3 Words for Year 1
One of my favourite passages in Scripture comes from the book of Joshua. As God is leading the Isrealites towards the Promised Land - he parts the Jordan River and allows them to cross on dry land. This is just one of dozens of mind-blowing miracles that the Lord has done (and will continue to do) for his promised people. As the Israelites reached the other side of what seemed like an impassable pathway towards a land flowing with milk and honey, God gave them a very unique instruction:
“When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” [Joshua 4:1-7]
These stones would be tangible reminders of God’s provision, his power, and his constant presence in the life of Israel. They were meant to cause the Isrealites to pause…and remember. Over the years I’ve realised my need to pause at specific moments in life to gather my own “stones of remembrance”. Often these are small and seemingly inconsequential markers at first glance. But upon further reflection and consideration I’ve realised these are “dry land” type monuments that God has set up in my life to poignantly remind me of his provision, power, and presence.
One such moment just passed and that was the first birthday of Port City Church. Recently, a local pastor asked me if this past year went by slowly or quickly. My response: could it be both? This past year has flown by and yet so much has happened in the life of our fledgling church. It felt like a good time to reach down and grab a few stones from the bottom of the church planting river. These stones are represented by three words that mark our first year - words that define what this year has been about and that God has used to work mightily in our midst.
Team
Almost two years ago, as we were preparing to plant, I had reached a healthy place in my life where our family had developed good rhythms and practices amidst our busy life. Most church planting warning labels will tell you that it is not for the faint of heart and will take a lot from you and out of you. I was concerned that the rhythms and practices (of which we felt the Lord had led us into) would be, at best, disrupted…or more likely blown up all together.
So when I had the chance to ask a very seasoned church planter who seemed to be the healthiest church planter (emotionally, physically, spiritually) I’ve ever met - I couldn’t resist asking the question…how’d ya do it? His answer: team. He explained to me that putting a a group of diversely gifted individuals around you and then leaning into their giftings, experience, availability, and willingness was the key to planting a church and not compromising on the rhythms and practices of an emotionally, spiritually, and mentally healthy human being.
At Port City, we’ve leaned heavily into this advice in year one. We prayed and strategized for months about what type of staff team and leadership team to put in place to set us up best for the mission and vision God had called us to. God has richly blessed our church with so many gifted people that we’ve been able to empower for ministry in a multiplicity of ways. Furthermore, it has allowed me (and our whole staff team) to take vacation time, time away for kids activities, and even days off to simply recover.
Pace
Closely related to team is the stone of pace. One thing I’ve continued to drill into my own brain and into the ethos of our team is this saying: a bunch of good things strung together doesn’t equal one great thing. That means that a major part of the church planter’s responsibility is weeding through all the good things that can be done in order to find the few things that should be done.
This is why having a solidified vision that is a true calling from the Lord is so key in this process. It provides the bumper rails to keep you and your young church from veering off course. In year one we’ve continually revisited what the Lord has called us to in order to sift through the abundance of opportunities available to us in ministry. Personally, I am not the best at this, which is another reason having a team who can help discern what’s best is crucial.
As Pastor Chad says often - our hope is to be a church that exists for our grandchildren's children. In order to see that come to fruition we have to maintain a healthy ministry pace. We have to remember that we are not just thinking about the next 3 years but the next 30 to come. The Lord has graciously helped us this past year to discern what to say “yes” to and the self-control we’ve needed to say “no”. Pace is a stone that we pick up as we pass through year one and into year two and one that we strive to maintain for years to come as a church.
Prayer
Sometimes the most cliche things are the most important. That is certainly true of prayer. Last summer - only a few short months after planting Port City - I read Eugene Peterson’s phenomenal work on pastoral ministry: Working the Angles. Peterson boils all of pastoral ministry down into three key components. Scripture reading. Spiritual direction. Prayer.
Peterson simply writes, “anything creative, anything powerful, anything biblical, insofar as we are participants in it, originates in prayer.”
What should be so intuitive to us as church leaders is something that can too easily escape our weekly habits and shape our ministry rhythms. By God’s grace we have begun to foster a culture of prayer at Port City Church. This begins with our staff team - praying fervently and faithfully each week as a team. It continues as a church where we prioritise prayer each week in our gathering. We try to create easy avenues for people to communicate prayer requests and we spend extended time in our Groups each week praying with and for one another.
We recognize there is always room for improvement in prayer and we continually ask the Lord to show us ways to grow in our dependence upon him through prayer. But I am also so grateful for the ways the Lord has deepened our church’s dependence upon and engagement in prayer. We have seen the Lord answer prayers for healing, prayers for family and friends to come to faith, prayers for loved ones to come back to church, prayers for restored marriages, prayers for financial provision, and the list continues. So as we pick up the stone of prayer from year one it ignites in us a passion to pray bigger and bolder prayers in this next year.
God has been faithful - we recognize that all of this is from his hand (Psalm 127:1) and we are simply recipients of his grace and the good gifts he gives to his children. So…as we cross year one we look back with hearts full of gratitude and our sights set on endless possibilities ahead.
Happy Birthday, Port City Church.
