Ripe for Harvest

S ESSION 5: B RINGING I T A LL T OGETHER • 471

Charting Your Own Course

You have now considered, reflected, and designed all you could for your church plant effort through all of the stages of a church plant. Bravo! You are ready to engage the community and/or people group, seeking the Lord’s help to see a vital, healthy church planted in a place or among a people desperate to know him. You can be sure that God will lead you step by step as you move forward, in his name. This final session demands that you take time apart for critical review, reflection, and re-evaluation of your status, as a team, as a new con gregation, and as a leadership team. The wisdom of review is applicable to all church plant teams, regardless of what models, expressions, or strategies they embrace. It is equally applicable to all congregations, whether in the fledgling stage or fully mature and growing season. No one can afford not to take time out to rethink and revisit the issues, concerns, and directions involved in the current state of your engagement. The enemy is crafty and constantly moving; yesterday’s plans and strategies must be reviewed to see if the facts, assumptions, and plans are still accurate and relevant. Without question, perhaps the most important habit a church plant team can form is the habit of regular, intense, and open review of its actions, programs, and strategies. This activity is neither wasted nor unnecessary. Those teams that succeed will build into their lives together a desire to adapt quickly to the changing conditions they will face, month by month, even week by week or day to day in their efforts. As you commence on your journey and adventure of planting a healthy church in the city among those who are disadvantaged, you must determine to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5.18). Your ability to be adaptable and flexible under the Lord’s direction will be a key component to your team’s success, and your ability to transcend the inevitable traps the enemy will seek to set around you in your efforts. The enemy we fight is relentless and will not stand still for your targeting plans and technologies to work! You will need to learn how to fight well, to then cease working, take stock, evaluate where you are, and decide what you believe you need to do next. You cannot afford to be ignorant or slow in identifying and reacting to the enemy’s counter strategies and counter-measures (cf. “so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs,” 2 Cor. 2.11 (ESV).

Context Values/Vision

Prepare Launch Assemble Nurture Transition Schedule/Charter

Truly, then, whatever your final dream of your church plant, whatever expression you seek to give birth to, learn to walk in the Spirit, allowing