Welcome
to the church planting blog

For those who want to make a difference and help people find hope, please read this webpage. This work will enable you to help Christians and the lost...

A planted church may be a person of one, or it may be a man and his family. Many nations globally and within the states in the US have few Christians in their regions.

That is why evangelism is so important. Churches are dying out all around the world. However, those who actively live doing the Great Commission can grow congregations and plant churches. We can change this crisis. We read in the book of Acts, that this was how the New Testament churches began. They began with soul saving. The birth, lifespan, and health of a congregation begins with sharing Jesus.

If you are blessed to be in one of the few remaining Bible Belts in America or have a location where there is a church or two, you can invite those you know, who may be interested, to join you in church planting work.

For those interested in planting a church and for my evangelism group, I encourage you to study this blog, it will give you ideas for church planting and for evangelism.

Church planting

Why is this important?

Most Christians don't know how to plant a church. New churches tend to sprout up when a division occurs in the body of Christ. But that is not what God intends for a healthy kingdom in making a church. When I say "plant a church" I mean to grow it naturally as we read about in the book of Acts.

In reading about Paul's missionary journeys and the epistles he writes to the new churches he, Silas, Timothy, Titus, Luke, John Mark, (among others) helped plant, (through the Word of God)). In these examples, we see a Biblical pattern that many saints in America are neglecting.

Why is this important? In the Bible Belt area of Tampa Bay, where I live, we've had about 7 churches close their doors in the last decade. I know of about 5 that will be closing their doors in the next couple of years. The clusters of churches in this area are shrinking in number and many of the congregations are small. These small local groups are getting smaller/shrinking.

This is not only a problem in Florida, when I was in Califonia I talked with saints about the same concerns. There used to be a Bible Belt on the coast of CA. This Bible Belt is no more. The churches I visited had few members, (mostly elderly) and were struggling. If you've ever traveled in the US and visited a congregation, many times you will see a large building with a handful or two of people within—many elderly. Yet how often times do you hear about this problem being mentioned in the brotherhood?

Each year we lose about 55 churches in America. Globally, religious groups are shrinking in affluent nations like Europe, Canada, Australia, Norway, and Denmark. It's not just denominations dying out but the Lord's kingdom in many regions of the world. In America, we have lost 200,000 people in 20 years. At the rate the churches are dying in America, we may not have any left (in the US) in the next 50-75 years, (if things don't change). Yet the silence is deafening. To learn more about this pandemic watch these videos A. B. or see my book, "Save a Church from Dying."

The cure for this pandemic is evangelism within the Lord's churches and within kingdom culture. If enough Christians act the tide can change. Church planting is part of the goals of such aims.

Purpose and goals:

Reason one: The goal of this blog is to teach people how to plant a church. The recorded data will do that. I will journal the efforts of this work and detail the time, events, plans, etc. that will go into this project. Church planting (through evangelism) is a process. This is an activity that requires consistent work in spreading the seed, investments of patience, time, energy, and prayer.

Reason two: This church planting endeavor will be recorded. The goal of these journaled recordings is to mentor interested men and women. As well as our evangelism group. I will record the work of this church-planted congregation. We will detail a sound structure for church growth and longevity.

Reason three: This church planting work will be a patterned example of how the first-century church grew. We will train members who will be encouraged to replicate the pattern they were shown in church planting. When they move to other areas of the US or the globe, they will be equipped to plant a church.

We want to help thirsty people find living waters. Isaiah 55:1-2. We want to invite people to God's spiritual feast.Isaiah 25:6-8; Luke 14:15-24
Too many Christians are like the lepers during the famine in Jerusalem in 2 Kings 7:3–20 They found a place of abundance and for a time kept it to themselves, while those around them starved. We want to help thirsty people find a drink and hungry people find food.

As we have been supped the eternal blessings of our salvation so we should seek to help others find such in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 In matters of evangelism, it's not that evangelism has been tried and found wanting, it's that evangelism has been found difficult and left untried. The greatest obstacle to evangelism is not unbelievers, nor Satan, it's ourselves.

