acts29 recap

last weekend i was in seattle at the Acts29 church planting conference. here's a few things that i learned/was reminded of:

- God has called us all to a task that we can never do. Therefore, we must constantly be relying on him through prayer and worship.

- the Gospel must be central in our lives and ministry. we have to realize for ourselves that the God we're proclaiming is worth proclaiming. from that automatically flows a desire to make disciples. it's all about Jesus. we must preach the gospel to others, but we always have to be preaching it to ourselves.

- Jesus is increidble

- the church is not an end. it is a means to an end. the church is a vehicle for making disciples. making disciples is the goal, and the worship and love of Jesus Christ is the motivation and the end.

- this church planter from portland shared a sweet story. he is reaching out to a real rough part of town where the only reason anyone goes there is to get drunk or get in a fight. as he's reaching out to the guys there, the first question everyone asks him is, "where you live?" "where you at?" he replies every time that he lives behind the abandoned warehouse right within the neighborhood. he asked us, "are we Immanuel? are we 'God with us?' - God in and among the people?" we must be "incarnational" into this world rather than trying to reach people from a distance. its messy and gross at times, but that is what Jesus did for us when he came down to be with us.

- ministry is the only acceptable idol that the church applauds. we get so sucked into worshipping ministry rather that worshipping Christ. our motivation must come from the love of Christ and the message of the gospel, not from trying to have a lot of converts or being a great speaker or doing something awesome for God. it's all about Jesus!

- Jesus. period. i get excited just thinking about him...

- repentance is the key to endurance. so many times the bible calls us to endure, to persevere, to not give up. the key to doing this without falling is repentance. we're going to make mistakes and fall so much, but we must constantly humble ourselves before God and allow him to turn our hearts away from worldly things and to the gospel. we need people who can speak into our lives and call us out on those kinds of things.

- i was standing 6 feet away from matt chandler and my heart started pounding...i'm such a nerd.

- words not only describe - they create. when God spoke things into being, he created them through words. therefore, it is important to name things properly. steve timmis talked about how we shouldn't name things small groups, home groups, or bible studies. we should instead name them (and in turn create) gospel communities.

- most importantly, God taught me that although strategy, knowledge, and skill are important, far and away the most important thing about planting a church (actually, just life in general) is the love of God expressed in Christ Jesus. that gospel is what compels within God's people hearts that love him. and as long as i'm focused on loving and knowing Christ, he will work everything out in a way that is for his glory and my good. my favorite part of the entire conference had to be tuesday morning. PJ Smyth, a South African church planter, spoke about the gospel. he reminded us of this point and described anew how great God's love is for us - how we don't deserve it, and yet Jesus chose to die for us anyways. after he spoke he called us to a time of response and meditation on Jesus. 700 guys then proceeded to sing of Christ's love for a half hour. it was in this time that i began to weep as God showed me that i'm his adopted son. this is what it is all about.


there's much more to share, but these are some of the highlights from the conference.