church planting by the book

128 Pages·2013·0.47 MB·English

CHURCH PLANTING BY THE BOOK

© 2013 Elbert Smith
Foreword

"There's nothing new under the sun," wrote the preacher (Ec 1:9). But a fresh recovery of
seasoned, Bible-centered principles can often give rise to new waves of effectiveness. Nowhere
is this more visible than in the current missiological arena.

While in recent centuries missionaries have most often been considered merely evangelists on
foreign soil, we are now witnessing a new generation bent on recovering first century practices.
There is a growing realization that a "three-fold cord" is both scriptural and genuinely effective.
"Sent ones" are learning to practice evangelism and discipleship with the objective of planting
reproducing churches.

This recovery of first-century focus shapes the organization I am privileged to serve. While
utilizing the many gifts entrusted by the Spirit to the Church, our personnel are gripped with the
simple truth that in addition to evangelizing and making disciples, we must also focus on
planting healthy, reproducing New Testament churches in the most remote corners of this globe.
Church planting has become a barometer by which we measure engagement among the world's
people groups.

This brings me to the book you now hold in your hands, CHURCH PLANTING BY THE
BOOK. If I could have only one book on church planting (other than the Scripture, of course)
this would be the book I would choose. Elbert Smith has challenged those of us engaged in God's
church-planting mission with a study that is both remarkable in its insight and intriguing in its
simplicity. Even as you read this book, you will find yourself wanting to immediately put the
principles in to practice and pass them on to others.

The practical nature of this book should not surprise you. Elbert Smith is no mere theorist. After
first serving over a decade on the field, he was then called upon to direct a major missionary
training school in North America. During the ensuing years, Smith has trained literally
thousands of mission personnel who are currently serving around the world. These missionaries
are employing the practical and clearly enunciated teachings you now have the benefit of
reviewing for yourself.

Elbert Smith will be the first to tell you that there is nothing original about what he has written.
After all, it has all been recorded in the Book of Acts and proven effective through the centuries.
But Smith's distillation of these truths, coupled with practical, do-able application creates a
growing conviction of the necessity of practicing them today. After all, the Great Commission
has yet to be fulfilled...and a lost world awaits the Gospel.

Tom Elliff
President, International Mission Board
Southern Baptist Convention
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 
Chapter One: The Church in Jerusalem ................................................ 5 
Chapter Two: The Church in Antioch ................................................ 31 
Chapter Three: The Church in Pisidian Antioch ................................ 47 
Chapter Four: The Church in Iconium ................................................ 57 
Chapter Five: The Church in Lystra ................................................... 66 
Chapter Six: The Church in Philippi .................................................. 77 
Chapter Seven: The Church in Thessalonica ...................................... 89 
Chapter Eight: The Church in Corinth .............................................. 101 
Chapter Nine: The Church in Ephesus ............................................. 114
CHURCH PLANTING BY THE BOOK

INTRODUCTION

What an exciting, but challenging, time. You and your family are
planning to go from the familiar surroundings of home to move to a new
country to take the good news to those who have not heard. Or perhaps,
your church has embraced a people group1 that has not heard of the
Savior, with the desire that they hear the good news and have an
indigenous, multiplying church in their midst. Or again, you have seen
the Biblical truth of God’s love for the nations2 and desire to dig deeper
into what His Word says about church planting. God’s Word, used by the
Holy Spirit, is your primary source of guidance in all of life. But where
do you go to understand what the Bible says about the missionary task?
Where would you look to find specific insight regarding church
planting?
Certainly God can give insight to the church planter from any
part of Scripture. For example, shortly before departing for Mexico City
for our second term of service in 1995, I was reading through the Old

