New Church Plant Wants God To Use Them In Planting More Churches
November 2007
LINCOLN, Neb. – Mark Jones’ vision to plant a church in each of Nebraska’s 26 counties that are without an evangelical church presence within 10 years may seem unrealistic to most people.
But the pastor of Lincoln’s newest church plant says this God-sized task is nothing short of possible.
“The vision is God-sized,” Jones said. “We are stepping out in faith and trusting God to accomplish this goal through us and others who share the same burden and vision for Nebraska.
“Many people across Nebraska pass into eternity never hearing the gospel, even in large cities like Lincoln,” the pastor of Community Harvest Church continued. “Nebraska is a mission field, and it is ripe for the harvest.”
Launched on Sept. 9, Community Harvest Church is located in Nebraska’s capital city of nearly 235,000 people. Jones said the metropolis is large enough to provide the necessary resources to support a church that is focused on planting other new works in the state. Already, one the church’s core members – Jason Arensdorf – plans to plant a church in Western Nebraska by 2009. Another member, Jeremy Goodding, and his family feel called to international missions work.
“God is laying the foundation for an Acts 1:8 church – a church that will transform lives, families and communities through Christ not only in Nebraska, but also worldwide,” Jones said.
In addition to the need for the gospel in the state, Jones said Lincoln itself is in need of Christ’s love. While 30,000 residents live in the nine square-mile target area in northeast Lincoln, only about 4,800 attend an evangelical church on a regular basis.
That number is expected to increase by 10 to 30 percent as the area continues to grow in the next five years.
Jones said new church plants like Community Harvest Church are usually more effective at evangelism and grow at a faster rate since their main focus is reaching the lost.
“Existing churches have established traditions that can make the un-churched feel uncomfortable or even unwelcome,” Jones said. “New church plants have the opportunity to start fresh and create new forms that fit with the current culture of the community, creating a user-friendly environment that removes unnecessary barriers to the gospel.
“In addition, new churches are better at planting new churches,” he continued. “In a healthy new plant, reaching lost people is the focus of the church, and it is the air the people breathe. Members learn that reaching out to the lost is the norm, and they learn to reach out in creative and relevant ways.”
Since he and the other core members began preparing for the recent launch of Community Harvest Church more than one year ago, they have been using servant evangelism to draw in prospects for their congregation. Such projects included re-roofing porches, cleaning yards and installing gutters.
However, they were not alone in their efforts, as missions teams from Georgia, Texas, Arkansas and Maryland helped with the servant evangelism projects.
While servant evangelism has been a key component of the church’s ministry, Jones said that prayer has been and will continue to be the main driving force behind the congregation’s survival. From February to July, the core team along with members from Southview Baptist Church participated in monthly prayer walks. Also, the core team held weekly prayer sessions, where they lifted their personal and the church’s needs to Christ.
Those efforts led to as many as 70 people attending one of three preview services. These services allowed prospects to “check out” the church before its official launch in September.
Even with its early success, Jones is quick to point out that the church’s future rests on their reliance on God and not themselves.
“As we grow and time passes, the temptation will be there to rely on what we’ve done,” Jones said. “But, we’ll need to always fight that and be reminded that it is God who is the one who allows us to survive and reach Lincoln, Nebraska and beyond for Him.”
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