New Churches Podcast

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Transitions and Leaving Well: Part 2 Nov 07, 2023

Show notes

Episode 784

In this second installment of “Transitions and Leaving Well,” host Ed Stetzer meets with returning guest Todd Adkins, the Director of Leadership Development at Lifeway, to discuss best practices in navigating the people and processes related to your current role. Tune in to discover why retaining relational currency is essential as you honor God—and His people—with your next steps.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

The significance of clarity in communication
How to categorize and prioritize your next steps
Suggested timelines for communicating departure
Why you should seek to work well amidst difficult people and circumstances
How to wrestle well with God’s plan for your future

Helpful Resources:

Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

If we’re doing it right, our legacy is not just what we do, but also what was developed under our leadership. Take big responsibility in carrying that forward. — Todd Adkins

Leaving well matters in ministry because the church is a community of people who know one another. They’re still going to know each other and be around one another after you leave. — Ed Stetzer

It says a lot more about you than it does your organization when you don’t leave well. — Todd Adkins

When you announce your transition, your church has to immediately start making decisions. If you’re the church planter, they will look to you. And when they can’t do that, it can be frustrating for them. — Ed Stetzer

Leaving well means helping your people walk through their stages of grief. — Todd Adkins

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Transitions and Leaving Well: Part 1 Nov 02, 2023

Show notes

Episode 783

Host Ed Stetzer meets back up with Lifeway’s Director of Leadership Development Todd Adkins to discuss how you can transition out of your church plant with your congregation’s best interests in mind. Tune in to discover your responsibilities in stewarding your plant’s relationships and systems well as you follow God’s guidance for your life.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why your leadership pipeline matters from the start
The best ways to avoid leadership uncertainty in your absence
Why your game place for succession is of utmost importance
How you can empower your successors in their decision-making skills
Your biggest relational concerns as you step away from your church plant

Helpful Resources:

Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Creating a culture that transitions well means creating one that develops well and intentionally. — Todd Adkins

So much of church planting is connected with you as the planter. It’s very hard to extricate yourself from that. — Ed Stetzer

Take a look at your systems and say, “Hey, are these set up to where somebody can step in and run? Are these are set up in a way that is not completely dependent up on my personality, gifts, and skillset?” — Todd Adkins

You want to be sure that there’s a plan in place because in a leadership vacuum, the person with the loudest voice or the clearest new vision is the guy that gets to pick it up. And we know that’s not always healthy or helpful. — Todd Adkins

There’s always going to be a part of us there as church planters because we helped launch this thing. In many ways, it’s our baby, and whether you planted it or it’s a ministry you started or a software you developed, it’s going to be hard to transition away from it. — Todd Adkins

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Using Demographics to Better Serve Your Community Oct 31, 2023

Show notes

Episode 782

Hosts Tony Merida and Vance Pitman sit back down with returning guest, author and pastor Jamaal Williams, to discuss how neighborhood assessments can help your congregation to better love and serve your community. Here’s how you can more accurately determine the needs of those you’re seeking to reach.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why training up your launch team matters
The barriers to cultivating a diverse, united expression of the body of Christ
How to mobilize your congregation to live on mission
Why you can’t just copy and paste the ministries of your sending church
Where the American church is going—and how you can anticipate its needs

Helpful Resources:

Jamaal’s Book: In Church as It Is in Heaven
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

If we don’t unlock the door of the multi-ethnic church as America continues to move demographically, we’re not going to know how to reach our own nation much less the nations and peoples of the earth. — Vance Pitman

Cultivating a multi-ethnic kingdom culture requires a lot of denying self and making sure we’re not just trying to reproduce our own culture in those we disciple. — Jamaal Williams

Be a student of culture, be a student of your city, and begin to be a wise contextual church planter. — Tony Merida

If we make the goal to be multiethnic, we can lose focus on Jesus, and it becomes about being pragmatic. But if we make the goal to root ourselves in our beloved identity in Christ, teach others to do the same, and create a hospitable place where people feel welcomed and seen, we’ll see a multiethnic church. — Jamaal Williams

The multi-ethnic church is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit of God. That’s why Jesus said, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all the nations.” — Vance Pitman

Ask God for wisdom to reach your community, for the grace to cross cultures, for the power to break down barriers. He will do it, and He wants to do it. He wants your church to look like your neighborhood more than you ever could. — Jamaal Williams

The post Using Demographics to Better Serve Your Community appeared first on New Churches.

