 Right. Hi everyone. Welcome back to our session on urban church planting So let's just begin this time with a word of prayer and then we will continue from where we stopped last week Let's just pray Father we thank you for this time and we thank you Lord for giving us this opportunity to come together and learn both spiritual and practical things involved in terms of church planting a God and I pray that you will continue to minister to us continue to open our hearts to the plans and purposes that you have for us Lord and Pray God that everything that we study and learn that we'll be able to apply it and use it in our lives Lord We thank you Lord. We give you all the praise and glory in Jesus name. We pray. Amen. Amen All right, so we've been talking about urban church planting. We looked at our Natural dynamics. We looked at spiritual dynamics Also, we looked at how to get started when it comes to church planting, right? Building a core team starting from from a distance being financially prepared and also You know getting to understand the place Where you want to plant a church and and another important aspect was planning for you know Legal and regulatory matters administrative matters when it comes to church. It's good, you know, what we talked about this, right? It's good, you know to have all of this in place even before starting a ministry, right? I understand that nowadays, you know Early, you know churches that were planted before Many many years back would have started and then over time You know incorporated all of these legal and administrative matters But now things are very different. It's very easy to start a trust. It's very easy to have administration You know have accounts in your organization. It's very easy. You can get it done even before a church plant, right? You know, okay, these are the things that I will have These are the things I'll sit in place and and so when when your church is growing And it's maybe 50 100 people 200 people You already have the levels of leadership that is needed or the teams that are needed Everything's on paper. Everything is already set out. So you've planned well Now over time, you know, even as we plan over time There will have to be or there may be changes that will that you will have to make In terms of teams in terms of the way things have done within the church within the ministry And we be open to that, right? So for example, there'll be You know certain things that work in the church. There are a few things which don't work in the church, right? So so we be open to all of this but the point is we have a plan We prepare well Before getting started, right? So today we look at the next chapter the survey phase Right now the first thing that comes to our mind when we say the word survey at least for me is Demographics right survey will show how many people Population it will show the the demographics of the population. It will show culture religion Different transportation Economy all of this is included in a survey, right? And so when you and I are Planning to start a ministry or or a church It's very important to take a survey of the land now, which means it now Especially now right things are so much more easier. All we have to do is go to Google That's all we have to do. You will get all the information there now We do feel for those who started churches 20 25 years back Where they had to go there find out and it was hard. They learned the hard way But with the use of technology right now, it is very easy Of course, there will be times we'll have to go there physically be there You know look at the place take a survey So for example, you're planning to lease out a hall or you're planning to hire a place For the church Now don't just see the pictures online and take the place you got to go there. We got to see it Take a survey of the place. What's in and around what's close to that area all of that, right? So try a Survey is basically trying to understand the city or the town On you know through an aerial view What is the you know the feel of this place? So let's look at a few examples in The book of acts when the Apostle Paul went out to In his second missionary journey, right? Let's look at acts chapter 16 where Paul and his team at Philippi took to the city And they took time to see the place understand the place and then they were able to minister. Let's read acts chapter 16 Versus 11 through 15 any one of us can read acts 16 11 through 15. Yes Anyone like to read? Okay. I'll read acts chapter 16 11 through 15 right now. This is at Philippi. This is The second missionary journey that they they Paul and Barnabas have started off, but there was a disagreement so Paul takes Timothy joins Paul and Silas and they go into Philippi right now from pros we went out to see and sailed straight from summer trace and The next day on to Neopolis From there we traveled to Philippi a Roman colony and the leading city of the district of Macedonia And we stayed there several days On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river where we expected to find a place of prayer We sat down and began to speak to the women who gathered there, right? One of those listening was a woman named Lydia a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Tyretera who was a worshipper of God the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message when she was the When she was she and the members of her household were baptized She invited us to her home If you consider me a believer in the Lord She said come and stay at my house and she was persuaded now. This Is the lawn of the church in Philippi? Right, so what do what do they do they go out? They go to Philippi and once they reach there they went outside of the city finding a place to pray