The purpose for planting a new church is to make disciples in an area that is unreached. We plant churches to make disciples, and we plant churches by making disciples. In the Great Commission God has given us two things to do:
Church planting and discipleship go hand in hand. If we separate the two, we separate them from their proper Great Commission context. Churches are made of disciples. That is what a church is - two or more gathered together in the name of Jesus (Matthew 18:20). Jesus gave the same power and authority to two disciples as He did to a whole church (Matthew 18:19). This is why Jesus sent the disciples out two-by-two. He was, in effect, sending out little churches. Baptism is so important because it brings us into the church (1 Corinthians 12:13) and defines our relationship to the church.