Planting Churches in a Divided Land

Acts 29: Churches Planting Churches

Church planting is not an end in itself. We keep our foot on the pedal of church planting because we want to get somewhere.

We talk about church planting, preach about church planting, pray about church planting, write about church planting—we even sing about church planting—all because we have a destination in mind.

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What is that destination? The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That’s what church planting is about. We want to see Jesus magnified by intentionally multiplying churches around the world.

That’s why a diverse, global family like Acts 29 exists: to see the earth filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). What better way to do this than plant churches that proclaim the gospel in the darkest places of the world?

Church planting isn’t easy. It’s far from glamorous. It’s not a formula that promises a desired outcome. But the church is glorious because she is the bride of Christ. He guarantees her ultimate triumph (Matt. 16:18). So we can press on, even amid all the difficulties, because our confidence is in him.

Today we have Lucas Parks and Andrew Elder with us to discuss church planting in Northern Ireland.

You can listen to this podcast episode here.

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Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?

In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.

But the Gospels are historically reliable. And the evidence for this is vast.

To learn about the evidence for the historical reliability of the four Gospels, click below to access a FREE eBook of Can We Trust the Gospels? written by New Testament scholar Peter J. Williams.

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Tony Merida (MDiv, ThM, Ph.D from NOBTS) is the founding pastor of Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, Vice President for Planter Development for the SEND Network and a Board member of The Gospel Coalition. He is the author of a number of books, including The Christ-Centered Expositor, Ordinary,and Orphanology. He and his wife, Kimberly, have five adopted children.

Lucas Parks is the pastor of Village Church Belfast in Northern Ireland. He’s also the country director for Acts 29 Ireland. You can follow him on Twitter.

Andrew Elder is the planting pastor of Village South Belfast, an Acts 29 church plant. He and his wife, Hayley, have two children. Andrew is currently studying for a master’s degree in theology with Crosslands Seminary. You can follow him on Twitter.