If you are doing evangelism or want to begin doing this work, join us. Our goal as a church is to promote, and focus on faithfully following God's commands to seek the lost. We are here to help you in this work of evangelism. We will be a support group helping each other grow in the grace of learning/doing this work. We will be here for you when we assemble within the church in matters of evangelism. We will also be there for you in support outside of worship as well.

Church planting resources:

I wrote a book, "Save a Church from Dying" which outlines why many churches are weak, and dying. The material also outlines how to have a thriving, healthy congregation. For church planters, this is a good book to read.

The final chapter and bonus content of my book "Discipleship For King Jesus" will outline effective church-planting ideas and themes. I highly encourage using the whole book for its training content in mentorship and evangelism work. Spanish version

You may also want to study this platform for evangelism growth strategies from successful Bible-based congregations.

Within church and studies, we will cover Biblical concepts within the books "The Big Picture of the Bible" and "Muscle and Shovel." (Also in Spanish) These concepts will help Christians learn themes for teaching new converts and non-Christians.

There are also other great Bible study resources at my sister evangelism site, that has evangelism Bible lessons we can study down the road, like Benjamin Lee's book "It's Not Rocket Science: Simple Ways to Reach the Lost" and Phil and Carol Duren's book "Learning from Jesus." If you want to know is writing to you on this webpage, my name is Joseph Sullivan, to learn more about who I am, click here.

How we will begin to plant a church and form its Bible-based structure:

This Church work will be launched...
In 2026 February

If we have 2 people or 200, we win against the Enemy. Many churches are dying and are dead. Few congregations are planted. When we plant a church we'll win in this purpose. We'll also be living like the New Testament church, and thus we will be honoring God's Word. "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Acts 20:27) When we do this church planting work we will be letting Christ live in us and be fulfilling a needed effort.

If you want to join us, sign up online and let us know. To sign up, scroll down to the bottom of this webpage.
If you have any questions or comments, you can share them on our sign-up form.
We'd love to hear from you. Do you have spiritual interests?
Do you want to be used in church activities, let us know. Contact us.

You can also just come by and visit us. You can get a feel for this work by dropping by.
Keep scrolling down to see our church address and our meeting time for worship/Bible class.

Personal invite to join this work:

To my evangelism group:

I encourage you to join me and place membership. For our church planting meetings, I'll outline strategies for church growth, church planting structures, and outreach training. Which will be implemented. This church planting work is optional but if you want to get full access to all we are going to do and if you want fully develop as an evangelist as a mentor, leader, teacher and church worker, this work will help you become well rounded and mature as a soul winner. Many of our evangelism activities will be moved to this church time of Bible study and worship.

These services will be like our evangelism classes, except we'll have worship too. This church planting model will be an invaluable teaching tool for personal growth and hands-on training. You will also get chances to grow in different areas of Christian work, song leading, helping in prayer, heading up the Lord's Supper, preaching, teaching, etc., that you might not always be able to at your local congregation (due to size, etc.)'

You are encouraged to invite your Christian friends to join. You don't have to do everything at once in the roles we will outline. The goal is to get you involved and encourage you to add new roles/activities to your Christian service when you are ready. This church is for people wanting to do evangelism and actively participate. And you all fit that to a T.

To FC college students and fellow saints in the Tampa Bay area

This work will give you first-hand experiences in church planting. You will also get a chance to participate in regular kingdom-building activities, ranging from teaching, helping in worship, preaching, and song leading, to doing evangelism work. If you have fire in your belly and want to be used at a congregation. We'll use you. For men who want to become preachers, you'll get a chance to preach to grow in this field of work. You'll also have many opportunities to teach outside of services. For women, you'll be used (Biblically) in teaching the lost, female new converts, helping with evangelism, etc. This church will be evangelistic in focus. The group will not have a paid preacher or building but will use its member's for preaching and Bible class teaching. We will use our homes for meetings. The goal is to grow this work from the outside, in. The funnel we will use shall be evangelism. This will be how we will develop and mature the body of Christ.