Basically, they went out serving the land Serving where we can go and sit and probably pray and minister to people and when they went to a certain place Right by the river we sat down and they began to speak to women who are gathered there now. Listen Notice this. They were not people who came to hear apostle Paul Right, they were going about doing their work All and team went there they surveyed the land Right, they went there and they saw that okay. This is the place where people come So they went they sat there and began to preach and teach them So it was not like they had it planned They went out. What is worse one worse one says from Trous Sorry was 13 on the Sabbath we went outside of the city gate Where we expected to find a place of prayer, right? So All in team when they were They went out probably they didn't have in mind. Okay, I'm going to start a church. This is how the church will be now Right, but the point was they surveyed the place. They were new to Philippi They didn't know the place. They didn't know any people. They didn't have friends there They didn't have believers there. Nobody was there, right? They were new They went they surveyed the place and they were able to find a place where they could stay and reach the gospel now Out of this we see that Lydia the purple person opened her heart to the Lord and Eventually the church was planted there Right now what let's let's look at the like look at the flip side now. What could have happened if If for if Paul and team had reached Philippi and They were doing nothing like they didn't they didn't go out or they were searching. They were just Waiting for people to come to them You know, this wouldn't have happened the church plant wouldn't have happened But we see that they went out they found a place. They surveyed the land. They were able to launch Right look at to act 17 same example Paul is at Athens this time Act 17 16 to 23. I'll read this right now Remember this is the second missionary journey. He's gone to Thessalonica Then he came into Beria in Beria again people who are very interested To hear the gospel to hear this new message that is being preached on Beria They said you come back and you explain things to other to us and then it is most likely that the church Was planted in Beria as well and then from there because of you know, because people were trying to catch him Paul went into Athens and here Act 17 16 onwards while Paul was waiting for them in Athens He was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks as well as in the marketplace. Now, let's let's pick up Let's break it down here Paul was waiting for who for for the other members of the team to come He was waiting and while he was waiting. What was he doing? He was greatly Distressed to see the city full of idols So while he was waiting he was not wasting time He he reasoned with people in the synagogues with with the Jews the God-fearing Greeks Go as well as in the marketplace. So what is Paul done here? Number one first thing he was waiting for somebody his team to come to help him out But while he was waiting he surveyed the land Right, he saw he probably walked through the streets and he's saying oh man this place is full of idols Right, so what did he do? He found the synagogue there Right, he found the place and he began to teach the God-fearing Jews and the Greeks Then he said okay from here. Let me go to the marketplace. He's gone to the marketplace and in the marketplace Again there he began begins to teach and preach the word of God Verse 18 a group of Epicurean and stoic believers began to dispute with them some of them asked What is this babbler trying to say? Others remark he seems to be advocating foreign gods They said they said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection verse 19 Verse 19 then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the aeropagus Where they said to him may we know what is this new teaching that is that you are presenting You are bringing some strange ideas to our years and we want to know what they mean Right, I'm just gonna go down right verse 22 Paul stood up in the meeting of the aeropagus and said this is this is critical here men of Athens I see that in every way you are Religious very religious for I walked around and Looked carefully at your objects of worship. I even found an altar with this inscription to an unknown God now What you worship as something unknown? I'm going to proclaim to you. What a powerful Encounter right? What is the apostle Paul done? He has done a survey He's gone first. He's walked around the city. He himself is testifying He's walked around the city. He's saying I've seen that your place is full of idols He then he goes to the To the synagogue then he goes to the marketplace now through all of this. What has he done? He's done a survey Probably it's a mental survey Okay, this place has this this is a place where people meet. This is the marketplace. This is where You know believers meet and and and so when when I say believers the God-fearing Jews Right and and so what was he able to do? He's able to get a survey get a feel of the land of that city that he is in Now if you go down right down Verse 32 in the same chapter verse 32 when they heard about the resurrection of the dead some of them snared But others said we want to hear you again Right verse 34 a few men became followers of Jesus Right, you see the church plan there. It is the same Method that the apostle Paul uses He surveys He understands He reasons he tries to You know put himself in their place and he was able to minister to them Now let's look at how you and I can you know with this in mind with this as a background Right now, it's it's not necessarily that this is the only way we must do it, right? But