Some exciting news. Grace Christian Community now has it's own proper web-address, complete with a brand new website and blog :)
It's exciting to be at this stage. The plan is to move some of the posts from this blog along to the new one, as well as continuing to add posts to that new one, hopefully a bit more regularly than we did for this site!
You can check the new website at: www.gracechristiancommunity.org.au
Check it out :)
love Belinda
A Church planting in Box Hill in 2012
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
FIEC Conference Reflections Part 2
One of my highlights from our FIEC Conference was a seminar that I went to on the topic of evangelism. This was run by the Pastors who oversea evangelism at two FIEC churches: EV Church and Hunter Bible Church. Some of these things I had heard before, but it was helpful to hear them again, and particularly to hear them in regards to what things we need to plan as we begin our outreach to Box Hill next year.
The session began with 6 myths of Evangelism. They were incredibly helpful, and an excellent way of introducing why these two churches do their evangelism in the way that they do.
Myth 1: Personal Evangelism verses Event based evangelism
There is a view out there that Personal evangelism is better than Event/course based evangelism. But the speakers helpfully pointed out that this is a false dicotomy. Firstly, most people find Personal evangelism from scratch (ie sharing the gospel within a relationship only) very difficult, and Events and courses are often a really helpful catalysts for personal evangelism. It can be hard for someone who share the gospel with their friends, a much more helpful starting point is to invite them along to an event or course, and this can be something which can stimulate their discussions. So rather than thinking One versus the other, we need to think more about how the two interact, and to create an intergrated method which can help people in the process of sharing Jesus with their friends.
Myth 2: Get the right Course and it solves everything
There are many different courses out there which are really great for sharing Jesus. But there is so much more to do. Often it is how it is implimented, and particularly how it is advertised to those inviting their friends- which really makes the difference for whether it succedds or not. But more about that in my next post.
Myth 3: More training equals more Evangelism
I am a big fan of training in Evagelism, having run much of it myself and having benefitted from it greatly. But often people will do a course, have very little fruit, and it will loose it's motivational and skills benefit quickly. More thought needs to be put into how training and your overall evangelistic strategy fit together- so that those who learn can have encouragement and oportunities to use what they learn.
Myth 4: I don't have enough takers/enquirers to start a course
Often what happens with evangelistic courses is people are waiting for that "critical mass" to start a course, and so it just never happens. And people, rather than taking oportunities to invite that come up in relationship, only feel like they can invite at times when something is on and advertised. To have regular courses that are running means that when a friend expresses interest in coming, you have an approaching event ready to go, is much more effective. And these groups can be run in a way that suits however many people can come along at the time.
Myth 5: People are converted after 6 weeks.
Deciding to become a Christian is a huge deal! We shouldn't expect it to happen in such a short time. Particularly people need to build up trust in their leaders, trust in the Bible, and need time to process what they are learning. It is helpful to think of a course as the start of the thinking process, and to have follow up oportunities to learn in the future.
Myth 6: Mission Pastors or Evangelists in the congregation do all the evangelism
This is a common and dangerous perception. This is particularly true of me, for although my portfolio is women and kids, realistically with the things i do, I do end up with an almost "Evangelist" job description. I (and those around me) can be tempted to think that it's my job to reach the world with the gospel. But I'm just one person, and I can only do so much. I need to keep training and encouraging others, so that we can all work together to share Jesus. Because one person can only make a small impact, a whole church reaching out can do amazing things.
These myths were helpful in and of themselves. But they are just hte beginning in thinking through evangelistic strategies for a church. In my next post I will talk about some of the other things I learn from this seminar :)
Belinda
The session began with 6 myths of Evangelism. They were incredibly helpful, and an excellent way of introducing why these two churches do their evangelism in the way that they do.
Myth 1: Personal Evangelism verses Event based evangelism
There is a view out there that Personal evangelism is better than Event/course based evangelism. But the speakers helpfully pointed out that this is a false dicotomy. Firstly, most people find Personal evangelism from scratch (ie sharing the gospel within a relationship only) very difficult, and Events and courses are often a really helpful catalysts for personal evangelism. It can be hard for someone who share the gospel with their friends, a much more helpful starting point is to invite them along to an event or course, and this can be something which can stimulate their discussions. So rather than thinking One versus the other, we need to think more about how the two interact, and to create an intergrated method which can help people in the process of sharing Jesus with their friends.
Myth 2: Get the right Course and it solves everything
There are many different courses out there which are really great for sharing Jesus. But there is so much more to do. Often it is how it is implimented, and particularly how it is advertised to those inviting their friends- which really makes the difference for whether it succedds or not. But more about that in my next post.
Myth 3: More training equals more Evangelism
I am a big fan of training in Evagelism, having run much of it myself and having benefitted from it greatly. But often people will do a course, have very little fruit, and it will loose it's motivational and skills benefit quickly. More thought needs to be put into how training and your overall evangelistic strategy fit together- so that those who learn can have encouragement and oportunities to use what they learn.
Myth 4: I don't have enough takers/enquirers to start a course
Often what happens with evangelistic courses is people are waiting for that "critical mass" to start a course, and so it just never happens. And people, rather than taking oportunities to invite that come up in relationship, only feel like they can invite at times when something is on and advertised. To have regular courses that are running means that when a friend expresses interest in coming, you have an approaching event ready to go, is much more effective. And these groups can be run in a way that suits however many people can come along at the time.