We will encourage you to grow. But you can choose to go at your own pace. The goal is to help get you involved in kingdom work and to help you step into new roles of service when ready. We are here to motivate and support you. The goal of this church is to get people involved and help them move forward as leaders, servants, and mentors when they are ready to take new steps in that direction. This church is for people who want to do evangelism and be proactive in kingdom work. This is not a sit on the sidelines group. But you can adapt, to this work at your own pace.

Going to the church planting congregation will show you a template for church planting and a structure of what a strong evangelistically congregation is supposed to reflect. Our church is a mentorship church, this means we will actively within the assembly and without seek to help each other develop as Christians and evangelists.

Goals of this work:

More constructively using our members and funds:

This group effort will be different, the goal will not be to have a paid preacher, or a mortgaged church building, where we have to focus on physical upkeep of the building, (cleaning, mowing grass, etc.) as well as building costs, like utilities. Instead of spending a huge sum of money on renting or purchasing a church building, we'll focus on using those saved funds to save souls and grow the spiritual kingdom. We won't need to focus on church building oversight. Our focus will not be divided. We will look without our internal assembly and make the community a focus, for reaching the lost. Instead of paying a preacher, the saints can preach. Instead of having funds going to a preacher who makes from 50,000 or 100,000 dollar annually, we'll use our members to grow as Bible teachers within the church. Instead of having strangers and visitors walk into a large paid for building, with many doors and exits, we'll focus on having a home dynamic which will be personal in nature and, inviting. Our home church group will meet and greet everyone. It will be a warm place to visit and foster love as a close family. A church building has a cost of purchase/rental as well as maintenance, our funds/time/energy will go to evangelism efforts within the community and other New Testament goals of promoting the Word of God.

There is nothing wrong with having these things, (paid preacher, mortgaged church building) especially if a church group is not ready to make these steps. I also want to say, that I believe in paid preachers, the New Testament mentions that there were paid preachers/evangelists (1 Corinthians 9:6-12/1 Corinthians 9:18) and elders. (1 Timothy 5:17-18). But the payment was a chosen matter. I believe in paid preachers helping churches to the point that I've been training men globally for over many years through my online preacher training platform. I've been a paid preacher/evangelist.

This church will however focus on utilizing its member's talents to the fullest in helping them develop and grow in the body of Christ. Our focus in preaching will be on using the church members. We will seek out the potential in our church members and strive to help them grow. We will seek opportunities in mentoring our members into teachers, song leaders, prayer warriors, evangelists, pulpit preachers, etc.

In the United States, Europe, and 3rd world countries churches think they need a paid preacher for the church to function. What is optional is considered a necessity. A paid preacher can help a congregation. Yet sadly there are churches that solely rely on the paid preacher to do evangelism/preach to the lost, (Jude 23) Mark 16:15;20), and teach classes, (Hebrews 5:12-14; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Yet these are divine commandments God expects all His saints to obey.

We are expected to show the love of God to His people (John 13:35/Matthew 25:31-46). Such examples of showing Christ's love are not relegated to just the paid preacher, examples like writing the sick/visitors, visiting the elderly, being hospitable, etc. Yet many Christians view these things as only the paid preacher's job. Every one of these things comes from the right attitude of love. These concepts are Biblical. Such actions are expected of ALL of God's people. Attitudes of coldness and apathy towards others in God's family are shown by neglecting such fruits. We need to do to others as we would want to be done to us. (Luke 6:31) That's not just a work/attitude relegated only to the paid preacher.

We don't want anyone hiding their talents. This planted church will help saints use their talents. You will read in the "Parable of the Talents" that those who used their gifts were given more. And those who hide their talents have had their gifts taken away. (Matthew 25:14-30) We may not be born talented as teachers, preachers, or evangelists, but it's in using the potential and skills that God has given us that we grow more into new talents and abilities.

I've heard people say we should not all be teachers if we are not polished/eloquent enough.

Brothers and sisters, where in the Bible does it say we have to be eloquent to share/preach the gospel with people going to Hell? Please tell me. Is the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) only for those who have silver tongues?

