My family has been "called" to become church planters in another town.
There are so many things I'd like you to know. What is a church planter? Why do we need more churches? What all does that involve? How do you know your "called"? But first I need you to know what it's like to wait..........
We finished our youth pastor position in May of 2012 with a sign in our yard that had been there since, awaiting the swift sale of our gorgeous Victorian, 3000 sq ft, 4 bed, 4 full baths, living & family rooms, dinning & eat -in kitchen home plotted in the middle of 3 lots in an adorable neighborhood with 2 parks and tennis courts. It's January. 2013! We're still here. In our 2 story beaut'. The walls are moving further and further in on us as our 'close friends' dwindle along with our anticipation of the giant move of God in the next town we plan to plant our lives and new church.
That may sound extreme but it's where we're at. I think we are right where Satan wants us. Sad. Huge lack of enthusiasm and energy. Becoming scared. Withdrawn. Depressed. Anxious.
With so many with very little knowledge about the who's, what's, whens, wheres, and hows of Church Planting; we sit lonely. People scared to talk to us. We're "Those weird people. A little less odd than the foreign missionaries type but getting close." With lack of knowledge comes hatred; or at least lack of love. Now that I've depressed all the readers here at Rage Against the Minivan, let me show you our true personality and shed some light on me, my family, and the world of Church Planting.
My husband, Matt & I have been in full time ministry together literally since we first met in 2003. We have been married since 2004 & actively serving the Lord throughout the state of Arkansas. We've added to the Rothacher clan with 3 beautiful blessings; Magdalene (6/08), Isabella (1/10), and Benjamin (1/11) also known as Maggie, Izzie, and Jamin. We have a deep desire to see God move in and through our generation. Matt loves the Word of God and is passionate about preaching it and helping people apply it to their lives. He is particularly concerned with being someone that takes the Gospel to the ends of the earth and to be a part of the epic story that God is writing throughout the history of the world.
We are going to be instruments for a new move of God through the realm of church planting. Meaning that we are not about starting a church so much as being a catalyst for an outpouring of the Spirit of God, resulting in a new expression of the church. We are going to accomplish that by being about:
“Authentic Biblical community, Strong Biblical teaching, creating Gospel centered lifestyles, and mobilizing to reach the world."
I'm not gonna lie to ya, I don't know if I could explain church planting as concise and as well as Tim Keller so I just want to quote him:
We want to be true to THE BIBLICAL MANDATE
Jesus' essential call was to plant churches.
Paul's whole strategy was to plant urban churches.
We want to be true to THE GREAT COMMISSION.
New churches best reach a) new generations, b) new residents, and c) new people groups.
New churches best reach the unchurched.
We want to continually RENEW THE WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST.
First, the new churches bring new ideas to the whole Body.
Second, new churches are one of the best ways to surface creative, strong leaders for the whole Body.
Third, the new churches challenge other churches to self-examination.
Fourth, the new church may be an 'evangelistic feeder' for a whole community.
As an exercise in KINGDOM-MINDEDNESS
New church planting is the only way that we can be sure we are going to increase the number of believers in a city and one of the best ways to renew the whole Body of Christ. The evidence for this statement is strong--Biblically, sociologically, and historically. In the end, a lack of kingdom-mindedness may simply blind us to all this evidence. We must beware of that.
Find the entire resource at Why Plant Churches.
Thanks for reading. I pray that now that you know about church planting you can better support those starting a church, educate those ragging new plants, or possibly be inspired to be a part of a new church plant! We're all one body with the same goal in mind: Share Christ!
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You can download and listen to my interview on our plant HERE or just head on over to The Valley site. Of course The Valley is on Twitter and Facebook as well!
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