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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.