Paul was a paid gospel preacher and in his teaching, he turned the world upside down for Christ. (Acts 17:1-9) Yet this man was not eloquent. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5) Should he not have been allowed to be a preacher? Thankfully the Holy Spirit was not a respector of persons in such matters. Paul was inspired and wrote many epistles, yet these passages were not Shakespearian poetic works of eloquence. That is not what God sought in Paul. He simply sought an honest heart to teach His truth.

People will make excuses for themselves or for others. They will say they/others should not teach due to inexperience in teaching or Bible study. God expects us all to grow so that we can be teachers. (Hebrews 5:12-14) No one is supposed to be in spiritual diapers their whole life. Others use the excuse of having worldly vices like a temper/poor control of the tongue to excuse them from sharing the eternal words of life with God's people. We are called to put off the old man and be renewed in the image of Christ. (Colossians 3:1-10) If something is getting in the way of us serving God, we should not use that as a crutch to do less but as an incentive to crucify (Galatians 2:20) what hampers us from serving Jesus. We are saved to proclaim the excellencies of Christ. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

I have heard that some women have been silent in the evangelism field, due to the belief that they should not speak/teach period. The Bible tells us that women are not to be in an authoritative role of teaching Christian men in the assembly when they meet in prayer together to worship God, (1 Timothy 2:8; 11-12). So female preachers giving sermons in the church is an obvious "no."But we do read of an evangelistic couple, Priscilla and Aquila who helped Paul and even housed the church in their home, (1 Corinthians 16:19). They did evangelism and taught Apollos the truth, (Acts 18:1–28).

Christians teaching non-Christians is a New Testament command we are all expected to follow. The Great Commission is not just for men. All are commanded to share the good news. How silly it would be, if a sister in Christ remained silent and did not share Jesus with someone, for the simple reason that the individual was a man.

Women will be encouraged to share Jesus with non-Christians. In the training Bible classes, the ladies who want to teach will work with the Christian ladies. Interested Christian females, will be given other roles to help them grow. They will be given opportunities to help set up outreach events and recruit and educate folks on evangelism work, such activities as door-knocking. Women are not to teach Christian men the Bible in a leadership role. But they are welcome to help in other areas. And will be encouraged to. When we tell women they can't serve the Lord or share Jesus we sin and encourage them to sin. The Great Commission is for all of God's children. Not just for men.

Practicing Digital Wisdom:

The goal of this work is to teach the New Testament pattern of Jesus's truths on discipleship. We want to teach people how to plant a Bible based, (evangelism oriented church).This is best done by planted churches. The goal of this local group is train people into church planters, leader, mentors and soul winners. The group will grow, but when the church gets to big (50-75) to be able to be personal, warm and loving to the who group as a community dynamic, we'll have some of the trained church workers, who are ready to lead and plant another home church, brand off to start another work.

If you want to plant a church and hower want a church to grow into the 100's over time this model maybe of interest. To many large congregations have variety of expensive physical resources that will need to be bought and transported from time to time depending on the activities of the congregation. For large churches this can be a distraction and drain on church funds. For those who want to learn how to save on cost through digital technology, please see this PDF article here. This document will also have Bilingual ideas for digital worship. Also see examples for setting up digital worship at this other document.

Place of meeting: Home church

We will meet at 2 PM on Sundays at the Sullivan home for worship/sermon.

A sign will go up on Saturday morning ahead of time to invite the neighbors to join.

We'll be described as the church planting work of the Odessa church of Christ

We will be a people for His name and faithfully follow the whole counsel of God. (Acts 20:27)

Material connected to evangelism:

Our church visitor card. Our church business card.

We'll have songbooks designed and made for our work.

