Chapter 1 questions

Discussion Questions

1. How does Trinitarian theology inform your concept of mission?

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit created mankind as a manifestation of the communion that they share with One another, and a deep desire for communion and reconciliation with us, so our mission as God’s ambassadors is to share God’s desire with everyone we develop relationships with.

4. How does Trinitarian theology inform and affect your goals and plans for church planting?

Instead of thinking about establishing one long-standing congregation out of “Christian obligation,” that grows larger and larger, and is filled with programs established to keep the members happy, and in one community, we will seek to establish churches that continually multiply, and spread out far and wide as our members operate in the kingdom building gifts given to all of us by the Holy Spirit to keep adding new and maturing believers to God’s family.

5. Review the following passages and discuss their implications for church planting:

Matthew 16:13-20

Jesus is the one who builds the church, so we partner with Him to plant churches where we share His desire for reconciliation and communion.

Mathew 28:18-20

Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations, which is why we work with Him to plant churches.

Acts 1:8

The Holy Spirit gives us power to be Jesus’ witnesses throughout the world, so we plant churches with Jesus as a part of that witnessing.

1 Corinthians 3:5-15

We plant and water, but God brings increase, and we are His fellow laborers. Jesus is the foundation on which we plant churches.

Ephesians 4:1-16

God has given us all roles to play that build up the body of Christ that will help us all to mature spiritually, and in planting healthy churches with God, we create spaces where communion, reconciliation, and spiritual maturing takes place.

7. How is God already at work in your ministry context?

God is at work in the plan that He has given us regarding a church plant in our community. Our town is the perfect place to plant a church, because there are a large number of unchurched families who would benefit from learning about God’s desire for relationship with them versus feeling guilted into church attendance because their sin caused Jesus’ death, and to avoid punishment.

8. What changes need to occur in your current congregation in order for it to become more aligned with God’s mission to the world?

Although the Assemblies of God doesn’t espouse Trinitarian theology, the transformative truth embodied in this theology will be the core of the church that God will plant through us. Additionally, our current church needs to be more discipleship and multiplication minded, because that’s the desire of God’s heart. We have been attending our current church for over seven years, and despite continual outreach efforts, there has been very little growth (both numerically, and in the personal lives of the members). With the exception of a couple of people, any new members have been families or friends of people who were already members, and these people were not new believers, but have switched from their church to ours. I believe that if people had more of an understanding of our missional, incarnational, and reconciliatory roles in God’s plan, there would be more of both types of growth – for God’s glory, and not man’s.