November 2004 Newsletter

WALKING IN OUR INHERITANCE

Since the launch of the book ‘Walking in our Inheritance’ on September 24^th, we have experienced a wider door of ministry open to us in the Lord. The book was the Lord’s idea and He gave clear guidelines and instructions for the writing of the book and its content. We are not saying the book is perfect but we are testifying that God is in it and has granted a release since its publication. Copies are already being read in Beijing, Mauritius and in Kenya. Nearly 500 books are in circulation. We plan for up to 200 to be distributed in Africa in the near future. The book is available to you. Simply contact us via post or email with your details. The book is sown freely but donations are very helpful to enable us to send it to more people.

FOLLOWING THE PATTERN THAT HAS BEEN SET

Last Saturday was our training day at SHILOH and we experienced an awesome opening up of the Word of God. We looked at the Great Commission that Jesus gave to His disciples and how Paul the apostle fulfilled that commission. In Acts 18:9-11 the Lord instructed Paul to stay in Corinth despite the persecution, for the Lord had many people in that city. Paul stayed and taught the word in that city for one year and six months. Then we followed Paul to Ephesus where he established some disciples of John the Baptist in the fullness of faith in Jesus Christ, laying a foundation for the Ephesian church. The Scripture says, “that they should believe on Him who would come after him [John], that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all.” Acts 19:4-7. The church in Ephesus is the pattern church in the New Testament. The fullness of what God intends in Christ’s church is revealed in the Ephesian church. It is in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that the revelation of the five-fold ministry gift is given.

 After the initial establishment of these new believers, Paul continued preaching in the synagogue for three months, but then he withdrew the disciples, “reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” Acts 19:8-10. Paul trained up many disciples to be ministers and sent them out to preach. He did not leave the city. He is probably referring to this time of training when he wrote to Timothy later on, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Tim.2:2. Paul is following the pattern that our Lord Jesus set. Jesus called many into discipleship and then specifically trained chosen groups for ministry. For example in Matt.10 He chose twelve of His disciples to be apostles; in Lu.10 He chose seventy others and sent them out. In Acts 1 there were 120 apostles and disciples, including women, who were chosen to be the company prepared and ready to receive the Holy Spirit. Notice that Jesus ministered to multitudes, discipled fairly large groups of people, but trained and equipped select ones for ministry. This is the pattern.

In Acts 19 Paul is planting a new church, setting foundations in place, and then in the school of Tyrannus training and equipping ministers. His ministry in the word is confirmed by the Lord with signs following. From Acts 20 we know he had appointed elders to oversee and shepherd the church. Remember that the church of Ephesus met in many homes. The school of Tyrannus was not a church meeting place but more like a training school. History suggests that when Paul left Ephesus, this building was no longer used by the church.

The church had been established in the homes and there it continued to meet. Again we are learning more of the pattern: laying foundations, discipling the believers, training and equipping ministers, appointing elders, and then the apostle moved on, but continued to have a relationship with the elders of the church in Ephesus.

SEVEN STEPS TO FRUITFUL MINISTRY IN PLANTING THE CHURCH

The Great Commission is primarily the making of disciples, having preached the gospel and baptised those who believe. A disciple is a learner and a learner needs a teacher. The vehicle by which the Great Commission is fulfilled in practice is the church. So the result of bringing people to Christ in any particular place is the planting of the church in that place. It is in the planting, growing and maturing of the church that all the ministry gifts that Christ has given find their expression. As we return to the pattern we see the role and place of each ministry gift; specifically we are looking at the five-fold ministry gift of Eph.4:11 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.”

The first step in all ministry is prayer. The church is planted through prayer: two or three believers gathering together in the name of the Lord.(Matt.18:18-20). As these believers meet together, having been discipled by an apostolic ministry, and covered by that ministry, they are able to “continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine [studying the word of God], fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers.” Acts 2:42  

The second step is evangelism. Out of the prayer comes evangelism: people come to Christ. Biblical evangelism always includes water baptism and ministering the gift of the Holy Spirit to the new believers. When a person is saved into a house church, these foundational experiences are expected and so the new believer becomes firmly established in the gospel, even on the first day they believe. [We have done baptisms in bathtubs, creeks, dams, and in the ocean, often spontaneously, and we have seen new believers receive the Holy Spirit in the context of their water baptism.]

The church is planted through prayer and evangelism

Who can plant the church? In the Scriptures apostles planted many churches; in Acts 8 Philip, an evangelist, planted the church in Samaria and probably in many other towns and cities; in Acts 11:19-22 some disciples planted the church in Antioch. Both Philip in Samaria and the disciples in Antioch were in relationship with the apostles in Jerusalem. Peter and John travelled to Samaria to complete the planting of the church, releasing Philip to the work of evangelism; the apostles in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to help establish and lead the church in Antioch.

The third step is nurture. The new believers need to be nurtured. Nurturing entails feeding the milk of the word, which is the basic doctrines of Salvation such as the forgiveness of sins and knowing God as our Father. (1 Pet.2:2 & 1 Jn.2:12-13) The ministry of the pastor is to nurture: to tend the lambs, to feed them, to see them healed and delivered, to bring them into a place of safety and good pasture.

The fourth step is discipleship. The ministry of the teacher is to disciple the believers once they have been nurtured in the faith. The pastor and the teacher are both elders according to the teaching of the New Testament, and they work together growing the church through nurturing and discipling. An elder must be able to teach and is charged by both Paul (Acts 20:28) and Peter (1 Pet.5:2) to shepherd [pastor] the flock of God. We are discovering as the New Testament church is restored in practice, that God is raising true Biblical elders once again who take responsibility for the local churches [house churches].

The church grows through nurture and discipleship

When Paul came to Lystra and Iconium in Acts 16, he found a disciple, Timothy. Timothy had been discipled in the local churches. He had grown up as a disciple under the local elders but was now ready for training and equipping for ministry.

The fifth step is training and equipping. This is the role of the apostles and prophets through ministry training schools and taking trainees on ministry trips for practical experience.

The sixth step is planting new churches. Once the disciples have been trained, and even part of the training, is to be sent out to do the work of the ministry, which is primarily to make disciples. This means planting new churches wherever there are groups of new believers.

The seventh step is the emergence of new ministries. When Philip first came to prominence in the New Testament it was to be a table waiter [deacon, Acts 6]. It was not until Philip went out preaching that the gift of the evangelist emerged. It was not until Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch that Saul’s teaching gift emerged and one year after that, both Saul and Barnabas were sent out as apostles. Whenever the church reforms and follows the apostolic pattern, making disciples, training ministers and sending them out to do the work of the ministry, then new ministries will emerge.

The church is brought to maturity through training and equipping disciples to do the work of the ministry, sending them out to plant new churches and seeing the emergence of ministry gifts.

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