Harvey Turner is the church planter of Living Stones in Reno, NV and a fellow Re:Train grad. He recently posted on his blog some helpful Bible passages on church discipline as well as insights into how they are applied in the life of Living Stones. These are helpful for everyone, not just pastors, to read and meditate on.

Matthew 18:15-17

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

• This passage from Matthew 18 deals specifically with personal one-to-one instances of sin, but may be applied in other situations. Matthew 18: 15 to 17 contains a three step process for dealing with person-to-person conflict. Step one is to confront the person who has sinned against you and ask him to repent. If he does not repent after step one, move on to step two. Step two, take one or two other people, along with you to confront the individual about the sin against you and ask him to repent. If he does not repent after step two, move on to step three. Step three is to take the situation to the church. At Living Stones, this may be applied in one of two ways: either take it to your community group for confrontation (assuming you are in the same community group) or bring the sin and the situation to an elder who will bring it back to the elder board for a decision of how church discipline should be applied.

Why is church discipline not brought before the church as a whole?

Romans 16:17

“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”

• Romans 16 is dealing with individuals in the congregation who engage in two specific types of sin. The first sin is the sin of division within the church. The second sin is the sin of false doctrine in the church. These individuals are to be avoided and reported to the elders of the church for follow-up and reconciliation.

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

• First Corinthians 5:1 to 13 (too long to quote here) details a situation in the church involving gross, unrepentant sexual immorality. The specific situation had to do with an individual having sex with his father’s wife. The apostolic exhortation is immediate removal from the congregation until such a time that the individual comes to repentance. This situation is an instance of immediate removal from the church and may be applied in extreme cases.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-7, 14-15

“Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you … .If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

• 2 Thessalonians 3:6 to 7, and 14 to 15 give us a specific situation of church discipline and a timeless principle of church discipline. The situation involved disobedience to the apostolic (and now scriptural) command to work and provide for one’s family. The timeless principle to apply to modem church discipline at Living Stones is that if an individual blatantly disobeyed a scriptural command and persists in that disobedience after being urged to repent, the individual is to be disengaged that he may be ashamed. In the process, he is not to be regarded as an enemy, but continually warned as a brother. Persistence in a particular sin may require removal from the church for the purpose of repentance and restoration.

Titus 3:10-11

“As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.”

• Titus gives us a pattern of dealing with individuals in the church who stir up divisions. The individual is to be warned once and then twice and if there is no repentance the individual is to be removed from the congregation because of his potential to harm the church through division.

Hebrews 13:17

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

• Hebrews gives us the charge of leadership to carry out leading responsibilities which include church discipline and the congregational duty to obey and follow leadership. This exhortation is for the purpose of the leadership carrying out its duties with joy.

Galatians 6:1

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”

• This scripture is instructive in church discipline in terms of the heart attitude and spiritual awareness that church discipline requires. An individual should be walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and carry out the church discipline with a spirit of gentleness. As a church discipline is carried out, the individual should be in a state of constant self-evaluation in regard to the many temptations that could accompany such work.

James 5:19-20

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

• James instructs us on the motivation behind church discipline. Church discipline should never be motivated out of anger, or pride, or woundedness, or self-righteousness, but rather to restore the individual to Christ and his people. The motive is love, the means is love, and the result is love that springs from the gospel.

http://ComePlantChurchesinAnnArborMichigan.com came about because of the lack of gospel-centered churches and gospel-centered church planting in Ann Arbor. My vision is to see dozens of churches planted here in Ann Arbor that are centered on the gospel in all areas and missional in their practice. For that to happen, local churches, regardless of their size, should be planting churches. There’s really no excuse for a church to not plant a church. A healthy church should plant. An unhealthy church should either let itself die or replant. Ray Ortlund and Immanuel Church in Nashville, while only two years old with 150 people on a Sunday, have already planted a church, which means a 30 year old church with 500 people should be planting churches as well. Ray recently wrote a great post on Ed Stetzer’s blog about Small Churches Planting Churches and I’m reprinting the whole thing because it’s so good.

Immanuel Church is small – growing but small. We’re about two years old and averaging around 150 people on Sunday morning. And we are involved in a church plant. Jeremy Rose is pioneering The Axis Church, another Acts 29 church, in downtown Nashville. Jeremy served with us at Immanuel the second half of 2009, and now we are committed to his new work in prayer, fellowship and money – 10% of our regular offerings. At Immanuel, we’re stoked about this.Why not wait until we’re bigger before committing to another church plant? Well, why not wait on every aspect of obedience? I don’t know about you, but I almost never feel ready to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, except in those routine areas of obedience I already have some handle on, like “Ray, read your Bible and pray each day” – and I’m not even good at them! But real obedience, new risks for the name of Christ – that’s part of the “newness of life” the Bible calls us to (Romans 6:4). If all the obedience I offer the Lord is stuff I’m already okay at, where’s the newness? What am I, what are we, doing in obedience to him that we’ve never done before and that we don’t feel entirely ready for? That’s newness. That’s our real growth. We always want to be out there on that edge. Church planting is one way to stay there. So it doesn’t matter how small or how big our church is. If we believe that church planting is a matter of obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for his greater glory in our time, then right now is when we should start taking steps toward jumping in. He will be with us.