Myth 5: People are converted after 6 weeks.
Deciding to become a Christian is a huge deal! We shouldn't expect it to happen in such a short time. Particularly people need to build up trust in their leaders, trust in the Bible, and need time to process what they are learning. It is helpful to think of a course as the start of the thinking process, and to have follow up oportunities to learn in the future.
Myth 6: Mission Pastors or Evangelists in the congregation do all the evangelism
This is a common and dangerous perception. This is particularly true of me, for although my portfolio is women and kids, realistically with the things i do, I do end up with an almost "Evangelist" job description. I (and those around me) can be tempted to think that it's my job to reach the world with the gospel. But I'm just one person, and I can only do so much. I need to keep training and encouraging others, so that we can all work together to share Jesus. Because one person can only make a small impact, a whole church reaching out can do amazing things.
These myths were helpful in and of themselves. But they are just hte beginning in thinking through evangelistic strategies for a church. In my next post I will talk about some of the other things I learn from this seminar :)
Belinda
Monday, August 22, 2011
Some Reflections from the FIEC conference- Part 1
Things have been ticking away with our plans for the church plant, though slower than we would like. The main issue seems to be time, with Tim in his most hectic semester of Bible College so far, and me with my work at church, it can be hard to set aside the time that we want for planning for next year.
But we are slowly getting there :) An ABN has been acquired and a website is in the process of being made. A prayer letter will soon be written and we are looking forward to doing some fundraising soon.
One of the things that we did last week was go along to the FIEC conference. FIEC stands for the "Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches", and is an organisation that GCC will be affiliated with. It is not quite a denomination, but it functions in many similar ways, offering support, pastoral care, encouragement, and various administrative things. It is a great blessing, because as Christians we don't want to be wholly "independent". The Gospel acts to bring people together and it is great for like-minded people to encourage and inspire each other in their churches ministry, and particularly to help each other to keep on track with their mission.
I loved it! It was really exciting to see a group of different churches who had similar passion and goals as Tim and I. As an organisation it just started as a group of mates who were all church planting, and decided that they could be more effective if they shared resources and met to encourage each other. And over time, as those churches planted other churches, and as other church planters connected up with the Fellowship, it grew to be quite substantial.
But the thing I love the most about it (of course, knowing me:), is that everyone who is part of it is all about reaching the lost. They look out at the Australian scene and they see how many people do not know Jesus, and this is the driving force behind all they do. They don't focus on how many people are "in" their churches. They focus on how many people are lost and on their doorstep, and they pray and think and plan how they can tell them the good news.
You can find out more about FIEC on their website: http://www.fiec.org.au/
Some great things to pray for us this week:
-Pray for Tim and his studies, that he would be able to get the most out of this last semester and that it will equip him for a life-time of pastoring
-Pray for me (Belinda) that God would give me boldness in my evangelism, and wisdom in my teaching.
-Pray for our current Church- Chatswood Baptist as they begin to look for a replacement for Belinda for next year.
-Pray for God to continue to build up a core-team for our church plant
-Pray that God will provide the people, resources and finance we need for next year.
Thanks for your prayers and interest in GCC!
:)
Belinda
But we are slowly getting there :) An ABN has been acquired and a website is in the process of being made. A prayer letter will soon be written and we are looking forward to doing some fundraising soon.
One of the things that we did last week was go along to the FIEC conference. FIEC stands for the "Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches", and is an organisation that GCC will be affiliated with. It is not quite a denomination, but it functions in many similar ways, offering support, pastoral care, encouragement, and various administrative things. It is a great blessing, because as Christians we don't want to be wholly "independent". The Gospel acts to bring people together and it is great for like-minded people to encourage and inspire each other in their churches ministry, and particularly to help each other to keep on track with their mission.
I loved it! It was really exciting to see a group of different churches who had similar passion and goals as Tim and I. As an organisation it just started as a group of mates who were all church planting, and decided that they could be more effective if they shared resources and met to encourage each other. And over time, as those churches planted other churches, and as other church planters connected up with the Fellowship, it grew to be quite substantial.
But the thing I love the most about it (of course, knowing me:), is that everyone who is part of it is all about reaching the lost. They look out at the Australian scene and they see how many people do not know Jesus, and this is the driving force behind all they do. They don't focus on how many people are "in" their churches. They focus on how many people are lost and on their doorstep, and they pray and think and plan how they can tell them the good news.
You can find out more about FIEC on their website: http://www.fiec.org.au/
Some great things to pray for us this week:
-Pray for Tim and his studies, that he would be able to get the most out of this last semester and that it will equip him for a life-time of pastoring
-Pray for me (Belinda) that God would give me boldness in my evangelism, and wisdom in my teaching.
-Pray for our current Church- Chatswood Baptist as they begin to look for a replacement for Belinda for next year.
-Pray for God to continue to build up a core-team for our church plant
-Pray that God will provide the people, resources and finance we need for next year.
Thanks for your prayers and interest in GCC!
:)
Belinda
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Life and Death Moments
A few weeks ago I got asked the question- "How do you know if you are good enough to go to Heaven?"
