The Riches of Missional Church Partnership
At a time when the American evangelical church is greatly divided over a host of issues, missional church partnering for ministry in China offers great riches in the form of expanding the horizons of the body of Christ. Such partnership can rally the church together behind an important vision. American churches unfamiliar with the church in China can begin to learn from first-hand testimonies about the challenges and victories of our brothers and sisters on the other side of the globe. This serves to strengthen the congregation’s scope and understanding of the world-wide body of Christ, while also casting vision for the next generation of young missionaries in our U.S. congregations.
Continuing to Plant Makes the Church Healthy
Hopefully we will keep on planting churches over the next three to five years. My long-term vision is that in ten years, the city of Shanghai will have a church planting center to help people plant churches. At least we can be a model and continue planting churches. I am against the mindset that a church needs to be healthy enough to plant. I think planting churches is the biblical way. In Scripture, there is no church that is healthy enough to plant another. Instead, continuing to plant churches makes the church healthy.
Driven by the Gospel Instead of Fear
Last weekend, Sunday was a work day. Next door to a church is a law firm, which would be working during the service. Our church wants to be a good neighbor, and not be too loud to affect their work. I also had fears about whether they would report us. I needed God’s wisdom. Our church changed locations last weekend; we moved, in the same building, to the company of a church member to hold the service. Every day I have to make these kinds of choices. Every decision needs to be driven by the gospel, instead of by fear, even if the result seems the same.
When our church was small, when there were only twenty people, I had fears about financial sufficiency; now we have 130 to 150 people each Sunday, and I have a fear of too many people.
Is Planting a Church Really Worth It?
We will encounter hardships in these early stages of church planting. The barriers of our likes and dislikes will be broken down as we go out of our comfort zones and encounter many other obstacles. It is even possible that we may not see any changes for some time; this is the case when sowing seeds. But the Bible promises that if we do what is good, abiding by the Scriptures and what is pleasing to God, that in the appointed time what we sow will bear fruit. The day of reaping will indeed be a time of joy for us.
What Kind of Church Plant Would You Like to Join?
The pandemic has taken away most things that we consume in our churches: our valued relationships, the social circles we enjoy, convenient transportation via the subway, and now we cannot even gather physically for Sunday worship. Have you ever thought how you would react if God has removed our current worship space from us forever? What would you do if external circumstances become more and more difficult and we were no longer able to freely use our current place of worship?…What is left of the church in the midst of the pandemic? Jesus, the gospel, God’s word, prayers, and the recordings of past hymns.
Five Reasons to Be Part of a Church Plant: A Letter to the Congregation
We believe this is the mission entrusted to the church in the Bible: to multiply and expand the church in order to increase the number of people who have heard the gospel, to build up the body of Christ, and ultimately to exalt and glorify God’s name…I want to share with you today five reasons why I encourage you to go to the new church, and explain to you why joining the new church is a godly decision.
An Even Better Situation
We all face the same challenges, at different levels. This is not something that is happening, but something that is looming and could happen. This is the perfect time for discipleship, for growth, and for learning. Dependence is the perfect time to live out the reality of the early church: which king is the true king? What matters most? What is true life? We definitely do not have the freedom we enjoyed two or three years ago. That time is over. In this new reality, God will do things. I think it’s an even better situation.
How To Face Difficulty? The Reality of the Resurrection
How can church leaders daily and faithfully live in the reality of resurrection and ascension? By prayer; by our walk with Christ; by our dependency. We must be always wondering what the Lord is going to do through us and in us.
Before Stephen died, he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Lord as a king figure. Stephen was at that moment on trial before the council of Jerusalem, the highest worldly authority. But meanwhile, there was another reality. This vision of Jesus ascended, reigning, and continuously praying for them was so real. We deeply desire a life that is led by this power to lead the church. Only by this power can we face persecution and be willing to give our life for Christ. We cannot do this for some heroic personal fantasy or desire; we must be as Stephen, humbly serving the Lord. That is something we want to build in these leaders.
The Church Depends on Christ: Family Life and Ministry Balance
After I started full-time ministry, I encountered a big problem. I assumed that serving the church and serving my family were the same. During my most intense period of serving the church, I spent all my heart, mind, and focus on my ministry. I took my family for granted. I thought they should completely support me, regardless of the cost. I thought that, if you really wanted to make something happen, someone had to sacrifice. I wanted my church community to experience peace and genuine relationships, so I sacrificed my own family.
Church and Culture: A Gospel that Can be Believed
I am not only familiar with the geography and history of Shanghai, but I also love and am familiar with the culture of the city. This is not because of my own personal preference, but because I believe this to be the prerequisite and foundation for any church planter. When Paul arrived in Athens, he spent much time in the synagogues, (i.e. the city’s religious circles) in the marketplaces (the workplaces of Athens), and in the Epicurean and Stoic schools (the academia of the day). He got to know these places and learned about the idols of the city. This prepared him to preach the sermon which convinced even the magistrates in the Areopagus. We cannot point out cultural idols and preach a gospel which can be understood and believed if we do not enter into and understand the culture of the city.
