Taking the beginning steps to plant a church we get a lot of negative reactions. There are some positive responses when we share what we are doing but unfortunately more times then not the responses lean towards the negative side. We are often asked questions. I actually like questions. It keeps me on my toes and it forces me to be ready in and out of season. I have been at work and had the most random person begin to ask questions about the church plant. One of the questions we hear is “Why are you planting a church?” (or something along those lines) I have started to answer that question with one of my own…why not us? It’s clear from the New Testament that the model of training people and sending them out for ministry should be followed. If I am called and trained for ministry and I don’t step out for the mission then I would disobedient. Here are some additional thoughts regarding church planting:
-The goal isn’t to shuffle around the Kingdom of God but to grow the Kingdom. This means evangelism…we choose to be intentional with our approach. Strategically planning what effective evangelism means to us, our city and our nation.
-Authentic community: real relationships that go beyond the surface. This community is based off of grace, love and the Word of God. There is nothing that you can do to be loved more or less, we don’t value people based off of what they can offer but based on the fact that they are a child of God and they too need salvation through Christ.
-Be Straight about our message: We acknowledge that theology is important and has its place but we also know that there is a simplicity to our message. Jesus loves you and so do we! We won’t sugarcoat the difficult truths in the Bible and we refuse to gloss over the simple ideals that make up our faith.
