Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion you should be able to:

• Support and defend the concept of church planting from biblical, theological, and practical viewpoints

• Recognize church planting as an outgrowth of Jesus’ proclamation that He will build His church

• Relate to church planting as participation among “God’s fellow workers” in the proclamation and demonstration of the kingdom of God

• Summarize the skills and character attributes needed by successful church planters

• Analyze the positives and negatives of church planting using a team approach

• Develop an appropriate ecclesiology for the planned church plant

• Define the characteristics of healthy churches

• Explain the importance of vision to church planting and describe how core values and cultural style and expectations may dictate how the vision will be implemented

• Discuss key issues that must be addressed in the church planting effort

• Choose leadership styles and structures appropriate to a church planting effort within a particular culture and community

Course Outline

Introduction

• Introducing the Speaker and the Course

Unit 1: Church Planting

• Built on the Rock

• We Are God’s Fellow Workers

• Church Planting: A Rationale

• Three Pragmatic Reasons for Planting Churches (Reason 1)

• Three Pragmatic Reasons for Planting Churches (Reasons 2 & 3)

• Objections to Church Planting

• Ethical Guidelines for Church Planting

• A Brief History of Church Planting

• Historical Development of Protestant Church Planting Philosophy

• Gospel-Planting Movement

• Development of Church Planting Movements

Unit 2: Biblical Foundations for Church Planting

• Where Do People Get Their Ideas of Church?

• Historical Definitions of “Church”

• The DNA of the Church

• Our Culture’s Expectations for “Church”

• Ekklēsia:The New Testament Word for Church

• Sorting Different Uses ofEkklēsiawith Louw-Nida

• Luke’s Description of a Functioning Church

• New Testament Images of the Church

• Finding Metaphors for “Church” Using the Bible Sense Lexicon

• Some Contemporary Definitions of the Church

• Five Contemporary Images Describing the Church

• Church Planting in the Book of Acts

• The Ministry of Jesus and His Disciples

• Researching the Date of Acts in Commentary Introductions

• Paul, the Church Planter

• Paul’s Methods for Church Planting

• Strategy, Spontaneity, and the Leading of the Spirit

• Using the Bible Facts Tool with References to the “Holy Spirit” in Acts

• The Pauline Cycle of Church Planting, Part 1

• The Pauline Cycle of Church Planting, Part 2

Unit 3: The Church Planter in the 21st Century

• Characteristics of 21st-Century Church Planters

• Church Planter Assessment

• Characteristics of a Successful Church Planter, Part 1

• Characteristics of a Successful Church Planter, Part 2

• Using the Prayer List Tool for Church Planting

• Church Planting Teams

• Some Potential Strengths of a Team Approach to Church Planting

• Some Potential Weaknesses of a Team Approach to Church Planting

• Structuring a Church Planting Team

• Characteristics of Church Planting Teams

• Searching on Biblical Conflict Resolution

Unit 4: Vision Leads the Way

• The Importance of Vision

• Vision Motivates

• What is Vision?

• The Power of Vision

• Biblical Examples of Vision

• Vision Comes from God

Unit 5: Values Shape Vision

• Different Values Cause Different Expressions of a Vision

• Values Shape Styles

• Other Influences on Style

• Why We Do What We Do

• Identifying Our Core Values

• A Biblical List of Church Core Values

• Core Values of Contemporary Churches

• Midcourse Review

Unit 6: Reaching the Community with Christ

• How Did Jesus See People?

• One-to-One Contexts Are Unique

• Studying Acts 16 in the Faithlife Study Bible

• Three People, Three Contexts, Three Approaches

• The Context of Culture

• Earning the Right to Speak

• Research the Community Context

• Describe Your Audience

• Personal Examples of Describing the Audience

• Engaging the Audience

• Ministry and Style

• Exegeting Your Church’s Culture

• Getting the Word Out, Part 1

• Getting the Word Out, Part 2

Unit 7: Church Planting Models

• A Changing Church for a Changing World

• A Sampling of Church Planting Models

• Church Planting Movements

• Evaluating Church Planting Models, Part 1

• Evaluating Church Planting Models, Part 2

• Churches: Start Healthy, Stay Healthy

• Another Look at Characteristics of Healthy Churches

Unit 8: Issues Church Planters Face

• Four Key Issues in Church Planting

• Evangelism and Discipleship

• Historical Examples of Mass Evangelism

• Contemporary Examples of Mass Evangelism

• Evaluating Mass Evangelism

• Attractional, Missional, and Incarnational Models of Church

• Defining Authentic Discipleship

• The Core Competencies of Christian Discipleship

• Developing as a Leader

• Appropriate Leadership Style

• Sketches of Leaders in Scripture

• Leading in Different Cultures or Communities

• The “Perfect” Leader

• How Did Jesus Develop Leaders?

• The Emergence of Leaders

• Transitioning to New Leaders

• Accessing Constitutions and Bylaws

• Structural Considerations

• Financial Considerations

• Bivocational Church Planters

• Breaking Financial Dependency

• Churches Indigenous to the Culture and Community

• The Meeting Place

Conclusion

• Some Things to Remember

• Closing Thoughts

Details

• Title: MI201 Church Planting

• Instructor: Timothy Sisk

• Publisher: Lexham Press

• Publication Date: 2014

• Product Type: Logos Mobile Education

• Resource Type: Courseware, including transcripts, audio, and video resources

• Courses: 1

• Video Hours: 6