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How to Encourage Evangelism in Your Church Oct 26, 2023

Show notes

Episode 781

Host Ed Stetzer teams back up with Executive Director of Lifeway Research Scott McConnell to discuss how you can better equip your congregation to live evangelistically. Research shows that the world around you may be more inclined to engage in your gospel conversation than you think. Tune in to discover the best ways to approach your neighbors with the good news of Jesus.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

The best tools for sharing the gospel with those around you
Ways to keep your church’s focus on evangelism well beyond your launch date
Why your testimony is so important for engaging others with the gospel
Lifeway Research’s statistics on what Americans are looking for in life—and from your life story
Why you must remain curious in own spiritual walk with Jesus

Helpful Resources:

Lifeway Research/Evangelism Explosion Study: Americans’ Openness to Talking about Faith
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

We’ve likely not overstayed our welcome in terms of sharing the gospel. There’s usually some curiosity there that we could play into and have a conversation around. — Scott McConnell

The opportunity to share the gospel is there. So, stop letting national scarce statistics keep you from faithfully doing so. — Ed Stetzer

Relationships give you more license to go deeper. Actually, the highest percentage in Americans’ openness to gospel conversations is when it relates to your life story. 71% say they would be open or very open to hearing your life story. — Scott McConnell

Indicating to somebody you meet that your faith is important in your life can actually open up opportunities in later conversations because it will be natural. — Scott McConnell

More than 70% of Americans indicate it’s important for them to find hope and peace in their lives, which are hard to find today. Two-thirds want to find purpose and fulfillment as well. As believers, we have answers to those things through Jesus Christ. — Scott McConnell

The post How to Encourage Evangelism in Your Church appeared first on New Churches.

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Cultivating a Multiethnic Kingdom Culture Oct 24, 2023

Show notes

Episode 780

Hosts Tony Merida and Vance Pitman spend time with author and pastor Jamaal Williams to discuss Scripture’s example of the multi-cultural church through the lens of Jamaal’s book, In Church as It is in Heaven. Discover the steps your church can take through prayer, hospitality, and curiosity, that your local expression of the body of Christ would begin to look more like the one in heaven.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How to disciple your congregation through education and representation
The importance of separating cultural Christianity from true faith in Christ
Why your church needs an intentional plan for unity
How the spiritual disciplines unite us corporately
What God has gifted us to celebrate as a unified body!

Helpful Resources:

Jamaal’s Book: In Church as It Is in Heaven
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

The multi-ethnic church is not a new thing; it’s a New Testament thing. — Vance Pitman

A multi-ethnic kingdom culture is simply a church that welcomes people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, and that seeks to disciple them in the likeness of Christ without them feeling the need to check their ethnicity at the door. — Jamaal Williams

Throughout the Bible, we see God gathering together people from every nation and tribe, and if this is a theme throughout the biblical narrative, then we should be striving for that here and now, not waiting for that in heaven. — Jamaal Williams

It was an undeniable mark of the first-century church that the gospel reconciled people who should not have been reconciled. What’s tragic about where we live today, after what we have walked through in America these last few years, is that the world should be able to look at us and see something different. — Vance Pitman

We ultimately see hospitality in how Jesus welcomed people—no matter who they were, no matter how broken they were, no matter their background. He sat with them, ate with them, made space for them. And as Christians, the way forward is to model hospitality. — Jamaal Williams

Be intentional about this Idea of pursuing multi-unity. We’re not talking uniformity but unity, which means diversity within the unity. It’s a celebration of who God made us to be. — Jamaal Williams

The post Cultivating a Multiethnic Kingdom Culture appeared first on New Churches.