we can take some insights from here, right? So for example, if God is saying I want you to start a church in a certain place Right, it's not necessary. You have to go into the marketplace. You have to go in You know stand near the marketplace and preach the gospel on the streets not necessarily but we can take inputs from this from these two Examples right first one when we survey the place number one point Select the launching area Select the place where you want to start your ministry Be clear about it now Why is this important in a city you may have you know different places right you have inner city you have not Southeast West and Again the feel of each Area in a city may be different Right, so not of a city may not be as the feel of a South in South of the city Right, so you have to choose though your launch area if you say, okay, I'm going to start my ministry here Right, and if you've chosen that you need to have reasons why you have that Have reasons that's for your own benefit now. No police is going to come and ask tell me the reasons for you to start a church obviously right and God also is not going to say give me the reasons. No, but this is your face. This is your preparation phase You're gonna trust God, right? So you you say, okay This is the colony or the area where I'm going to start the church. You're settled in your mind. Don't be Confused right if you're confused take time But make sure that your launching area your your confirmed you're convicted and you're confident that you're going to start there And over time you can definitely start church plans Identify the area where you want to have the church plant You may be able to identify this area before you come on site or even when you're doing the survey So God will direct you where to start And he will he will just lead your parts. He'll say, okay, you do this Right. So sometimes you can be in another city In a completely different place you may feel okay. This is what this is what I want to do. This is where I want to start That's perfectly fine, but there will be times when you have to step into that place and God will say, okay You know, this is where this is the right time. This is the exact place go ahead and start Right But again, the survey is important Right now when we go to God, especially when we want to plant a church when you plan a ministry We looked at the spiritual dynamics, right? There's so much that we must do in terms of the spiritual dynamics lot of prayer lot of surrendering lot of You know asking God for wisdom for guidance every step of the way But even as we do all of that in the natural the Lord will lead us I love that verse and problems. I keep telling it to myself The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he will delight in his ways Right when we pray when we seek God when we have spent time in God's presence, the Lord will order our steps He'll tell us Okay, go this way do this. There'll be times. He'll make us wait. He'll make us stop Right and and so we are sensitive to his leading Now the goal of course is to you know to impact the city. So the launching area Will will be like the center From where you'll be reaching out Right to impact the city and then from there you can have multiple congregations. So for example, if you look at a PC He started 2001 in It was in Bangalore, right? Now the vision was to be salt and light to the city of Bangalore. So it was started in You know, it was in another place here north of Bangalore It was started there But over time as the church grew The church grew and they took a place hired a place and then from there The the church began to grow but that became the main church But with a third launch the the mother church as they say and then in 2000 and it was 2002 2002 or 2003 We started another congregation. So the another location Right and then over time we started another one So so but the base the main one was the main vision of the city was to start And be a salt and light to be a blessing to the city Now again, we can also look at this where from From these from the mother church or from the main church you we you know, we make teams we remember we talked about it I'd have a Church planting core team in the initial phase. So you can make planting teams church planting teams build teams Crain them build them up send them out to start church plants. But then That we should not be in a hurry. We we must understand We must know when is the right time to do that We should have the right people in place the right infrastructure or the right You know, we must be financially able to Hire a place and start the church as well. So look at the the best example is in the book of acts when The church in Jerusalem, right? It was a big church. They had thousands already But they were able to you know go out and help the churches and Antioch And different places there. So Even as we do this be next point be sensitive to what God is already doing in the city Now this is very important do not Do anything that would affect other churches or other ministries that are already working in the city Right. So for example Now very important this For example, there is a church In there's a certain location that you know area that God has put in your heart. Okay I you want to start here in this place Now just two minutes away. There's another church. Don't start the church there Very simple Right It is a very simple thing. There's already a church there. It is two minutes away Don't start there Choose another place Right now that's one thing to Two what about at times, you know, we we we already started the church And you're new to the church. You're just maybe two three months into the You know your plant church plant And the mistake we must never make is