20 Take-Away Quotes from Multiplying Churches

Last week I reviewed Multiplying Churches: Exploring God’s Mission Strategy, edited by Steve Timmis. Here’s 21 quotes that stood out:

1. “Church Planting is essentially about loving people and being moved by the glory of God” (Steve Timmis, 186)

2. “Mission is not something we achieve. It is part of our identity. Mission is central to what it means to be God’s people.” (Tim Chester, 36).

3. “You have to love the people among whom you are planting. You have to have a sense that these are your people. You must share their pain as well as their joys, There should be a sense that you would rather be here than anywhere else.” (Steve Timmis, 186)

4. “Church planting, we may not forget, while it means work, also means war. For the ancient Serpent never tires of sowing seeds of disorder and mis-order. He still attempts to deceive the New Eve through distrust of the Lord’s words and goodness.” (Henri Blocher, 61)

5. “Going public with a meeting is easy. The hard work of church planting is building a community of disciples through the Holy Spirit.” (Steve Timmis, 189)

6. “Church planting is about seeing an authentic and alternative community created through the gospel by the Spirit, a community which models the reign of Christ and invites others into that community through the gospel.” (Steve Timmis, 189)

7. “The world around you is full of people who do not know Jesus. They do not know His peace and rest, nor the joy and sanity the gospel brings. It is light years from their experience.” (Ruth Woodrow, 173)

8. “You need to get out of your head the idea that God loves a future, better, more sanctified version of you – the you that you are going to be ten years from now.” (Matt Chandler, 83)

9. “The invisible God is made visible through the love of the Christian community (1 John 4:12).” (Tim Chester, 37)

10. “It is about a shared life that reflects the gospel into which other people are welcomed…church planting puts the Christian community at the heart of mission… and mission at the heart of the Christian community.” (Tim Chester, 38-39)

11. “Every church should be a church planting church… it is not just for those that have a special interest or capacity. Just as every believer is called to be a missionary, so every church is a church-planting church.” (Steve Timmis, 71)

12. “We litter the world with little communities of light so that neighbourhoods, regions an countries busy into light.” (Tim Chester, 39)

13. “We must avoid the danger of celebrating the Church universal as if it existed above and prior to local churches and unbelievers, whether as a Platonic Ideas or as an Institution. And we must avoid the danger of ignoring that the local churches is the Church in union with all other churches as the Body of Christ.” (Henri Blocher, 56)

14. “This is what the church must be in our dark, cold, loveless world: a community of light at street level. Here is the places where God’s kingdom can be glimpsed.” (Tim Chester, 41)

15. “The fruit of the gospel is communities of light invading the darkness and dispelling the oppressive gloom of chaos and disorder. This is church planting and this is how glorious it is.” (Steve Timmis, 68)

16. “Church planting is the preferred divine method of evangelism, of kingdom expansion, of fruit-bearing, of discipleship-making, of men and women being rescued from darkness to light.” (Steve Timmis, 71)

17. “Our goal is not a church planted but a church planting – a church planting more churches.” (Matt Chandler, 82)

18. “Unbelievers that you connect with in you area, or those who come along to your church, are also watching you like a hawk. The idea of starting a new church is outside every category a secular person has and they want to know what on earth is going on.” (Reuben Hunter, 103)

19. “You need to do the work of evaluating your motives of you heart for they will spring up often and surprise you. Do not be surprised by your surprise.” (Matt Chandler, 91)

20. “Practically speaking, if you are not committed to pleasing God, then you will be a puppet to the opinions of others.” (Reuben Hunter, 104)

21. “Churches that plant churches experience loss and gospel goodbyes that are awful and beautiful, right and good.” (Matt Chandler, 129)

Pick up Multiplying Churches from the publisher here.