The Journey. We’re on a journey following Jesus in reaching our community. Our bilingual plant officially launched in February of 2017, but we would like to take a moment to reflect on some of our initial excitements and concerns in anticipating our church planting journey.
The Excitements. When we think about planting a church, what excites my wife and me the most are all the new adventures of faith that await us – trusting the Spirit of God to lead us in His ever creative and loving ways to bring souls to Christ. We love to be in the “yoke” learning with Jesus – learning to love on people and inspire them into sincere, lifelong discipleship. It’s absolutely wonderful to make living connections with precious people, seeing them transformed, loving and leading into God’s eternal purpose for their lives and their families, and working side-by-side with them in being an impact on the community.
The Concerns. Our first concern in doing any kind of ministry for the Lord must be whether or not that ministry is flowing from our “with the Lord” experience. “…having preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Cor 9:27 KJV – At times, I do love the old KJV wordings 😉 ). “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine…” (1 Tim 4:16) is very wise advice. As well stated by Peter Scazzero (1):
“Your being with God (or lack of being with God) will trump, eventually, your doing for God every time. We cannot give what we do not possess. We cannot help but give what we do possess.”
When we think specifically about planting a church, there are concerned about the responsibility of ensuring that the souls with which God entrusts us are firmly grounded upon the right foundation – doctrinally and (more importantly) experientially. Paul referred to himself as a “wise master builder” who laid the foundation of Christ (1 Cor 3:10). It’s our prayer that God would grant us this“builder” wisdom, i.e., a “God-listening heart” like Solomon requested (1 Kings 3:7-9 The Message Bible).
We also realize that God will also send souls our way who may already have a foundation laid in their lives. Paul warned: “Let each one take care how he builds upon it” (1 Cor 3:10). May the Jesus, the Great Architect, lead us in building with “gold, silver, and precious stones” (1 Cor 3:10) – building that which can stand the test of trials and time. Echoing in our hearts are Paul exclamations of awe and wonder and yet deep confidence in God’s Great Grace: “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor 2:16) and “But our sufficiency is from God” (2 Cor 3:5). “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).
Notes:
- Scazzero, Peter. The Emotionally Healthy Leader (p. 38). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.