I thought God had called me to plant a church. I felt convicted about it.  I prayed about it. A lot.  I had a mission and vision and I started pursuing it. Under the direction of another church planter, I prayed God would send me help. You know, cause a plumber/ electrician and hardware guy can help you hook up a dishwasher but he stinks at starting a church. It’s not the first time God called me to something I couldn’t do. Thank God some men from the SC Baptist association and SEND network found me and took me under their wing.

I asked God for a vision and a purpose for this church.

I could see a church, small enough to be personable, reaching into its community, welcoming anyone and everyone, while focused on solid biblical teaching and disciple making. I foresaw a church Helping People Follow Jesus, Until Every Soul Finds Life.  I remember asking God for a name for this church.  God gave us the name Purpose to remind us to find our purpose in living life walking in simple daily obedience to Christ. Although we have been regularly meeting for eight months, with the help of people God placed in my path, I discovered somethings along this wild journey.  Here’s a couple of things God has shown me.

First off,

less can be more. I know, cliché but it is true.

No, I am not compensating for having a small congregation.

Still, I realize that the larger the congregation becomes the less intimate the relationship will become between pastors and parishioners. Right now I am enjoying the unity that comes with smaller groups.  I am not enjoying the lack of many talents that come with larger groups. Still, there’s lessons there too.

Nobody loves worship more than I do. I love praise music be it contemporary or old hymns. The more instruments the better. I can’t wait for live music to become part of our Sundays. But if the lack of it stifles our worship, then we have missed hearing the music in His word. We failed seeing the works of His hands, all of Creation constantly sings His praises. There’s a refreshing aspect in worshiping without the experiencing sensory overload we have come accustomed to. I’m benefiting by connecting to God, with less distractions, of things I never considered distractions.

Secondly,

God didn’t call me to build a church. Jesus said “ …I will build my church…” Without Him I can do nothing.  While I have known that for some time, I’ve  learned God wanted me to lead this church plant, not necessarily plant it.

People don’t plant churches.

Churches plant churches.

There’s a case to be made planting churches is a role, a responsibility of a church. Often, that never becomes a focus for churches. Truthfully, there’s often a spirit of competition among churches or at least their leaders. I’ve even battled with thinking competitively. I pray I never think like that again. No one Church could ever reach everyone but they can help other churches that help other churches creating a domino effect investing in the Kingdom. So far, there have been four other churches that have directly had a role in planting Purpose. I pray for more, but I also pray for new ones for us to pour into. In a small way, we have already invested in a new church outside of Purpose.  I hope we always meet the needs of those inside our doors and encourage the congregation to be faithful to Christ’s command to go outside those doors with a hunger to serve Him.

Finally ,

Success cannot be measured by attendance. This sounds like a no brainier, but the way we get indoctrinated about the world view of success made this the hardest paradigm shift I have experienced. Jesus commands us to go tell the world about Him. He discipled twelve men and together they turned the world upside down. When we create places that become dependent on a great number to operate, we tend to focus inward. So, what if we measured our success in how many we send out rather than keep? What if we made that idea part of our churches DNA from the start?

 I remember when I thought God had called me to simply plant a church. And I remember the moment when God showed me His call was so much more. God has called me to be a disciple making church planting pastor who focuses on harvesting rather than venues.

I pray for new faces. People, who God calls to Purpose church .Some that are looking for a mission. Some who will grow and go when God calls them to
a mission filled with His purpose. I hope it’s you.