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
Showing posts with label Church Planting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church Planting. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
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
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
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