Plus, it’s a joy to help give birth to a new church. It fills our own sails at Immanuel with a larger sense of purpose and fulfillment. Every church has a purpose. The stated purpose is almost always gospel-centered, expansive, outreaching. That’s great. But sometimes churches also have an unstated purpose, a functional purpose not in writing but in routines. The functional purpose is the pattern the members default to without thinking. And the functional purpose always wins out over the formally stated purpose. The real purpose of some churches might be something like, “Your best comfort zone now.” But it isn’t comfortable. It isn’t even alive. It’s death.

But when a church’s stated purpose and functional purpose converge as one, and that church really is reaching out in sacrifice and innovation and solid accomplishment, it’s thrilling! That church starts feeling like God’s kingdom coming and God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven. An awareness comes over that church, “Wow, by his grace we are involved! We’re not just talking big. We’re actually doing it. What a privilege!” It’s one of the ways a church’s corporate conscience and sense of responsibility ease into a settled happiness. Not complacency, but real happiness in Christ. A small church can get traction for growth when everyone can see they mean business about unselfish kingdom expansion.

We live in such a great time for church planting. Practical guidance is now available to churches of all faithful denominations and non-denominations. Ed’s blog is itself a tremendous resource. Hey brothers and sisters in churches small, medium and large, let’s go for it – now!

This article is a clarion call to church leaders to be faithful to what is clear in Scripture and to lead their people outside of the comfort of their current church body for the kingdom bounty that awaits with the planting of new churches and the conversion of the lost.

From a sermon on Acts 2 by Bob Thune of Coram Deo in Omana, NE.

1. Gospel dis-inculturation (the gospel confronts the attitudes and beliefs inherited from culture)
2. Biblical and theological depth
3. Rich community
4. Joyful, reverent worship
5. Missional flow

GCR refers to the Great Commission Resurgence, the Southern Baptist task force that is attempting to influence a huge denomination to be more missional and have more kingdom impact. Nathan Akin recently wrote about how the church he attends is a model GCR church. Here are some highlights.

First, my church strives after the glory of God in all things with a strong emphasis on the Scriptures and Gospel-Centrality.

This works itself out in a commitment to expository preaching

In addition, this has led us to a focus on discipleship

First, there is a membership process; this comes directly out of our belief in the Baptist distinctive of “Regenerate Church Membership.”

Next, members are integrated into a small group, which is the primary means of discipleship and community in our church.

Finally, in the context of Gospel-Centrality, there is a focus on being as diverse as the community around us.

Second, our church is adamant about the primacy of the local church

Shepherd’s Training

The elders invite these men that they have identified into the 2-year program; it is not open to everyone. He is then paired with an Elder or leader in the church, along with one other trainee. This leader focuses on personal development and maturity with him. In addition, there is a focus on accountability and the character necessary for an elder. He meets with this Elder/leader every other week to go through these things and to work through memorizing the Pastoral Epistles. In addition, he also meets every other week with all those in the program and all the trainers. Each “semester” during the 2-year cycle focuses on a different aspect of pastoral ministry and leadership. The every other week meeting focuses on the portion of the Pastoral Epistles that was to be memorized that week. One of the Elders then leads through an exposition of that passage and the other elders add thoughts on the passage as well. Next, all the trainees are required to read a book for the week, examples of books read are Baxter’s “The Reformed Pastor,” Dever’s “Nine Marks of a Healthy Church,” Spurgeon’s “Lectures to My Students,” and Bonheoffer’s “Life Together.” Each week, two of the trainees deliver an oral book review of the book for that week and then ask questions of the book that the elders answer and discuss. Finally, the night ends with one of the elders lecturing on an area of pastoral ministry and then discussion of that topic among the elders and trainees. The topics range from “why we employ small groups” to “regenerate church membership.” In addition, during the semester the trainees write two position papers on topics of interest in pastoral ministries. The topics of these papers are things like, view of spiritual gifts in ministry, use of alcohol in ministry, view of divorce and remarriage, and view of church government. Finally, each trainee is to work on a ministry project in some area of church life.  The goal is to lead to the training of future elders and church planters through life on life training. This is the best way to evaluate whether a man possess the qualifications of an Elder and if they are ready to take on a role such as that.