Making workers for the kingdom:

Thousands of dollars a year (of church funds) can go to a paid preacher, and tens of thousands of dollars a year can go into to a church building, with its mortgage, utilities, etc. These church funds will have a much lower ceiling cost if these items are canceled out and are used instead for evangelism events, and outreach supplies for growing the congregation. The benefits will further church growth. The church funds can focus outwardly on the community, (to reach the lost) instead of inwardly, as seems to be the focus of churches in this day and age. To many churches try to court other members from other churches to join their group or woo visiting coc college students, instead of trying to grow the church the way the New Testament church grew, which was by evangelism. Having people come who have suffered (congregational) divisions is growth but this should not be the main way to add people to a congregation. I have seen in my 40 years as a Christian, churches tempting saints to leave their locational congregation so as to growth their local congregation, but its not the growth God had intended of His People.

This church planting work will of course be using the funds for other Biblical reasons, like helping church members who are truly in need, etc. Instead of paying 80 percent on having a paid preacher and our funds on mortgage/rental and building maintenance, etc., we'll primarily funnel God's money for kingdom-building outreach activities that will train God's people for works of service.

We will teach our members how to be preachers, evangelists, Bible class teachers, etc.
Our meetings will be about inclusion. Many congregations don't use all their members. We will aim to use each willing person (scripturally) as an adult Bible study teacher, song leader, preacher, evangelist, Sunday school classes, etc.

We will give our members roles (before and after worship), as encouragers to greet/sit with visitors. The new converts, visitors, spiritually discouraged, new members, those standing/sitting by themselves, etc. are to be shown the love of Christ, they are to be talked to and encouraged. We will have folks write cards to visitors, sick, etc. after worship. We will have people make communion, help with prayer, make announcements as well as help with the Lord's Supper, and the activities of "giving on the first day of the week" within the assembly.

The goal of this work is mentorship and leadership. We will use God's people within the church and without to help them mature in His spiritual kingdom-building activities. We'll study Bible-based evangelism/church growth strategies. For our congregational work I have put together a game plan here. A. B. of Bible-based evangelism/church themes to focus on as a church work.

This church work will be Bible based. If the scriptures are silent on something, we will not be doing it in worship. I have written a book on the 5 acts of worship, salvation, Bible authority, and the work of the Lord's church for you to look over if you wish. We will reflect the pattern of the New Testament church.

Structure of church service:

1. Before worship:

People are encouraged to arrive earlier to meet one another.

A. Before/after church, greet/meet visitors, and new converts, seek to encourage others, (Hebrews 10:24-25) besides just one's social circle - (Matthew 5:46-48)

B. Practice hospitality, (1 Peter 4:8-9), inviting non-Christian/Christian visitors, new members, and new converts, out to eat at a restaurant or to one's home for a cooked meal, (besides just one's social circle).

C. Before/after worship, practice the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:18-20) If fish are jumping into the boat, be ready. (Luke 5:9-10) When non-Christian visitors from the community are present, that is the chance you have to help them. Having compassion, love, and zeal will cause us to want to help them. You can invite them to our weekly Bible studies at Panera Bread, (where salvation themes are taught). Or share Jesus in other ways you wish.

D. Church members are encouraged to greet visitors, talk with them, and ask them to fill out a visitor card, "so we can write them and thank them for coming." The visitor cards will be emailed/texted to the group so they can write the visitors. The cards will also ask for their cell numbers, so we can text them our apps for church service. And our classes (digital) Bible study materials.

For more ideas on interacting with guests and church members, see my evangelism strategy page. We'll go over Bible/church growth themes in our Bible classes.

2. - Time for evangelism and moral/doctrinal learning:

A. Mentorship activities at 2:00 PM

1. The goal of this church is to help people share Jesus. The beginning 30 minutes will have fun friendship evangelism role playing activities to help you get more comfortable with talking to people and sharing Jesus. You can see videos and learn more at our friendship evangelism blog.

2. This will be a time for active teaching. The second 30 minutes we'll break into groups of 2 and for 15 minutes these small groups will practice teaching from one of our (easy to use) books. Then the one who was taught will practice for 15 minutes. Before such activities (for new people) one of the church members will explain easy steps on how to practice teaching. Also when interacting one on one you'll see examples on how to teach as well. 15 minutes may not seem long but after a year of doing this you'll become experienced and this process will become natural, The material we'll use will teach you core Bible verses on key themes for sharing Jesus with the lost. You'll also learn important concepts for grounding new Christians. More details at our teaching page. And also from our recorded blog.

