Planting a church is like birthing a child. In the beginning you are very excited about it but are never quite sure how it will turn out. On 2nd February 2020 my wife, daughter and I met with the first person who said that they would like to join our new church. We consider that date our birthday. But like all birthdays, once the festivities end, reality sets in and the challenges of life ensue. For us, the excitement lasted for about a month and a half as more and more people started joining us.
Then the reality of COVID 19 and a hard lockdown hit us. It had the potential to break us. Instead, the following months revealed to us how God plans never change despite a world that is ever changing. So as we celebrate our 1st birthday as a church, here are some thoughts from our first year in planting Pulse Church. May they encourage you.
God's time is always the ideal time
Common sense will tell you that the worst time to plant a church is when you cannot meet with other people, because the whole nature of being a church is to experience, know and worship God together with other people. The onset of a hard lockdown is anything but ideal for planting a church. Yet by the sovereign hand of God we grew in width and depth during the lockdown. The Apostle Paul, the most prolific planter of churches in the Asia Minor region in the 1st Century says that even though he may be bound, the word of God is not bound (2 Tim. 2:9). Even though we were bound at home the word of God still reached the hearts and minds of people, albeit via a screen. God has an appointed time for all things such as a pandemic and the planting of churches in the midst of it.
God's ways are always the best ways
There are many ways to skin a cat, or so the saying goes. No offense to cat lovers. Likewise, we can say that there are many ways to plant a church. We’ve learnt in one year that the important question isn’t how to plant a church but rather why are we planting a church. From the onset we were convinced that we wanted to plant Pulse Church because we wanted to “Change Hearts with the Good News." That is our mission statement. The Good News of Jesus changes the heart of a non-believer to draw them towards faith in Jesus. The Good News of Jesus changes the heart of a believer so that they can grow in their faith in him. The Good News is a double-edged sword that changes both believer and non-believer.
Our challenge was to do ministry in ways that takes the Good News to the heart. This meant that the nature of everything we do must be laced with transparency, integrity and authenticity. If Jesus is the hero of the story, then there is no room for anyone to stand in the spotlight, especially the planter. The change that the Good News is continually effecting in my heart and those of others, ought to be what is moving people towards Jesus. Our attempts to replicate this culture has borne some fruit. We believe this is the best way to do ministry and reach people with the Good News.
God's news is always good news
If the plans for planting Pulse Church was centered around a wonderful meeting venue, great coffee, a highly talented worship band and lots of money in the bank, then the lockdown would have killed Pulse Church. Instead by God’s grace, we decided to build Pulse Church around the Good News of Jesus. God’s news to us is always Good News, because he has made a plan for all-time for mankind to be reconciled back to him. The perfect life, substitutionary death, and all conquering resurrection of Jesus on our behalf is the only way for us to be reconciled back to God. Jesus’ perfect life is credited to our account. His substitutionary death takes the judgement of God on sin, that we deserve. His resurrection gives us new life in this life and the one to come.
Faith in what Jesus did for us is not only what gets us in but also what grows us. Learning to apply this Good News to our idolatrous, rebellious and religious hearts is what brings true and everlasting change. We all have the propensity to be defined by the circumstances we find ourselves in and the challenges that we face. Circumstances change and challenges come and go. But the Good News of Jesus that has echoed down the corridors of time continues to rescue and define people. I pray that you will encounter the Good News of Jesus, because it truly is good news in every circumstance.
Happy 1st Birthday Pulse Church! May we always be the heralders and proponents of the Good News of Jesus Christ.