North American Mission Board: Pray For Church Planters
/A church planting core team is essential to the success of a church plant. These faithful servants often work full-time vocational jobs and work alongside the church planter to help execute his vision for this exciting new work.By North American Mission BoardHere are some ways you can pray for a church plant’s core team:1. Pray that they would be disciple-makers. The call to make disciples is for all believers, but it is especially essential that the core team of a church plant takes this mandate seriously. Pray for them as they navigate relationships and lead others toward a relationship with Christ.2. Pray for a sense of ownership and purpose. It is vital that the core team understands the vision of the church planter to truly take ownership of his or her role. Pray that they would have clarity to best understand their purpose in this kingdom work.3. Pray for unity among the core team. Satan often looks for ways to tear down churches starting with the leadership. Pray for these leaders to set aside pride and preference. Pray that they would seek to encourage each other as they pursue the task ahead.
Los Angeles
Known as the “City of Angels,” Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States. The metropolitan area has a population of about 20 million people, and there are roughly 400 people groups represented by culture, ethnicity and language. Home to Hollywood and some of the most influential men and women in the world, L.A. is consistently in the global spotlight. This a city of impact, and the Church is desperately needed among the number.Explore Los Angeles63 CHURCH PLANTS IN YOUR AREA145 NAMB CHURCH PARTNERSOn the Webhttps://www.namb.net/pray/
I wanted to unashamedly invite others to follow Jesus in the context of unconditional friendship. I coached basketball at the park. I started a secular book club on MeetUp and eventually became a city organizer for them. I started inviting the people I met into my life for meals and board games. I wouldn’t say I’ve been awesome at it, but I’ve invited my own friends to church and I’ve been re-acquainted with the joy of praying with friends to accept Christ.I feel like I’m living in obedience to God for the first time in a long time.Here’s the beauty of the vision, but also the challenge: When I do those things I’m not being a pastor, I’m just being a Christian. Ephesians 4 tells us the job of church leaders: To equip the saints for the work of ministry. God calls pastors to mentor a whole church of evangelistic disciple-makers.These two callings go together. You can’t give away something you don’t have. Spending half my time in the community and the other half training leaders to do the same has been the most fulfilling season of ministry in my entire life.But it takes time to lead someone from skeptic to follower of Christ, and from follower of Christ to ministry leader and evangelist.I realize now that I didn’t spend enough time at the beginning recruiting Christians to our team who were already trained and committed to personal outreach.As I manage the growing demands of our church I can feel my commitment to personal evangelism slipping away. I’m in a new season that involves preaching every week, facilitating our leadership pipeline, meeting for weekly discipleship conversations, planning outreach festivals, etc. I feel the strain of more responsibility and relationships than I have time to develop. I need to share the load in our church with mature believers to continue living a full Christian life.I have to do what it takes to keep modeling the mission as I lead our church.Friend, are you a disciple that makes disciples? Are you living in obedience to the great commission? Can you name the people you are leading to Christ and the people you are imparting this lifestyle?You can’t give away something you don’t have, but I can tell you, it’s worth finding.
Buran, who is the lead pastor at the church in Fountain Valley, delivered a message of transformation and salvation, something that he's experienced first hand as a young professional surfer, who shortly after winning the 1984 Pipeline Masters, became depressed and suicidal."I just could not find a clear purpose to live," Buran told author and WBUR commentator, Bill Littlefield. Buran tried to kill himself with a drug overdose in 1986."I tell people, 'I know how low you can go,' " he says in the podcast, '
“In the spiritual life you have to have a strong D as well, but the “D” stands for discipline, where you take possession of your energy in a moment and you say no to your fears and your feelings and your comfort, and you say yes to doing what you know you ought to do because you love God.“Are you known for your strong D? The Bible says you can’t love God without it and he wants to take you to a new level of self discipline and impact through his Spirit today.”Luck can be seen live every Thursday morning at 6:45 am PT on the Every Man Ministries Facebook Page, 
“We never could have predicted the results we’ve seen as millions of people around the world have read, listened to, shared, and interacted with the Bible and each other in new ways,” said Bobby Gruenewald, Life.Church Pastor, Innovation Leader and YouVersion Founder.The app initially launched with 15 versions of the Bible and two languages. However, through partnerships with publishers and Bible societies, it now offers more than 1,700 different versions, including Bible text in more than 1,200 languages.Through the years, the app has also helped people build community around the Bible by adding features like a home feed of friends’ activity and Plans with Friends, which helps people discuss the Bible when they aren’t in the same room, or even the same country. The Plans with Friends feature even helped a New Jersey native, Adora, rebuild a relationship with her mother.