1 Scripture begins calling our attention to distinct people groups in Gen 10:5,
NASB: “every one according to his language, according to their families, into their
nations.” This theme is found at the other end of Scripture with the vision of “a great
multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and
tongues, standing before the throne” (Rev 7:9). Attention to people groups is paramount
for all followers of Jesus because our commission, our marching orders, is to make
disciples of all the ethnicities (Matt 28:19 “all the nations” translates panta ta ethne
[πάντα τὰ ἔθνη], from which we get our word “ethnicity”).
2 This passion of God for “all the families of the earth” is clearly seen in
Abraham’s call (Gen 12:3), and continues through both the Old and New Testaments
(Exod 7:5; 1 Kgs 8:60; Ps 67:1–7; Isa 49:6; John 3:16; Rom 10:13–15; Rev 7:9).
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Testament in my quiet time and came to Eccl 11:2: “Divide your portion
to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may
occur on the earth.” I sensed in my spirit that it would be wise to apply
that verse to our work that term and I made sure during that term my
wife, Kay, and I were working with several church plants at the same
time. One of those groups became a solid church that has started other
churches. Some of those groups faced “misfortune” and no church was
planted. I feel like the Holy Spirit guided me with an application of the
Ecclesiastes passage. But church planting was not the primary topic of
Ecclesiastes. God can give insight from the Old Testament or the
Gospels, but church planting is not the primary topic of any book in
those places.
The book of Acts is a principle place to lay the foundation for
understanding how to go from zero churches in a city to the first church
in that place. In Acts, the church planter today encounters nine different
descriptions of the first church in a city. In each of these church plants
there are common threads as well as unique insights. The Holy Spirit
who inspired Luke to write these passages gives insight and application
for the listening church planter today.
It is impossible to say how many churches were planted during
the period from the ascension of our Lord Jesus to Paul’s arrival in
Rome, described in Acts 28. Nine are definitely described and we will
look at each of those. However, there are so many places in the account
where many other churches may have been started. When Paul writes to
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the Galatian churches, he speaks of “the churches of Judea which were
in Christ” (Gal 1:22, emphasis added)3 referring to a time perhaps little
more than four to five years after the ascension. We only know of one
church in Judea from the book of Acts, the church in Jerusalem.
Obviously, there were others.
Following Philip’s ministry in Samaria (Acts 8) we are only told
of baptized believers (8:12), and Peter and John “preaching the gospel to
many villages of the Samaritans” (8:25). No churches are mentioned in
chapter eight. But the next chapter tells us of “the church throughout all
Judea and Galilee and Samaria” (9:31, emphasis added). There were
possibly many churches in Galilee and Samaria shortly after the time of
Saul/Paul’s first Jerusalem visit.4 Following the amazing conversion of
Cornelius’ household in Acts 10 we assume that a church was planted in
Caesarea, but neither the book of Acts nor the rest of the New Testament
clearly says so.5
However, there are nine places where the book of Acts or Paul’s
epistles make it clear that a church was planted: Jerusalem (Acts 5:11;

3 1 Thess 2:14 also mentions “the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in
Judea.” Italics added for emphasis of the plural noun.
4 Acts 9:31 is the next verse after the description of Paul’s first visit to
Jerusalem in 9:26–30. This visit is the point referred to above as perhaps little more
than four to five years after the ascension. (That timing can be seen by looking at
several New Testament passages. The letter to the Galatians appears to be written to the
churches of Paul’s first journey and seems to come before the Jerusalem council, which
took place in 48 or 49 A.D. According to Gal 2:1, Paul was converted 14 years [which
could have been a portion of the year at the beginning and the end of the count] earlier,
or around 34 to 36 A.D. The visit happened 3 years after his conversion [Gal 1:18]
which would put this around A.D. 36 to 39 approximately four to five years after the
ascension.)
5 On his journey to Jerusalem, Paul stays in Caesarea with Philip the evangelist
and the description seems like a church (Acts 21:7–14). But we are not told specifically
about a church in Caesarea.
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8:1) and Antioch (Acts 11:26; 13:1); from Paul’s first journey, Pisidian
Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, (Acts 14:23; Gal 1:2); from Paul’s second
journey, Philippi (Phil 4:15; 2 Cor 8:1), Thessalonica (1 Thess 1:1; 2
Thess 1:1) and Corinth (1 Cor 1:2); and Ephesus (Acts 20:17) from his
third journey. These nine definite church plants will be examined for
common threads and unique insights providing guidance for church
planters today.
Common threads found in Acts include the description of a
healthy church first found in the Jerusalem church in Acts 2. These
characteristics of a healthy church are found throughout the rest of the
book. Other common threads also include:
• beginning where God’s Word had been sown,
• presenting the gospel on the authority of Scripture,
• the Holy Spirit saving and filling new believers,
• discipling those who believe,
• experiencing opposition,
• departing and returning,
• equipping leaders from the new congregations.
Unique insights in Acts include the different ways the Holy Spirit guided
workers, the challenge of not understanding the heart language in one
city, the different locations where groups met, and making tents when
necessary. Some things are repeated often, others are unique insights.
The Holy Spirit who guided Luke to write the book of Acts
applies these common threads and unique insights as church planters
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today follow His direction.6 Like a little water can prime the pump to
provide a long supply of water, these insights turn our attention to the
book of Acts as the primary Scriptural source for guidance in planting
the first church in a city. Let’s get started with our examination of church
planting in the Word of God: Church Planting by the Book.