Finally, in the focus of church primacy, my home church does church planting and missions “in house.”

This focus on the primacy of the local church does not mean that my church does not seek to be aided by the convention structures, but it means that they do not farm out missions’ work or church planting to an outside organization.

Finally, how does my church focus on missional living?

First, there is a focus on the small groups being missional. They are all to carry out community projects in our “We Love North Raleigh” campaign

Second, as has been mentioned, we focus on missional living through church planting

In addition, the church has worked hard at overseas and cross-cultural missions

How do church plants know when they’re ready to go very public? Here are the indicators that 2 Pillars Church in Lincoln, NE is using

1. 30-40+ committed adults.
   1. Signed a launch team covenant.
   2. Demonstrating commitment.
2. Evidence of intentional engagement with non-Christians.
3. Everyone on the launch team is in a Gospel Community.
4. Gospel Communities are meeting and healthy with a growing sense of unity and clarity around the mission.
5. Sunday gatherings are smooth: worship, kids, facilities, etc.

“But when we begin to see that our life is in Jesus and not success, we can pursue our expectations, however high and lofty.  We may reach them or we may not, but we are now free to try, without our success or failure ultimately saying something about us.  We don’t need to lower the bar to prop up our ego.

So today are you tempted to lower your expectations about what you want to accomplish because it will preserve your ego?  If so, then remember, it wasn’t your definition of success that is the problem, it is that you think accomplishment is what defines you.”

Thanks, Tim Dunn, for this post today. I needed to hear this. I have big dreams for a movement of the gospel in Ann Arbor (planting 25 churches in 25 years, creating a training and equipping center, etc), yet I worry about “dreaming too big”. What if I fail, and I plant nothing and no one gets equipped? If my identity is found in Jesus, then I haven’t failed. I’m still on the path God ordained for me, it’s just a different one than I thought.

The hardest thing for a church planter is to fight alone in this world. So we look for the accolades and the attention and affirmation of others, forgetting that we are not fighting alone, but we are fighting a war that is beyond ourselves, and in that war we are united with all church planters and pastors, and believers who are actively living out the Great Commission. Let the gospel be your affirmation and your foundation.

From Tim Dunn at Planting Ohio. This post is very encouraging to me. I have felt rather alone, both going through Re:Train and looking towards planting a church. I would love nothing more than to have brothers here in Ann Arbor join me on this journey. However, that can’t approach the comfort I have through the Eternal Comforter and I get to rejoice in that. Hallelujah, All I Have is Christ!

Sovereign Grace is “a family of churches passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are devoted to planting and supporting local churches, with a strong doctrinal basis that is evangelical, Reformed, and continuationist.” Outside of their church polity (elder-rule), I’m a proponent of everything that they do. Dave Harvey, who heads up their church planting efforts, recently blogged about their “governors—things that help us pursue opportunities at the speed limit our values will allow.” The first governor is the qualified guy

What do we mean by a qualified man? A qualified man is one who has sensed a clear and enduring call to plant a church. But there’s more. That sense of call has been confirmed by mature leaders who know the man, warts and all. A qualified man is revealed by the grace on his life. How do we know if there’s grace? Because there are character and abilities that match the eldership qualifications of 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and other passages. And not just to attain them, but to maintain them as well.

In Sovereign Grace Ministries, we organize these qualities around five essential criteria, which we call the “e5.” First and primarily there is preaching. That’s the BIG E. A qualified guy must be an expositor who knows how to handle God’s Word in clear and compelling manner. In our experience, the training and evaluation involved in this component just takes time. It slows the process. We realize that dialing this one back, maybe just downgrading from expository skill to sensible Bible teaching, would speed things up considerably. But we’re called not just to win converts but to make disciples. Disciple making requires exposition.

It doesn’t end there; here are numbers two through five. The qualified man displays (2) a leadership gift, (3) faith towards God, (4) a shepherd’s heart that cares for people, and (5) a determination to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5).

Those are outstanding qualifications and thoroughly biblical. As I look towards planting, the primary “e5″ that I’m lacking is the preaching one. Lord willing, there will be opportunities possibly at Grace or other local churches to preach. It’s an area that I need to grow in and to do that you need experience.

As I look towards the fall and starting an Ann Arbor-focused church planting cooperative called Planting in Tree Town, one of the things that I’m starting to think about is the level of co-operation between the different churches and organizations involved. Of the people on my radar so far, I would categorize them all as broadly Evangelical, but there are differences as far as church polity, Reformed vs. Arminian understanding of salvation, and others. At some level, co-operation may be simply praying together, encouraging one another, and sharing resources. Might there be possibilities for actual co-operation in planting? Possibly, but that will require determining what are the non-negotiable issues that would prevent partnership. Tyler Jones, of Vintage21 in Raleigh, recently talked with Scott Thomas of Acts 29 about Vintage’s level of relationships with other organizations in their city. These are helpful categories and could provide a framework for our work here in Ann Arbor.

