I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! You need to know that I’m thankful for each of you attending, serving, giving, praying, and being a part of this incredible thing called “the church.”
I’ve been asked several times over the years why I believe that we are to be a church that plants churches, a church that thinks outside of itself. There are two parts to this answer, if you’ll give me a moment to explain.
First, I believe it is our unique calling in fulfilling the Great Commission. In Matthew 28, Jesus tells us very specifically that we are to go into all the world and (1) make disciples (2) to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and to (3) teach them everything, (4) creating the kind of community that He says He will be with till the very end.
There are many organizations that can fulfill parts of the Great Commission, but only the church has the capability to do 1, 2, 3, and 4. Some choose to fulfill the calling by giving to missions as a congregation to do work near and far. We believe that mission work is crucial to advancing the gospel, however, since there are so many places in a rural context that will never see the light of a missionary, we believe that God has called us to embrace that mission field and therefore we plant churches in those places!
The second reason that I personally have led our church in the direction of planting churches is simply because I believe that once you plant a church, anything can happen. A local church body with local leadership can figure out what God is wanting to do in that place and together, they can do it!
Partnering with schools, supporting single mothers, engaging the darkness, battling addiction, focusing on cowboys, inmates, teachers, factory workers, farmers…When there is a body of believers that loves each other, serves together, and loves a community with the good news of the gospel, anything can happen!
We’ve been blessed to see churches planted from Pittsburg to Osawatomie to Topeka to Concordia to Salina to Lindsborg to Hutchinson to Sterling to Great Bend to Hays to Liberal to soon to be Russell.
Today, on this Giving Tuesday, we are attempting to raise $75,000 to plant CrossPoint Ellsworth. Imagine seeing families restored, kids discipled, and lives forever changed by Jesus! Can you believe that God lets us do this!?!
I pray that as we move out of a season of giving thanks for all the good things God has done, and move into the Christmas season of rejoicing in the gift that God has given us through His Son that we would offer our resources, energies, and indeed our very lives to seeing the dream of planting churches in places where there is very little chance of something happening if a church like ours isn’t willing to make it happen.
When you plant a church, anything can happen! So I need to ask one more question, who is the church?
You can head over to theharvester.org/givingtuesday to learn more and give now.