These are the most wonderful and most scary parts of my current job (doing women's and children's ministry). The question comes up, and immediately the adrenalin starts to course through me. My mind reels and I think to myself, "Don't stuff this up, say the right thing. This is a Life and Death moment!"
This was my chance to share the Gospel. I share it regularly, and I have said it before to this person, but this is a special opening, this plea for hope and security and assurance where there has never been any. It is a Life or Death moment.
But even as I thrill at the opportunity, even as I quaver, I am reminded that it is God who has given me the chance, and God who gives me the words to say.
I turn to Colossians 1:21-23
"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel."
"Without blemish and free from accusation". It is an incredible reality that takes my breath away as I share it. That God can look at me, sinful and foolish and disobedient and selfish, and can yet see one who is without blemish and free from accusation. It is mind blowing.
And I am reminded again that this is what I want my life to be about. Sharing this great message. And no matter the butterflies that are beginning, as we hit the 5 month before we move to Melbourne and begin to church plant. This is what our lives are all about. Moments like this. This is what church planting is all about- Life and Death moments.
What a privilege!
Belinda
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Don't put down your sword!
One of the things that is so great about church planting is that you have a certain amount of freedom to do things.
But it's also one of the dangers.
Because there are things that make a church a church which you simply can't get rid of, even if they seem a little foreign to those who aren't Christians.
But the biggest danger I think is that the Word of God can take a back seat. And this isn't just a danger because it's wrong! It's dangerous because it's the equivalent of pausing in the middle of a sword fight, throwing down your sword and saying- "I think from now on I'll try fighting with my fists".
The word of God is described as a sword in two places in the Bible. In Ephesians 6, when talking about preparing yourself for the heavenly battle, it is described as "The Sword of the Spirit". And in Hebrews 4 it is described as being "sharper than a double edged sword". They are powerful images, and they suggest a powerful, life changing weapon. Yet how hard we find that to believe! My experience of my Christian ministry life is that so often I use the Bible, in my evangelism, in my Bible studies, in my teaching, because I know I should. But over and over again God convicts me that his Word is powerful, and that I should use it not just because God tells me to but because that is how God works! All I do is read the Bible and talk about it, but it changes people.
A friend was saying to me the other day that she feels glad that my husband has a theological degree behind him before he starts church planting. Not because it's always necessary (though I think those who can do it well without it are the exception rather than the rule), but because the Bible is so important, and it's so easy in church planting, when you do have such freedom, to send the baby out with the bath-water.
And today in a Bible study on Genesis 3 I was reflecting again that the original sin was not taking God at his word.
Pray for us, and for all planters and pastors out there, that we will never put down our sword of the Spirit.
Belinda
But it's also one of the dangers.
Because there are things that make a church a church which you simply can't get rid of, even if they seem a little foreign to those who aren't Christians.
But the biggest danger I think is that the Word of God can take a back seat. And this isn't just a danger because it's wrong! It's dangerous because it's the equivalent of pausing in the middle of a sword fight, throwing down your sword and saying- "I think from now on I'll try fighting with my fists".
The word of God is described as a sword in two places in the Bible. In Ephesians 6, when talking about preparing yourself for the heavenly battle, it is described as "The Sword of the Spirit". And in Hebrews 4 it is described as being "sharper than a double edged sword". They are powerful images, and they suggest a powerful, life changing weapon. Yet how hard we find that to believe! My experience of my Christian ministry life is that so often I use the Bible, in my evangelism, in my Bible studies, in my teaching, because I know I should. But over and over again God convicts me that his Word is powerful, and that I should use it not just because God tells me to but because that is how God works! All I do is read the Bible and talk about it, but it changes people.
A friend was saying to me the other day that she feels glad that my husband has a theological degree behind him before he starts church planting. Not because it's always necessary (though I think those who can do it well without it are the exception rather than the rule), but because the Bible is so important, and it's so easy in church planting, when you do have such freedom, to send the baby out with the bath-water.
And today in a Bible study on Genesis 3 I was reflecting again that the original sin was not taking God at his word.
Pray for us, and for all planters and pastors out there, that we will never put down our sword of the Spirit.
Belinda
Monday, May 30, 2011
The God of the Harvest- Some prayer points
Jesus in his earthly ministry looked out on a world and acknowledge "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few". He was looking out on a people who were like sheep without a shepherd, and he had compassion on them.
His disciples perhaps didn't understand the full nature of what Jesus meant. Jesus was to die and rise again, and by this act he was opening a new way to God, so that the message was to be spread well beyond that little patch of the Middle East known as Judea, up and off to the ends of the Earth. The harvest of those who needed Jesus as their shepherd was indeed a great harvest!
But Jesus knew who to turn to in this issue. "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field".
One of the biggest jobs ahead of Tim and I is the recruiting of people to assist us and be a "launch team" for our church plant. These are people who agree to join the church and participate with it's mission.
We would love you to join us in praying to the Lord of the Harvest for workers to assist us in this mission.
In particular we are praying for people who have certain gifts necessary for the running of the church. We need people who are gifted in the areas of finance, administration, and music. We need people with a heart for evangelism, discipleship and training.
We need people who are willing to serve, because church planting involves everyone pitching in with all kinds of jobs.
If you could join with us in praying for these, we would greatly appreciate it. Our experience is that the God of the Harvest is indeed generous, and we look forward to seeing how he answers our prayers.
