Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition - Mentor's Guide

M E N T O R N O T E S / 1 8 1

Focus on Reproduction Church Growth – Reproducing in Number and Quality

L E S S O N 3

Welcome to the Mentor’s Guide for Lesson 3, Focus on Reproduction: Church Growth – Reproducing in Number and Quality . The overall focus of this lesson is to equip your students with an understanding of evangelism, discipleship, and church planting as it relates to the urban community. If urban anthropologists are correct, within the next 20-25 years, every person in three will be an urban-slum dweller! For the first time in human history, more people live in cities than in rural or agrarian areas; missions in the 21st century will, of necessity, be urban mission. The argument of this lesson is that the fastest, most effective, and most fruitful form of spiritual reproduction is urban cross-cultural church planting. Your role in this lesson is to challenge your students to prepare themselves for a new wave of ministry and missions, to become a part of that cadre of urban workers who, if they yield themselves to God with new abandon and focus, can impact, even transform thousands of communities as they go forward in mission, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with the message of Christ, for the glory of God the Father. The lessons are structured carefully to walk your students through the process of planting churches in the urban community. In lesson one, we begin our study with the subject, Church Growth, Reproducing in Number and Quality . Here we affirm the single most critical concept in understanding mission in the city: the lordship of Jesus Christ. As risen Lord and God’s Anointed Messiah, Jesus has been exalted to the position of head over all things to the Church and Lord of the harvest. In lesson two, Planting Urban Churches , Sowing we introduce the important concept of oikos in urban evangelism. Here we show how an oikos is that web of common kinship relationships, friendships, and associations that make up a person’s larger social circle. Beginning with an outline of oikos in the NT, we then explore the meaning of this critical idea for urban cross-cultural evangelism. In lesson three we further outline the second main phase of church planting, Equipping , through the idea of follow-up , or incorporating new disciples into the Church. Arguing that the Church is God’s means of bringing new Christians to maturity, we provide key elements and tips in the practice of following up new believers in Christ. In this lesson we will also look closely at the practice of discipling growing believers. Finally, in lesson four we consider our role in helping new churches progress toward independence through Empowerment,

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