Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• By
• Dr. Tom Cheyney

www.PlanterDude.com
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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• The most important issue in shaping an
  effectual gospel-centered church plant is the
  lead planter. Cool bands, hip buildings and
  powerful children's ministries may contribute but
  do not make the principal distinction. It is the
  understandable visionary leadership of the lead
  church planter.

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• He is sent by Jesus Christ to proclaim the
  good news.
• Jesus is still calling church planters to
  proclaim the glorious gospel of repentance and
  redemption and restoration. He is looking for
  those truthful men who are centered on the gospel
  and not on the faddish methodologies of mob
  building. He is looking for those who are willing
  to surrender all for God's undertaking. (Cf.1
  Cor. 117 Gen. 124)

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• He proclaims the Gospel by the power of the
  cross of Christ and not with worldly intelligence
  or techniques.
• He preaches Christ crucified (1 Cor. 123)
  and with the power and wisdom of Christ (1 Cor.
  124).  Our message is to be Christ crucified,
  risen and coming again. It is the only message
  church planters have for a lost world. reliance
  upon charming, creatively-overblown,
  human-centered speeches can misrepresent the
  gospel and cancel out the effects of the cross.
  (C.f. 1 Cor. 117-18 21)

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• He is entirely reliant upon Christ and boasts
  only in His work on the cross.
• A lead church planter is self-assured by
  temperament. He is planting a church because
  people are following his direction. It is
  essential to understand our Achilles' heel when
  estranged from Christ and not to reflect on our
  abilities. Our station before God is a gift given
  to us and sustained by Him. (1 Cor. 126-31)

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• He is filled with God's power and it is
  demonstrated in his preaching.
• A cross dependant church planter reverts to
  the power of the Spirit and not on his own talent
  or cleverness or gifts, though they may be
  greater than others. (1 Cor. 24-5 420)

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• A church planter thinks with the mind of
  Christ on all matters.
• Every matter of the church plant should be
  filtered through the mind of Christ. This means
  that we make the most of God's wisdom and not
  man's (1 Cor. 26-16). We gain this by silent
  meditation, reflection and introspection. (1 Cor.
  214-16)

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• He is a laborer for God's glory only and does
  not take recognition for the outgrowth of his
  sowing of seed.
• Nothing can be carried out by us without Christ
  and without the help of other co-laborers in the
  harvest field. We can't make the sun to shine and
  we can't make it rain. Only God gives the growth
  and only He gets the credit. (1 Cor. 34-11)

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• A faithful and levelheaded church planter is
  a reliable bondservant of Jesus Christ.
• We are willing slervants of Christ as we row in
  the lower deck of the ship rather than act as the
  captain. Others are to see (regard) our attitudes
  and our faithfulness to Christ who is leading His
  church. (1 Cor. 41-2)

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• He has a humbleness that is profound and
  sensible.
• A church planter must truthfully and practically
  see himself as a recipient of God's mission,
  gifts, vision and abilities. Anything he
  possesses comes from God. Followers of God's
  mission must see this modeled in the church
  planter. Others must be drawn to the mission by
  our sacrifice for it. (1 Cor. 46-7 10-13)

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• He is commendable in his conduct as a model to
  be followed by others .
• Of all of the things essential in a church
  planter, this is the scariest. We are asking
  others to not only follow Christ and His mission,
  but we are asking others to mimic our lives also.
  We are called to be a spiritual example to
  others. We are called to live missional lives as
  a copy to others. We must also serve as an
  illustration in our moral lives, our financial
  lives, our sexual lives, our marital lives and
  our family lives. (1 Cor. 416-17 111)

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• He is a spokesman for God, even when speaking
  into the hard-hitting subjects in life.
• This can be viewed as a fatherly function.
  When our children sin we must act in response to
  their actions because we are the authority in
  that person's life. Even if we are uncomfortable
  in confronting, we must speak up, discipline,
  redeem and restore. (1 Cor. 51-4 144)

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• The most important issue in shaping an effectual
  gospel-centered church plant is the lead planter.
  These distinctives will serve you well in your
  journey!

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Distinctives of a Levelheaded Church Planter

• By
• Dr. Tom Cheyney

www.PlanterDude.com