Thanks!
Belinda
His disciples perhaps didn't understand the full nature of what Jesus meant. Jesus was to die and rise again, and by this act he was opening a new way to God, so that the message was to be spread well beyond that little patch of the Middle East known as Judea, up and off to the ends of the Earth. The harvest of those who needed Jesus as their shepherd was indeed a great harvest!
But Jesus knew who to turn to in this issue. "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field".
One of the biggest jobs ahead of Tim and I is the recruiting of people to assist us and be a "launch team" for our church plant. These are people who agree to join the church and participate with it's mission.
We would love you to join us in praying to the Lord of the Harvest for workers to assist us in this mission.
In particular we are praying for people who have certain gifts necessary for the running of the church. We need people who are gifted in the areas of finance, administration, and music. We need people with a heart for evangelism, discipleship and training.
We need people who are willing to serve, because church planting involves everyone pitching in with all kinds of jobs.
If you could join with us in praying for these, we would greatly appreciate it. Our experience is that the God of the Harvest is indeed generous, and we look forward to seeing how he answers our prayers.
Thanks!
Belinda
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Andrew Evans, Church planting and the Assemblies of God
This week I spoke to Andrew Evans, founder of Paradise Community Church in South Australia, one of the largest churches in Australia. Andrew was also the general superintendent of the ‘Assemblies of God’ movement from 1977-1999. He also founded the Family First political party.
Andrew was elected in 1977 at the biennial national conference; previously the denomination had seen no growth for the past 2 years. In the 20 years which followed the Assemblies of God denomination grew 2,500% and planted one new church every 11 days. I am doing an Australian church history project on this period and I asked Andrew about the growth of the movement during this time and I have summarized just some of his reflections on church planting.
Andrew said that he identified two things which were needed for the kingdom of God to expand in this nation
(a) church planting and;
(b) friendship evangelism
To this end the executive of the Assemblies of God made a number of strategic changes to facilitate and encourage growth.
This included setting growth goals; changing the biennial conference from business to inspiration and vision casting; strengthening the position of pastors; moving the power base from the executive back into the local church; and setting up strategies for church planting.
Although each one of these things is significant in itself, it is church planting that particularly interests me.
At the 1981 biennial conference a goal was made to put a new AOG church into every town in Australia over 1000 people. A four part strategy was created to facilitate this:
(1) Identify new place where a church was needed
(2) Existing church adopted area in prayer
(3) Put a home group in the town
(4) Put a pastor in the home group
The philosophy which was adopted was anyone can plant a church, anytime, anywhere they want to so long as they inform (a) the local AOG pastor in the area and (b) the executive
In addition the key focus for the movement became, not the more extreme Pentecostal experiences of the Holy Spirit (though they were certainly still present), but winning souls.
The big mega-churches became the evangelistic arm of the movement, while the smaller churches were the ones which allowed people to grow.
Andrew’s advice for young church planters was to have a mindset to grow and to prayfully have a go.
He had 4 basic growth principles which he believes work anywhere:
(1) Prayer
(2) Positive preaching
(3) Good organisation
(4) Discipleship
(1) Prayer
(2) Positive preaching
(3) Good organisation
(4) Discipleship
It was actually a tremendously encouraging conversation from someone who is traditionally “not in my camp”. What struck me was his zeal to see people “saved”, he really is driven by this longing to ‘take the nation for Jesus’, in his words. A real emphasis in the movement during those years was not signs and wonders or slaying in the Spirit but it was on prayer, growth and evangelism. Though growth has slowed down somewhat in the past few years I wonder if it is possible for other mainline denomination to recapture that vision for growth and the lost. I think that the recent interest in Church planting is particularly encouraging, only the Pentecostals figured it out 30 years ago.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Why Series Part 3: Why Box Hill?
Why Box Hill? We get asked this all the time. Often it is asked in this way.
Why Box Hill? Don't we need more churches in the West/South East?
Why Box Hill? There are several good churches in the surrounding suburbs?
Why Box Hill? There are lots of churches in Box Hill. Why would they need one more?
I understand these questions, I like these questions. I've asked these questions myself :)
These are our answers:
The purpose of our church is outreach, rather than being "another options" for Christians to go to.
We need good churches in Melbourne. And we need good churches spread around Melbourne so that Christians can have good Bible-teaching churches to go to where ever they live. So churches need to planted all over Melbourne, particularly in areas where there are none. This is a good thing. And in order for there to be evangelical options all over the place, we need this to happen.
But while our church will be an option for evangelical Christians, that is not the purpose of our church plant. The purpose of our church plant is to reach the lost. And for that reason we are not necessarily picking an area with no other good churches around, rather we are picking an area where we feel there will be good avenues for reaching Non-Christians. And Box Hill- with its accessibility for friends, it's "hub" nature, with it's dence population structures, and close proximity to community gathering spots- it's is great for that. We are not aiming to grow through lots of Christians changing churches, but rather through conversions. And the reality is- there are plenty of Non-Christians to go around.
We need a core team
It would be great to have more people planting churches in the Western and South Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. But for us we feel that is not the best fit, because we are not the type to plant a church on our own. We need a team, and the reality of our contacts and potential core-team members, they are all in the East. One day, we pray that our church can plant other churches, perhaps in these less churched areas. Who know- a team from our Box Hill Church might head West to Church plant- we might even go with them :)
But we feel for the moment , given that we need a team to plant, then the East seems like the best option.
