We planted a second church. It is a slow start (no surprise) but we are intentional and prayerful. We don’t want to see one church get big. We want to see many small churches form relationships and ministries that go deep. That means we have to plant more churches, which means we need more leaders (more on that another day!).
We decided this past Sunday to meet down by the community lake in the neighborhood we are reaching out to. Before “church time” I walked the area and prayed for God to connect us with more people.
We met and no one else came besides myself and the person planting the new church. So my co-laborer and I met by the lake and talked about how we have to remain faithful and to not get discouraged. We talked about how we have to keep showing up and see what God does. We talked about how the lake could be our baptistry and how meeting their meant we might catch people walking by.
As we sat and discussed this out by the lake and as people walked by during our “church time” we invited them to come and pray with us. After one of these conversations two people had things we could pray for…and we did. We circled up, held hands and prayed for their needs. They said something to two of their family members nearby and before we knew it, we had four people say they would be back this coming Sunday for Bible study/church!
It is a small start but it is a start and we get to see God move as we continue to be faithful to the calling.
What happens when you take church outside the walls to where the people are who need Jesus? You might just have opportunity to meet them, pray with them and reach them…they might even teach us quite a bit!
You might even start a new church!
When our first church plant had to move locations last Summer, we prayer drove the new neighborhood on a Saturday. The next morning someone new came walking it. We didn’t meet them the day before but we had driven by their house and asked God to help whoever lived in that house come to know Jesus and/or come to a closer walk with Jesus if they already knew Him. We asked for God to help us connect. They had heard the outside worship and walked in!
These are clearly the movement of God in answer to prayer and a continued walk toward our calling. If we think evangelistic movement is going to happen inside our walls, under our control then we might get disappointed. It happens but maybe we better position ourselves by being where the people are we are trying to reach rather than expecting them to come on our turf.