1. Family
   • Have the same “DNA” – agree theologically on the authority of Scripture, Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and what that accomplished, etc.
   • Can plant churches together
   • Highest level of sharing resources and interaction
2. Friends
   • Christians who clearly love Jesus.
   • Have differing views on things like church polity, etc., which affect how closely they can work together.
   • Some activities and resource sharing is possible.
3. Partners
   • Ministries that may not be Christians at all.
   • Often social justice groups.
   • Provides an opportunity for evangelism to happen with those who they are serving alongside as well as those they are serving directly.

From the Sojourn Kids blog.

Easter Lesson “He is Alive!”
John 11:35; 20:1-18; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22; 1 Timothy 3:16

THE BIG IDEA: An Introduction for the Teacher and Liturgist:

He appeared in a body,
was vindicated by the Spirit
was seen by angels
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
(1 Timothy 3:16)

What makes Jesus different from every other religious leader in history?  What makes him different from every other human being in history?  He lived a sinless and righteous life.  So, death had no claim on him.  It could not hold him.  Jesus was, as the apostle tells us, “vindicated by the Spirit.”  Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.  He is alive!  He is risen!  He is risen indeed!

This is the great truth that we celebrate during Easter.  Jesus was dead.  But now he is alive!  But this is not all!  Because Jesus’ resurrection is the central event in our own vindication and salvation, we can also have life:

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:20-22)

Today, we will introduce our kids to the one who is himself the Resurrection and the Life, and we will challenge them to trust him alone for life.   Here are our keys for this lesson.  When the lesson is through, each child will know…

• Jesus was dead
• But God raised him from the dead
• Now we can have new life in him

GATHERED STORY (5-10 minutes): Don’t just read it.  Know it and bring it to life!

Good morning, boys and girls! (Good morning!).  Let me tell you a story.  This is a story about what happened after Jesus died on the cross.  Jesus died on a Friday.  It was a very sad day.  It was sad because Jesus’ friends didn’t know what was going to happen.  They didn’t understand why Jesus had to die.

Late on that Friday afternoon, Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross.  It was wrapped in long strips of cloth.  And it was buried in a rich man’s tomb.  A large stone was rolled over the entrance to the tomb, and soldiers were standing outside to make sure that nothing happened to Jesus’ body.  Jesus was dead.

The Bible tells us (hold up your Bible or open to John 20) that this is what happened next:

Early on Sunday morning when it was still dark, Jesus’ friend, Mary Magdalene, went to the tomb and saw that the large stone that was rolled over the mouth of the empty tomb was gone!  So, she ran away.

Why do you think Mary ran away?  (Let the children answer:  Was she afraid?  What could have happened?  Jesus’ body was not there.  The stone had been moved.)

Mary ran to two more of Jesus’ friends, Simon Peter and another friend that Jesus loved very much.  So, Peter and the other friend that Jesus loved ran very fast to the tomb.
(Have the children stand and run in place.)

The second friend ran so fast that he beat Peter there.
(Have the children stop and sit down)

Why do you think the friends ran (really animated)?   (Let the children answer:  Were they shocked?  Was it hard to believe what Mary had told them?)

The friend and Peter looked inside the tomb.  They saw the strips of cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ body.  They saw the cloth that had been put on Jesus face.   It was neatly folded in a corner of the room.  The second friend saw and he believed.  What did he believe? Jesus was dead, but God raised him to life.

Do you believe that Jesus is alive?  (Pause).

Mary didn’t believe.  She was sad.  She thought Jesus was missing.  The friends went back to their homes, but Mary stayed at the tomb, and she cried.  Why do you think that Mary cried?  (Let the children answer: She thought that Jesus was dead, and now his body was missing too!)

A man came to Mary.  He said, “Why are you crying?  Who are you looking for?”  Mary said, “If you took him away, please tell me where he is.  I’ll go and get him.”  He said her name, “Mary.”  It was Jesus!  He had been dead.  But now he was alive!  Now Mary believed!  She wanted to touch him and hug him!  Jesus said, “Not yet.  I’m going to the Father.  And he is your Father too!”  Then, Mary ran away.

Why do you think Mary ran this time?  Let the children answer.

Mary had good news!  She was going to tell her friends, “I have seen Jesus! He was dead!   But now He is alive!  He is risen!  And he is giving us life, so that we can live with the Father again!