New Churches Podcast

Host Ed Stetzer returns with writer, speaker, and professor Kyle Strobel to dive more deeply into the leadership challenges of church planting today. Tune in to discover the profound paradox of leading from weakness as you make much of Christ and abide in His strength.

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I learned spiritual gifts like, “Here’s how to never minister in your weakness—only minister in your strength.” Then, I read 1 and 2 Corinthians and realized my understanding was the opposite of what I saw in Scripture. – Kyle Strobel

We can wield our ministry in the flesh, but the fantasy is thinking that we can somehow reap in the Spirit. – Kyle Strobel

A lot of church planters get up every day wishing to have all the wonderful, good things that happen in a church that’s grown to a very large size. But that motivation and how we pursue it is part of the challenge. – Ed Stetzer

What does it mean to not be afraid of my weakness? Because that’s where the Lord is actually working. Most church planters’ weakness is recognizing how much they want to wield themselves rather than trust in the Lord. – Kyle Strobel

Your growth will always be growth in seeing your need for forgiveness. And that must be true not only individually in terms of your sin in your life, but in terms of your ministry in your church planting. – Kyle Strobel

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Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham meet with pastor’s wife, mom, and National Director of Women’s Evangelism, Catherine Renfro, to discuss the significance of women’s evangelism in the life of the church. Tune in to discover how you can mobilize the women of your congregation to join in the activity of God, one gospel conversation at a time.

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The message of the resurrection was first entrusted to women in the New Testament to take and share. So, for Jesus to elevate the voice of women in carrying the most significant theological event should speak to us today about the role of women in evangelism. – Vance Pitman

Jesus gives us examples of women having kingdom impact in sharing the hope of the gospel. – Catherine Renfro

If we can help women think about living out their purpose in these everyday moments, God can eradicate fear. He’s greater than our fears and worries of rejection. – Catherine Renfro

The global church is empowering and unleashing both men and women to engage in evangelism and mission. I’ve just seen women used by God as incredible evangelists who engage cities to see disciples made and churches born. – Vance Pitman

We don’t naturally drift towards evangelism, so we have to keep it in front of our people. Keep talking about it and encouraging it. There is nothing more exciting than when you see someone realize that God can use them. – Catherine Renfro

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Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham team back up with pastor’s wife, mom, and National Director of Women’s Evangelism, Catherine Renfro, to dive into the impact of investing in the ladies of your congregation. Tune in to discover why God is calling each and every member of your church to live on mission—and why it’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss.

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If we don’t have a plan for it, it’s probably not going to happen. So, creating a specific plan for raising up women leaders in your ministry context is where it all begins. – Catherine Renfro

A lot of women need someone who will say, “God has gifted you in this way, and I want you to leverage those gifts for the kingdom.” – Catherine Renfro

I want to challenge the pastors listening today. Yes, it’s your responsibility as Paul gave in 2 Timothy to pour into faithful men. But as a shepherd of the body of Christ, you have a responsibility to build intentional pathways to raise up both men and women to engage in the mission. – Vance Pitman

So many church planters think that to multiply a church, they have to raise up their next church planter, but that is so shortsighted. We need to raise up teams and for every man, woman, boy, and girl to understand their callings as the leaders God made them to be. – Noah Oldham

If you say you value something, you’ve got to build for it. So, if we want to see something changed to mobilize women to lead in their giftings, we have to change how we do things. – Noah Oldham

What if we were to start talking about the possibilities for women in ministry at a younger age? It was terrifying for me to step out of the career path I thought God was leading me on to go a completely different way that I had no context for. – Catherine Renfro

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Host Tony Merida teams back up with Matt Carter, Send Network’s Vice President of Mobilization, to discuss the rhythms and patterns that have helped them thrive in ministry, as well as in their personal health and families. Tune in to discover why your earliest days in ministry are so significant and how you can reclaim your days for the sake of God-honoring endurance.