to talk about other churches You know one day we will be better than those churches One day I will you know, we'll have 150 or 200 and 300 people and they will remain the same God will help me to become the best church in the entire what will happen The heart is not right When the heart is not right Of course, God said I will build my church I will add to the church But when the heart is not right The the the fruit is very less People will come But the fruit The fruit of the ministry Will be very less You can have 50 people Doing what a thousand people can do And you can have a thousand people doing what 50 people can do so Even as we Do a church plant Choose the right way do not affect other ministries Now over time when you have you know settled into your ministry There will be times when you find out about other churches They'd say these other churches some of them may not believe in healing Some of them may not believe in the Holy Spirit Some of them may not believe in speaking in tongues They may they have different kinds of churches different cultures different understandings Never talk about those churches You know it will only destroy or you know bring dense in our own ministry Right if God has called you to a city And he wants you to You know blessed be a blessing to the city to do a good ministry Focus on your path We focus on our path, right? This is the track that God has given me. I'm going to focus on this People will come people may go People from other churches will come people may go But this is the vision for the church the vision does not change Right There'll be churches, you know, for example Languages right for example, there's a there's a church which is Uh, uh a regional language maybe in India. I would say maybe a panada or a hindi speaking church Now if you want to plant a church It may be 10 maybe five minutes away or 10 minutes away, but yours is going to be an english church Now What you can do is go to that pastor Speak to that pastor and tell the pastor pastor. This is what God has called me to do I would like to start a church. This is not going to be it's uh in any way hindrance to you because this is going to be an english church And uh, is it okay if I start? I know we're going to be very close to each other Uh, but is it okay Since it's different languages, it would be nice to go and speak to them Right Now the reaction if they say sometimes they may say yeah, it's all right. Sometimes they say no, don't do this Uh Ask look to the lord ask the lord lord. This is what's happening and the lord will lead you he may open a bigger door for you Right, uh, so just be wise in that way, right? Again the next point meet with pastors and leaders of existing churches As many as you can and introduce yourself build friendships. Let them know your plan. Don't you know Sometimes we meet and then we don't share our plans Right, uh, you can now you you don't have to share The entire vision of the church. This is what I'm going to know You can just say your plans. He got us called me here and I believe that you know, I want to be a blessing to the city You know, I want to be a blessing to the youth. This is what happened in my life You know as a young person I was going away from god god touched my life and I believe that god's calling me for the youth So I want to start this church and I want to start reaching out to the young people Just be open with them build friendships. Let them know your plan Let them see that you are also learning. Let them know that you're also You're not in a place of competition. You're not at a place of steep stealing Which they talk about right or this You know this younger preachers come He got he's got a better accent. He speaks well. He has better stories. He speaks He knows the gospel better than me So you you can just clarify clear all of that Build good friendships now when it comes to building friendships, there will be times that You know some pastors may may have gone through previous hurts Right when it comes to, you know, probably sheep stealing or or people have spoken badly about them ministries hurting each other And so they may be weary to make friendships. It's all right. I remember that we cannot Uh, you know control other people you cannot tell them. No, you have to be my friend only then I can start ministry. No you like give them their time and And when they see your honesty when they see your integrity when they see that you're Faithfully doing ministry and you're faithful to your word Uh, and they see the fruit of the ministry You know, uh, it's it they'll begin to honor and respect you Right. I remember this one time Uh, this was in another city. Uh, we we were very few people in in in the church and Um, and so I went to meet this pastor Uh, he was a he's a pastor of maybe about 500 600 people right in the church Big pastor and so I went to meet him And the thing was he he he We had a church, which is a regional language and we were an english-speaking church All right, but he had about 500 to 600 people in this church and we were 10 people Uh, I went to speak to him And when I went to speak to him he we get talking and uh, and then he said so how will you start? How will you what is your plan for the church? And so I told him this is what I want to do. I want to reach out. I want to know Reach out to colleges a lot of colleges a lot of youth and I know that you know, a lot of youth are struggling drug addiction alcohol and Nography so much so much is happening among the youth and also families that are breaking Now, you know, just speak the word of god minister to them reach out to them That's all I want to do and so This pastor Was very kind. He was a very good man And he said okay, but paul, you know, it's not going to be