I Will Build My Church – Church Planting, John Piper, and Bethlehem Baptist
Among the many admirable attributes of Bethlehem Baptist Church is its commitment to church planting. On January 31, 2010 Pastor John Piper preached on the necessity of church planting and that God alone will build the church. Pastor John opened with statistics that demonstrate the necessity of planting churches
- There are about 200 million non-churched people in America, making America one of the four largest “unchurched” nations in the world.
- Each year about 3,500 churches close their doors permanently.
- Today, of the approximately 350,000 churches in America, four out of five are either plateaued or declining.
- One American denomination recently found that 80% of its converts came to Christ in churches less than two years old.
He followed with a discussion of Bethlehem’s past, and future, church planting efforts and an exposition of Matthew 16:18. You can read the manuscript here and watch the video here.