Generating Kingdom Momentum

A ppendix • 43

Becoming Like Your Teacher: Developing Effective Church Planting Apprenticeships , continued

Introduction

War – Hard apprenticeship of Freedom.

~ Edward Everett Hale

With the incarnation and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the Kingdom of God has come! Christ Jesus has made a public spectacle of Satan, his minions, and all that the Kingdom of Darkness represents. He is God’s Champion and Commander of his heavenly hosts. At the same time the Kingdom is yet to come. We live in the age of the Church who presses forward in the expansion and advancement of the Kingdom of God. As C. S. Lewis stated, “Enemy-occupied territory – that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” You are following in the footsteps and calling of the first saboteurs, the Apostle Paul and Barnabas (Acts 11.25, 26, 30; 12.25; 13.1-3). Like them and the countless missionary saints after them, we all must enter into an apprentice phase until that time comes when the Spirit of the Lord, through the Elders, says, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Paul for the work to which I have called them.” Whether you are hosting such a program or believe that God has called you to participate within one, you will need to trust the Lord to provide you with all you will require to fulfill your duty in Christ. We all must gladly submit to that full range of responsibilities as servants in the church for the purpose of being set apart by the Holy Spirit to engage in the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus. As his ambassador, you are called to evangelize, make disciples, raise up leaders and establish a new church in “enemy-occupied territory” for the glory of God. Being a representative for Jesus with the task of planting an outpost of the Kingdom of God requires nothing less than a ready response to his call to ministry, sharing the life of Christ as his chosen vessel and servant. As the demon told the sons of Sceva, referring to authentic spiritual identity, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize” (Acts 19.15b). With the foundation of Christ confirmed in you and the mantle of his calling upon you, you can both offer or undergo rigorous and disciplined church planting training. If you are hosting an apprenticeship program, you can be God’s chosen instrument to raise up laborers for Christ. If you are called as an apprentice, you can be equipped in order that you may become competent and fully assured to go and accomplish the task the Lord has given you.