“When I started using the Bible App, I hadn’t seen or spoken to my mother in 10 years,” said Adora. “After several months of reading Bible Plans about forgiveness and healing, I decided to offer my mom a relationship with me—but only in the Bible App.”Adora added her mother as a Friend in the Bible App and sent an invitation to do a Bible Plan together using the Plans with Friends feature. They talked about what they were reading, and slowly went from only talking in the Bible App, to texting, and then meeting in person to pray.“I never, ever thought that I would have a relationship with my mom again,” said Adora. “But by reading the Bible and doing these daily plans, God has worked a miracle on my heart and in my life.”Beyond shaping the way people interact with the Bible and each other, the Bible App introduced a way for the Bible to reach people in their daily lives. Features like Verse of the Day notifications, reading reminders, and daily Streaks help people develop new Bible-reading habits. Since adding features like daily Streaks and Perfect Weeks, the number of daily active users has increased by more than 30 percent compared to last year.“These last 10 years have been more than we could ask, think, or imagine, and we believe this is only the beginning,” said Gruenewald. “As we look ahead, we’re excited about the new ways God is using technology to help people make even more connections between the Bible and their daily lives.”YouVersion was created by 
Since day one, we also started evangelism, which is one of the pillars of our philosophy of ministry. We have had an exciting door-to-door ministry in which we systematically visit houses, apartments, parks, and even religious establishments next to our church to proclaim the good news of the gospel to our neighbors. We have also experimented with creative ways to connect with Angelenos in the community. The most recent idea was a 
We had no idea what the reception was going to be. This coffee idea was something that I heard as a suggestion when I was at an old church a couple years ago, but nobody ever acted on it. It turns out this test run was a success. Many people came to our station to grab some free coffee - both hot and iced. All the business cards ran out. People asked about the whereabouts of Grace City LA. AND three people even prayed to receive Christ as Lord and Savior!This has definitely been one of my most enjoyable outreach events. It was a hot spring Saturday, but our enthusiasm to connect with people and witness for Christ made it all worth it. There are a few things we will modify, but Grace Cafe is something that we plan to be a permanent, ongoing ministry for Grace City LA. We see it as an excellent way to serve the community, bring smiles to many faces, and to expose them to Christ.Our start date will be May 5 (Saturday). We will experiment with new drink options, such as Ice Coffee or Thai Ice Tea, made from scratch and from the best quality ingredients. We want to be able to replicate the quality of the drinks you find at cafes and refreshment shops in the area. And to offer it all at no cost. The best way to keep updated on our schedule - time, location, and menu - is to follow our 
I thought opening up about my sin and shame would result in the end of my ministry career. But what I found was a deeper experience of God’s grace. Walking through the principles and steps of Celebrate Recovery®, I found I really was powerless to control my life and that I wasn’t alone in ministry, even as a young pastor. I learned in a deeper way that God really did care about me personally and that I had the freedom through Christ to live as God wanted me to. But more than anything, I learned that my struggles with porn, alcohol, and shame over past decisions were a result of thirsting for love, affirmation, and acceptance in things that could never satisfy. I have come to experience through Celebrate Recovery that God is the way, the truth, and the life, and all of my longings and desires are satisfied in him.I am so thankful that God led me to Celebrate Recovery. It has completely changed my life, my marriage, my ministry, and my relationship with Jesus Christ. I have found freedom from porn, and God continues to peel back more layers of my heart in order to make me more like him. I’m not “out of the woods,” but with the help of my forever family and the tools God has given me through Celebrate Recovery, I know I can continue to grow closer to him each day. Thank you for letting me share.Published with permission from 
I happen to be a pastor who struggles with depression. And I’m not alone.I’ve spent nearly a decade networking with pastors and church leaders all over the world and I never cease to be surprised at the number who, in private conversation, will divulge their own battles with depression and loneliness.We’re supposed to be strong, right? We have to be the bold leader, the model of victory and spiritual triumph!!But I’ve learned, after two decades in pastoral ministry, that the best leaders are the broken leaders.They’ve been hurt and will be hurt more, and they experience God’s healing.They suffer weakness, and they experience God’s strength.We often have a certain picture of what depression looks like, but many who struggle do so in between all of the working and parenting and the rest of the busyness of life. Charles Spurgeon struggled with periodic depression while growing one of the greatest churches in Europe.He led a school for aspiring ministry leaders and compiled the manuscripts of talks he had given to those students called Lectures to My Students, which includes a chapter entitled “The Minister’s Fainting Fits.”He opens the chapter acknowledging that “Fits of depression overcome the most of us.” So again, you’re never alone in your brokenness – it’s more common than you will ever realize.He continues…
Urban church planting pastors, who are looking out for the proverbial Gotham City known as their communities, live to transform the lives of the people in their cities. In addition to that, there is something that is very telling about being a church planting pastor in the urban environment. As urban church pastors, there is this idea of being used by God that is beautiful in theory but then there is the reality of actually being in the community doing life with folks.