These activities will also create strong group bonds in our church and strengthen us as mentors. Both of these themes are important for evangelism work. To few can talk to others about Jesus and fewer still feel like they can teach others the gospel. These activities will help each member grow and mature as evangelists who can readily share Jesus and His message.

This is powerful not only in equipping our church group, but in also sharing Jesus with visitors. Let me also say, I've had people slip through the cracks, because they had to cancel a Bible study during the work week. Especially through the holiday season, this is rough on keeping new Bible students. When we tell our Bible students we also have home worship AND BIBLE STUDIES on Sunday, (outside of time of regular denominational worship) we give them another door to walk through to keep the momentum of the studies going. Our groups are small, supportive and personal. These meetings with foster a bond with our contacts and help strengthen our ties with them as mentors (in example) and as Bible teachers.

Parents what better gift can you give your children then mentorship at a church. When they participate in these classes with you, that is what will be taking place. This church will place them in a fostering environment to help them grow in learning to do friendship evangelism and to teach others the gospel.As parents you can help them in these activities. When kids practice these mentoring and leadership skills, they will invest emotionally in the ideas of the Bible. They will learn of the importance of salvation, of kingdom work and of sharing Jesus. For parent with babies, when these little ones see you doing these activities they are absorbing and learning from you. That is powerful. Later on during our sermon/Bible class period, parents of babies or small children can choose to go into a seperate room and teach/share Bible lesson devotionals you made with them. Other church members can help with this work. When you feel your child is old enough to help with church work in teaching a Bible lesson or sermon during our BIble lesson/sermon slot, they can start attending the Bible lesson/sermon period.

After this we'll talk, stretch our legs, etc for 15 minutes.

3. -Worship starts at 3:00 PM OPENING ANNOUNCEMENTS/WORSHIP:

1. Welcome - Introduce any new visitors by name. (Ask beforehand for permission) to have them stand up and introduce themselves.

2. Mention those saints who need prayers, as well as family, and friends of church members who are sick. Share news of upcoming evangelism activities, church events, etc.

3. Outline the order of worship and why we do it this way (using members to preach, why meeting in a home, etc).

A. - The Bible pattern of worship:

Everything we do will be from the Bible. We won't add to God's words. (Proverbs 30:5-6); (Matthew 15:8-9)

Everything we teach needs to come from the oracles of the Lord. (1 Peter 4:11) This is God's command and expectation. (2 John 9)

We must do all in Jesus' name (authority) that He's given us from His Word. (Colossians 3:17) If we claim to love Him we will do this. (John 14:15; 23)

I will list Bible passages for the reasons we do each thing mentioned in worship.

In the book of Acts we read that the church did 5 acts in the assembly for worship.

We are not to add or subtract from God's teachings in this matter. (see above passages)

The church is supposed to be the pillar of truth. (1 Timothy 3:15) So it is the truth we will practice and only the truth.

We must be zealous for God's kingdom. (Matthew 6:33/1 Corinthians 15:58)

B. - Schedule of worship:

1. We are to pray to the Lord. We are to seek His support and guidance.

A. Begin church with - the first prayer (Acts 2:42) (1)

2. We are to sing gratefully to the Lord. And instruct one another in the songs we sing to our group.

A. Then a song (Colossians 3:14-16) (on Lord's Supper) (1)

3. We are to partake of the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-28 /Luke 22:17-20)

We are to remember Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.

This is a time of gratitude for what He's done and also a time of sorrow for the price He paid on our behalf.

A. Then we have a (short/a few minutes) Bible talk about the bread and then prayer for the bread. (2)

Then partake of the bread.

B. Then we have a (short/a few minutes) Bible talk about the fruit of the vine and then prayer for the fruit of the vine. (3)

Then partake of the fruit of the vine.

4. The Bible tells us to give to the Lord (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).

We are to give as prospered on the first day of the week in the church.

