Why Do We Plant Churches?
January 17, 2016Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Speaker: Jerry Cisar
Why do we want to plant churches? Aren’t there already enough churches? Some think so. So why do we do it? It is costly and hard. Admittedly, sometimes the answer is not planting a new church. Sometimes existing churches need a pastor, and some need a pastor, a team, and a revival. That can be even harder than planting a church but can be the right solution.
We don’t church plant because “all the other churches are doing it wrong” and we need to go “do it right.” We aren’t so arrogant as to think that we have it all figured out. We are utterly dependent upon the mercy of the Lord. So why do we plant churches? Not just “we” at Gulf Coast, but why do many churches plant churches?
We plant churches because local churches are the primary means through which God fulfills His promise to restore the nations of the world to Himself. To expand on that we might say that we plant churches because God has always willed to reach all peoples by means of His people discipling others into the right and just ways of God, because the Church is God’s chosen means for making disciples, and because we inherit the command to give shepherdless people something to eat.
This Sunday we are celebrating God’s grace in allowing us to plant a church after many years of waiting for this to happen. We are saying, “goodbye” to a number of individuals. So we are having some time between services (10:05 – 11:00) to have extended fellowship between the two buildings with coffee, juice, bagels, and the like. My message will answer the question, “Why do we plant churches?” and we will see the Biblical mandates that motivate this plant and will serve to help us understand why we make such sacrifices.