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I think we forget that we have an enemy who is studying us and has an intentional, thoughtful scheme on how to take us out. This is not some weird, nebulous enemy. – Matt Carter

Part of endurance is surrounding yourself with men who have proximity to you. Pray for folks that you can give permission to speak into your life and who will help you grow in Christ along the way. – Matt Carter

Unfortunately, eschatology has made people fanatical rather than faithful. But the goal is to remember that we’re going to see Jesus Christ and that it impacts the present moment. – Tony Merida

Your people are going to want access to you, so you’ve got to set the culture with your family, your staff, and your church that your time management is a priority from day one. – Matt Carter

Instead of going straight into critique mode or problem-solving mode, start looking for evidences of grace first. Consider how you can see God working. – Tony Merida

Somehow, we’ve envisioned a personal holiness that’s separate from our relationships with our wives, but part of what it means to live a godly life is to cultivate a healthy, thriving marriage. – Tony Merida

The post 3 Practices to Endure in Ministry appeared first on New Churches.

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Host Noah Oldham teams back up with pastor and planter Adam Muhtaseb to discuss their relationships with constructive criticism throughout their journeys as church planters. Tune in as they discuss what Scripture has to say about your life, ministry, and righteousness in Christ and how God intends to form you in His image as you shepherd your flock for His glory.

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When someone criticizes me, it’s really just reiterating what I know in the foundation of my faith, that I’ve fallen short. I use it as an opportunity to find the kernel of truth and repent of it. – Adam Muhtaseb

The person I’m criticizing or have an issue with matters, is my brother or sister, and was valuable enough for the Son of God to die for him or her. When we view people as that valuable, it changes the way we handle our disagreements. – Adam Muhtaseb

Our swagger turns into a limp the longer we go through experiences of God humbling us. – Noah Oldham

The call was never to love the city for the city’s sake. It was to love it for Jesus’ sake and then continuing to go to Him and say, “Lord, give me Your heart for that.” – Noah Oldham

Church planters don’t want to be humanized. We want people to think we’re superhuman, that we can do it all. We build that up, and then we get burned out. – Noah Oldham

In all that criticism, God’s doing something, forming you into somebody. What matters more than the actual church is the kind of person you’re becoming. He’s making you rely on Christ’s work and reputation, not your own. – Adam Muhtaseb

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Host Ed Stetzer meets with writer, speaker, and professor Kyle Strobel to discuss the impact of spiritual practices—both personally and corporately—in the life of the church planter. Discover what it means to find your strength in the Lord and how to lead your people to do the same.

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A lot of burnout and toxicity comes from planters building an entire ministry and an entire life, quite honestly not on the Spirit, but on their flesh. – Kyle Strobel

I need to constantly be growing so that it’s more of the Spirit of God and less of the spirit of “Entrepreneurial Ed.” – Ed Stetzer

If a church planter’s selfish ambition, jealousy, and envy are left unchecked, they become root sins that bear all sorts of sinful fruit in life. – Kyle Strobel

You can be a profoundly sick tree and bear what looks like visibly impressive fruit. – Kyle Strobel

Our spiritual practices are like cogs in a grand machine that need to mesh well for the whole thing to work. If we lose what we’re doing in the church or our individual spiritual practices, then the whole thing will come apart. – Kyle Strobel

Most preachers I know have come to realize that no matter how much preaching they do, they can’t undo the formation that is going on day in and day out in their homes by what they’re doing and consuming through media. – Kyle Strobel

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Host Noah Oldham sits down with Adam Muhtaseb, the pastor, planter, and recipient of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Joe B. Brown Preaching Award. Listen in as they discuss the impact of your church’s Sunday morning preaching culture and how you can take strides to engage the assembled nonbelievers as you strengthen your flock from the platform.

