This sermon is about the pattern for church planting that we find in the Bible.

The church began in Jerusalem, which you can clearly see in Acts 2:41-47.

Following the stoning of Stephen and the havoc of Paul’s persecutions, the saints scattered abroad, Acts 8:1-4.  Many of them ended up in Antioch, Acts 11:19-26, which is where Paul and Barnabas assembled with the church and taught the people.

When the Holy Spirit was ready for the gospel to spread into other regions, he sent Paul and Barnabas out of Antioch, Acts 13:1-5.  They traveled preaching in many cities. And then after Paul was stoned, they retraced their steps and returned to Antioch, Acts 14:19-28.

In Acts 14:23, on their way back to Antioch, they ordained elders in every church.  In other words, the purpose of going to each of those cities was to preach the gospel and see the souls united into churches under ordained elders.

So, churches were planted in this fashion.  The church started in Jerusalem.  Then from Jerusalem a church was planted in Antioch.  And from Antioch, churches were planted out of Antioch in other cities.

One of the cities where a church was ultimately planted out of Antioch was Ephesus, Acts 18:24-19:7.  After Apollos had been there, Paul showed up and led Apollos’s disciples to Jesus Christ.  By Acts 20:17, there was a church there and Paul called the elders of the church so that he could instruct them before going to Jerusalem.

During his journeys, one of the men that Paul took with him and trained was Timothy, Acts 16:1-3.  Acts 16 was around 50-52 AD.  There is much that Timothy did in his work with Paul.  When Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy, he called him his son in the faith, 1 Tim 1:2-3.  When Paul wrote that letter, Timothy was at Ephesus.  After the second letter Paul wrote to Timothy, around 68 AD, Timothy had become the first bishop of the church of the Ephesians.

Notice in 2 Tim 2:2, the method that Paul gave Timothy for training men so that church planting would continue beyond Paul’s ministry (2 Tim 4:6-7).  The pattern was to take what Paul taught and preached to Timothy, from Timothy to faithful men, and from faithful men to others also that they would teach.

From the church in Antioch, a church in Ephesus was planted.  And from faithful men in Ephesus who were able to teach others also other churches could be planted.  Did these men stay or go out of Ephesus?  To answer this question, let’s see what Paul wrote to Titus.

Titus, written around 68 AD, was also called Paul’s son after the common faith and one who did much with him in the ministry, Titus 1:4.  Titus was the first bishop of the church of the Cretians.

In Acts 27:8, 21, we see how a church was planted from Antioch to Crete.  During Paul’s long stay on Crete before the shipwreck, he undoubtedly preached and many were saved.

Notice Titus 1:5, Titus was left in Crete to ordain elders in every city.  So, on this island, multiple churches were started out of the church Titus pastored.  And in Paul’s letter to Titus, he gave Titus the description of the character of the men in v.6-9, who he should ordain.

These characteristics match what Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Tim 3:1-7, implying that the men Timothy was training were men who would also become elders/bishops in other cities and churches planted out of the church in Ephesus.

So, you can see the pattern.  From church to church, the souls are saved and the churches are formed (planted) by the Holy Spirit and men are ordained as elders.

I talked about church planting with Pastor Keck this week.  My mind about it had been that when we go to another city to start a Bible study, we are just “testing the waters” to see if the Holy Spirit is going to actually birth a church.  But his instruction is that you’re planting a church out of another church, when the Holy Spirit is leading you to another city.

He said that in Wisconsin, if you simply go to start a Bible study in another city, you’d quit before there ever was a church planted.  It’s too hard up there.  Historically, in Wisconsin, churches were started out of other churches just like the Biblical pattern.  When the churches quit following the pattern and left church planting to an organization supported out of a common fund, Bible believers lost the state.

Thus, what we are doing follows the Biblical pattern.  Bible Believers Baptist Church started as a mission (church plant) out of First Bible Baptist Church in Green Bay, which was out of FBBC Rochester…  Pastor Keck can trace the history back further.

In our church, we have been committing to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also, according to 2 Tim 2:2.  And now these men are going to plant other churches out of our church.

So, the Spanish Bible study should be viewed as a church plant over which this church will “ordain” Josh as the pastor.  We should view the Kingsville Bible study as a church plant over which this church will “ordain” Robert as the pastor.  And we should view the work on Réunion Island as a church plant over which this church will “ordain” Auré as the pastor.

Pastor Keck said that the pastor of the church out of which another church is planted, in these cases our church, is the one most keenly aware of the timing of ordaining pastors in the churches being planted.  So, we will prayerfully follow the Lord in these decisions.

This is the Biblical pattern all the way from Jerusalem at the beginning through Antioch and eventually to Corpus Christi and beyond.