A Church Planter's Journal

A Church Planter's Journal going a bit more live

I have been longing to talk to other church planters about their journey. Figure it's time I make my journey more available.

March 18, 2010

SCRIPTURE:

 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

    ¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest heaven, 
       and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests." Luke 2

THOUGHTS:

Man, it's been awhile since I last journaled. So much has happened. First let me get to the scripture above. I am preaching on the life of Jesus Sunday in our series THE STORY WE FIND OURSELVES IN, thus, the Christmas passage.

Luke here lays out so much relevant to a church planter. Let me outline:

1. The King's parents have to travel and give birth to their baby in a facility not their own. The only people who will think that funny is church planters. Sorry everyone else.
2. The King's birth is no picnic! So why should I think the birth of The Gallery should be easy.
3. All of heaven rejoices. The angels declare the birth as good news, but only a handful of shepherds on earth find the news relatively important. Same thing in church planting! All of heaven rejoices at the birth of a new church community, but most of the world down here could care less.
4. The shepherds go and tell everyone. This is a small but great core group. What missionaries!

What can I take away from this? Well, before I fall into complete narcissism, let me note that the birth of the King is admittedly a bigger deal than the birth of a church....but I don't think Jesus is up with the Father saying it's that much bigger. The Groom loves His bride! And so does all of heaven! 

I think it's also important for me here to see the activity in the heavenly realm is bigger than I could imagine. While only a handful of people on earth are paying much attention to this church plant, I believe the activity of God's forces is profound for the Bride and it gives me comfort to know while not all lay people at The Gallery are taking this seriously, all of heaven is. Thanks be to God!

MORE THOUGHTS:

I should also note today the profound things that have happened in The Gallery and in my personal life this past month:

• We had a great ash wednesday service. 
• I began a surrendering of time for Lent--meaning each morning I surrender 45-60 minutes to the Lord in quiet, still meditation. 
• Our February attendance and giving was even below our pre-launch numbers. That stuff takes a year off my life.

PRAYER:

Abba, we praise You today for Your word and the journey. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Deborah, Esther, David, Solomon, Mary, Peter, Paul, all went on the journey with you and it wasn't a picnic for any of them. Thanks for Your honesty. We thank You for the journey of The Gallery. Thank You for the hills and the valleys. 

PRAISES:

We praise You for the power of Your Spirit that is making this new church possible.

We praise You for the provision You provide. We pray for continued provision.

We praise You for the gifted people You have provided The Gallery. You have sent so many with so many gifts we need. Take these gifts, mold them and shape them for Your glory.

We praise You for the loving mission You've placed us on. 

SUPPLICATION:

Please build a strong alliance between The Gallery and the Barack and Michelled Obama School. Give wise counsel to Pastor Brad and Mike Bernard as they meet with the principal and her volunteer coordinator tomorrow.

Please anoint The Gallery as they gather for worship on Sunday. Make our gathering a testimony to You alive in us.

Please provide a spirit of unity in The Gallery's worship ministry as they gather to dream and strategize after church on Sunday.

Please anoint Pastor Brad's words as he prepares to preach Sunday. 

Please give The Gallery a greater thirst for You and Your word.

Please help The Gallery lean completely into You, trusting You for all we need.

Amen.

March 7, 2010

SCRIPTURE:

²¹ By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. ²² Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. Exodus 13

THOUGHTS:

The stories of the patriarchs are great stories for church planters. In each of there is a call, there is a promise and there is God's provision. The journeys of leaders like Moses are not pretty. They are heroic, but not pretty, and neither is church planting. Church planting is filled with daily hills and valleys. Just when you think you've got one part figured out, another part breaks down. I likened it the other day to running a marathon. Running a marathon is a great accomplishment, but the idea of the whole deal is that you will get continually more tired and more beaten up. Runners don't end their race anything but exhausted, and I am realizing being exhausted is just part of church planting.

But we don't run alone. Like the passage above indicates, God is faithfully there guiding us toward His destination that He has chosen. And while we don't fully understand where that is or what that will always be like, we can be assured of His faithful provision through the desert. 

Prayer:

Abba, help me see you by day and by night and help me trust you even though my people might sometimes not. Amen.

