1. It’s harder than you think - but not in that ways you expect. I expected it to be a lot of work and I expected there to be discouraging times and I expected there would be times I would want to quit, but I didn’t expect that I would spend most of my time doing stuff that I don’t love and doesn’t excite me. I didn’t expect that I would be tempted to get lazy. I didn’t realize how tough it was to balance the tension between pastoring the people you’ve got and trying to grow the church we feel called to be. Be prepared for this.

2, It’s more fun than you think it’s going to be. Strap on your helmet, but it is fun. You’re building something from scratch and fighting and winning and failing. It tough, but it’s not boring. Look forward to this and remember it when being beaten down by number one.

3. There are people who don’t want you to succeed. There are those who are more comfortable believing that the world is against them and that nothing can be done and that nothing can change and to see a new church come to be and survive calls into question their status quo. Identify these people and ignore them.

4. There are people who desperately want to you to succeed. They want nothing more than to see the Kingdom come and for healthy churches to be acting out what God intended for us to be. Identify these people and seek them out.

5. It is not easy to figure out who are #3 people and who are #4 people.

The most important thing you will do is to decide what success looks like. Remember that this is your choice. Choose to define success by obedience. Ask God where he wants you to go, and fight with everything you have to get there. Back to #1 and #2, it will not be easy, and it will be fun.

Labels: church planting