I NEVER WANTED TO PLANT A CHURCH

I never wanted to plant a church. In fact neither my wife Sharon or I had even considered it.

But we were restless.

We had a young family and I had a job that I loved, and yet there was the sense that there was more. I guess you’d say that our lifestyles had lots of pleasure but little purpose.

And so Sharon arranged for us to go and meet with a wise and godly man who had come to our city to live for some years. We didn’t know this man, Norman Pell. But we had heard good things about him.

So we made the appointment and went to meet Norman. He listened to our story and why we were there, asking us a few questions. Then eagerly leaning forward, he asked us if we had ever considered planting a church. The answer was no. It wasn’t something that was even on our radar screen. I was a Charted Accountant, a director of a financial services company and Sharon, a Social Worker was at that stage a stay at home mum.

Norman saw something in us that we hadn’t seen. He was doing what Dave Ferguson and Sarah Jackson have spoken about at Exponential Australia events over the last year. Norman was in effect calling out “ICNU”, or to put it in English, “I See In You”.

So we went away and talked, prayed, read books and reflected on scripture, and we were hooked. It wasn’t so much that we heard Norman calling us. We heard God calling us. Norman was the conduit God used to bring the call to us that changed our world.

Thirty one years later, here are 3 of the many lessons I have learnt from following God’s call to plant a church.

The Entirety Of The Call Doesn’t Come At Once.

I think it would frequently be too much for us if it did, and would potentially scare us off! I have found that initially God will give, and confirm a call. As we obey Him and walk into the call, frequently we will see more to the call; more doors to walk through.

Perhaps He’s testing to see if we will be obedient with what he has given us before He gives us more?

Jesus Must Become Our Lord

The thing about the call, is that it’s God’s call, not mine or yours. That means that we must learn what it is to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus perhaps in a way that is beyond what we have ever done before.

The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 tells us that when Jesus comes to us, He authorises us, commissions us, instructs us and promises to go with us.

The thing is that if you don’t make Jesus Lord with your life, not just your words, He won’t really be Lord of your life. You will probably be your own Lord instead.

We Need More Normans

Jesus tells us in Luke 10:2 that He wants to see more workers raised up and sent into the harvest. There’s no shortage of the harvest but there is a shortage of workers going out as harvesters.

It took Norman for Sharon and I to have our eyes opened to where Jesus wanted us to be. I’m confident that there are many men and women in churches across Australia who are feeling restless and that there is more to what Jesus is calling them to be and do.  We need more Normans who will tell them what ICNU.

Perhaps God is calling you to be a Norman?