easy Especially since he was going to be an english church. It's very difficult And he he just encouraged me and he said okay But I remember after two years it is exactly two years He had called me and he said Can we meet and then I met and when we met I don't know what happened, but he said, you know, we heard about the things that are happening in the church Right and I think in two years. We were about maybe 65 60 65 people in church And they heard about you know, we heard about healings happening heard about miracles happening We heard that you've you know as a church should have gone into colleges Y'all have gone into malls and all of these places and Uh, you know, he he he would he called me and he and we were talking and And he began to ask me how you did it. How did god open the door for you this way? And I realized that you know when we are faithful When we do what god wants us to do He will place honor on us integrity in ministry People will notice that and people will honor Right. So especially in the Starting phase initial phase Don't expect a lot of honor to come Right. It's just a starting phase over time You shall be known by your fruit God will open doors God will bring in people into your life. God will begin to work the supernatural Then you will see people will recognize the fruit And then you will see that people want to partner So what this pastor said he said you come and preach in my church And I said, I don't know the language. He said, no, that's okay. You come and preach. We'll have translator so when All that fear of you know sheep stealing or all these other, you know things that come in between You know this whole thing He was a pastor who has been there for many many years 20 more 20 years or more I was there for two years But he invited why it is not because Of anything else because of integrity the way we do ministry is very important. God will open doors, right? Then finally survey your launch area understanding the area for you know have a When you're launching you'll see okay am I Going to be able to reach out to these places. Is it What is the radius? Is it a five kilometer radius 10 kilometer radius? Establish identify points of interest whether it is schools colleges malls. What is around? right you know, one of the things that we intentionally did was You know when we went to the city of mangrove from Bangalore Uh Intentionally, I wanted to stay in the heart of the city five minutes ten minutes away All right, why because I wanted to go out whenever I could To reach people to share the gospel to you know evangelize So intentional I wanted to stay in the house. I never got a place You know, there were many places, but they were far off. I said no I want to be in the heart right there in between Because so so I took a house which was maybe five minutes away from church So whenever had time go out minister reach Places where I could advance where I didn't have to travel for You know one hour to get to the heart of the city. It was just close by right but now Right after after covid things have changed, right? Of course. We have online. We have zoom. That's wonderful. You can also You know do online Zoom meetings online bible studies and it's also convenient. We can do that But these are things that I intentionally did And then if you're you know, of course after your church is launched, uh, you know, you can look to stay anywhere else but the point is These are a few additional efforts Is preparing when it comes to launching the church, right? Then uh, let's get into the preparation phase before that any questions anyone would like to share your thoughts any questions on this Would you like to share, uh, you know, what were some of the challenges that you faced? I know that uh, uh, john paul has recently launched, uh Uh in in mangrove. There's a there's a place called Uh dere la carte which is Which is a little away from the city John, you want to share your thoughts on how you were able to launch that church? Would you like to share a few thoughts? Anybody else can feel free to share as well I'm sure john is John, would you like to share your thoughts? Yes, yes So, um So previously there was a location in dere la carte when buzzer paul was here and due to covid we had to close that place and So after we came here, we went to that place many times and So the first thing, uh, I wanted to do and I did was So there's a stretch of many colleges in in like two to three kilometers So I used to walk up and down and pray Uh and asking the lord for a Uh an opening in this place. So So near to one and a half two kilometers. I used to walk up and down and pray couple of times and That's one thing really encouraged Myself as I was praying in the spirit walking up and down. I think god really spoke to me at that time that thing No, he has some uh, he has plans for this place And we just prayed as a church also be intentionally prayed for that and So last time when it happened it all happened very quickly. So, um, I went with one of our uncles in the church to this place and We found we looked at you know, as pasapal was sharing about surveying the land and looking for locations We looked at different commercial spaces and some of them were not interested to give for churches and we found one Place, uh, which is very near to the bus stop main bus stop And this person called us back and Said what is the purpose and we said, yeah, this is for church prayer Um, you will be having some time of singing You know, so we wanted to let everything know upfront So then later there will not be any confusion So we mentioned that to him and he said, yeah, I think this place is ideal for you And he arranged everything just like that and By the grace of god all happened in like two to three