CHURCH MULTIPLICATION PRINCIPLES

• Read Mark 6:30-32

  ³⁰ The apostles gathered round Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’

  ³² So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

  . Rest is not an unfortunate need of our weakness but a foundational discipline of Godliness and wisdom. Jesus modelled the importance of rest, withdrawal, solitude, reflection and refreshment. The apostles had just returned from a mission trip which was both exciting and exhausting. They were reporting back all that had happened. The crowds were pressing in, the demands of the people and ministry opportunities were overwhelming. What Jesus did seems unexpected. He takes his team away with Him to a quiet solitary place so they could get rest and refreshed for the next round.

• God established a rhythm in life that includes hard work and regular rest. We read in Genesis 2:2

  ² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

  “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” God does not rest out of necessity because He is weary but because it is in His nature to do so. Planning for and scheduling regular times for rest and refreshment is just as important as working hard if we want to serve Jesus with our lives growing to be more like Him. It’s important for our health as well as for our families and disciples. Jesus is as much involved with you in your resting as in your working.

Complete Obedience to God’s Word.

Just as Jesus submitted fully to His Heavenly Father and taught us to do so, every Church Planting Movement has an emphasis on submitting fully to the absolute authority of God’s Word. Jesus taught His disciples that knowing what the Bible says is not enough. It is those who practiced what they learned that were like houses built on the rock. That is the reason why we practice obedience based Bible study/discipleship. We believe that it is more important to do what the Bible says than to accumulate more and more knowledge without obeying. In church multiplication movements, the emphasis is on obeying what the disciples are learning and upholding the Bible as the source for our answers to life and ministry. [Teach hand gesture: hold hands like an open book].

Dependence on Extraordinary (Abundant) Prayer—Depend completely on God through prayer.

The early church depended on the power of prayer for the spread of the gospel. Often before anything else is done to begin reaching people for Christ or establish multiplying churches, the first step is to mobilize believers from throughout the target area and even from around the world to pray fervently for God to work. [Teach hand gesture: hands in a prayer position].

Abundant Evangelism—Urgently take the Gospel to everyone in the target area.

Since Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost” and instructed us “that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations” every Church Planting Movement seeks to make sure everyone has the opportunity to follow Christ. In church multiplication movements, people have a deep burden to reach out to those around them. They love to tell their stories, and to lead others to a saving knowledge of Christ. They do not get sidetracked with other activities,
because they know the most important mission in life is to seek and to save the lost. They know that not everyone will respond positively to the gospel, but they never stop sharing Christ because they truly believe that people are lost without Him. They want to make sure that everyone in their target area has the opportunity to received Christ, and when they have shared with everyone nearby, they actively seek to share Christ to surrounding areas. [Teach hand gesture: throwing seeds from your
hand].

Intentional Church Planting

Every church planting movement grows because of intentionally seeking to form churches. A wise person once said that “you will probably accomplish what you set out to do.” If you want to plant reproducing churches, then you must set out to plant reproducing churches. New believers must be intentionally discipled to practice the characteristics of Acts 2:42-47

in a simple transferable way. [Teach hand gesture: pushing pointer finger into open palm of other hand].

Churches Meet in Homes.

Every church planting movement use homes for new churches to meet in. Just like in the New Testament, homes are natural meeting places for the networks of relationships of new believers. Homes allow Biblical, simple and transferrable models of church to meet, learn about Christ and
impact the surrounding community. A key element of movement is having intimate communities of believers who are not weighed down by the financial burdens of maintaining a building, are simple
to lead and manage, easy to provide loving accountability and that keeps the believers closer to where the lost live. [Teach hand gesture: hands make a triangle].

Multiplication, Churches Planting Churches – It is intentional

Everyone aims at developing churches that multiply. There is no uncertainty about the goal and purpose of each leader. Everyone is seeking to start churches that will also start new churches.
[Teach hand gesture: hands form triangle and then open and close].

Healthy Churches

To get this kind of rapid reproduction, the churches must be “healthy” churches. One way to describe a “healthy church” would be one that obeys the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. The Great Commandment and the Great Commission really help to summarize the
purposes of the church. And in movements of churches, there are a lot of people who are seeking to love the Lord and love others. As they do this and begin to practice the characteristics of church, they grow in their maturity and are healthy. [Teach hand gesture: put arms up like showing off muscles].

Local Leaders.

Leaders are appointed from local new believers. Paul understood the importance of having local leaders who could be present with the new communities of believers. In fact, nowhere do we see Paul appointing leaders from outside the local community. A key principle is that the resources for the movement are in the harvest. In other words, the leaders for the movements are not existing believers right now. They are identified and developed from the harvest of new believers. We
should never do anything by ourselves. Always bring someone with you so that you can model and mentor as you go. [Teach hand gesture: open palm; make a circle with pointer finger to demonstrate leaders coming from inside the group].

Ephesians 4 Leadership—Develop everyone to lead, not just paid workers.

The key leaders of church multiplication movements are ordinary Christians, not full-time paid pastors. There is no distinction in God's eyes between a businessman, a painter, a farmer, a government employee or a graduate from a Bible school. In many churches, leaders act as if their
job is to do all the work of the ministry. And their congregations often act as if the pastor is supposed do all of the work, since the congregation is supporting the pastor through tithes and offerings.

But in Ephesians 4:11-13

, the role of the leaders is to equip the members of the church so they will do the work of service. There is no requirement in the Bible that a pastor should be “full-time.” Believers mature after or while they are serving.

In Church Multiplication Movements:

• Most of the leaders are lay people – people who work at some other vocation and serve God voluntarily from their extra time.
• Every Christ-follower must obey to make disciples. Making disciples is for everyone! (This is what Jesus commanded).

If we desire to see movements of multiplying churches, we must follow these principles. Everyone is to do the work of ministry, not just the especially talented or gifted, and not only paid pastors and workers. Everyone is to make disciples! This is the norm for the members of the church in the New Testament, and it should be our norm as well. [Teach hand gesture: push up imaginary sleeves like you are working].

Rapid—generations of churches are multiplied in a short period of time.

Rapid reproduction must be in the core value of each church being planted. It is common to see new churches being started every 4-6 months. The book of Acts records 6 summary statements of how
the Word of God spread, the number of disciples and churches grew rapidly. In only a 10 year period, Paul was able to say that his work was done in half the Roman Empire! Maturity in Christ is enhanced by starting new churches because leadership development and the discipleship of every member are built into the ongoing structures of church life. [Teach hand gesture: take fisted hands and roll arm over arm in front of you].