The Importance of Planting Congregations

Acts 2:37–47

Jesus’ first church plant was established in Jerusalem. Acts 2 gives us a powerful picture of what happened. Peter preached the Gospel, about 3,000 people responded, and immediately we see those believers becoming part of a congregation.

What stands out to me is that Peter didn’t just preach, get people saved, and move on. There had to be somewhere for those new believers to grow.

That’s why it’s important to plant congregations. People don’t just need to hear the Gospel; they need a place where they can learn, grow, fellowship, receive proper teaching, and be discipled. Evangelism brings people into the Kingdom, but discipleship teaches them how to live in the Kingdom.

Acts 2:37–47 is one example of how a congregation can be established and how the believers operated once they came together. They continued in the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. They were not simply converts attending a meeting. They became a functioning body of believers.

This is why I believe church planting must be done responsibly. If any amount of people are being reached, somebody has to be prepared to teach them, disciple them, care for them, and help them mature.

John Wesley understood this principle when he wrote:

I was more convinced than ever before that the preaching like an Apostle, without joining together those that are awakened and training them up in the ways of God is only begetting children for the murderer. How much preaching has there been for these twenty years all over Pembrokeshire! (Wales) But no regular societies, no discipline, no order or connection; and the consequences are that nine out of ten of the once awakened are now faster asleep than ever.

That is powerful. Preaching without establishing and discipling people is incomplete.

The Book of Acts is filled with accounts of apostles preaching in different cities and establishing powerful congregations. They didn’t just hold meetings. They established churches.

Those churches also needed God-ordained leadership. The establishing of a church should be ordained of God by a REAL apostle, and the leaders who oversee it should be ordained and appointed according to God’s order. Leadership in the local congregation isn’t something we should randomly create or assign.

When Paul instructed Titus concerning the churches in Crete, he said:

Titus 1:5 — “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.”

Notice the pattern: cities were reached, congregations were established, and elders (pastors) were ordained to oversee them.

These elders (pastors) functioned as the pastoral overseers of the local congregations. Paul did not tell Titus to put prophets, evangelists, or traveling teachers over any congregation. The local churches needed qualified elders/pastors who could oversee, teach, protect, and care for the people.

This is why church planting is so important. People need more than a powerful meeting. They need a spiritual home.

We can’t just count how many people came forward. We have to ask: Who is teaching them? Who is discipling them? Who is overseeing them? Where are they gathering? How are they growing?

The apostolic pattern isn’t simply:

PREACH → GET PEOPLE SAVED → LEAVE

It is:

PREACH → ESTABLISH CONGREGATIONS → MAKE DISCIPLES → ORDAIN LEADERS → CONTINUE THE WORK

That’s what we see throughout Acts.

Acts 2:42 says, “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

That is what we’re after—not just decisions, crowds, or "successful meetings", but strong congregations filled with properly taught, discipled believers who continue in the faith.

Apostle Doc Murphy, The Everywhere Network