We know it well
Tim worked for the Whitehorse local council for Three years, assisting with plans for the Future of Box Hill. We have lived close by, we have shopped there. We have friends there, many who aren't Christian. When we first starting thinking about Church planting I got out the Melways and my eyes went straight to Box Hill. It seemed like a good fit for us.
We have a passion for Cross-Cultural Ministry
Tim and I have never particularly sort-out working with people with an ethnically Asian background. But in student ministry and in the church we ended up going to in Sydney, we have been blessed with lots of oportunities to work with Asians, and we have loved them :) In particular we have loved the blessing of our International church here in Sydney. In our church you will find people from all different backgrounds: Western, Asian, European, and African. We all have different background, but we are all family, working together for our same Father. We love the idea that God might bring together a multicultural family like this in Box Hill, an area which is ethnically diverse.
And so when we were thinking about planting, Box Hill seemed like a good fit for all these reasons. We also have access to a unit to live in in Balwyn- so while not a thing which decide where we plant- it seemed like another reason why Box Hill just seemed to work.
In all this, we are doing our best, with careful prayer and with the wisdom that God gives us, to make the best decisions for the Kingdom. We are putting ourselves in God's hands, and praying that he will use us to honour him.
I hope these posts have been helpful in answering your questions. If you have anymore that you would like us to cover, please feel free to email or comment on this post.
In Christ,
Belinda
Why Box Hill? Don't we need more churches in the West/South East?
Why Box Hill? There are several good churches in the surrounding suburbs?
Why Box Hill? There are lots of churches in Box Hill. Why would they need one more?
I understand these questions, I like these questions. I've asked these questions myself :)
These are our answers:
The purpose of our church is outreach, rather than being "another options" for Christians to go to.
We need good churches in Melbourne. And we need good churches spread around Melbourne so that Christians can have good Bible-teaching churches to go to where ever they live. So churches need to planted all over Melbourne, particularly in areas where there are none. This is a good thing. And in order for there to be evangelical options all over the place, we need this to happen.
But while our church will be an option for evangelical Christians, that is not the purpose of our church plant. The purpose of our church plant is to reach the lost. And for that reason we are not necessarily picking an area with no other good churches around, rather we are picking an area where we feel there will be good avenues for reaching Non-Christians. And Box Hill- with its accessibility for friends, it's "hub" nature, with it's dence population structures, and close proximity to community gathering spots- it's is great for that. We are not aiming to grow through lots of Christians changing churches, but rather through conversions. And the reality is- there are plenty of Non-Christians to go around.
We need a core team
It would be great to have more people planting churches in the Western and South Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. But for us we feel that is not the best fit, because we are not the type to plant a church on our own. We need a team, and the reality of our contacts and potential core-team members, they are all in the East. One day, we pray that our church can plant other churches, perhaps in these less churched areas. Who know- a team from our Box Hill Church might head West to Church plant- we might even go with them :)
But we feel for the moment , given that we need a team to plant, then the East seems like the best option.
We know it well
Tim worked for the Whitehorse local council for Three years, assisting with plans for the Future of Box Hill. We have lived close by, we have shopped there. We have friends there, many who aren't Christian. When we first starting thinking about Church planting I got out the Melways and my eyes went straight to Box Hill. It seemed like a good fit for us.
We have a passion for Cross-Cultural Ministry
Tim and I have never particularly sort-out working with people with an ethnically Asian background. But in student ministry and in the church we ended up going to in Sydney, we have been blessed with lots of oportunities to work with Asians, and we have loved them :) In particular we have loved the blessing of our International church here in Sydney. In our church you will find people from all different backgrounds: Western, Asian, European, and African. We all have different background, but we are all family, working together for our same Father. We love the idea that God might bring together a multicultural family like this in Box Hill, an area which is ethnically diverse.
And so when we were thinking about planting, Box Hill seemed like a good fit for all these reasons. We also have access to a unit to live in in Balwyn- so while not a thing which decide where we plant- it seemed like another reason why Box Hill just seemed to work.
In all this, we are doing our best, with careful prayer and with the wisdom that God gives us, to make the best decisions for the Kingdom. We are putting ourselves in God's hands, and praying that he will use us to honour him.
I hope these posts have been helpful in answering your questions. If you have anymore that you would like us to cover, please feel free to email or comment on this post.
In Christ,
Belinda
Monday, May 2, 2011
Hope and prayers and plans
Sorry it's been a while between posts. It's been a busy few weeks, with Tim spending a working week down in Melbourne chatting with various people about what we are doing, and with my focus being caught up in Easter related ministry and preparing for the term ahead. We will try to be more diligent in keeping you posted. Our "Why Box Hill Post" will be coming soon as well.
As I said, Tim had a very encouraging week chatting with various people about what we are planning. It is such a helpful process, because as we talk to people about how hopes and prayers and plans, we get a clearer idea of what they are.
So what are we praying for:
Under God, we wish to plant a church with a focus on outreach. We also want to plant a church with a focus on growth through discipleship and through training in outreach. And we see a church which isn't focused on itself and growth for it's own sake, but which focused on God's message going out to the whole of Melbourne, through sending out members and planting churches.
