Curveball

A good rule of church planting is to expect the unexpected. The weekend of July 22 was no exception. The night before we were to move our services to a new location the unexpected happened. The deal fell through. What started out looking like a situation “too good to pass up” showed itself to be “too good to be true.” Fortunately we kept our reservations at UNLV and have been able to continue worshiping there.

What’s happened since this "curveball" has been a reminder that God is still in control and knows what he’s doing. The next week I made 3 visits to neighborhood coffee shops and pubs that I wouldn’t have made had we moved our church services to another neighborhood. The result? Conversations with 5 people I had never met that were excited to hear about the church. Most of them are not yet Christians yet want to come and join us soon.

One of these people, after already mentioning their past sexual exploits and the stories behind most of their tattoos, asked me what I did for a living. When I told her she grew silent. Then she said, “I need to tell you something. I grew up going to church but have fallen away since then. I’ve been to 8 of my friends funerals the past 3 years. The last was my boyfriend’s, who overdosed 4 months ago.” Then came the part I wasn’t expecting. “Lately I’ve been praying to God for a church in the neighborhood where I could go and hear the word of God.”

What!? Really? Then she mentioned this wasn’t even the place she usually hung out, but for some reason decided to go there that night.
When our plans to move our services last month fell through I had no idea what was happening … but God did. God knew what it would take to meet those who need Him and his church – even if it meant keeping us at UNLV another couple weeks (or months). Please pray for God’s protection over their lives. Pray that their longing to connect with God and his people would not be hindered.

Faithfulness

I often receive updates from other church planters here in Vegas and around the country. This includes stories from planters who start with teams of as many as 20 adults who all move to a city solely for the purpose of helping plant a church. That’s awesome! It opens up so many opportunities for a church plant. But … it can also be difficult to hear stories of people doing things we’d like to be doing, but simply don’t have the manpower or resources to do yet.

Church plant “success” is often measured in “nickels and noses” – the more the better. Yet a while ago a pastor friend shared a very different perspective. Biblical success is measured in faithfulness. As a result he often asks himself, “Am I being faithful to God’s call on my life, and am I faithfully using my gifts?” So where’s he getting that from? 

Well, in Matthew 25 Jesus tells a parable of 3 servants, each entrusted with a different amount of resources from their master. While none of them are given the same as the others, the same thing is expected of all of them: faithfulness. Faithfulness with what they’ve been given.

The trap I was falling into was comparing results and resources, rather than asking God what he’d have me do with what he’s entrusted to me. When faithfulness is the goal, I’m free to rejoice over what God has given others, even if he hasn’t given it to us.

Please pray for my own faithfulness with what God has given while trusting him to continue to provide for the work he’s doing here in Las Vegas.