Be Strong and Courageous


Church Planting comes in many different models. Some of the most successful church plants are those that take a core group from an established church and begin another work down the street. The model that God has called me to do is not like that. In fact, it is perhaps one of the most difficult models of church planting. We are going to move into a community where we have no momentum built-up and try to start a work completely from scratch.

Some call this method the parachute drop. As an avid action movie fan, I know that if a paratrooper wants to stay alive, he must hit the ground running. You have a mission that has been assigned to you and you must get out of the drop zone and begin to focus on the mission.

The anticipation of the initial drop is perhaps the most frightening moment. Imagine sitting packed together like sardines inside of a Douglas C-47 Skytrain waiting for the moment that you reach the drop zone. Before the ramp even opens you hear the enemy trying to knock you down. As soon as the ramp opens you can see the flashes of flack all around trying to distract you from your mission. But then you hear the call to go and you rush forward; fully committed.

We are in that time of anticipation. Sometimes it is tempting to give in to the "what if's" that abound. What if we cannot find a house to rent? What if we cannot find a location to meet in for worship? What if, like Noah, nobody answers the call to join us. God's Word gives comfort during those "what if" moments.

Often in life we are faced with impossible tasks. Joshua was called by God to do something that had never been done before. Moses planned to do it, but God decided that Moses would not be the one to see this mission to the end. Now Joshua was faced with the task of claiming the Holy Land for God using the children of a bunch of former slaves as his army. So God gave him a pep-talk: "Be strong and courageous, stay focused on the mission, be strong and courageous, do not turn away from your mission, be strong and courageous, I am with you always."

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