The Joys of Chruch Planting!

The last year and a half of my life has been immersed in planting a church. Not an easy task to say the least.  It has been an adventure full of disappointments, frustrations and triumphs.  The challenge of church planting was not something I was fully prepared for, yet it has been richly rewarding.  Several amazing things have happed in the last few months that could only have been orchestrated by the hand of God. Allow me to share them with you not as a means of gloating or bragging, but to humbly acknowledge that we serve an amazing and sovereign God.  And if you are a church planter or part of a church planting team, hopefully this will be a means of encouragement.

After much preparation and very little success in recruiting people to buy into our vision and love for church planting, the nine of us that made up the core team of New Beginnings Christian Ministries decided that rather than a public launch we would just launch out of my home on Sunday mornings.  We had already had several unsuccessful “trial” services along the way, but on Sunday, September 4, 2011, NBC Ministries was official launched out what we called “The Living Room” with a total of 19 people in attendance.  For the next four weeks we averaged 15 people.  Yet, even with low attendance numbers there was a sense of excitement in the air that God was about to do something amazing.  At the end of September I placed an add in a small local paper advertising our services.  Two weeks later ten visitors showed up and the majority of them stayed!! At that point we were averaging about 25 people and my little living room became jam-packed!

Here is where this gets even more exciting for us.  We were now in need of a building.  However, I was having trouble locating one in our area that was big enough for what we wanted to do, yet affordable.  Of course God already had the right building for us, we just didn’t know it yet.  About the middle of October I was having lunch with Barry Pinnix, one of the new families that showed up as a result of placing that add in the Byram Banner.  After lunch Barry said, “Come on I want to show you something.”  He drove me over to a building that was located on his property.  He preceded to tell me that he had no idea if NBC Ministries would be interested in this building or not, but he and his wife had been praying and they both felt that God wanted them to let NBC Ministries use it rent-free as long as we needed it! It is a building that could easily seat 85-90 people comfortably.   Needless to say, NBC Ministries gladly accepted the new building!! Wow! God had just provided us with about 10 new people to help us with this vision and he directed one of those families to provide us with the building to house our new growth!  God is awesome!

On Sunday, November 13, 2011 we had 26 people in attendance. Three of those people were first time visitors.  Following the morning service we had our second and final meeting for our first membership class.  Nine people committed to become members of NBC Ministries. And one of those was a homeless guy!  This to me is one of the most amazing parts of our story, because this was a part of our vision from the start.  We desire to be a church that is active in our community and is proactive in loving “The Least of these”.  So how cool is it that one of our church members went down town to pick up a homeless man we had been ministering too, and on his first Sunday with us we happen to have our first membership class, and now one of our very first members is a homeless man? That’s pretty cool! Nothing thrills my heart more than that!  As a pastor it is so exciting to be able to see the vision that God has given me and this core team come to fruition! 

I have no doubt that there will be more bumps and frustrations along the way as we continue to grow and reach the Jackson area for Christ.  We do have an enemy that does not want to see the church succeed (John 10:10). However, I also have no doubt that God will continue to add to our number daily those who are being saved (Acts 2:47), and he will continue to do amazing signs and wonders among our group creating moments of “Awe” like the first century church encountered as they were planting churches (Acts 2:43). 

The greatest lesson I have learned from church planting is simply - obedience! When God tells you to act on something then act on it! He is always faithful to fulfill his promises! And I am thankful for all of those on the core team who have been obedient to God’s call, and who have prayed, fought for and believed in this vision! So I say thank you to each of you – you know who you are! I love you and I am proud to serve along side of you!

Doing life together in Jesus’ name!  - Simple Pastor Tim Burnett

Just Go With It

Ok, so it's been awhile since I have posted something.  I thought the 3 people who actually read this blog might actually like something new.  So here it is.

I am in the process of planting a church, which I am discovering is not an easy task.  Not that I thought it would be, but I was hoping for less difficult.  If anything, I think it has increased my faith.  I have learned the phrase, "Just go With It."  Case in point, last month we were scheduled to have our second public service prior to our launch, in a public school cafeteria.  The band worked hard on learning all songs, each core member had rehearsed whatever their particular task was in order to welcome any new comers who might be in attendance.  We made up flyers and printed them off and handed them out to anyone who would take one in hopes that even one visitor would show up.  We prayed and invited. We were so excited and knew that God was going to do something big that day.  Hopefully, he was going to bring someone to salvation and increase our numbers as we were looking to launch. I did not realize what he had in store for us on that humid, summer morn.

The service was scheduled for 10:30 AM at a local elementary school.  I told the team to all be there by 8:30 so that we could set up and the band could rehearse.  I had secured everything with the school.  I paid the $300 and and we were set.  I arrived at about 8:15 in order to greet all the team members as they showed up.  I noticed that they gates were locked up.  However, no fear because they weren't supposed to be there until 8:30 to let us in.  Gradually, my team made its way to the school.  However, those who were supposed to unlock the gate had failed to show.  5 minutes went by, then 10, then 15, now I was beginning to get really nervous.  Finally, after about an hour in the heat we got a hold of somebody who said they were "on their way".  Now we only had one hour till church began.  We would hardly have time to set up let alone practice. But we said we would "just go with it" and allow God to do something amazing even if we were unprepared.  Another 15, then 30 minutes went by and still no one showed.  We finally got someone on the phone who told us that no one would be there to let us in!!  Ugh! I had 15 people standing outside, sweating like crazy, ready to transform the school into a sanctuary to worship God and we can't get in.

So now what? I guess this is where great leaders are made (or fail miserably).  I told everyone to head to my house.  I left Michael posted at the gates for awhile in case a visitor showed up to explain what happened and to send them our way.  We all got to the house and I stepped back as I watched my team (with joy and and smile on their face) transform my living room into a sanctuary.  Candles were everywhere, the band went acoustic and my TV became our screen.  And you know what? IT ROCKED!  The service was amazing.  We had a time of worship through song, communion and God's Word.  It was very intimate and the Holy Spirit was present leading us every step of the way!

So, why do I share this with you.  Actually, I think I posted it more for me than for anyone else.  I was reminded that hot Sunday morning, that no matter what well laid plans you might have, things can always go wrong.  However, God does not!  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  So next time you experience something less that what YOU planned, "Just Go With It" because it might be better that anything you could have ever dreamed up!