Steve Childers began by describing that he was able to visit a dungeon recently where African slaves were once kept. He reminded us that William Wilberforce struggled deeply with whether he should serve God or parliament. In the movie Amazing Grace, there is a powerful scene where a woman tells Wilberforce that He can do both.
So too, we surely want our lives to account. We too, like Wilberforce, need to align our purposes with God’s.
God loves to manifest his presence and pour out his power on those who will dare to align their purposes more with his.
[Note: I was able to put this up quickly because I received an advanced copy of Childers’ notes. Those attending the Conference received a large training manual; in what follows below, I frequently grab sentences from this manual.]
Childers then stressed the importance of vision – not just for a particular church plant, but for how church planting fits into God’s mission in the world of bringing glory to Himself by redeeming sinners out of every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev. 5:9). God’s vehicle for accomplishing this is the church. We need to see our personal stories within God’s over-arching story.
Childers’ message was broadly divided into four headings:
I. A Vision for the Glory of God
II. A Vision for the Kingdom of God
III. A Vision for the Church of God
IV. A Vision for the Gospel of God
I. A Vision for the Glory of God
Key Question: What is God’s purpose for the world?
Answer: To bring glory to God.
Childers referred to several Scriptures that make clear that Man was made for the glory of God (Matt. 6:9; Ps. 86:9; Rom. 15:8-9). He used this well-known Piper quote:
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.” John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad
Against this backdrop, the bad news is that Paradise has been lost due to the Fall, with the result being that the whole world is under the control of the evil one (I John 5:9). The good news is that a new world is coming (Col. 1:19-20) and humanity will be restored (Rev. 7:9). Fallen Creation will be restored (Rom. 8:20-21; Hab. 2:14).
II. A Vision for the Kingdom of God
Key Question: How has God chosen to glorify His name among all nations?
Answer: Through the expansion of His kingdom.
We are now living in a very unique period of time–between the resurrection of Jesus and the restoration of all things through Him.
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Today, we are to be making God’s invisible kingdom visible. Jesus, we’re told, “went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” (Matt. 9:35-36) Yet the gospel is often proclaimed in virtual disregard of spiritual formation (doing the business of making disciples) and social transformation (pursuing righteousness and justice). Childers suggests that the roots of this problem can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece. Much of today’s Christianity has been unduly influenced by Greek Philosophy (Platonic Dualism)—which emphasizes a great division between things like: 1) the soul and the body or 2) the spirit and matter or 3) the spiritual and the social. Since the time of Augustine, this merger of Christian theology with Greek philosophy has been commonplace—resulting in a tendency to regard spirituality as a private matter and to ignore the world.
Childers then challenged us to examine how sin has damaged the particular culture in which God has placed us. (Most attendees are new church planters.) What injustice, church planter, exists in your city? How about poverty? Materialism? Prejudice? Oppression? Shame?
We are to make the invisible kingdom of Christ visible in every sphere of life.
III. A Vision for the Church of God
Key Question: How has God chosen to advance His Kingdom in the world today?
Answer: Through the multiplication of churches.
Paul’s ministry passion was not merely to preach the gospel to as many people as possible but to plant churches in every nation. In the book of Acts we read, “They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples…Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church…” (Acts 14:21-23) God has chosen to advance his Kingdom purposes through the Church. New churches are kingdom outposts and the hope of the world. The church is the only institution designed and ordained by God for the spiritual, social and cultural renewal of all nations.
“The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for the numerical growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city. Nothing else—not crusades, outreach programs, parachurch ministries, growing mega churches…nor church renewal processes—will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting.”–Tim Keller
What is a “Church”?
• The preaching of the Word: Sound, biblical teaching.
• The proper administration of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
• The presence of church discipline: Qualified (1Timothy 3, Titus 1) and ordained spiritual leaders committed to maintaining purity of church doctrine (orthodoxy) and life.
Paul desired to see a network of gospel-centered churches established.
IV. A Vision for the Gospel of God
Key Question: How can we be empowered to do this?
Answer: The gospel is the power to save the lost and to grow the saved.
1. Good News for the lost: A new record
God promises to save from sin’s penalty those who believe in Christ and to consider them as His beloved, chosen children forever (election). As Judge, God promises to accept the sacrificial work of Christ as satisfying (propitiating) his just wrath against man and consider man’s sin imputed to Christ and Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to man (justification). As Father, God promises to accept and love those who believe in Christ just as he accepts and loves his one and only Son (adoption). (Ephesians 1:4, II Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 2:16, Colossians 1:22, John 1:12, I John 3:1)
2. Good News for the found: A new heart
God also promises to give those who believe in him a new nature delivering them from sin’s domineering power over their lives by freely giving them a new heart (desires) and a new Spirit (regeneration) to empower them to know God, honor him and enjoy him forever (sanctification). Although we can never be free from sin’s ongoing influence until heaven, God promises through Christ to deliver us (redemption) from sin’s domineering power today. (Acts 2:38-39, Ezekiel 36:26, John 3:1-16,16:5-15, Romans 6:6-7, II Corinthians 3:18b)
3. The Good News for the Community: A New World
God also promises that one day all of our struggles will be over and we will be brought to our eternal home–a place where He will wipe away every tear from our eyes and make all things new. (Ephesians 1:13-14, Romans 8:30, Titus 1:2, I Corinthians 15:20-57, Colossians 1:20, Revelation 21:1-4)