As we develop a church planting team, we need to take pains to really know the team members. In a rush to numbers we sometimes allow the vision and culture to be hijacked. How you start will determine a lot about the journey and how you ultimately finish. Take time to know your launch team and even more so your core team.

 

They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us they would have remained with us . . . ~1 John 2:19a

READING: 1 John 2:18-27

 

Church plants produced from division or rebellion encounter much difficulty. They have issues that have to be dealt with later and you will likely slow the momentum and steal the joy.

As we develop a church planting team, we need to know the team members, their motivations, and their history in order to avoid serious problems. Here are some good questions to bear in mind:

• Are they from your sending church? Do they have the same heart for the church plant and your methodology? Vision? Do they talk about a church they once visited and how they did it?
• Have they been taught the principles of submission and authority? Do they have a proven track record in the local church of walking by these principles?
• Are they doing this for monetary gain as hirelings or are they truly called?

Dear Heavenly Father, Please give me patience to discern the people that you want to work with me on this church plant. Help me not to get in too much of a hurry. Amen.