Planting Missional Churches (part 6)

6. A people who want to see amazing things!

Neh 6:15-16 says … “The wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul. It had taken fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard the news and all the surrounding nations saw it, our enemies totally lost their nerve. They knew that God was behind this work.”

Yes, being part of a church planting team may be challenging, tiring and even difficult, but there is also the opportunity to be part of something great and amazing! I dream of the days when Christ Community Church is a vibrant, community transforming church! What an amazing privilege to be in at the start seeing this dream become a reality!

Don’t thinking that being part of a church planting team is all hard slog. We are having great fun in Attleborough! Church planting is an adventure not to be missed!

Planting Missional Churches (part 5)

5. Willing to live on the edge of defeat
Neh 4:1-3 says … “When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he exploded in anger, vilifying the Jews. In the company of his Samaritan cronies and military he let loose: “What are these miserable Jews doing? Do they think they can get everything back to normal overnight? Make building stones out of make-believe?” At his side, Tobiah the ammonite jumped in and said, “That’s right! What do they think they’re building? Why, if a fox climbed that wall, it would fall to pieces under the weight.”

All that Sanballat and his cronies had to say about the Jews was in a natural sense true! The project which these faith-filled people set out to accomplish was a mammoth task and without God’s resources was going to fail! However, as church planting team members we don’t rely upon our own resources. We rely upon the resources of heaven!

In Attleborough and the surrounding villages we are looking to build a church a 200. I don’t think Attleborough will have seen anything like this in generations. Are we swimming with resources? Are we well equipped for the challenge ahead? Could all of this end up being serious egg on face? Certainly! Yet we know that God has called us and that is why we are taking increasing steps of faith in order to see our vision become a reality!

Church Planting team members must get use to living on the edge of defeat, but that’s also where the glorious heroes of God can be found (David and Goliath, Gideon and the Midionites, the early church and the Roman Empire)

Planting Missional Churches (part 4)

4. Team Players
Neh 4:17 says … “From then on half of my young men worked while the other half stood guard with lances, shields, bows and mail armour.”

# Midway through the building project, under increasing pressure of attack, Nehemiah organised the team in such a way that they were interdependent. The builders wouldn’t survive on their own and the men at arms couldn’t complete the vision which they were defending on their own. Different roles, but both working towards the same goal. Can I say with as much grace as possible, lone rangers don’t survive in a church plant and may even take others out with them.

# Church planting is about team work. Working together to see something come out of nothing can be one of the greatest pleasures. I was so pleased last year when we were able to pull together a diverse bunch of people to run our latest Alpha course. People with different gifts, different abilities and yet able and willing to work together to see people gathered into the Kingdom!

Planting Missional Churches (part 3)

3. Playing out of Position
Chapter 3 of Nehemiah also shows us another clear characteristic of church planting team members. It shows us that we often have to play out of position. What do I mean by that? I mean, priests, goldsmiths, perfumers, countrymen, administrators, merchants and so on all gave themselves to manual construction work! Was this their specialist trade? No. Was it essential at that time they were able to build walls? Yes.

Grounding this in day to day reality this means people who are willing to have a go! You might never have arrived early for a church meeting to set chairs out, but are you willing to have a go? You might be afraid of working with children, but are you willing to have a go? You might never have led a cell group or an Alpha course, but if asked are you willing to have a go?

PLANTING MISSIONAL CHURCHES (part2)

2. Takes personal responsibility
Let’s read the whole of Nehemiah 2:18
“They said, ‘we’re with you. Let’s get started.” They rolled up their sleeves, ready for the good work.”

# Church planting teams members are people who make the connection between the big vision (the walls must be restored) and what they can do (their personal responsibility). Church planting team members are people who have their sleeves rolled up, ready to play their part!

If you flick over to Chapter 3 you will see paragraph after paragraph describing individuals and small teams who took ownership of the vision to see the walls restored and gave themselves (blood, sweat and tears) to seeing a part of that dream fulfilled!

# Don’t be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the vision, ask God what part you can play in fulfilling it, roll your sleeves up and get stuck in!

