Over time I think we all let up a little bit on the gas pedal. We delegate away influence that we really need to maintain. Maybe it's just that we're tired and need to be more intentional about resting. Maybe it's that we need to take next steps and develop our own leadership to grow to the next level.
Maybe you’re reading this right now and believe that God has called you to plant a church. Or maybe you are exploring to test that calling. No matter where you are in the process, I can think of at least five key areas that will help you prepare to plant a church and each of them can be found in Passion 4 Planting’s “Church Planter Residency.”
We so often fall away from a challenge because we think it will scare people off. Our ego comes into play and we don’t want our numbers to suffer. So we don’t challenge or push the way we should. A strong challenge to a disciple’s next step might scare off some, but it will never scare off the right one.
One of the things I remember most is memorizing Scripture. I was trained to memorize all sixty-six books of the Bible. Rehearsed verses over and over until we had them memorized. I knew from different places in the Bible, especially the life of David, that it was important to put Scripture to memory. I knew it mentally, but was unsure of why it was important for me practically. Here are a few reasons why it matters practically for each of us.
If we want to see a movement of disciple making happen in this nation, we must train at much deeper levels than that. Not only train, but bring tools to the table that everyone can reproduce and multiply in another. It has to be able to be accomplished beyond the pastor, or our hierarchy in the church will continue to choke out movement.
As we disciple our teams we are through them preparing them to disciple their families. The family where they naturally feel the most meaning. Instead of making parents feel bad for choosing their children over all the church activities during the week, let’s set them up to make disciples right where they are; in their families.
This past Tuesday, Exponential hosted a free webinar with Carey Nieuwhof. Over the last few years Carey will write a blog post about upcoming disruptive trends for the church that will happen in the new year. He believes that churches should stay on top of current trends and change with them.
MAP stands for Ministry Action Plan. It’s a simple tool to help you set new ministry goals for the year and a pathway to achieve them. If you struggle seeing the entire year at a glance, or if you are simply behind in your planning, this tool will definitely help you create a path and stick with it.