6 Clear scriptural commands given to all believers are to be carefully followed
in all church plants. The doctrine which was “once for all delivered to the saints” is the
critical foundation in every new church (Jude 3). However, much of the book of Acts
consists of narrative passages which contain neither doctrinal teaching nor clear
scriptural commands given to all believers. The Holy Spirit guides church planters to
apply insights from narrative passages in specific ways that are best for each situation.
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CHAPTER ONE:
THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM

The book of Acts dedicates chapters one through seven to the
church at Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem is also the location of
portions of chapters nine and eleven, and all of chapter twelve. Because
of the amount of attention Scripture gives to this church we will consider
its beginning as described in Acts 1–2, the description of a healthy
church at the end of Acts 2, and then its growth as described in Acts 3–
12.

Beginning of the Church in Jerusalem
The beginning of the church in Jerusalem in some ways is more
than the beginning of a church in one city. It is also the beginning of the
church.7 Previous to the book of Acts, there are three references to
“church” in the gospels. One is Jesus’ statement that He will build His
church and the other two describe how the disciples are to handle church
discipline (Matt 16:18; 18:17). None of these verses describe the
beginning of the church: that had not yet taken place. The birth of the
church was left for the Holy Spirit after the ascension of Jesus.

Prayer
As is often the case in Scripture, the first reference to a topic is
filled with important insight. The first description of a church plant

7 While the related groups “people of God” (Exod 3:7; 6:7; Isa 40:1; Jer
2:11,13; 18:15; Zec 2:11; Matt 2:6; 1 Pet 2:9) and those in “the kingdom of God” (Matt
12:28; Mark 1:15; Luke 4:43; 9:2; 13:28–29; 22:16; John 3:3, 5; Acts 8:12; 14:22; 19:8;
Gal 5:21) existed previous to Acts, Scripture begins using the word “church” to
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begins with an emphasis on prayer, a very important insight for church-
planting teams today. As soon as the emphasis in Acts 1 moves from the
ascension of the Lord Jesus to the actions of the apostles after the
ascension, the description is of prayer. “When they had entered the city,
they went up to the upper room where they were staying…. These all
with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts
1:13–14). The team that God had put in place for the planting of the
church in Jerusalem began with a focus on unified prayer. This emphasis
on prayer is found throughout the description of the Jerusalem church.
Prayer was apparently what had brought the 120 together in Acts
2:1. The miracle and subsequent arrest described in chapters three and
four began as Peter and John were going up to the temple to pray.
Leaders did not just talk about prayer, but were actively engaged in
praying. In Acts 6, seven Spirit-filled men are named to serve tables8 so
that the twelve apostles could devote themselves
Begin with prayer
and make it
to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
foundational in all
you do.
Following the martyrdom of Stephen in chapter
seven, Luke’s story moves to places outside Jerusalem, but when the
narrative returns to Jerusalem in Acts 12, Peter is arrested “but prayer for
him was being made fervently by the church to God” (Acts 12:5). The
church in Jerusalem was birthed in prayer, was led by people who prayed
and was characterized by prayer. The first application from Jerusalem for

describe baptized believers in Jesus Christ who have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit
starting with the church in Jerusalem.
8 Verb form of the noun ‘deacon.’
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