March 1, 2010

SCRIPTURE:

Genesis 24-32

THOUGHTS:

I have been trying to spend 45-minutes to an hour in silent prayer and meditation due for Lent every day. But i sprained my ankle playing basketball last night, and it is hard to find the right position to be still. So today I decided to spend this time reading scripture. Because I am preaching through the story of the Bible in 12 weeks, I decided to read a big chunk of Genesis in one sitting. I like doing this esp. with the narratives for it gives a broader perspective then simply choosing smaller devotional readings.

What did I see in these readings? Hmmm...What a bunch of crazies! Esau, Jacob, Rebekah...so imperfect, motivated by selfish gain, and yet God is faithful to the covenant promises given to Abraham and continues to remind these misfits that "all the nations of the world will be blessed through Jacob's lineage." 

God is going to do what God is going to do. The Lord has a desire for the world's future that is far bigger than our starts and stumbles on a daily basis. God is so mighty He guides the work of humanity into the future and so intimate He guides our personal walks into that future.

I am particularly struck today by the message on Abraham I spoke yesterday. The message itself was fine. But Abraham's story strikes my heart today. I spoke of Abraham's faithfulness, even when it didn't make sense. It seems no matter the circumstance, Abraham continued a forward leaning movement of "Here I am, Lord. May Your will be done in me."  

This is of particular importance to me today, because I am hugely drained. February was fraught with all kinds of strangeness in The Gallery. We had far more interpersonal wranglings among us. Some of our core just couldn't hang with the time change and are now gone. Our attendance plummeted to new lows. Giving sucked. I'm a little pissed today...not at God...just at the marathon I've signed up for. 

It seems like the 6 months before launch were prep for the marathon. Then launch was the starting gun of the marathon, and now having finished February, we're only on mile two of the marathon, and the body is already saying, "Dang, this is going to be a long run." 

I find this metaphor very helpful because in a marathon, the run doesn't get easier, you just get more and more tired!!!!! There is a myth in ministry that at some point it'll be easier, but I don't know that that's true. So, why do it? Love.

Yesterday I had to pray with someone involved in domestic violence. And then I got word that a sister from our mother congregation had committed suicide. Her kids were in youth ministry when I was youth pastor. I know the family well. 

What's interesting is we had this AMAZING worship service, and then it was followed by such turmoil. It's exhausting. But it is also worth every second I know. What else is there in life but to move forward in love, love that leads us into the heart of the beast where darkness dwells. 

So...today I build a devotional altar to mile one of the marathon. 

PRAYER:

Abba, refresh my spirit. Amen.

Some Gallery Q and A

Last Sunday after my message I encouraged people to text me questions they had about my message. I promised to answer the ones I didn’t have time to answer, so here ya’ go!

Question: What's the best way to tell someone about The Gallery without making it seem like we think we're better than everyone else?

Answer: Great question, because we're not better than everyone else. God has blessed this world with so many different churches. Some people see this as a detriment. I see it as a blessing. All the books in the Bible are different. Everyone in this planet is different, yet we're all made in God's image. 

• If I had 30 seconds to explain The Gallery, I'd use what we do on so many Sundays. I would physically make the sign of the cross and say, "The Gallery believes we are called to live out the reconciliation made possible in Jesus--reconciled with God, self, others, and all creation."
• If they asked about our worship services, I'd tell them we simply try to do what Jesus-people do. We love God and each other. We worship through song, we pray, we listen to God's word.
• If they said, "But what's it like? Is it traditional? Is it contemporary?" I'd say it's an expression of who God is in us. Some of it is very new and some of it is very old. Classical music to hip-hop. Why? Because we can't be boxed in by a musical expression. Our musical expressions simply give voice to who God is and what He's doing in us.
• If they said, "Give me one word...just one word to describe The Gallery." I'd use "reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5.19-20).
• If you really want one sentence, you could say, "Our pastor sometimes says we are a community of players living scenes from the kingdom of God for a watching world."
• Then I'd just tell them to come.

Question: How can we figure out how God would like to use our gifts and abilities for Him rather than to settle for keeping busy working for a living, paying the bills, and building savings for retirement.

Answer: I think we have to begin with the concept of Colossians 3.17: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” So, “working for a living, paying the bills, and building savings for retirement” should be done for the glory of God. Our spiritual lives should not be partitioned off as one part of our lives, but rather everything we do is spiritual.