Instructions from Jesus on Planting a Church



I am sitting in Starbucks writing this blog post this morning.

Starbucks will be one of my offices for a while as will Panera, Dunkin' Donuts and Moes. 

As a parachute drop church planter, I don't have an office. I don't have a building, a congregation, a pulpit, or a bank account either. 

I was literally "dropped" into Palm Bay with a single mission: start a new church.

So here I am on a Monday morning in Starbucks considering how I might find a group of people to join me in this great adventure.

I am reminded of the story in Luke when Jesus sends out a large group of missionaries.

2 (Jesus) said to them, “The harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers for his harvest. 3 Go! Be warned, though, that I’m sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry no wallet, no bag, and no sandals. Don’t even greet anyone along the way. 5 Whenever you enter a house, first say, ‘May peace be on this house.’ 6 If anyone there shares God’s peace, then your peace will rest on that person. If not, your blessing will return to you. 7 Remain in this house, eating and drinking whatever they set before you, for workers deserve their pay. Don’t move from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a city and its people welcome you, eat what they set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘God’s kingdom has come upon you.’ - Luke 10.2-9

Some initial thoughts:

1. There is a great harvest here in Palm Bay (as there is everywhere). I have asked to be sent into the harvest and the Florida Conference of the United  Methodist Church has graciously agreed to send me.
2. My job is to reap the harvest. I had to Google "reaping" to figure out what it meant. It means "to gather". So, I have some gathering to do.
3. It won't be easy. I am a lamb among wolves. I don't appreciate that imagery. It sounds dangerous. Some people will not be receptive of this new church and I need to be prepared for opposition.
4. Jesus tells me to carry nothing with me. This may be his way of saying, don't try to gather people in your own power; don't rely on your abilities, your resources, your talents etc. The Holy Spirit will be sufficient.
5. I need to find the persons of peace. There will be people in this community who will be receptive and supportive of this new church. They will know people, and they will be instrumental in helping me in the gathering process.
6. Stability is critical to the development of a new faith community; I need to settle in for the long haul.

So, today I begin the long journey of starting Mosaic, a new faith community in Palm Bay, Florida.

If you are in this area and want to connect with me, or if you know people in this area and want to connect them with me, check out my social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) You can find me @revseanpeters on all of those platforms.

Also check out the church Facebook and Twitter pages @mosaicpalmbay

I will be sharing my thoughts regularly here, so feel free to follow this blog if you'd like as well.

Thanks for your prayers!

Comments

  1. Sounds good Sean. Praying for you and love you. Grace and Peace.

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