacrificial death, His resurrection and ascension, as well as His return to judge the living and the dead. It is the facts of what God did in, to, and through his Son to restore rebel humanity to a right relationship with God. (Acts 10; 1 Corinthians 1:13-31)

2. The CONTENT of the Gospel (Romans 1:16-17) is the invisible and spiritual work of God behind the scenes that the historical facts of the kerygma actually accomplished. God treated His Son as though He were a sinner, in order to treat sinners as though they were righteous. He does this when by grace through faith they have repented and believed the kerygma. The NT word euangelion, “good news,” when referencing the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus, is the good news that the sinner who believes is counted as justified and righteous. The content of the Gospel explains what the cross achieves in the purpose of God; i.e. forgiveness, righteousness, union with Christ, adoption and redemption etc. (Romans, Galatians). 

3. The CONDUCT of the Gospel (Romans 12:1-2), the teaching known as the “didache,” is what every believer is expected to learn and live out in their personal walk before God, their families, the larger family of families, the Church, and the watching world. It includes living out gospel teaching in the midst of the world through sound doctrine (Titus 2:1), good occupations, and good deeds. The Household order of the Church and the family is central to the propagation of the kerygma, euangelion, and didache.

4. The CONTEXT of the Gospel: The local Church is the ordained context as a family of families of the establishing process of believers. Ephesians 3:8-11 shows the eternal purpose of God of structuring a unique people in Christ who would show His wisdom to the principalities and powers in the heavenlies. Believing Jew and Gentile become one new man in Christ, living according to the kerygma, euangelion, and didache as a well-ordered community as God’s people display God's glory (1 Peter 2:9-12). Christ's church benefits from strong families and strong families make a strong church. A strong church is a witness for the progress of the gospel (Phil. 1:27).

5. The COMMISSION of the Gospel was given to the Apostles to plant believing communities throughout the world. Making disciples (Mathew 28, Luke 24) to multiply Gospel communities is the task of the church. To evangelize strategically, establish churches, and entrust well-trained leaders is the cycle that Luke records in Acts as the model to be used for the sake of the Great Commission. Developing leaders who are prepared in skill, character, and Biblical theology, is vital to the furtherance of the gospel.

And by that title, I don't mean that this isn't your Heavenly Father's world, but that this isn't the world your father grew up in. Culture has obviously shifted from not only post-Christian to post-Christendom. "A post-Christendom context is the formal or informal alliance of church and state" with the arrangement of the state to support and involve the church in society in arenas such as inauguration prayers, mentions of God blessing a country by the leaders, invitations to church leaders for state functions, etc.  Some of this still exists in our culture, but the hostility is quickly apparent when the ethics of Christianity are expressed.

In his book, After Christendom, Stuart Murray defines post-Christendom as "the culture that emerges as the Christian faith loses coherence within a society that has been definitively shaped by the Christian story and as the institutions that have been developed to express Christian convictions define in influence."

Here is how Murray sees the shift occurring:

1. From the center to margins. In Christendom the Christian story and the churches were central, but in post-Christendom these are marginal.
2. From majority to minority. In Christendom Christians comprised the (often overwhelming) majority, but in post-Christendom, we are a minority.
3. From settlers to sojourners. In Christendom Christians felt at home on a culture shaped by their story, but in post-Christendom we are aliens, exiles, and pilgrims in a culture where we no longer feel at home.
4. From privilege to plurality. In Christendom Christians enjoyed many privileges, but in post-Christendom we are one community among many in a plural society. 
5. From control to witness. In Christendom churches could exert control over society, but in post-Christendom we exercise influence only through witnessing to our story and its implications.
6. From maintenance to mission. In Christendom the emphasis was on maintaining a supposedly Christian status quo, but in post-Christendom it is on mission with a contested environment.
7. From institution to movement. In Christendom churches operated mainly in institutional mode, but in post-Christendom we must become again a Christian movement.
   

Perhaps as you look back and ponder these marked changes, you can see how even over the span of your life these things are becoming more evident. All these shifts mean that the way we exhibit our embedded DNA of Gospel salt and light must adapt and move to impact for the glory of Christ. What needs to change? More to come on that.

The Church. How dare we push to the edge what God has placed at the center?

Do we include this in our “life plans?” If God puts it at the center of His will in the NT, where do we put it? Crucify the American dream and live unto righteousness.