Under God, We want to plant a church which has in it's DNA a focus on outreach and training through discipleship.
What do you think?
Belinda
As I said, Tim had a very encouraging week chatting with various people about what we are planning. It is such a helpful process, because as we talk to people about how hopes and prayers and plans, we get a clearer idea of what they are.
So what are we praying for:
Under God, we wish to plant a church with a focus on outreach. We also want to plant a church with a focus on growth through discipleship and through training in outreach. And we see a church which isn't focused on itself and growth for it's own sake, but which focused on God's message going out to the whole of Melbourne, through sending out members and planting churches.
Under God, We want to plant a church which has in it's DNA a focus on outreach and training through discipleship.
What do you think?
Belinda
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The "Why?" Series. Part 2 "Why Us?"
When thinking about church planting, two of the big questions that arise are: Why Church Plant, and then Where will you Church plant? But for Tim and I, when we accepted that Church Planting was indeed an important, there was a question that we needed to think about, even before we got to the where. And that question was: Are we suited to this kind of ministry?
The whole idea of Church planting came from a particular older brother in Christ, who approached Tim to say that he thought that Tim and I were very suited to Church Planting, and should seriously consider doing it. Tim was surprised, but thought it was worth thinking hard about whether this was true.
A few weeks later we went to a session at College on this very topic, what kind of personality and gifting do you need to be a church planter? Things mentioned where: If you have an ability to lead, if you were the kind of person who started ministries if your own bat, if you loved evangelism, if you had preaching and pastoring gifts, if you relished change and enjoyed excitement. Sitting in that session, Tim and I joked that if you smooshed the two of us together into one person, you would probably get a good church planter, but as it was, perhaps we weren't the kind of people who were suited to this kind of ministry.
And so Tim emailed this friend back and said, "We have thought and prayed about this, and we really don't think we are the kind of people who could church plant".
About a month later that same friend contacted Tim again because he wanted to talk more about the church we were going to plant!
This person's continual enthusiasm for the idea, along with Tim's growing realisation for the need for church planting, convinced us that we needed to think and pray about it more.
And so we participated in the Geneva Push Church Planting assessment. You can find out more details about that here. This was an opportunity for us to undergo a rigorous assessment of our gifts, to have some referee's write about our ministry, and to be interviewed by experienced church planters. And to our surprise they came out saying that they thought, with some conditions, that we were the kind of people who were gifted to plant a church
The biggest questions that were raised were to do with our administrative gifts and our lack of natural entrepenerial drive. But our interviewers believed that what we lacked personally could be suplimented by having a "core team". Some people plant by doing everything themselves, starting on their own, and growing from there. We were not necessarily suited to that model, but would cope better with a group of people who from the start were on-board with our mission and could cover the areas where we lacked. And so, we found, much to our surprise, that maybe we were the kind of people who could church plant!
And Church planting is so important we decided that if we could do it, then it was something we really wanted to do!
Of course, in all this we are aware that ultimately it is God who makes a ministry work, and all the gifts in the world can't grow a church. Only God can.
A great example of this happened last September. Sitting in the foodcourt at Box Hill Centro- I said to Tim, "Where are we going to meet these non-Christians when we church plant?". I was feeling scared and discouraged. As we walked out of the foodcourt- we bumped into a lady I had first met in Sydney who didn't know God. She had just moved to the Box Hill area. After chatting for a little bit, we walked off. Tim commented- "you should have got her phone number so you could catch up". I agreed, feeling foolish for missing such a great oportunity. Suddenly I saw that her two year old son had actually followed us out of the food court! So I walked him back to her, and asked for her phone number. We have since caught up and she wants to know more about Jesus! It was such a great reminder that it is God who works in people's lives, that he can do ANYTHING, and that we are just trying to be faithful while along for the ride!
We prayed long and hard to God through this whole process, that he would direct our path and help us to do his will. And while we feel that church planting is the right thing for us to do, we don't know what will happen. We are entrusting this process to God, and asking that he use us, as suited or unsuited as we might be, to bring people into his Kingdom and to bring him glory!
Amen!
The whole idea of Church planting came from a particular older brother in Christ, who approached Tim to say that he thought that Tim and I were very suited to Church Planting, and should seriously consider doing it. Tim was surprised, but thought it was worth thinking hard about whether this was true.
A few weeks later we went to a session at College on this very topic, what kind of personality and gifting do you need to be a church planter? Things mentioned where: If you have an ability to lead, if you were the kind of person who started ministries if your own bat, if you loved evangelism, if you had preaching and pastoring gifts, if you relished change and enjoyed excitement. Sitting in that session, Tim and I joked that if you smooshed the two of us together into one person, you would probably get a good church planter, but as it was, perhaps we weren't the kind of people who were suited to this kind of ministry.
And so Tim emailed this friend back and said, "We have thought and prayed about this, and we really don't think we are the kind of people who could church plant".
About a month later that same friend contacted Tim again because he wanted to talk more about the church we were going to plant!
This person's continual enthusiasm for the idea, along with Tim's growing realisation for the need for church planting, convinced us that we needed to think and pray about it more.
