Church Planting Mistakes – I Know What I’m Doing

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“I Know What I Am Doing”

  • Starting out, we can know what we want to create and so do it in isolation.
  • We can have vision and be confident.
  • But in reality, having a vision is sometimes not far off being a day-dreamer and confidence is sometimes not far off arrogance.
  • Sometimes there isn’t really another way to get started – without this feeling of knowing what we’re doing we will never start.
  • The early years of a church plant are more of a developmental time for the planter themselves than they are about helping the church and serving the city.
  • To plant a church there is a sense of stupidity about it – if you were to do market research, you would find there is no market for it – you are launching something that goes against what people are wanting at the moment!
  • You often don’t think whether it is confidence or arrogance, you just get on with it – and over time God reveals things in your heart.
  • When you are starting out you need wisdom, support and advice but there is a tendency to drive off in your own direction.
  • Church planting can be the greatest thing for working out character and maturity.
  • Church planting can expose the ‘good ideas’ that we think we have as ridiculous.
  • It can be very sobering when you spend a lot of time working on a sermon and there are not many people there.
  • In the early years how you process what is happening is important. This comes through in many missionary books.
  • Having coaching relationships is very important.
  • Often people plant churches because they have dissatisfaction with what they have seen before. You need to kill this off before you start planting.
  • Many others have been through the same challenges you have before, so you are not bringing something unique. This means we can lean on others for help.
  • There is a distinction between a consultant who gives you advice and others who can come in with a bit more authority and are known by others in the church.
  • The authority of this kind of person is to help you shape what you do, not just dictate the answers.
  • You give them the authority to speak in – they don’t take it.
  • When working with other leaders coming through you need to give enough space to make the mistakes.
  • Let them carry it because the only way they will learn is to have a go, make mistakes and realise they need help.
  • The same grace and mercy we want ourselves we need to extend to others.