Leading your Church to Have Kingdom Vision

"Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off." (Acts 13:1–3, CSB)

The founding of the Antioch church may be the most important moment in church planting history. Antioch would send missionaries throughout the world. Under the Holy Spirit's leadership, the Antioch church became the first great missionary-sending church (Acts 13:3). On the other hand, the Jerusalem church turned increasingly inward and lost much of its vision, finally disappearing like the Judaizers of the early Christian movement. In contrast, the Antioch congregation reached the world by becoming the first church-planting church![1] The church at Antioch gives us a biblical example of kingdom vision. Pastors and planters, let's be faithful to join God in building His Kingdom, and battle against building our own kingdoms.

 BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT IT.

The first missionary team was intentionally sent by a local church to extend the gospel and advance God's kingdom throughout the Gentile world. Kingdom vision will follow a leader's intentionality; it will not happen through wishful thinking. How are you intentionally leading your church to have kingdom vision?  

If the church is the outpost of God's kingdom...then church planting is God's means to advance His kingdom to the ends of the earth. The church at Antioch was an example of a multiplying church with a kingdom vision for intentionally making disciples.

BUDGET FOR IT.

Barnabas is not only known as an encourager; he gives us a faithful example of generosity in Acts 4:36-37. Between the generosity of Barnabas and the support from churches like the church at Antioch, we would be hard-pressed to say Paul's missionary work did not have financial resources. You are not serious about kingdom vision if you are not willing to have a line item for church planting in your budget. If you want to find out what is important to your church, look at your budget. What you spend the most money and time on reflects your priorities. Allocating resources for church planting is a testimony of kingdom leadership and a serious commitment to advance the gospel across the street and around the world.

BUILD HIS KINGDOM NOT YOUR KINGDOM

Our propensity is to grow our ministry, pastor our church, and build our kingdom. Kingdom vision will require dying to your hopes and dreams in exchange for seek first the kingdom of God. Building God's kingdom means a radical commitment to His mission for making disciples and planting churches. A church with kingdom vision recognizes discipleship as the program of the church, not a program of the church. You will never lead a church with a kingdom vision if you are more concerned with building your kingdom; than discovering, developing, and deploying disciples. 

No matter how large or small, every church can take the next steps in cultivating a kingdom vision for church planting. Being intentional, addressing your budget, and prioritizing disciple-making are small steps churches can take to create a kingdom culture for God's glory and the advancement of the gospel. 

[1] Ed Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006), 50.[1]