And so we participated in the Geneva Push Church Planting assessment. You can find out more details about that here. This was an opportunity for us to undergo a rigorous assessment of our gifts, to have some referee's write about our ministry, and to be interviewed by experienced church planters. And to our surprise they came out saying that they thought, with some conditions, that we were the kind of people who were gifted to plant a church
The biggest questions that were raised were to do with our administrative gifts and our lack of natural entrepenerial drive. But our interviewers believed that what we lacked personally could be suplimented by having a "core team". Some people plant by doing everything themselves, starting on their own, and growing from there. We were not necessarily suited to that model, but would cope better with a group of people who from the start were on-board with our mission and could cover the areas where we lacked. And so, we found, much to our surprise, that maybe we were the kind of people who could church plant!
And Church planting is so important we decided that if we could do it, then it was something we really wanted to do!
Of course, in all this we are aware that ultimately it is God who makes a ministry work, and all the gifts in the world can't grow a church. Only God can.
A great example of this happened last September. Sitting in the foodcourt at Box Hill Centro- I said to Tim, "Where are we going to meet these non-Christians when we church plant?". I was feeling scared and discouraged. As we walked out of the foodcourt- we bumped into a lady I had first met in Sydney who didn't know God. She had just moved to the Box Hill area. After chatting for a little bit, we walked off. Tim commented- "you should have got her phone number so you could catch up". I agreed, feeling foolish for missing such a great oportunity. Suddenly I saw that her two year old son had actually followed us out of the food court! So I walked him back to her, and asked for her phone number. We have since caught up and she wants to know more about Jesus! It was such a great reminder that it is God who works in people's lives, that he can do ANYTHING, and that we are just trying to be faithful while along for the ride!
We prayed long and hard to God through this whole process, that he would direct our path and help us to do his will. And while we feel that church planting is the right thing for us to do, we don't know what will happen. We are entrusting this process to God, and asking that he use us, as suited or unsuited as we might be, to bring people into his Kingdom and to bring him glory!
Amen!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The "Why?" series. Part 1 Why Church planting?
For the last three years Tim has been studying and preparing to work in full-time Christian Ministry. And over that time (and before it) we have been discussing what kind of ministry we might do. While we loved our time working with students, Tim's heart was really in pastoral ministry. But the where, who with, and what format were still up in the air. And through that time people were asking us about what we might do.
And now we have the answer: that we will (God willing) be church planting in 2012 in Box Hill, Victoria.
But there are still lots of questions. And most of those questions are "why" questions. So I thought I'd take the time over the next few posts to go through some of the why questions that we commonly get asked when we talk about our plans. Why Church Planting?, Why Us?, and Why Box Hill?
So...
Why Church Planting?
There are all over Australia existing churches with buildings and resources who don't have pastors. In Australia, most Suburbs have a church in them. So why create more?
Because there are not enough.
The truth is all the people of Australia need to hear about Jesus, and the churches that we have are not enough to reach them all. And with the new people arriving in Melbourne each year we need many new churches to cover them anyway.
Our existing churches do not appeal or reach everyone.
New churches reach new people and they do it in new ways. Some people are naturally attracted to traditional churches. Just a few days ago I had a man ring our office at the Baptist Church we currently attend, wanting to find out if he could come along so his daughter could get "Christian values". That's a wonderful thing, that he was seeking something and thought a church could offer it. But there are also people who naturally shy away from existing denominations or church buildings, because of bad experiences in the past, or because those churches are just very alien to their world. So new churches can have a powerful role to reach out to those in the community who are not interested in joining a "mainstream" church.
Flexibility and the power to create a culture.
All churches will have a culture, a set of priorities and principals that drive them. The great strength of church planting is that with the clean slate, you can create a culture that puts evangelism at it's very heart. You also have a bit more flexibility to try things and experiment. It is possible to take this too far and be so interested in 'attracting' the lost that you forget what the Bible says about what is necessary and effective for a Christian Gathering and Evangelism. But provided you have Biblical principals guiding what you should do, church planting can open up the possibilities of what you "can" do.
Because church planting is an excellent avenue for Evangelism.
New churches tend to do more evangelism. I don't know why. Maybe it's a survival thing- if you don't grow, you won't survive. Perhaps it's a passion thing; often Christians who are drawn to church planting are those who are passionate about the lost. But whatever the reason, in the history of the church in Australia, it has been the denominations that have church planted which have seen the most growth and conversions. For example in the 1970's the AOG denomination declared its intention to plant a church in every Australian town over 1000 people. They did not achieve this, but in the 20 years that followed they grew by 2,500% accross the nation and planted thousands of churches. Sadly it's the denominations who stop seeking growth and multiplication who find themselves in decline.
My story
Now, on a personal level, this question and these answers have been quite pertinent to me. You see, when Tim first starting thinking about Church Planting, I was not on board. I was keen to support Tim in whatever ministry was the best use of what God had given him, but was also keen that that ministry would not be church planting ;P Church planting to me was a scary thing! It didn't hold the security or even the respectability of an existing, denominational church. I knew that it would be hard work, and I knew that it would involve suffering. And so I prayed, I pray that God would either change Tim's mind or change my mind so that whatever we did, we could do it on the same page.
In March last year we were down in Melbourne for Tim's brother's engagement party. And while we were down I was overcome with a love for Melbourne. It was my home, and I loved it. And I wanted the lost of Melbourne to know Jesus. And I began to realise that church planting was a wonderful way to see that happen.
