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Last Sunday evening as David was preaching on Seeking the opportunity and Embracing the challenge the Lord began to give me several thoughts that dealt with church planting.
Church planting does not happen by accident but rather when we seek the opportunity. As David's mighty men sought the opportunity to serve with David there were several thoughts that came to my mind. We must be self motivated, as they made the decision to go down to David, we must be self sacrificing, as they were willing to lay their lives on the line to identify with David and also to go get the water and we must be. Not only must we seek the opportunity we must also understand the conditions; they were not favorable as David was in a hold and Bethlehem was guarded by the Philistines. The conditions will never be perfect but we must understand them. The men also saw the desire; David thirsted for water. We must understand that people are still thirsting for the living water today and we must be willing to take it to them. Finally, there was an appreciation for their sacrifice. As the men brought the water to David he pours it out to the Lord, putting worship before self and he also did it out of recognition and appreciation for the men who put their lives on the line. As a church planter, we must always appreciate the sacrifice that others make in order for the task to be accomplished. In nearly nine years of planting three churches there have been plenty of people and churches that have sacrificed to help make it possible, in fact there are really too many to name. Let me share one with you, this Sunday morning, as I arrived at the church, I made my typical stop at the mail box, much to my surprise there was a check from a church in Pittsburgh who wants to invest in the New Life Baptist Church. This church has played a role in helping all three churches that the Lord has allowed me to plant here in the Uniontown area, and I am ever so grateful for their service and sacrifice. |
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