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Are Americans Open to Talking About Their Faith? Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

Episode 779

Host Ed Stetzer meets with Executive Director of Lifeway Research Scott McConnell to discuss their recent findings on evangelism and gospel conversations in the United States. Tune in to discover why your expectations of pushback may be holding you back from the worthwhile, hope-filled message that the world is desperate—and curious—to hear.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

The significance of evangelism in church planting
The pros and cons of memorizing your own gospel presentation
The spectrum of engagement among professing believers in the United States
Steps you can take to evangelistically mobilize your congregation
How our personal relationships pave the way for community outreach

Helpful Resources:

Lifeway Research/Evangelism Explosion Study: Americans’ Openness to Talking about Faith
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

If you’re going to bring up your faith with somebody, there’s a pretty good chance they’re actually going to be curious about it. — Scott McConnell

We should be sharing the benefits of our faith with the world, which we should be singing about on Sunday Mornings and meditating on throughout the week. But too many of us are not used to putting these benefits into words. — Scott McConnell

Though there’s an increasingly negative perception of Christianity, there are those in the world who have a good perception of you as you have built relationships with them as a neighbor. It’s appropriate for you to initiate a faith conversation. — Ed Stetzer

In most areas of discipleship, the longer you’re a Christian, the more like Christ you look. But when it comes to evangelism, that’s not showing to be true. We’re seeing older saints being unwilling to bring up faith in conversations with others. — Scott McConnell

Half of Christians say they’re ready to share the basics of becoming a Christian. But we must be ready for any opportunity to share those basic steps. — Ed Stetzer

We have to remind each other that our message is hope-filled. Too often we get stuck on the fact that we’re coming across as pushy or rude. If we believe we have a message worth hearing, the gospel is that message and it’s our responsibility to share it. — Scott McConnell

The post Are Americans Open to Talking About Their Faith? appeared first on New Churches.

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Essential Christianity Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

Episode 778

Host Tony Merida chats with pastor, author, and long-time ministry partner J.D. Greear to discuss the basics of the Christian faith in an age of deconstruction, as gleaned through the New Testament book of Romans. Tune in to discover the power of the gospel alive in the Word—and in the lives of God’s people—still today.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Romans’ framework for relevant essentials of the Christian faith today
How to address questions of the 21st century, just as Paul did for the early church
Ways to dissect Christian culture from the essence of true Christianity
What social media takes from our in-person relational opportunities
How understanding the basics of the faith equips us to live on mission

Helpful Resources:

J.D.’s New Book: Essential Christianity
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Deconstruction understood from one angle is not altogether a bad thing if you’re trying to separate some of the artificial constructs built into Christianity. — J.D. Greear

Paul wants the gospel to saturate every aspect of the Roman church’s being so that it’s not just a book about personal salvation, but also a book about community and mission. — Tony Merida

There is still this ancient power in the gospel that is not found through clever illustrations and cultural trendiness. Romans is just putting on display the raw power of the gospel. — J.D. Greear

Social media is not a great place for deep dialogue, especially about emotional concepts. Making disciples is a life-on-life thing, not an instant messenger thing. — J.D. Greear

What people don’t realize is that for every one conversation I tell you about, there were nine that crashed and burned and were just awkward. But you have to be out there with your radar on saying, “God, what are you doing around me? And where am I supposed to put Your Word into the places, questions, and needs I see?” — J.D. Greear

The post Essential Christianity appeared first on New Churches.

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Connecting Sunday and Monday Oct 12, 2023

Show notes

Episode 777

Host Ed Stetzer joins his with long-time friend, colleague, professor, and ethics expert Scott Rae to discuss how pastors and planters can better address the week-long needs of their congregations. Tune in to discover the unique vantagepoints of bivocational pastors and how we can empower our people at the intersections of their work and ministry.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why our contributions in the workplace are so much more than a means to an end
Ways to intentionally engage the challenges of your people throughout the week
How to train your congregation to sense what God is doing amidst their daily lives
The significance of connecting your Sunday sermons to your people’s work and personal time
The impact of representing your people in all walks of life from the pulpit—from the businessman to the retiree to the stay-at-home mom

Helpful Resources:

Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

The more familiar I am with what the people I’m serving are doing during the week, the better equipped I’ll be in making my applications to them. — Scott Rae

I’d love to see our preachers apply the fruit of the Spirit to the workplace. Think about it: who would you rather hire? Somebody characterized by the fruit of the Spirit or by the deeds of the flesh? It’s not a tough call. — Scott Rae

Scripture’s example is not merely a one-way conversation with the pastor’s teaching, but a mutual understanding of the Galatians all holding one another up and bearing one another’s burdens. — Ed Stetzer

It is in the discussions, relationships, and small groups where people are growing spiritually. We want our people to dwell together in the Word of God, not just hear it preached. — Ed Stetzer

Dignify the work that God has called you to do. Work was ordained in Genesis 1-2—not in chapter 3—because our work is not our penalty. Yeah, it’s fallen, but God cursed the ground, not our work. — Scott Rae

The post Connecting Sunday and Monday appeared first on New Churches.

