Introduction:

Church planting in the Bible
Just because you can’t find the term “church planting” in the Bible doesn’t mean that church planting is not a biblical idea. If you’re looking for it, you’ll see church planting all over the New Testament. For example:

• Jesus was a church planter – Jesus, the hero of the Bible, established the universal Church and declared the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). He also led a small congregation of disciples, teaching them the Word of God, sharing communion with them and commissioning them to plant more churches.
• Paul was a church planter – His commissioning by the church at Antioch in Acts 13 marks the beginning of an incredible church planting streak by the great apostle. Over the course of 13 years, Paul embarked on three missionary journeys, during which he traveled more than 7,000 miles and planted at least 14 new churches.
• The Apostles were church planters – The Apostles themselves were church planters, and the book of Acts is an account of their church planting ministry. They planted churches with little support from other churches and against great political and religious opposition. Ultimately, their commitment to obey the Great Commission by planting churches cost them their lives.
  • The Great Commission is a call to plant churches – Spoken by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission is essentially a call to plant new churches. We can say this because baptizing, teaching and making disciples are exactly what churches are commanded to do throughout the rest of the New Testament! Additionally, the dozen men who originally heard Jesus say the words “baptize, teach and make disciples” responded by spending the rest of their lives planting new churches.
• We think the Great Commission is a call to a two-week mission trip.
  The disciples thought it was a call to start new churches.
  Virtually every evangelical church in North America would agree that the Great Commission applies to all churches, and all churches and all Christians should endeavor to fulfill the Great Commission. Yet, far fewer are able to accept that every church and every Christian should be involved in church planting. This perspective contradicts Scripture. It is important to realize the Great Commission is fulfilled by church planting, and the Great Commission cannot be properly fulfilled without planting churches.
  Consider how the great preacher Charles Spurgeon urged his congregation in a sermon titled “The Waterer Watered” on Sunday Morning, April 23, 1865:
  “We encourage our members to leave us to found other Churches; nay, we seek to persuade them to do it. We ask them to scatter through—out the land to become the goodly seed, which God shall bless. I believe that so long as we do this we shall prosper.”

Our Purpose: What is our Purpose?

Our purpose is to glorify God by advancing a movement in Parsons KS and surrounding area that is multiplying micro churches, churches and disciples through the transforming power of the gospel. Through this movement we are seeking to advance God’s kingdom in word and deed through developing a biblical world view and changing the culture by raising up churches in our region that share a passion for the glory of God in his church.

Making the invisible kingdom visible in Parsons and the surrounding area through making disciples that make disciples and starting and strengthening churches.

1. Our Vision: What is our Vision?

In dependence upon God’s grace, our vision for Parsons includes:

• Empower people to be Culture Shifters toward Biblical Worldview
• Establishing indigenous, healthy, growing micro churches that are making a significant gospel impact within our town and among all of our culturally diverse people groups

• Developing kingdom-minded churches throughout our region with a strong focus on transforming our cities and towns through a Biblical Worldview.

• Growing our churches primarily through relentless, effective evangelism and gospel centered discipleship that results in the regular conversion and transformation of individuals and families

• Developing a cooperative Micro Church Planting network that is recruiting, training, and mentoring emerging church planters to multiply churches among our region’s diverse groups of people

• Establishing a missional Micro Church Planting movement that is working in strategic partnerships with other ministries to facilitate more and better Micro Church Planting movements at home and abroad.

“Our vision is not merely to reach Parsons with the Gospel

but for Parsons to become a “Sending City” to all Nations!”

Our Values: What are the core convictions that motivate what we do?

• Making Jesus Lord- We do this by daily walking with Jesus in an intimate and personal relationship by way of prayer, reading the bible and building relationships with people.
• Gospel-Centeredness- Bible as the authority for all things, it is God breathed and its self-attesting authority is essential to everyday life as we live out our walk with God by seeing life through a Biblical worldview.
• Discipleship- Becoming a convert without becoming a Disciple is not a biblical principle. The word Disciple or the form of this was used more than 260 times in the New Testament as the word Christian was used just 3 times. We cannot become merely a Christian without becoming a disciple, which is a follower of Jesus and Jesus said that we are to then in turn make disciples in Matthew 28. Disciples make disciples plain and simple.

