Ripe for Harvest

S ESSION 4: N URTURE AND T RANSITION • 347

B. Only God can save the city: no fleshly weapons will suffice in spiritual battles, Ps. 127.1-2.

C. We are co-laborers with God in the battle.

1. Be strong in the power of His might, Eph. 6.10-12.

2. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, 2 Tim. 2.1-4.

3. Don’t become entangled in civilian affairs, 2 Tim. 2.4.

D. Be prepared to face God’s opponents and the effects of spiritual resistance in urban church planting. (We live in the “Already/ Not Yet” Kingdom of God.)

1. Heresies, Rev. 2.14-16

2. Division and conflict among the team, Neh. 5.1-5

3. Fear and discouragement of team members, Neh. 4.10-12

4. Moral failure within the team, Num. 25.1-3

5. Ever-deepening spiritual strongholds and fortresses in the community: demonic harassment, possession, interference, etc., Matt. 12.29

6. Spiritual blindness and unbelief, 2 Cor. 4.4

7. Abandonment: giving up on the church plant altogether, Neh. 4.10

E. As the warriors of God, we must adopt a warfare mentality and consciousness, 1 Pet. 5.8; 2 Cor. 11.14.

1. Be on the alert at all times, 1 Pet. 5.8.

2. Recognize that every square inch of ground and every soul breathing on that ground is at stake, Matt. 28.19.

Context Values/Vision

Prepare Launch Assemble Nurture Transition Schedule/Charter

3. Do not be ignorant of the devil’s schemes, 2 Cor. 2.18.