Church Planting Resources

New Testament Church Plants

As we examine the church plants in the book of Acts, we can discover several principles that will help us in our own church planting endeavors.

Jerusalem (Acts 2:37-47)

Jesus’ first church plant took place in Jerusalem. I think it is worth noting that the Lord only let Peter have a "one-day crusade" in order to get this church "off the ground." Did you ever wonder why they only continued the "meeting" for one day, when three thousand people were saved in that short a time? Most of us would have extended the meeting, and stayed as long as we could, once we saw that kind of success!

I believe that Jesus was planting His church responsibly! It would have been irresponsible for Jesus to let Peter have a seven-day crusade and keep on winning souls! He only had a hundred and twenty leaders! If any more people had been saved, this new church would not have been able to handle it.

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Three Kinds of Church Growth

• Internal Growth

This is growth in Grace. Out of the good treasure of a good man’s heart, be brings forth good fruit. If you want to bring forth more fruit, then increase the treasure in your heart. In our local churches we want to put value into people. We want to see them grow to the place where they reproduce themselves.

• Expansion Growth

This is the numerical increase of the church within its own community. We wall want our churches to grow. I couldn’t stand just maintaining the same number of people year in and year out. God has not called us just to maintain. He has called us to “occupy until He comes.” (Luke 19:10)

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Principles of New Testament Church Planting

The Great Commission provides us with the scriptural foundation behind our desire to plant churches. In Mark 16:17, Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." There are several conclusions we can draw from this verse of Scripture.

First, the Commission is universal. The term "every creature" is certainly all-inclusive. There is no "people group" on the face of the earth that is excluded from our Commission. We cannot afford to rest until every person in our community, regardless of their race or social position, has had an opportunity to hear the gospel presented effectively enough to allow them to make an informed decision.

Secondly, the Commission is urgent. We need to place a high priority on evangelism! Statistics show that only fifteen percent (15%) of the churches in North America are growing. And, of those that are growing, only one percent (1%) is growing through new converts. The rest are growing through "transfer growth." That tells me that we have not taken the Great Commission seriously. If we had, then all of our churches would be growing through new converts, the people we have led to the Lord. We need to discover a new urgency in our call to evangelize our communities.

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7 Different Types of Church Plants

1. The Mother-Daughter Model
   1. An existing church plants in close proximity to itself.
   2. People and resources are released from the mother church.
   3. The mother church usually carries all of the expenses.

1. The Apostolic Team Model
   1. A new work in a larger center lying outside the reach of an existing Victory church.
   2. A pastor/planter and several experienced full-time or lay leaders form a team.
   3. Financial support comes from VCI for a certain period of time.

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