What is church planting? I get asked this question from time to time.  “Church planting” is a phrase sometimes used to describe starting a brand new church.  There are many different ways to go about this, but this is a brief overview of our own church plant here at Lake Hills.

Given our specific location, financing, and some other considerations, we have chosen the “planting” mode for starting a church.  Much like planting anything else this begins very small, invisible and underground, eventually becoming visible and growing over time.

My wife, Cathy, and I moved to the area less than one year ago.  When we filed the non-profit corporation papers with the state of Missouri there was just the two of us.  Now there are about a dozen of us involved with the new church, not unlike a small flower poking up through the ground in early spring.

Admittedly, this takes a fair amount of patience.  I’m can sometimes be like a little kid who plants a tree and goes back to look at it every few hours, wondering why it isn’t growing faster!  Let me just say that the old saying appears to be quite true: “A watched pot never boils.”  God in His wisdom sometimes gives us things to do things where we don’t see quick results or receive immediate gratification.  Here is one sharp little insight I’ve received in this process.  In God’s heart every single person counts; every individual is valuable; each person is appreciated. Having pastored in some larger churches, this insight alone is worth the experience.  It has intensified my appreciation of every person in our church.  May God help us who are pastors and church planters to value and appreciate every person in our life and ministry the way that He does.

1Corinthians 3:4-9: (4) For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? (5) What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. (6) I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. (7) So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. (8) The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. (9) For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

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5 Questions to Help You Decide

Looking for a new church to attend can be an uncomfortable affair. As a pastor, I rarely get an opportunity to test-drive other churches. Our church recently took a short break while we began preparing to relocate. For practical reasons we began meeting on Saturdays, so my wife and I had the chance to experience searching for a church to attend. We found it very helpful in deciding what our church will be like as we had some good experiences and some, not so good. There will be other factors for you to consider in your search, but I hope the following 5 questions may be immensely useful.

1. Did you feel welcome?

Did you experience the church as seeming cliquish, or was there potential to get comfortable? I say potential here because it’s rather unusual to feel very comfortable on your first visit. If you like it well enough, you should go a second and third time. Here’s another way to frame this question — Did people seem to want you there or did they seem indifferent?

2. Was it relevant?

As a long-time Christian, the first area of relevance to check out is whether or not they use the Bible as the basis for their teaching. Believe it or not, there are churches where there is not a single reference given from the Bible. The Bible is incredibly relevant on big issues in your life. This leads to the next question of relevance. Was it helpful?

3. Did you find it “moving”?

Did the worship and the teaching help move you toward God? Was it engaging? Inspirational? If not, even though it may be comfortable, you face the very real danger of getting into a religious rut, simply going through religious motions, rather than experiencing a life-altering dynamic interaction with God.

4. Would attending that church help you to better know and follow Christ?

This is the million dollar question. You need to be in an environment where you will grow in your faith, coming to know God’s ways and His work in and around you. It’s one thing to simply “do the church thing”. It’s something entirely different to have a serious life-impacting faith in God.

Similar Helpful Articles

http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2009/01/05/it-takes-all-kinds-of-churches/

http://www.scribd.com/doc/25123032/Why-Are-There-Different-Types-of-Christians-Article