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Preaching is both the precursor and the ongoing mission of church planting. It’s so much more multifaceted than we anticipate as we go into this field. – Noah Oldham

Preach to who you want to be there. Intentionally preach like there are lost people in the room. – Noah Oldham

The meat and potatoes of what we communicate should be God’s Word. Every now and then, I like to say, “We can go out to eat” and do a topical sermon on some random topic, but we try and stick to the Word. – Adam Muhtaseb

We need to preach sermons in which an unbeliever can come in and be like, “Oh, this makes sense,” fall on their face, and worship God. – Adam Muhtaseb

Make sure that if somebody were to come to your service, it feels like good news. You’re not proclaiming something they need to do, but the good news of something that’s already been done. Proclaim the “It is finished” of the text. – Adam Muhtaseb

If you can honestly just bear your soul to people and apply the text and its good news to your life, that is the start of an amazing sermon. – Adam Muhtaseb

The post Preaching to the Lost appeared first on New Churches.

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Host Tony Merida meets with Matt Carter, Send Network’s Vice President of Mobilization, to discuss their journeys through preaching the Word within their respective church-planting contexts. Tune in to discover their wisdom gained and lessons learned throughout their years of preaching and planting.

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You can say things in the midst of a sermon that will completely derail the main point of your text, whether you’re preaching in a small or large, rural or urban, conservative or not-so-conservative environment. – Matt Carter

You need to be wise about who you’re talking to but be authentic to who you are. – Matt Carter

“I’ve made myself a servant to them all” sounds a lot like Jesus, who did the real contextualization in coming to earth and becoming a servant to us. – Tony Merida

In preaching, you’re not just exuding a passage, but you’re showing why it’s significant to this day and age and to whatever set of ideas is prevalent today. – Tony Merida

Part of contextualization is knowing where your flock is right now. Are they beat up? Do they need to hear the words of a loving shepherd? Or are they running from their responsibilities and from God, and are they in need of that prophetic voice? – Matt Carter

The last thing you want is to send a message that your church is just for insiders or for people who are familiar with the Bible. You wouldn’t be sacrificing substance; you’d be preaching with expositional hospitality. – Tony Merida

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Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham return for another episode with pastor, planter, and leadership expert Dr. Crawford Loritts. Tune in to discover what you can gain through the guidance of those who have gone before you on this church planting journey.

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There are two ways to learn how to do your job: there’s humility, and there’s hardship. You can either humble yourself and listen to some people further down the road than you, or you can face the hardship of bad decisions. – Vance Pitman

You influence, but you don’t control. You never want to get in a relationship where a mentor doesn’t know the difference between appropriate authority and a domineering relationship. – Dr. Crawford Loritts

Your twenties and thirties are a season of learning. I’m not saying that God’s not using you in very significant ways, but you’re learning who you are and who you’re not. – Dr. Crawford Loritts

The difference between a trend and a fad is that which is enduring. – Dr. Crawford Loritts

There’d be no Paul without Barnabas, and yet we are looking for “the name guys.” A lot of times, it’s the unnamed heroes that you’re talking about. – Vance Pitman

When the heat gets turned up, things get a little hot, and adversity comes, there’s a tendency to run, shift, change your environment. The problem is there is no such thing as character apart from endurance. The fuel that you need is found in what you don’t like. – Dr. Crawford Loritts

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Host Ed Stetzer teams back up with colleague Craig Hazen to take a deep dive into John 15:7—Christ’s own words about fearless, expectant prayer. Discover the role of prayer in the life of the church planter as you petition the Lord on behalf of your people and wait to see how He will provide.

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John 15:7 was spoken by Jesus in the last hours of His life on earth. It seems to me that it’s got to be really important for today and not just something that we hope we understand one day. – Craig Hazen

The idea of prayer–what is it? I dove in and found that it’s a very simple concept. It’s asking for stuff from God. – Craig Hazen

It’s right there in the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” There’s a connection between “If you’re remaining in me, and my words remain in you,” the kind of things you’re going to ask for are going to also be different. – Ed Stetzer

A lot of mainstream evangelicals stay away from John 15:7 because some will think they’re associated with the “health and wealth” prosperity gospel. They don’t engage this because they’re afraid of that association. – Craig Hazen

For people who need quick answers for difficult church-planting situations, God’s right there. He is Johnny-on-the-Spot. He wants us to be prepared to wait, but He’s a God of action. – Craig Hazen

The post Leading Your Church in Fearless Prayer appeared first on New Churches.

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