cpm... a new testament pattern

“…You became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place” (I Thessalonians 1:7,8a).

God’s word was spread by the Thessalonian churches to every place in their region. Paul’s teachings, “his ways in Christ,” were taught in every church everywhere by faithful disciples like Timothy and the churches Paul planted (I Cor. 4:17). Churches reproducing churches so that ultimately every place can have access to the gospel is what we call today a “church planting movement”. The phenomenon of church planting movements is nothing new. CPM is a term used today to describe a Holy Spirit driven process for evangelizing whole nations, or people groups.

We observe a pattern for what we call “CPM” in the New Testament and especially in the book of Acts. Following are passages that describe a movement of the Holy Spirit that led to the first “CPM” (Acts 9:31).

Observe what happened after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter’s message and the results …
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God… Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers… So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house… praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:4a, 11b, and 41-42,46a,47).

Observe what happened after the healing of the lame man, Peter and John’s arrest, and the results…
“And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand” (Acts 4:3,4).

Observe what happened after the prayer of believers in response to threats and the results…
“And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they shared all things in common” (Acts 4:31,32).

Observe what happened after the signs and wonders done among the people through the apostles and the results…
“And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women…” (Acts 5:14).

Observe what happened after the trial and beating of the apostles by the religious council and the results…
“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Now in those days, the number of the disciples was multiplying…” (Acts 5:42-6:1a).

Observe what happened after the multitude of disciples chose seven new leaders to serve and the results…
“…Whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly…” (Acts 6:6,7a).

Observe what happened after Stephen’s murder, how the Jerusalem believers fled persecution and the results…
“Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles, which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city… But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized” (Acts 8:4-8,12).

Observe what happened after Saul’s (Paul’s) conversion and the results… “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied” (Acts 9:31).

Early on in Acts, even before the great missionary Paul, we see a pattern for evangelism and church planting that reproduced and multiplied rapidly among all the people of a particular region (primarily Jewish people at this point). God performed mighty acts through His obedient followers that resulted in what we identify today as a “church planting movement”. In Acts chapter five, we see a shift in the momentum of the first church planting movement. Earlier in chapter five, “believers were increasingly added to the Lord” (Acts 5:14). However, later in chapter five it is recorded that, “the number of the disciples was multiplying” (Acts 5:42). In every Holy Spirit driven movement we see this same characteristic. At some point the believers, churches and leaders that are added in the beginning of the movement start to multiply. This happens when several spiritual generations are reproducing themselves, much like a family will multiply when grandchildren start having great grandchildren, and then the great grandchildren reproduce, and so on. Every church planting movement sees this type of spiritual reproduction that results in rapidly multiplying indigenous churches that get the gospel to every place.

In Acts 9:31 we see that the churches throughout that entire region were multiplying. Today God continues to do the same work that He did through the early church. He is using His obedient healthy churches that are reproducing disciples, churches and leaders to get the good news to every place.

How can we join God in a movement like this among our own focus people?

It will require following a Biblical pattern that is indigenous and easily reproduced by the people. It will go beyond adding disciples to multiplying churches. What kind of church in your context will do this? It may look quite different from other churches or anything anyone has ever seen before. Have you discovered a “way in Christ” that works for reaching your people? The test is: the people can easily follow that way in Christ and teach others to do the same. If we are struggling to see a Holy Spirit driven movement happen among our people, let us persevere in vigilant prayer and walking in the Spirit, until we discover that breakthrough that will lead to a church planting movement.

For more information about church planting movements today, order the book from:
churchplantingmovements.com