What does a local church look like?

What should we be seeing in a local church that is filling the Great Commission of Christ?? Every individual believer and every local church are commanded to go and "make disciples who make disciples," baptizing them, and teaching them to obey God's commands. How do we really do that?

These are not in any particular order, but these are things that we should be seeing.

1. The local church should be developing foreign missionaries and FULLY funding their time in the mission field. These missionaries don't spend time fund-raising; they spend their time preaching and teaching the Gospel, church planting, and training pastors in the field. Their sabbaticals back home are to rest and study, not fund-raise. This is the one that God has been hammering me with. The Great Commission to the whole world is vastly more for the local church than sending a check to a denomination. Missionaries must be cultivated, trained, supported, and sent.

2. The local church should be developing ordained campus pastors to plant new campuses and churches in the United States. If we are Biblically discipling, a new elders should be raised up. In this pool of elders, some to lead new local churches should arise.

3. The local church should assist developing churches with resources and training to become Gospel-centered and missional. The Bridge is currently doing this with churches in Leadwood, Nixa, St. James, Kansas City, and Herculaneum.

4. The local church should be developing qualified elders to oversee this entire effort. GET THE MEN! GET THE MEN! GET THE MEN! These overseas missionaries, pastors, and missional cell (community) leaders will come out of a system of developing elders from 1 Timothy and Titus. I am believing that this level of training may be the key step in fulfilling the Great Commission.

5. The local church should be developing missional cell leaders (Biblical deacons) who will plant missional cells to redeem local communities for the cause of Christ. The Bridge - Leadington should be planting about 10-20 a year in St. Francois County and surrounding areas.

6. The local church should be baptizing about 10-20 percent of the average attendance a year as new believers. The Bridge nearly reached the 20% in 2010. Strong Gospel-centered teaching in missional cells if not-yet-believers are being invited to homes will help accomplish this. Preaching Jesus and the Gospel into primarily expository preaching will be a primary catalyst for the Holy Spirit to call His people also.

7. Developing women who actively making disciples who make disciples by being obedient to Titus 2:3-5. Our Spirit-filled women also should be filling many ministry roles around the local church and our missional cells.

Lots more to say, but I believe that is a good start to what it looks like to be Gospel-centered and missional in the local church. The keys of course are to developing Jesus Freaks (people who are absolutely blown away by the person of Jesus lifting high His name), and a commitment to doing all things according to Holy Scripture, and a massive commitment to prayer for the freeing of the power of the Holy Spirit of God to accomplish all these things. This is not a matter of human effort, but of submission to a powerful God who can make the impossible seem possible. Then, when submitted, we "GO."