Plant Churches for the Glory of God

Good evening, everyone — it's good to be gathered. Over the next few weeks we're starting a short series on church planting. And before we ever get to how or where, we have to settle why. So tonight is a “why” night.

Here's where we're going to land — it's already on the screen: “the church… was being built up… and it multiplied.” Acts 9:31. Hold that verse; we'll come back to it.

If you remember one sentence tonight, let it be this one: God saves for His glory, Christ builds His church, and healthy churches multiply. Everything else hangs on that.

Mark Twain — no friend of the faith — still said something true: the two most important days of your life are the day you're born and the day you find out why. ask So let me ask us: do we know why God saved us? And why would a church give itself away to plant another church? Let's let the Bible answer.

Here's our path. Five simple questions. Glory — why do we plant? Christ — who actually builds the church? Health — what kind of church multiplies? Motives — what dangers do we watch for? And Response — how do we pray, give, and go? Five steps. Let's take them one at a time.

Before our first question, the big picture — because church planting sits right inside the Bible's one story. Let me walk it quickly. Watch the shape on the screen as I go.

So notice the shape: Eden starts high, the Fall sends it crashing down. From Abraham, God rebuilds toward a king — but it's only partial, and it slides into exile. Then that dashed line — prophetic hope — leans the whole story forward to Christ. And from Christ it climbs, straight up, past anything Eden was, into the New Creation. pause That final climb — the present age, the church, the second coming — that's the part we're living in. And the way the King advances His kingdom now is through churches that proclaim Him and multiply. Which is exactly why we're here tonight.

First question: why do we plant? For God's glory. Watch this thread run from the first page of the Bible to the last. read

In Genesis 1, we're made in His image and told to be fruitful and multiply — to fill the earth with His glory. In Ezekiel 36, when God saves a rebellious people, He says plainly why: “not for your sake… but for the sake of My holy name.” In John 1, the Word becomes flesh and we see His glory. And in Matthew 28, the risen King sends us to make disciples — that His glory would fill the nations.

The old catechism put it best: the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That's the deepest reason we plant — not numbers, not survival, but His glory.

Second question — and here's the hinge of the whole evening: who actually builds the church? Read Acts 9:31 with me. Two movements in one verse: the church “was being built up,” and “it multiplied.”

Now catch who's doing the building. Not Paul's cleverness, not a strategy — the Lord. The Heidelberg Catechism says it beautifully: the Son of God, by His Spirit and Word, gathers, defends, and preserves His church. pause That truth does two things to us at once: it kills our anxiety — Christ will build His church — and it kills our pride — because we don't build it; we just get to participate.

Third question: what kind of church multiplies? Healthy ones. Look at that little diagram — one becomes two, two becomes four. Multiplication isn't a fad or a growth tactic we bolt on. It's simply what a healthy church does — the way a healthy tree bears fruit. Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Matt 16:18). Health overflows.

Let me make that concrete with a true story. In 1871, one church in Minneapolis sent out twenty-two members to plant. Over the next century that healthy church multiplied — planted eight more, revitalised a dozen — and became Bethlehem Baptist. In 1980 they called a young, untested pastor named John Piper, and over the next thirty-three years that church planted dozens more and trained others to do the same. pause But here's the thing — none of it happens without one healthy church, back in 1871, willing to multiply.

Fourth question: what dangers do we watch for? Three. Comfort — “there are enough churches already; it's easier to just stay put.” Conflict — planting that's really a church split in disguise; remember, healthy churches multiply, but fractured churches just divide. And brand-building — planting to make our name bigger. We're not here to build a brand; we're here to build Christ's kingdom.

Let me put some numbers in front of us so we feel the need. Around six million people on this island. Maybe five hundred churches — and many of those aren't healthy or even faithful. Nine in ten of the people you pass tomorrow do not know Jesus as Lord. pause Even if every one of those churches were strong, each would need twelve thousand members to reach the island. Brothers and sisters, Singapore is in a church deficit. And yet — what an opportunity. Billy Graham once called this place “the Antioch of Asia”: a launching pad for the gospel to the nations.

So what finally drives this? Not the need — as real as it is. Not guilt. The supreme motive is the glory of God. As Piper says: “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” — and “whatever” includes everything, and everything includes church planting. That's the engine. Need and opportunity are just the channels.

Last question: how do we respond? Two faithful paths, and both matter. Some of us may one day go and plant — costly, but sent with joy. Others will stay and send — and that's costly too; it strengthens the church that sends. pause The Heidelberg Catechism reminds us that every member uses their gifts “readily and cheerfully” for the others. So the question tonight isn't “who's leaving?” — it's “are my hands open?”

Let's turn this into prayer — the second petition, “Your kingdom come,” in three lanes. Preserve — guard our church's unity from pride and division. Increase — Christ's church: wisdom for our elders, courage and humility for us, fruit among the lost. And Purify — our motives, that His glory would shape every plan.

Let's open it up and talk. discuss Take these slowly — let people actually answer.

One: do you know why you were born? Two: whose kingdom are you building — Christ's, or a brand? Three: what would you sacrifice to go and plant? And four: what would you sacrifice to stay and send?

Let me leave us where Habakkuk left Israel — looking ahead: “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” That's where this whole story is going. pause So let's be a church that gives itself away. God saves for His glory, Christ builds His church, and healthy churches multiply. Let's pray.