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How to Make Gospel-Centered Applications Oct 10, 2023

Show notes

Episode 776

Host Tony Merida chats with pastor, author, and long-time ministry partner J.D. Greear to discuss the implications of addressing the heart as we preach the Word of God. Here’s how the gospel reaches beyond moralization and leads to real life transformation.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How gospel-centered preaching moves our congregations from shame to empowerment
Why adoration is the end goal of all parts of Sunday service
Our New Testament examples of how to read the Old Testament
The impact of relaying all pulpit messaging back to Christ
Why our motivations are shifted through Christ-exalting worship

Helpful Resources:

Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

When we fall on our faces and allow our gospel approach to say, “The rest of my life is Yours,” our desires change beyond a mere perspective change. Resurrection power flows from a rebel who comes to believe in the gospel. — J.D. Greear

When affections change, everything changes. Behavior follows. It’s not wrong to address behavior, but we want to do more than that in our preaching. — Tony Merida

If you are strong enough and bend an iron rod, you may create some bend in it, but eventually your strength will fail and it will go back to its original shape, or you’ll break it in half. The gospel is like a blowtorch that heats the rods of our hearts so that God’s commands become natural and not burdensome. — J.D. Greear

It’s so important in preaching that we’re not just transferring information, but leading people to adoration. — Tony Merida

We’re aiming to read the Bible how Jesus did, like in Luke 24, when He went back to the Old Testament and explained how everything ultimately points to the gospel. We are learning to see these stories, even New Testament applications, through a gospel lens. — J.D. Greear

It’s right to point out good wisdom and the law when relevant to the text, but we need more than that in our application. Christ-centered preaching with gospel-centered application always offers hope and plugs our people into the power of Christ. — Tony Merida

The post How to Make Gospel-Centered Applications appeared first on New Churches.

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AI and the Ethics of Preaching Oct 05, 2023

Show notes

Episode 775

Host Ed Stetzer meets with author, ethics expert, and his own colleague Dr. Scott Rae to chat about the ethical implications of ChatGPT and its impact on preachers, planters, and pastors today. Tune in to discover why AI can’t replace the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God’s people.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How sermon prep relates to physical fitness
Why discipline and accountability are non-negotiables in this modern preaching age
The dangers of keeping pace—or failing to do so!—in the realm of technology
How AI differs from the vetted resources we know and trust
The role of the Holy Spirit in each and every step of your preaching process

Helpful Resources:

Ed’s sermon at Talbot Chapel: Grace Alone
Kenny Jahng’s ChurchLeaders Episode: What Church Leaders Need to Know about AI
Mihretu Guta’s ChurchLeaders Episode: How the Church Should Respond to the Ethical Dangers of AI
Yvonne Carlson’s ChurchLeaders Episode: How to Use AI Effectively in Your Ministry
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

I have no difficulty with bivocational church planters utilizing someone else’s sermon outline, though it’s a question of attribution and more. Whereas AI is a plagiarism machine that gathers and brings together other people’s thoughts. — Ed Stetzer

I’m troubled to think that the temptation to use AI for more and more and more will eventually become irresistible, to the point that it’s writing a first draft and you’re becoming an editor rather than someone generating it from scratch. — Scott Rae

You can have ChatGPT write you a script, but you’re basically just a voice actor reading a script. Pastors can be good at articulating things, but that’s not the same as wrestling with the text for what God has for the people He has called you to lead and serve. — Ed Stetzer

The pastor should have the experience we’ve all had of beating our heads against the wall until the light comes on and you realize what the text is saying and how it connects to your people. It’s that “Aha!” moment that I’m afraid ChatGPT may rob you of. — Scott Rae

Most of us overprepare for our sermons and have way more content that we can actually cover in the time allotted to us. The Spirit’s work in sermon preparation is just as much as the delivery itself. I don’t want to use tools that short circuit the activity of the Spirit, but enhance it. — Scott Rae

I want to wrestle with what I’ve prepared, what I think God wants me to deliver to my audience, what is consistent with the author’s intent, and what is the appropriate application to the text. — Scott Rae

The post AI and the Ethics of Preaching appeared first on New Churches.

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