This is a time when we should give as a church, joyfully. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

This means we are to be aware of our blessings in Christ. This requires mindfulness, in worship in acknowledging/reflecting on what God has done for us. Gratitude is part of the Christian walk. (Colossians 4:2) This time within the assembly should reflect that mindset.

A. Then we sing a song (on Giving) (2)

B Then we have a (short/a few minutes) ) Bible talk and then prayer on giving.

5. Then we have a song before the Sunday Bible teaching (3)

C. Conclusion of worship with Bible study

A time of sharing the Bible: Teaching the Word (Acts 2:42) The goal is spiritual growth of the group. (1 Peter 2:2 )

As teachers we need to study and rightly handle His Word when we do this practice. (2 Timothy 2:15) For those who will be teaching they can choose to either do a sermon they make (aim for 25 -30 minutes) or teach a Bible class lesson (aim for 25-30 minutes). Sermons can be done in the traditional lectureship format or in an interactive format of engaging the congregation through asking questions and getting responses.

For Bible classes our church group will have a specific Bible lesson we'll focus on teaching for each quarter. We will study core church growth Bible lessons for (25-30 minutes) that outline New Testament themes about evangelism (in the adult Bible class). Such lessons will also focus on doctrine and moral themes. Our classes will give people a chance to teach and students a chance to grow in doing Bible based studies for personal development. Teachers are encouraged to have the class conversational and engaging. Our classes are where everyone will meet and can share ideas and thoughts on the materials we study.

Teachers can help the students brainstorm ways they can improve from what they learn and share feedback. Our evangelism themes can cause us to reflect on ways of getting better as a church. The class structure: We will all meet as a group, the members will study the Bible lesson materials, and discuss what was read to discover how to best implement ideas they learn. Then when worship is done, the church members/visitors can chat and connect with one another. We'll study Bible materials that will focus on kingdom-building themes. We will initially use the listed resources here.

8. Closing of church - song (4)

J. Closing of the church - prayer (4)

Click here to download

Order of Worship PDF

Articles for this church work:

Our Structure of church Elders and Deacons

Duties for this church work that you can do.

Evangelism plan:

Outreach activities:

A. At church we will greet visitors/invite them to do a weekly study with us at Panera Bread or at a person's home (a Bible teacher and some members can head up/help with such events. We will teach them Bible soul-saving/church themes in group classes.

Tuesday and Thursdays are the times we teach the lost and new converts Bible truths. But for personal studies your doing or if another day works better that is fine too. Tuesday and Thursday are default times. If a Bible study contact cancels on a certain day, we will try to reschedule for that week And if that person cant make it, our church Bible studies, (on salvation/grounding themes) will be part of getting continuel studies with our contacts. If a Bible student misses enough week, they tent to slip through the cracks. So its important to try to keep them engaged each week in studies. This home church will help with that.

For those who want to teach, these classes give Christians a chance to support a Bible study and grow as a teacher. Our Bible lesson content will be the same content we use in our church meetings during our practice teaching period. The material has been used for a decade (by me) and has been effective in bringing the lost to salvation as well as in grounding new converts. At my evangelism resource page, there are many excellent materials worthy of study on evangelism. At this page, I have listed as a soul saving Bible study aid "Home Bible Study by Johnnie Edwards. At this link I haver written the benefits to using this material. And methods for using this resource.

Our church assembly will have "teaching others to teach" classes to help all of better share Jesus. This material is our default resource as a church. But other soul saving resources maybe used down the road. Also for personal work, any resource you want to use is of course encouraged. God wants us to do evangelism and part of that is to be able to share the message with others. Our supportive church group will help each member reach that goal.

Down the road, when we don't have Bible study contacts on either Tuesday or Thursday we will be doing coffee shop evangelism at Panera Bread. These meetings are great places to invite non-Christians to.

C. We will have an evangelism event once or twice a month, for our church members.

1. Events can range from campus outreach, door knocking, vendor work at a fair, flea market, etc. After each event, we will go out to eat to reward ourselves for our hard work, discuss the evangelism efforts we just did, share feedback, and connect with the group. See past recordings of outreach events A. B.

