Devotional – Theological Foundations for Healthy Churches

Today we will look at four passages from the Bible to see how God’s activity affects the work of the church planter and how you can participate with Him in this.

Lead the group in filling in the blanks for the introduction.

INTRODUCTION

• God, in Jesus Christ, is reconciling all of creation unto Himself.
• The Holy Spirit empowers the Church to be a foretaste of the coming Kingdom of God, which is already here but not fully consummated.
• The Church is like the “demonstration plot” of God’s redeeming love and shows the world a new way of being the community of faith, hope, and love.
• The worldview we hold as Christians is one of a loving and gracious God who is making all things new in Christ and invites His people to participate, grounded in the Word and led by the Spirit, to reclaim this world for Jesus in light of His return!

Read your passage and meditate on the four questions related to your passage.

Passages:

1. Acts 3:17-21
2. Ephesians 1:7-10
3. Colossians 1:16-20
4. Romans 8:19-23

Questions:

1. What is God’s activity described in this passage?
2. Why is this activity necessary?
3. How does this impact the work of a church planter?
4. What resources does the church planter have to participate with God in His redemptive plan?

What a joy to know that we are participating with God in His work that has all of creation in its purview! Church planters have the privilege of following the Spirit’s leading in bringing together men and women, young and old, to form new communities of the faith that are expressions of faith, hope, and love in their contexts.”

Close this session in prayer around the things you meditated on in this study and commit the remainder of the day to the Lord’s glory.

REPORTING

In Module 1, you were asked to complete your ‘Z’ plan. The three questions in this assignment provided you a process for doing some basic research. Before we go deeper into the subject of research, let’s take some time to report your findings from this assignment.

Action Plan for Module 2 (from Module 1, Session 3)

1. Prepare or obtain a map of your city or village where you plan to plant a church. Locate as many evangelical churches in your city or village as you can and indicate their approximate sizes on the map. Find out the population of the city or village.

Christian leaders have said that for a country to have church “saturation,” it must have one evangelical church for every 1,000 people. If we accept the idea that there should be one church for every 1,000 people, how many more churches do you think need to be planted in the city or village where you intend to plant a church?

• Begin thinking about a plan for your church planting effort that includes prayer, unity and love, vision, evangelism, and church planting. Write down some initial ideas and share them with your mentor or the trainer of this session.

• Think about your neighborhood, village, city, region, or country. Consider your answer to the questions:
  • “What does God want for (name city, village, or neighborhood where you plan to plant a church)? Write the answer in one paragraph.
  • List three things that you will do to help see “Z” happen in your area.

Action Plan for Module 2 (from Module 1, Session 6)

In preparation for the next inductive Bible study lesson on observation, pick a sample short passage of Scripture to study (no more than a paragraph or so). Spend at least 1 hour prayerfully observing the passage and asking God to open your eyes to things that you have not yet seen. Record your observations. What did you learn? Be prepared to share your experience with your colleagues at the next training session.

• Refer participants to the page in their workbook with the Church Planter’s ABC: Monthly Report. Explain the reporting requirements for the course.
  • Explain how to fill out the form.
  • Explain how the group will report to each other during the reporting session in Modules 2 through 12.