YOU ARE HIS MISSION
The work of church planting is a crazy, exhilarating, draining, rewarding and faith-filled ride. It’s a different life than you lived before in many ways. Many of us left our homes and communities and immersed ourselves in a new place with new people and new surroundings. We’ve seen God provide for our families and our churches in miraculous ways. We’ve been moved to tears when we see a person drawn to Jesus for the first time. It’s often hard, but we wouldn’t choose anything else because God has called us to it and He is leading us faithfully! And yet, in this extraordinary work that God is doing in and through us, it becomes easy for us to forget that God’s love for US is what has compelled us to serve in these unusual ways in the first place.
GOD LOVES YOU, THE WORKER, NOT JUST THE WORK.
It has been said that God calls some to pastor (or to marry a pastor) just to keep that person that much closer to Him. God’s calling on your life is not merely to accomplish a mission through you. You are His mission as well! Have you seen God change you through this journey you’re on? I know that through our church planting journey, my relationship with Jesus has become more real and more a part of who I am than at any other time in my life. God knew this when He called me and when He called you. Never forget that it was His love for YOU that changed you and led you to this place in your life. It is his kindness to YOU that caused you to listen when He called you to plant a church.
REMEMBER YOUR FIRST LOVE
Don’t lose sight of this. Church plant or not. Pastor or not. Leader or not. God loves you. Let this simple message wash you today and reassure you. He doesn’t love you for what you do or how you may or may not see yourself or your ministry. Even if nobody else comes to your Sunday service, God is there to teach YOU. His mercies for YOU are new every morning. So, whatever your day or week looks like, be refreshed in the truth that Jesus is with you and will accomplish what He began in you from the very beginning. Your Saviour, your God. Remember Him and His love for you today.
Be blessed,
Daniel Williams