2. We will also have friendship evangelism infield activities. These activities will help Christians get comfortable with approaching people to give invites, talk about spiritual things, and even set up live Bible studies with folks. See our friendship training page to learn more.

A. We will meet at church for 15 minutes to study friendship evangelism. We will also practice role-play doing friendship evangelism with our group remembers. I'll share morning prep you can do for getting ready for friendship evangelism. See our friendship training page to learn more about our classes.

Having an evangelism culture will be foundational in the church planting work. This is what a New Testament church is supposed to reflect. Many churches sadly, do not do evangelism in the community. This church planting work is for those who do want to follow the Great Commission.

See the article on our purpose and reasons for making evangelism a large part of the culture of this church planting work. There are many Bible ideas and spiritual themes shared in this document,

The Great Crisis of our times:

The great disparity of our times is the kingdom's apathy towards evangelism, from this has come congregational decline, Biblical illiteracy, and weakness in the brotherhood in the bonds of hospitality, love, and mentorship. I've heard from preachers, and saints stories of cold/cliquish assemblies. I've seen it myself. Places where I came in, worshiped, and left, the whole time being ignored. How much worse is it when the unsaved go to such places?

The Lord's people used to be called "walking Bibles." The church members were known for befriending visitors and inviting these people into our homes and lives. Church of Christ members in the 1800s and early 1900s were known for their commitment to doing the Great Commission. They were prayer warriors in fasting. In the US, most people knew what the church of Christ was.

Nowadays most don't know who we are. If the spirit of the Great Commission was actively followed within the kingdom the great disparity would cease. From the fruits of love, zeal, and Bible study, these mentioned trends would change. Not all churches are this way. But many are. Not all Christians are this way. But enough are that this has become part of our reputation. The fact that you are here, reading this says your heart is invested in His kingdom. It says you care and want to be part of the change.

In reading evangelism books I came across some quotes I want to share. I encourage you to think about them.

"I can guarantee that there is one thing you cannot do in Heaven that you can do on earth. You can worship God in Heaven. You can praise God in Heaven. You can sing songs to God in Heaven. You can learn God’s Word in Heaven. But one thing you cannot do in Heaven is share your faith with a non-believer. Why? Because everyone in Heaven is a believer. Do you realize that when you take your last breath, you will never again be able to talk with a lost person? Since that is true, shouldn’t it be a priority of your life to reach out to all the lost people on earth while you can?

Auburn University gave me a four-year basketball scholarship for one very simple reason. I don’t say this to be cocky, but I can shoot a basketball pretty well. I can take that orange ball and put it in the goal. Some people say I was born with the talent. I don’t believe that, although I definitely have athletic talent wired into me. The real reason I can shoot a basketball pretty well is hours upon hours upon hours of practice. All I did as a kid was shoot basketball, and if you do something often enough you get pretty good at it. So, if we can’t witness in Heaven and can witness only on earth, what is the only way we will ever become good at it? Practice. Practice. Practice. I firmly believe that witnessing is a learned talent. God burdens our hearts to reach the lost, but we must get out there and start practicing those conversations. The funny thing is, though, the more you practice, the easier it becomes." From Mark Cahill's book "One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven"

“Who, among Christians today, is a disciple of Jesus, in any substantive sense of the word “disciple”? A disciple is a learner, a student, an apprentice—a practitioner, even if only a beginner. The New Testament literature, which must be allowed to define our terms if we are ever to get our bearings in the Way with Christ, makes this clear. In contrast, the governing assumption today, among professing Christians, is that we can be “Christians” forever and never become disciples. Not even in heaven, it seems, for who would need it there? That is the accepted teaching now.

Check it out wherever you are. And this (with its various consequences) is the Great Omission from the “Great Commission” in which the Great Disparity is firmly rooted. As long as the Great Omission is permitted or sustained, the Great Disparity will flourish—in individual lives as well as in Christian groups and movements. Conversely, if we cut the root in the Great Omission, the Great Disparity will wither, as it has repeatedly done in times past. No need to fight it. Just stop feeding it." From the book "The Great Omission" by Dallas Willard

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