{"id":31963,"date":"2022-09-10T15:50:54","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-things-church-planters-and-pastors-must-remember\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:50:54","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:50:54","slug":"3-things-church-planters-and-pastors-must-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-things-church-planters-and-pastors-must-remember\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Things Church Planters and Pastors Must Remember"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Ryan Rice<\/em><\/p>\n

Several years ago, I took my family on a trip to Disney World. One of the only reasons I\u2019d move to Florida would be able to go to Disney more often. It is, as they say, a \u201cmagical place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young or old, everyone seems to love Disney parks. Some of the most enjoyable moments at Disney World aren\u2019t only the rides, but the world-class productions. Specifically, the parades and firework show at the Magic Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Who doesn\u2019t enjoy a great show? Disney sells a great show and experience for the entire family. Cast members\u2019 jobs revolve around ensuring you have a great experience.<\/p>\n

I once attended a church planting conference where many of the sessions focused on the experience. While I\u2019m all for excellence, service, and hospitality, is this all the Sunday morning gathering is meant to be?<\/p>\n

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If your idea of church planting is to one day have a fancy building with beautiful shiny things, bright lights, and clouds of smoke, you\u2019ll do better going to work for Disney.<\/p>\n

I believe the American model for ministry can often encourage the Disney experience over the biblical one. While it may be more caught than taught, church planters can feel they\u2019re failures when they don\u2019t see explosive growth, mass baptisms, and an excellent worship experience each Sunday.<\/p>\n

While I believe God can work in a church in such a way that this is the reality, what if this isn\u2019t the reality you\u2019re currently seeing? Yes, we should work hard, but our labor is for the Lord, not without the Lord.<\/p>\n

One of the results of burnout\u2014or maybe the leading cause of burnout\u2014is anxiety. Is it any wonder Scripture tells us not to be anxious? Instead of anxiety, Scripture implores us to trust God, have faith, and walk in joy.<\/p>\n

Anxiety causes an immense amount of fear that, in turn, affects our leadership and ability to make sound decisions. For some church planters, the anxiety that comes from \u201cnot measuring up\u201d can leave them drained, lacking joy, and wavering between quitting and moving forward.<\/p>\n

Over the past five years, my family and I have been on the church planting journey. Several years before this, however, I served on the staff of a large church.<\/p>\n

While there are many differences between being on a large church staff and church planting, there are some similarities. On a large church staff, the proverbial ministry train keeps moving no matter what.<\/p>\n

The team may not have time to catch their breath before the next event or ministry launch. This is in no way a knock against large ministries, but the overall observation of how we\u2019re taught ministry should look. A lean, fast, modern locomotive that makes zero stops at the station.<\/p>\n

The question I often ask myself, \u201cIs this how Jesus operated in ministry?\u201d Yes, I realize we\u2019re in the 21st century, with many readers of this article residing in the United States of America. How much of the American culture has influenced the way we both view and operate in ministry?<\/p>\n

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This isn\u2019t a call away from walking in excellence, but a call back to rest in Jesus. A call to find our value and worth in Christ, Scripture, and nothing else. If you\u2019re a church planter or believe you\u2019re led to church plant, here are three things you should remember.<\/p>\n

1. The Church is more than the Sunday experience.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While the Sunday experience may be the main avenue through which your people gather, it isn\u2019t the end-all-be-all of the church. What do I mean?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say you the worship service doesn\u2019t go as planned. Technology doesn\u2019t work, the weather is horrible, and attendance is down. Instead of walking away discouraged, focus on Christ.<\/p>\n

Was He glorified, worshiped, and did people hear the truth? Every Sunday, worship is indeed amazing if Christ is exalted.<\/p>\n

2. You don\u2019t have to measure up to social media.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Comparison is dangerous, and social media can often tell a story that\u2019s not true. If you spend your time looking across social media at the latest trends and newest church leaders, you\u2019ll miss what God has for you.<\/p>\n

Who said your leadership or church has to be cool enough for social media? If a Sunday passes and you preached the Word and saw lives changed, celebrate that. You may not feel you have much to tweet about but give God praise anyway.<\/p>\n

3. Remember why you planted.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Church planting is hard. It can often breed spiritual amnesia of the goodness of God. When the prospectus doesn\u2019t pan out and the city is tougher than we think, our memory of God\u2019s goodness must grow longer, not shorter.<\/p>\n

I encourage you to keep a prayer and praise journal. Celebrate and praise God for even the small things He does for your family and church. Share these praises and answered prayers with your family and church family.<\/p>\n

Your church may never look like Disney, but when did Jesus say you needed that to reach a lost and dying world? Trust God, rest in his strength, and know Christ is enough for both the church plant and the established church.<\/p>\n

RYAN RICE, SR. (@ryanricesr)<\/strong> is husband to Sean\u00e9, father of Ryan, Jr., Brayden, Reagen, and Bailey, and has been in ministry since 2007. He\u2019s currently the lead pastor of Connect Church of Algiers in New Orleans, Louisiana, which they planted in 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Ryan Rice Several years ago, I took my family on a trip to Disney World. One of the only reasons I\u2019d move to Florida would be able to go to Disney more often. It is, as they say, a \u201cmagical place.\u201d Young or old, everyone seems to love Disney parks. Some of the most … Continue reading “3 Things Church Planters and Pastors Must Remember”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}