1. Our Strategy
2. We believe that everything is built in relationship and community. Christ main mission here on earth establish His Kingdom on earth and take back all dominion and authority over hell death and the grave. He did this so He could redeem us and we could become part of that Kingdom as image bearers of God. Jesus built relationships, set people free preached His Kingdom and then sent His disciples to do the same. Relationships, community and evangelism are an essential part of the body of Christ. Building Missional communities are necessary for the world we live in and throughout history.
3. Discipleship/ leadership training and becoming a resource center for the community are vital to Culture Shift Center. If we don’t become a place where people can come and get trained and equipped then, where? Our aim is to be a source of discipleship and micro church training and equipping in the Parsons area and then send those people to the community to live on mission.
4. We are a network of Churches and Micro churches that plant churches and micro churches. These essentially are in the neighborhoods in which we live work and play. Whether at your job, home, or on the ball field, court, gym or lake or where ever your fun and happy place may be. We are leading a group of people in a discipleship relationship with the intention of them doing the same in a short amount of time. While continually being coached, mentored and discipled.

1. Measures
2. We are intentional about setting aside time to listen to God through His Word, His Spirit, and Prayer!
3. We share our story every week?
4. We engage in Gospel centered conversations weekly!
5. We are intentional about meeting new people!
6. We live out God’s grace through our actions and obedience!
7. We are daily learning God’s Word!
8. We are constantly making disciples that make disciples

1. What do we do? We Make Disciples that make Disciples
2. What is a Disciple? A Disciple is one who faithfully follows the Spirit of God, lovingly obeys the Word of God, and intentionally invests in the expansion of the family of God by training others to do the same.
3. How do we do it? We do this through Evangelism and winning the lost, through Equipping the Saints for the work of the Ministry, We Empower them to then go and do the same.
4. Evangelism- Evangelism means preaching, announcing, or otherwise communicating the gospel, our salvation. It’s delivering the message that Jesus Christ is not only the Son of God but also gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins. In doing so, He ensured eternal life for anyone who believes.
5. Equipping the Saints for the Work of Ministry, Ephesians 4:11-13 – And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
6. Equipping is the intentional act of supplying someone with the tools, knowledge, skills, ability and confidence to perform a particular job. In this case we equip the Saints or Children of God with the necessary tools to live out the Great Commission daily. We do this through a 4 month Discipleship process through the Timothy Initiative and daily reading of the Word as well as doing life together time with one another. We build relationships that are lasting and personal and during the 4 months we are doing the work of the ministry and not just studying a book. This includes intentionally sharing the gospel where we work, live and play. After this 4 month each person is encouraged to start their own group while still being accountable to their leader. Every believer is expected to be able to share the gospel, win the lost, and disciple someone or a group of people.
7. Why do we do it? To Glorify God, to be obedient to His Call and Command in Matthew 28:19-20, to Shift the Culture of Parsons to one that sees the World through a Biblical World View. To make God known to the community, the city and the world. It is our belief that obedience is a necessary part of the Christian life and Discipleship cannot be separated from Salvation. If we are not being discipled or making disciples then we are not fulfilling the Commands of Christ and we are living in disobedience to His Word.
8. What is a Biblical Worldview- What is a biblical worldview?

A biblical worldview (or a Christian worldview) is a worldview based on God’s unchanging Word. It is a belief that the Bible is 100% real and true, it is God breathed and inspired, that we must believe all of it or none of it, that we must life by it.  Since God is the Creator of everything in heaven and earth, He is the standard for truth. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and unchanging.

1. The Bible contains the words of God, and God is Truth. Therefore, we can trust what it says (John 17:17). 2 Timothy 3:16states that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” Inspiration means that God “breathed it out.” The Holy Spirit guided and directed humans to write down and preserve His words through Scripture.
2. A biblical worldview is not just a theoretical idea. A biblical worldview changes the way we respond to major events in the world. How do you respond to a natural disaster? How do you respond to traffic? What do you do if your fast-food order is wrong? How do you respond to a terrorist attack? What is our response to political turmoil? Someone with a biblical worldview is going to respond to these events through the lens of Scripture. While others may have their worldview shaken after a disaster, a Christian will respond with trust in God’s wisdom, confidence in Christ’s future return, and zeal for spreading the gospel.
3. Christians don’t rely on a biblical worldview only when major events happen. A biblical worldview informs how Christians prioritize their time and money, respond to leadership, raise their children, and respond to hurtful words and comments. God’s Word is a guide for all of life.
4. Other examples of worldviews

Secular worldview: A secular worldview teaches that beliefs are a matter of personal preference, not absolute truth. Truth in a secular worldview comes from reason and science.

Scientific worldview (Scientific Naturalism): Our Biblical Worldview textbook defines a scientific worldview as, “A worldview which holds that there is nothing but natural elements, principles, and relations of the kind studied by the natural sciences (p 307).”

Postmodern worldview: Postmodernism believes there is no absolute truth. Personal truth is determined by your upbringing and culture. It believes that truth is just used to suppress and oppress the less powerful.