I had also been leading Bible studies on Philippians at that time, and had been reminded again of Paul and his willingness to joyfully suffer, to the point of being arrested, so that people could hear of Jesus. And I was reminded again that I had a saviour who was worth suffering for.
And finally I realised that I would rather have no security and see people become Christian, than have lots of security, but no one reached for the kingdom.
And so now, despite still being afraid, I am really excited to be church planting. And while I think it is not the only effective, important ministry, I think it is the best ministry for us. But more of that in my next post.
Cheers,
Belinda
And now we have the answer: that we will (God willing) be church planting in 2012 in Box Hill, Victoria.
But there are still lots of questions. And most of those questions are "why" questions. So I thought I'd take the time over the next few posts to go through some of the why questions that we commonly get asked when we talk about our plans. Why Church Planting?, Why Us?, and Why Box Hill?
So...
Why Church Planting?
There are all over Australia existing churches with buildings and resources who don't have pastors. In Australia, most Suburbs have a church in them. So why create more?
Because there are not enough.
The truth is all the people of Australia need to hear about Jesus, and the churches that we have are not enough to reach them all. And with the new people arriving in Melbourne each year we need many new churches to cover them anyway.
Our existing churches do not appeal or reach everyone.
New churches reach new people and they do it in new ways. Some people are naturally attracted to traditional churches. Just a few days ago I had a man ring our office at the Baptist Church we currently attend, wanting to find out if he could come along so his daughter could get "Christian values". That's a wonderful thing, that he was seeking something and thought a church could offer it. But there are also people who naturally shy away from existing denominations or church buildings, because of bad experiences in the past, or because those churches are just very alien to their world. So new churches can have a powerful role to reach out to those in the community who are not interested in joining a "mainstream" church.
Flexibility and the power to create a culture.
All churches will have a culture, a set of priorities and principals that drive them. The great strength of church planting is that with the clean slate, you can create a culture that puts evangelism at it's very heart. You also have a bit more flexibility to try things and experiment. It is possible to take this too far and be so interested in 'attracting' the lost that you forget what the Bible says about what is necessary and effective for a Christian Gathering and Evangelism. But provided you have Biblical principals guiding what you should do, church planting can open up the possibilities of what you "can" do.
Because church planting is an excellent avenue for Evangelism.
New churches tend to do more evangelism. I don't know why. Maybe it's a survival thing- if you don't grow, you won't survive. Perhaps it's a passion thing; often Christians who are drawn to church planting are those who are passionate about the lost. But whatever the reason, in the history of the church in Australia, it has been the denominations that have church planted which have seen the most growth and conversions. For example in the 1970's the AOG denomination declared its intention to plant a church in every Australian town over 1000 people. They did not achieve this, but in the 20 years that followed they grew by 2,500% accross the nation and planted thousands of churches. Sadly it's the denominations who stop seeking growth and multiplication who find themselves in decline.
My story
Now, on a personal level, this question and these answers have been quite pertinent to me. You see, when Tim first starting thinking about Church Planting, I was not on board. I was keen to support Tim in whatever ministry was the best use of what God had given him, but was also keen that that ministry would not be church planting ;P Church planting to me was a scary thing! It didn't hold the security or even the respectability of an existing, denominational church. I knew that it would be hard work, and I knew that it would involve suffering. And so I prayed, I pray that God would either change Tim's mind or change my mind so that whatever we did, we could do it on the same page.
In March last year we were down in Melbourne for Tim's brother's engagement party. And while we were down I was overcome with a love for Melbourne. It was my home, and I loved it. And I wanted the lost of Melbourne to know Jesus. And I began to realise that church planting was a wonderful way to see that happen.
I had also been leading Bible studies on Philippians at that time, and had been reminded again of Paul and his willingness to joyfully suffer, to the point of being arrested, so that people could hear of Jesus. And I was reminded again that I had a saviour who was worth suffering for.
And finally I realised that I would rather have no security and see people become Christian, than have lots of security, but no one reached for the kingdom.
And so now, despite still being afraid, I am really excited to be church planting. And while I think it is not the only effective, important ministry, I think it is the best ministry for us. But more of that in my next post.
Cheers,
Belinda
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Green light go
Welcome to the first blog post of the Grace Christian Community Blog!
There is a certain amount of excitement as I type this. So much of the time, as Tim and I have prayed and thought about the church plant, there has been lots of talk about the future, and "what we might do". But 2011 is the year where (God willing )we move onto the "what we are doing".
Starting this blog is just one of the many firsts as we begin this process of getting ready, under God, to plant a church in Box Hill in 2012.
Please pray that God will give us the wisdom, trust, and passion needed to undertake this task. And please pray particularly that the Lord will be working in the lost of Box Hill to bring them to himself.
In Christ,
Belinda
There is a certain amount of excitement as I type this. So much of the time, as Tim and I have prayed and thought about the church plant, there has been lots of talk about the future, and "what we might do". But 2011 is the year where (God willing )we move onto the "what we are doing".
Starting this blog is just one of the many firsts as we begin this process of getting ready, under God, to plant a church in Box Hill in 2012.
Please pray that God will give us the wisdom, trust, and passion needed to undertake this task. And please pray particularly that the Lord will be working in the lost of Box Hill to bring them to himself.
In Christ,
Belinda
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