Ripe for Harvest

12 • R IPE FOR H ARVEST

in the neediest communities in our nation. Our prayer is that this resource contributes to that vision.

Church Planting – a Work of the Holy Spirit Church planting is a spiritual activity. It is not like building a house or starting a business. It requires prayer, worship, fasting, teaching, discipline, and wisdom. Without the leading and provision of the Holy Spirit, we cannot possibly see a church planted among an unreached people group needing to know of the love of Christ. Knowing this, the objective of this book is to guide you in the process of discerning God’s guidance in planting a church in another culture, in order to fulfill his call in the Great Commission. Our prayer is that by the time you complete the exercises in this book you will come to understand the truths of Gospel ministry in such a way that you will be spiritually and tactically ready to plant a church. As a result, each session opens with worship and a devotional and ends in an extended prayer time, which are both essential aspects of your preparation to plant a church. The five sessions represent the span of a church plant team’s effort and ministry in a neighborhood or among a people group, from your initial prayer gathering to the time of transitioning the new church with its pastoral leaders. Each session is specifically designed to help you develop a portion of your church-planting strategic plan. The final session will help you wrap up the details in order to have a plan that you can execute under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Guidebook’s Structure: Understanding the Session Format This book assumes that the teams that the Lord calls will possess different visions for the church, and will approach their church planting in various ways. Whether you are planting a church in your own culture, or planting a church cross-culturally, you will need to chart your own unique journey, being informed by the principles presented in this book. Whether planting a church in your own culture (i.e., intra cultural mission), or facing the complexities related to cross-cultural mission, we have provided additional notes and/or questions that will prompt you to consider issues relevant to your unique church plant opportunity. We will identify these notes and insights in their own section entitled “Charting Your Own Course.” These sections are written to prompt you to consider how the material relates to your particular vision and work. Spend good time reflecting on the issues and questions covered in this section in order to get maximum benefit from the material in each session.