Plant Churches for the Glory of God

1 · Creation and the Fall

How does God's Creation display His glory? Genesis 1:1, 27–28

• All creation was made for God's glory — “by your will they existed and were created” Rev 4:11.
• At the crown of creation, God made man in His own image and commanded them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it — that His glory might shine across the earth Gen 1:27–28.

How do we know His glory continues after the Fall? Genesis 3:15

• At the Fall, Adam and Eve suppressed God's truth and exchanged His glory for a created thing; the image we were made to reflect became marred.
• Yet God promised to save through the offspring of the woman, who would crush the serpent's head — His glory will still be displayed Gen 3:15.

“God made us like finely polished mirrors — and sin left us shattered.”

2 · Deliverance of Israel — Exodus & Exile

Why does God deliver His people from Egypt? Exodus 14:4

• God's people had multiplied Ex 1:7 yet were enslaved by the mightiest empire on earth. They cried out, God heard Ex 2:24, and raised up Moses — a most unlikely deliverer.
• Through great power and the blood of a lamb, God triumphed: “I will get glory over Pharaoh… and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD” Ex 14:4. In both Testaments, God saves for the glory of His name.

How is His glory displayed in the exile? Ezekiel 36:22–32

• Israel persisted in sin — idols Jer 2:11, oppressing the poor Amos 2:7, rejecting His word Jer 9:26 — so the God who loves them disciplined them in exile Heb 12:6.
• Even there He promised new-covenant salvation — a torrent of “I will”: gather you, cleanse you, give a new heart and a new spirit, put My Spirit within you Ezek 36:24–27.
• Twice He says why: “It is not for your sake… but for the sake of My holy name” Ezek 36:22, 32. God saves us for our benefit, but not for our sake — for His glory.

3 · Salvation through Jesus Christ

How was God glorified through His Son? John 1:14; 17:1–5

• “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory” John 1:14 — glory swaddled in a manger.
• At His hour Jesus prayed, “glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” John 17:1. At the cross He was glorified in the most surprising way — exiled from the Father in darkness — then risen, proving He is the image of the invisible God Col 1:15 and the radiance of God's glory Heb 1:3. Through His obedience, God saves His people Phil 2:8.

How is God glorified through the Great Commission? Matthew 28:18–20

• Jesus commands us to go, make disciples, baptize and teach them — the church is embedded in the commission itself (disciples are baptized into, and taught within, churches).
• Obeying Christ is obeying the Father's authority — and that obedience means multiplying the body of Christ, the Church.

4 · God's Work through the Early Church

How did the apostles respond to the Great Commission? Acts 9:26–31

• They planted churches — that's how they understood the task — from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. Acts is, at its most basic, a book of church planting.
• God worked through disciples walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Spirit, so the church had peace, was built up, and multiplied Acts 9:31.
• The church is the vessel of God's manifold wisdom — displayed even to rulers and authorities in the heavenly places Eph 3:10 — “to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus” Eph 3:21.

“The church is the prongs of the diamond that hold up the diamond of the gospel for the whole world to see.”

5 · God's People in the New Creation

How are God's people described in the new Creation? Revelation 21:2–3, 23

• Christ promised, “I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” Matt 16:18 — all the train tracks of history run to one destination.
• The church appears as a bride adorned for her husband; God dwells with His people completely and perfectly; the city needs no sun, “for the glory of God gives it its light, and its lamp is the Lamb” Rev 21:2–3, 23.
• Until then, Christ's church is called to gather and grow as we go and fulfil the Great Commission.

“The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14

1 · Overcoming a lack of motivation

“Singapore already has churches — does it really have to be us?”

›Every church was planted

• There is no such thing as an unplanted church. If you love the church, you'll love church plants — it's how the gospel is established in a community and left as a legacy for generations.

›The cost of comfort

• It's always easier not to plant than to plant. We're biased toward comfort, and planting is costly — both to go, and to stay and send. So even a spark of desire to see a church planted is a gift of God's Spirit; thank Him for it.

›Singapore's need

• Even generously assuming all 500 stay faithful, each would need 12,000 members to reach Singapore — and 2,000 just to hold today's professing Christians. Singapore is in a church deficit.
• Picture a map with a yellow dot for every strong church — there is far too little yellow. There are 140 MRT stops; pray for a gospel beacon at each one.

›Singapore's opportunity

• Singapore is the hub of Southeast Asia — Billy Graham called it “the Antioch of Asia”: a landing pad and a launching pad for the gospel to the nations.
• Like the young, vulnerable, under-resourced Thessalonian church — from whom “the word of the Lord sounded forth” across the region 1 Thess 1:7–8 — we can be gospel exporters. (And note: faithful starts don't guarantee faithful finishes — Revelation 2–3.)

2 · Rejecting bad motivations

✗Relational strife & church splits

• Divisions, factions, and rivalry grieve the Spirit and leave deep pain. A “plant” born of conflict is really a split.
• “Healthy churches multiply; fractured churches divide.” Splits happen fast; a healthy plant grows slowly — developing in the womb of a mother church until it's time for delivery. We walk slowly so we can walk together.

✗Pride & brand-building

• “Churches can either build Christ's Kingdom or build their brand — there is no in between.” Tellingly, brand-builders don't plant churches; they start a campus tied to the mothership — sending leaders, but never releasing authority.
• Why a church and not a campus or an extra service? A New Testament church is an autonomous local congregation; ecclesia means an assembly gathered in one place, at one time. Justin Martyr: “on the day called Sunday, all… gather together to one place.” One church, one assembly.

“He must increase, we must decrease.” John 3:30

3 · Embracing good motivations

Three good channels — all flowing toward the one supreme motivation, God's glory.

✓Church cooperation

• If one church means one gathering, we must partner with others. Where brand-building sees competition, church-planting churches see partners in the gospel — praying for one another (a sign we're ready: we already pray for other churches weekly), and sharing pastoral training, mission sending, and conferences.

✓Church leadership

• Planting opens more room for people to grow in their God-given gifts 1 Pet 4:10 — “more sunlight in both canopies.” Both going with the plant and staying to send are real, vital ministry.

✓Church outreach

• Tim Keller (“Why Plant Churches”): your non-Christian neighbour is likelier to step into a new church than an old one, and planting reinvigorates evangelism across the whole city — sending church, plant, and neighbouring churches alike.
• The aim is net gain for the kingdom — disciples made — not splitting one body into two with the same sum.

John Piper, on why God's glory must be our strongest motivation: “Because this desire [to see God glorified] should drive everything. ‘Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Cor. 10:31). ‘Whatever’ includes everything, and everything includes church planting. Further, the church is the theater for putting on display the glory of God's wisdom. Finally, because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him, and the church is the place where the corporate experience of joyful satisfaction reaches its crescendo.” He then cites Romans 15:5–6 — “…that together you may with one voice glorify God.” — written to GBC for this sermon