days Agreement signing and all that then there was a minimal amount of work And then we could launch. Yeah Wonderful wonderful. So, uh, so when you Looked at that place, john What what were some of the thoughts in your mind? Like what did you think about did you have like a target audience? Or did you feel that? You know, this is the audience that i'm going to like focus on Yeah, so our initial, um, uh, plan was So we had had actually started a campus group at delacate Quite a few months back And we wanted to see how was the response from the students From this place. So we have a couple of people coming to manglore church from this place So we initially started with Campus group and so how the people are picking it up then we found like 15 16 of them are coming regularly So when we looked at the target audience when we took this place, we looked about 60 55 to 60, uh, people could accommodate in this place So we wanted to grow in like maybe like one year 100 people. So, uh, 50 to 60 we thought to begin with And then yeah, so that was a target audience. We said for the first season. Wonderful. So it was Students students was your target audience wonderful Right. Anybody else would like to share? Yeah, thank you john. Thank you Anybody else would like to share? Maybe even if it's a, you know, small bible study group that you thought of or a ministry Settle group feel free to share, right? Uh, even if it's not going on now somehow it has stopped. It's all right Right. We all learn from our mistakes. It's okay. It may not even be a mistake, right? So, uh But it's okay to share share your thoughts Anyone would like to share feel free guys Uh, georgia, uh, I'm not sure if uh, you are involved in any kind of uh, was it online? No online ministry that you are doing. I'm not sure All right. Yeah, okay. Oh anyone else would like to share Well, jeffina Yeah, so I I started out online ministries during covid Uh, so Kind of stopped it when I came to bible kind of so I can focus more on the word And but yeah, so I would just like to uh, share one of the things that I did during covid was uh, uh, a very small group of bible study that that was one of my very first ministry And that I literally Focused more on it prayed for it prepared some uh articles for it Uh, so I've reached some people in beehar Mumbai uh, so What I did is I prepared the articles myself. So I'm kind of good at this book editing maybe uh So I prepared the bible study articles and I actually sent them, uh Almost couriered them and packed them and sent them So I took like at least one or two weeks just to reach the people and just for the waiting for the people to receive the materials So once they once I came to know that they have received So then I set it up some dates like for at least for two to three weeks We had this bible study And it was a it was a really amazing experience from my side uh to see them Interacting with them and knowing about them And I remember still uh how god took care of the financial things because uh, I know I was not someone who was earning or working And it was covid and uh, one of the core value that I have is to never ask money to anyone So, uh, I still remember how miraculously god gave me the monies. I I gave all the materials Really and uh, I was so thankful to god I I was able to see the hand of god working When I was doing that one and uh, I still I still plan on continuing it Maybe once I complete my course. So there was an awesome experience. I fasted I played about it And I was happy uh to know that they're being touched and some of them really really got deeper in the relationship with god So that was one of the best thing that I did Thank you so much, uh, jepheba Yes, anybody else would like to share Maybe instances where you were able to rosalind. I know you're uh in the church you've been serving in the church Not sure if you're in mumbai right now, but uh, would you like to share? maybe anything that you uh did or Anybody else can share This is just so that we can you know learn together the beggar I really don't know who has you know, uh, you know Already in ministry or you're trying to start your ministry, but uh, if you'd like to share, uh, feel free uh, so that we can Learn together as well anybody else Would like to share Okay, no problem. What we'll do is uh, we'll stop here. We'll get into chapter 10 the preparation phase tomorrow and Yeah, in the meanwhile, uh, let's just uh, you know remember these points About surveying the area of god is You know put a ministry in your heart Maybe these are pointers that you can begin to pray about begin to ask god to give you wisdom And uh, i'm sure what time he will lead us right now, so we'll stop here. We'll get into next chapter tomorrow Should we pray before we close? Father we thank you for this time. We thank you for Lord the plans the purposes that you have for us god your word says what no i has seen what no year has heard What mind has not conceived that you have in store for your people of god and i pray That you will put a vision in each of our hearts To do the things that you have called us to do lord For greater purposes lord for greater things the god and lord we know that Uh, it is not by our own strength. It's not by our own wisdom or our own abilities lord But it is by the power of your holy spirit that is working in our lives We thank you for all that you've done and all that you're doing lord bless each and every student to god that Every everything that they learned or let it be let it be rooted in their hearts A god to bear fruit in their lives. We thank you. We give you all the praise and glory In jesus name we pray amen Amen, so bless you all. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good good day ahead. Good. Bless