Why Plant a church (in Marshall)?

The short answer is, For the Glory of God .

The Alliance is a church multiplication movement, as stated in our Vision (www.cmalliance.org).

Marshall was the choice after prayerful consideration as the best choice to focus the efforts of the southwestern prayer area churches. Marshall , like many communities of its size, has a number of established, long-term churches that are already in place. Despite all these churches, however, a majority of the population is either underserved or un-served. Established churches, by their very nature, tend to focus on those already within their congregation. Outreach outside the walls of the church is often neglected, and most ministries focus on those people which are in the congregation. As a result, the established churches begin to take on the life of a social club, where people of like mind meet, discuss appropriate topics, and come away usually having many personal needs met. One argument that I have heard is ‘why not change the church you are in and make it more outreach oriented?’ Most churches would point to their current outreach (though it is usually just hanging a sign and inviting people to church for a special service) as adequate and comfortable for them-and that change is not needed or welcome, because this is the way that they have always done it.

Church planting is where most new adult converts are made and kept. Evangelism and missions is in the DNA as one of the primary purposes of this church. As we discuss our next topic, you will see that evangelism and missions is at our core as a value of River of Life Alliance Church. There is NO OTHER church in Marshall in which Evangelism is a practiced core value. River of Life Alliance Church is going to serve a unique segment of the population of Marshall- those who are unconverted!

The most important reason that we are here in Marshall to plant a church is to see people come into a faith relationship with Jesus Christ. I suspect that if I were to poll the people in Marshall I would find about 90% of the population would consider themselves Christians. But the sad thing is, as was pointed out to me in a letter, there are many different doctrines and teachings that are considered to be Christian and not all who claim the name Christian really act Christian at all. This is the reason many are turned off to the modern church; they see hypocrisy at its root.

I think it is important to clarify terms here. The word Christian at its very basic means to be a ‘follower of Christ’.  The Apostle John gives us many tests in the book of  1 John that very clearly demonstrate that to be a follower of Christ means that we walk in the same way that Jesus did. That means our lifestyle must line up with that of Christ.

Therein lies the difficulty; People are not perfect, and cannot match the righteous standard that is set by God which is perfect holiness. So we are in a bad situation. To be a Christian, our lifestyle must line up with the example set by Christ. Christ never sinned, he never transgressed the law, and He always did his Fathers will perfectly. Quite the large shoes that we must fill!

This is why Jesus explained to Nicodemus in the third chapter of the Gospel of John verse 3: “I tell you the truth; no one can see the kingdom of God unless He is born again” This term means simply that we must go to God and by faith be born anew from above.  Jesus states later in John 14:6 “I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me” and again in John 10:7 that he is the ‘gate’ by which we must enter into the fold. Jesus is not speaking in riddles here; He is simply stating the reality that the only way to God is through faith in Himself- Christ. Being born from above means that we become a new creation, and that we become members of a new family. We are converted- from death to life and from darkness to light.

Jesus continued in John 3:16- 18 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Our Mission statement reads: "River Of Life Marshall is a Great Commission Church of the C&MA: existing to know Christ and to make Him known by reaching people with the whole Gospel in our community, bringing them to faith in Jesus Christ, and making disciples that reflect the character and priorities of Jesus Christ."

The book of Acts is a model of the church as it should be. By and large, the church in America has long ago departed from this model, and we are planting a River of Life Church in Marshall, with a vision of the church that we find in the book of Acts.

In this book, we see the disciples empowered with the Holy Spirit and going out spreading the whole Gospel in that power.

Our goal as this new congregation is to go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit into this community and preach the whole Gospel; that man is lost, separated from God because of sin, and is looking forward to eternity in hell. The only way that we can be saved from this destiny is to repent of our sinful deeds, and to turn to Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

I have been asked "Are there no other churches already doing this?" I do not know, and it is only for me to be obedient to what I have been called to do. I will say this: the reality is that statistically, people in the church today are no different than those people who do not attend church. What I mean is this: sexual addictions, fornication, divorce, and even abortion (I could go on) is just as prevelant in today's secular society as it is in the church. So my answer is that clearly that all churches are not teaching the whole gospel, for if they were, the people in attendance would see the need for repentance and their behavior would be changed.

We are planting River of Life Alliance Church in Marshall because the Bible teaches that we are in darkness before we come to Christ, and that when we come to Christ, we ought to walk in the light. In other words, through the preaching of the whole Gospel, and our response to it, our whole nature is changed. As a result of this change, we desire to be obedient to Christ, and part of this obedience is sharing the whole Gospel with with others. The natural outgrowth of that obedience is more church fellowships.