PLANTING MISSIONAL CHURCHES (part1)

The following 6 part series are notes from a seminar I led in the summer of 2006 looking at missional church planting ...


Have you ever asked questions such as: -

“Could I be part of a church planting team?”

“If so what would I have to offer?”

“What should I expect if I get involved in a church plant?”

“Is there a special type of person who can be involved in a church plant?”

In order to try and address some of these questions I thought it would be fun to start by looking at a “person specification” (like in a job application pack) of a church planting team member. I want to do this by drawing on the shining example of an amazing bunch of people who often get overlooked as they sit in the shadow of one of histories greatest examples of a pioneering leader – Nehemiah. Books and books have been written on the lessons we can learn from the life and leadership of Nehemiah; however, I want us to look behind him and see the type people who made up the team who stood with him as co-worker and co-pioneers to see the God given vision of a restored Jerusalem come into reality. In 52 days these ‘ordinary’ men, women and children saw Jerusalem’s walls emerge out of the rubble of disgrace and dishonour, and with it, set us an example of what it means to be part of a pioneering church planting team.



6 essential characteristics for a church planting team member

1. Responds to God’s call

Nehemiah 2:17-18 describes the moment when Nehemiah unveils to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, his God implanted dream to see the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt. Listen to the response of the people:

“Then I gave them my report: “Face it: we’re in a bad way here. Jerusalem is a wreck; its gates are burned up. Come – let’s build the wall of Jerusalem and not live with this disgrace any longer.” I told them how God was supporting me and how the king was backing me up. They said, “we’re with you. Let’s get started …” (Neh 2:17-18)


# Firstly, anyone involved in a church planting team must be able to live with, and for a dream. Nehemiah called the people of God to arise and build a dream that up until that point may never have seemed remotely possible. Yet when the vision of a restored Jerusalem was shared they had to handle living with the tension of the ‘now situation’ and the ‘vision of what is to come’. The walls were burned and destroyed, but the vision was of a glorious restored city!

# Secondly, If you want to be part of a church planting team, you need to know, that you know, that God is in it! I've tried my hardest to ensure that everyone who has looked to join us at Christ Community Church are certain, in the deep parts of their heart, that God has spoken called them. Why? Because as this story shows, church planting is about being on the front line, facing opposition, and being exposed to enemy attack. If you aren’t certain that God is in the call to plant a church and secondly that you are meant to be part of it, it’s likely when pressure starts to break over your life you will feel tempted to give up!

Lorna and I have a number of prophetic words, which God has spoken over us with regard to our involvement in church planting in Norfolk. We hold these close to our hearts and when setbacks arise (and they do), we bring them to mind.

Church panting team members must feed off the bread of vision!

DAVID BRAINERD: THE FATHER OF MODERN MISSIONARY WORK (part 1)

“…I wanted to wear out my life in his service and for his glory”

From the privileged position of hindsight David Brainerd can easily be called the father of modern missionary work. However if we had lived at the same time as him, how many of us would have given him that label? He had many things that seemed to disqualify him from the work of missions, but one thing he did have, and that was an unquenchable zeal for the work God. We in the 21st Century have much to learn from this man who God chose to use so mightily!

A bad start
David Brainerd was born in Haddam, Connecticut, USA, on April the 20th, 1718. He was the sixth of nine children. In his early life he lost both his mother and then his father. These tragedies, that no child should have to experience, left Brainerd with a melancholic outlook. This often led to times of depression.

Another experience that caused Brainerd great heartache was when in February 1742 He was expelled from Yale University.

An unquenchable desire for God
In spite all of this heartache Brainerd became an avid student of the word of God, spending whole days in prayer, fasting and study of the word of God. On the 20th April 1742 Brainerd wrote in his journal “… I hardly ever so longed to live to God and to be altogether devoted to Him; I wanted to wear out my life in his service and for his glory”. However Brainerd needed a direction, a call from the Lord. On 19th of November 1742 Brainerd received a letter from Pemberton of New York to discuss the possibility of ministry amongst the Indians. At the time Brainerd didn’t realise, but this was the door of destiny creaking open.