Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper timewe will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ~ Galatians 6:9
READING: Galatians 6:7-10
If someone were to ask me, “Paul, why are you devoted to church planting?” two answers top my list. First, I yearn to see precious people saved and growing in Christ. At its best, a new church is a loving environment where unsaved people can easily find Christ and grow in Him. Secondly, God called me to church planting.
God has many wonderful and fulfilling ministries in his Kingdom. Church planting is just one of them. During a personal prayer retreat in 1980, God called me to plant a church. During many prayer retreats since, God has confirmed and deepened that church planting call and guided me into the next steps on my church planting mission.
When Jesus hung, dying, on the cross, he said, “It is finished.” His work was done. He had sacrificed himself for our sins. He had provided a way for us to be saved.
‘Crucial’ means ‘of the cross.’ At DCPI (Dynamic Church Planting International), we often say that the crucial work of church planting is the agony and the ecstasy every week. There is the agony of seeing your dear friends leave and serve in another work and the agony of too little money for the work. There is the agony of the church failing to grow the way you hoped it would.
But ecstasy, too, seeing precious people become Christians through the ministry of new churches all across the world. When we take up our cross and follow Jesus in the ministry of church planting, it helps to know why we are committed to the work so we don’t give up.
Great God, Strengthen your servants to finish your crucial church planting work. May we serve you faithfully until we die or until Jesus comes! Amen.
Dynamic Church Planting International (DCPI) “Equips Leaders to Plant 5 Million Churches Worldwide.” Learn more
