My wife and I have three precious children, and we will never forget the beautiful feeling when we hugged them for the first time. We repeatedly experience a similar feeling when we visit the churches we have planted in the past four years.
For our church, Nueva Canción (Canoga Park Nueva Canción Foursquare Church) in Canoga Park, Calif., this wonderful adventure of sending and planting churches began in January 2010, when we began to pray and believe the words from Psalm 2: “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance” (v. 8, NKJV). By the grace of God, today we see new congregations of men and women sent from our local church to cities and nations. We serve by sending.
Our experience teaches us the following:
- We must assume the responsibility of sending. Our church assumed this biblically and theologically as we recalled the command of our Savior, who commissioned us to make disciples in every nation.
- We must continue to focus on our mission. We often remember our Foursquare roots, which remind us that we have to respond to our call and do our part to fulfill God’s mission.
- We must promote the culture of discipleship. The command of our Lord Jesus has not changed; it remains a priority. We believe and live in ongoing discipleship in our church.
- We should be grateful. If we have achieved a success in sending and planting, it is because of the empowerment and blessing of the Lord. We always give Him the praise and thanks.
How can we pray for this advancement?
- Pray for God to send you. At our church we pray, “God, send us to people and cities, and give them to us.”
- Ask God where He wants you to go. God wants to lead all of us. The church is His; the mission is His; and it is done in His name.
- Pray for resources. Jesus is still multiplying the loaves and fishes in our hands. We always pray for resources. And you already know the answer: God provides.
We have made many mistakes, but we continue to do our best to walk in obedience to the Lord. We will face opposition, but God will see that nothing defeats His church. Jesus said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).
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