Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1
P ART III: P LANTING U RBAN C HURCHES • 285
Are we ready to LAUNCH? • Does each team member understand the essential core of the Gospel message and feel confident in sharing it with others? • Have we contextualized the message and the evangelism methods so that we are most likely to gain a hearing and have the Gospel understood? • Have we identified the most receptive members of our target group? • Have we agreed on the initial methods and outreaches we will use to make contact and begin sharing the Gospel? • Do we have a plan for following up those who accept Christ as Lord and Savior? Are we ready to ASSEMBLE for public worship? • Do we have a core of genuine converts who have made a break with their old way of life confirmed by: ~ Verbal confession of Christ as Lord, Acts 2.21; 22.16. ~ Symbolic confession through baptism, Acts 16.15, 33; 18.8. ~ Behavioral confession through good works and a changed life, Acts 26.20. • Are those converts evangelizing others and bringing them to the cell groups? • Are there fledgling leaders who have already taken on responsibility and who can continue to be apprenticed as we move to public worship? Have we focused on NURTURE? • Do we have a plan for preaching and teaching the basics of the faith? • Are we identifying and discipling (apprenticing) emerging leaders so that they are taking increasing levels of responsibility? • Do we understand church discipline and are we holding people accountable to obey what they have learned? • Are we identifying every member’s gifts and are we including everyone in the work of the ministry? • Are we teaching people how to listen to the Word and the Spirit? • Are we recognizing and celebrating what God is doing among the people?
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