Allegheny Church Planting: EFCA – ReachNational Missional Summit with Bob Roberts

Shift of thought that Muslim Imams not the false prophets who falsely promote Christ, but they are religious leaders in darkness. They are not the enemy. Great commission will be fulfilled through the Middle East. We must go through the religious gate-keepers of the world. What did Paul do with the Rabbis? We must do the same with Muslim leaders. Roberts believes that the Great Commission will be fulfilled by Muslim leaders coming to faith in Christ and proclaiming the Gospel.

What matters most to Muslims? Issue of war and peace between Palestine and Israel. So we must be careful not to so align with Israel that we forsake our Palestinian brothers who are trying to take the gospel there. Muslims want to be with people who believe and live truth. They have more respect for bible-believing evangelicals who are sincere than for liberal Christians who relay the truth doesn't matter as long we all just get along.

Don't start churches for the suburbs, start churches for the world.

Follow Jesus to where all hell is breaking loose – whole church gets involved.

Bang on front door first, but be honest about who you are

Decrease in the West so East can increase.

Go in and embrace the culture, don't fight it.

Serve not to convert, but because we have been converted…because Christ has changed me.

Become their best friend.

Great Commission made all religion go global.

IF THIS IS ALL TRUE, WHY PLANT CHURCHES?

Church-planting movement is a Western term, but it is a reality in Asia, not because they created a movement. We can't create movements, because movement go beyond our control. As long as we have control, it is not a movement. The Church is the result of a move back to Jesus. We focus on planting churches, but we need to focus on moving people back to Jesus.

If we want to produce disciples, be with someone who has effectively made disciples. We have to learn from the whole body of Christ.

CHURCH-PLANTING MOVEMENTS:

Take Time (usually preceded by 100 years of seed-planting) Don't minimize seed-sowing.
(Read historians to understand movements (Rodney Stark))
They are very personal and societal…evangelism through very natural relationships
They are lead by disciples, not preachers
No record of any nation having more than 1 cp movement
Generally come from the Young
Collaborative networks (not how is my tribe, how is the gospel)BUT most important network is your local church planting churches, that's your network.
A thing of the Holy Spirit
Are we burdened and broken hearted because we didn't plant a church this year from our local church?

What is coming next? Church-planting movements have been tribal and national, but coming up are international, global, multi-ethnic church-planting movements. How do we get ready for this?

We go from gospel to pastor to church to disciples to society to world.

World go from gospel to disciple to society leading to a church. So don't focus on raising more preachers, raise more disciples.

In China it's every disciple a church-planter.

We need more apostolic pastors to raise disciples and planters. We need church-planting churches that plant churches for that will go beyond its own generation that start for the next generation. Raise planters to plant not just for their generation but for the next generation. Don't start churches just for ourselves. Apostolic leaders who are broken and honest and givers and riskers and evangelistic and mystic and design and …

Start with the society, not the church.

TRAINING PLANTERS