Reflections on Launching Poiēma Church
Today we launched Poiēma Church. I want to thank my family who have given so much in our planting pursuits. I want to thank the planting team members who have been faithful through some tough seasons. I pray the Lord’s blessings for your continual commitment to plant our church. I would like to thank those who came to worship with us today to support our launch. It is such an encouragement to preach to and worship with so many friends. I want to thank the many who came to help with our seemingly endless building renovations. The projects continue in our renovation efforts but we have come so, so far with your help. You have been an immense answer to prayer. Thank you for the many who have been praying for us as we have journeyed to this point. Fellow church planters, pastors, and many dear friends have written notes of encouragement and support. Your prayers are precious to us. I want to thank all our church partners who have been a huge support in our planting efforts. So many have come to help with our projects list and crushed some really big needs. We could not do it without our partnerships. We long to one day be the blessing you have been to us! I want to thank Pillar Network and Send Network for your support and encouragement in this process. These networks are eager to see more churches planted that reproduce and plant addition churches in the future. These networks are critical for new churches to begin. We thank God for you all. I want to thank God our Father for His strength to keep going and to bring us to this point in the planting process. He has been so very kind to us who are undeserving in every way. He has supplied our needs exceedingly more than we could ask or think.
Launching Poiēma Church today was both thrilling and intimidating all in one package. Why intimidating? I have never planted a church in my life. The expectation is that since I am the planting pastor, I must know what I am doing…right?! I would like to claim that is true. I’d like to be able to say that I am thoroughly equipped in the skills that are required. But I must confess that I am deficient for such a task. And that is a very good place to be when setting out to do a work such as this. Church planting is a massive undertaking. We are talking about something that will have eternal consequences with many factors entirely not within my control. Starting a church is one sure way of getting on the enemy’s radar. Church planters and pastors are under attack. To put is simply; church planting is intimidating.
This pursuit was not something I ever wanted to do. In fact, there was very little training I had in seminary that was centered around church planting. God set me up for this journey. I would not have chosen this path without my specific circumstances. God did not exactly drag me into this pursuit kicking and screaming. This just makes sense in the grand scheme of things. But in God’s wisdom He chose me for this task. In my weakness, I am ready to move forward in His strength.
So why am I in process of planting Poiēma Church if I have not had intensive church planting seminary training? I’m glad you asked! I want to outline a few things that make planting our church not entirely crazy.
There is a vast amount that seminary simply cannot teach you. It is in the local church that so much of what is learned in seminary grows and develops. This maturing process cannot happen outside the context of a local church. The ins and outs of church life must be learned in the local church. That is where we really grow together as we covenant together and sharpen one another. In fact, this is where all the one anothering happens that Scripture outlines for Christians. All of it is done in the local church together. This is my third church to pastor. My battle hardening was procured in round one just out of seminary. Many lessons have been learned through suffering and difficulty. But that is where we grow the most.
But much of what I learned in my seminary training has been indispensable in starting a new church. I learned perseverance through some tough challenges. Pressing on through the Master of Divinity program at SBTS developed in my grit. I was determined to not only finish well but to soak up as much as possible before my last class. The languages were an indispensable part of my training. Greek and Hebrew are tough but absolutely worth the blood, sweat, and tears. I would urge anyone going into pastoral ministry to learn the languages, even if it hurts. Systematic theology is critical to understanding Bible doctrine and theology. I was taught church history that informs a great amount of our philosophy of ministry as well as mistakes to learn from and success to copy. I learned bible interpretation that greatly affects how we read and understand the Scriptures. We must be able to teach our sheep the rules attached to each genre and to recognize the specific genre to apply the specific corresponding rules. I grew through New Testament and Old Testament courses. The many biblical counseling courses were extremely formative in my ability to provide soul care to my members. There is much, much more to my seminary education. But for the sake of space I will say that what I learned in seminary have become tools in my tool belt. I am grateful for them as I continue the planting process.
The theology I learned in seminary was incredible. Christology is the single most attacked area of doctrine in the history of the church. Christ Jesus is the incarnated Word of God from John chapter 1. Jesus boldly declares in Matthew 16:18 that He is going to build His church. The Messiah adds that the gates of hell will try to combat this building of the church. But the gates of hell will not be victorious in this pursuit. The gates of hell will fail to destroy what Jesus is constructing. Jesus is the God Man who came to accomplish substitutionary atonement for the redeemed. He was the perfect lamb of God who would be a high priest in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7).
Christ gives His church the authority that He Himself has been given. We see this in Matthew 28:18-20. This text is popularly referred to as The Great Commission. The church has been commanded by her King Jesus to make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and to teach them to observe all of His commands. Jesus promises to be with us until the very end of the age. How do we do this impossible task? It is with the authority of Christ that we build. If we did not have this authority of Jesus who is with us (Immanuel), we would be entirely unable to build. Our attempts would be futile when met with a formidable opposition.
I believe that church planting is critical to reach the nations. The church is what God is using to proclaim the living and active Word of God that is sharper than any two edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). When we announce the good news of the gospel of Jesus, the Word will do its work. When we make disciples and teach them to observe all the commands of Christ, this news is going to travel. Matthew 24:14 says that the gospel of God’s Kingdom is going to reach every nation on our planet before the very end. People from every nation, tongue, tribe, and people group will be gathered together around God’s throne in heaven (Revelation 5:9, 7:9, 14:6). As we make disciples, those disciples are going to make more disciples. That is going to stretch to the ends of the earth.
Therefore, we want to make disciples in Medina, OH who will make exponentially more disciples. Like a rock thrown into a pond there will be a ripple effect as we are obedient. We pray and expect that those ripples will spread far and wide to the nations. God’s heart is for the nations as the Bible clearly tells us. Therefore, our hearts also should be for the nations to hear the good news of Christ Jesus and believe.
I want to celebrate this in heaven with brothers and sisters from around the world because of our simple obedience. We have been entrusted with the gospel of Jesus as a steward. I pray as Poiēma Church members we steward this good news well and sow it into the hearts of the people we disciple.
The day is now coming to an end. I am ready to get some much needed rest. I hope my ramblings are an encouragement to my readers.
As I conclude, I pray that Poiēma Church grows into a healthy, vibrant church. I pray we have many children who grow up as Poiēma kids and are taught to love Jesus and trained well. I pray that we are marked by men who are faithful to God, sing loudly His praises, and love their wives and children well. I pray we are obedient to King Jesus’ command to make disciples to the very ends of the earth. I pray we send out church planters, church revitalizers, and missionaries. I long to see what God is going to do both in and through us as we maintain a missional mindset. I pray we seek shelter in the shadow of Jesus. For the events of today, I am thankful and humbled. Soli deo gloria!
