This is about learning how to express and extend the kingdom of God in a culture that is experiencing massive, seismic change, where the foundations of almost every institution in Western society are crumbling. It’s a dangerous, exciting time to be alive and working with God in his kingdom. I’ll leave you with some words Jon Tyson, of Trinity Grace Church in NYC, gave to a group of young church planters at the Ecclesia National Gathering in 2009:
If you’re young and you’re church planting, do not be the darling of the previous movement just because it’s easy and you’ll be successful. Embrace the pain of preaching to a culture that does not understand, that does not care, that does not want to hear. You’ll be of far more use to the kingdom of God preaching into the future rather than preaching into the past, where it’s easy to gather a crowd that’s already looking for consumer tidbits.