Ideas for Starting & Expanding a Church

Both men agree that the purpose of the church is given in the Great Commission, which is repeated in several places in the Bible. Tillapaugh interprets Acts 1:8 as a commission to serve and meet the needs in your home congregation's area first then consider going out in the mission field or planting another congregation (Tillapaugh, 1982, p. 220). This contrasts with Towns' view that the great commission is intended to command every Christian to actively evangelize, and every churches' duty is to equip its members, those who are called by God, to plant churches (Towns, 1993, pp. 6-7).

Towns gives Christians, who have been called by God, an outline for how to begin a successful church. He includes a detailed chapter on the steps that are usually necessary to plant a church (Towns, 1993, pp. 95-148). His list includes items which may not be thought about until they are needed, (for example hymn books), and take time to acquire. To

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to rescue a church in decline. For any church to be successful it must include outreach to those who need salvation and encourage and teach those who already have the gospel. Towns recognizes the importance of exercising the ordinances. He mentions two specifically: (Towns, 1993, p. 14) the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Table. Tillapaugh does not mention carrying these ordinances out at Bear Valley. Both writers write from the perspective of the Baptist faith so it is assumed that they would not disagree, but that the importance of the ordinances for each appears to be different. Towns and Tillapaugh both recognize the need to use people's spiritual gifts in the churches ministry. Tillapaugh devotes a whole chapter to utilizing the talents and gifts of the laity (Tillapaugh, 1982, pp. 122-136). His purpose in writing Unleashing the Church was to exhort other pastors to utilize the gifts that their congregations possess. The gifts members were given at the time of their baptism, were intended by God to be used not let to whither through nonuse. Tillapaugh claims his church's success is based on letting people use their gifts as God intended; this lowers the frustration which compels people to change churches. God
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Approximate Word count = 2582
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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