Batterson Encourages theAM
Batterson Encourages theAM to Maintain Relevance, Think Long-Term and Dream Big
The Rev. Mark Batterson – church planter, author and entrepreneur – understands that failure actually presents greater possibilities. In his Winter Conference plenary session, Mark explained that his first failed attempt at church planting in Chicago led him to Washington, DC where he planted National Community Church (NCC) in a movie theater.
“The best thing that can happen in church planting is to fail so we come to the realization that God will pick us up,” he notes.
Today, NCC is reaching emerging generations with the Gospel through nine services in five locations and at their postmodern “well” – Ebenezer’s coffee house on Capitol Hill.
Outlining his “philosophy of ministry in a nutshell” from Matthew 10, Mark underscored and expanded these timeless truths in the context of church planting.
“Some people may need to be reminded that they are called,” shared Mark. “God wants us to remember what He has done in our lives and why we are doing what we are doing. I don’t have time for a sense of entitlement – we don’t have to do this, we get to do this.”
As we seek to fulfill the call to reach the lost through church planting in North America, Mark encouraged theAM to maintain relevance, dream God-sized dreams, think long-term and remember that personal spiritual growth takes precedence over church growth.
“Sometimes we feel that relevance is optional,” explains Mark, “and I am not talking about dumbing down the Gospel. This next generation wants to be challenged, and we cannot do it the same way it has always been done.”
Mark challenged theAM to “find ways of doing church that no one has even thought of yet and to find new ways of doing old things”.
“If we’re not careful,” he warned, “we’ll stop doing church out of right brain imagination and do it from left brain memory. May God sanctify your right brain imagination so that you will have holy imagination and dream God-sized dreams.”
