Church Plant Chat
Hearing & learning from UK based Church Planters & Leaders about their experiences with Church Planting/Leadership; equipping emerging leaders/planters with wisdom from those who have gone before them with lessons they've learnt along the way! Email: churchplantchat@gmail.com We can also be found on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram - simply type in @churchplantchat
Church Plant Chat
Revitalisation Review: Ministry of the 'One'
Episode 4: Ministry of the One
Episode Summary
This episode highlights the transformative power of focusing on just one person. Using the example of Ananias and Saul, we’re reminded how faithful, relational ministry to ‘the one’ can unlock catalytic change.
Key Topics Covered
· Learning from Ananias’ brief but powerful role in Acts
· Why relational ministry is worth the risk
· Challenging the obsession with numbers in church growth
· The cost and beauty of walking with ‘the one’
· Examples from Jesus’ ministry prioritising individuals
Reflection Questions
· Who is ‘the one’ God is calling you to notice?
· Are you measuring success by faithfulness or numbers?
· How do you discern divine interruptions?
· What would it mean to slow down and truly see someone?
· Where have you seen one small act of obedience lead to big change?
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In today's episode episode 4, we are looking at the ministry of the One. Much has been written about the Apostle Paul, and rightly so. He left an incredible legacy for the church and influenced much of what we know now, theologically and missionally. Many would comfortably associate the realm of church planting to him, as he himself started multiple churches. Subsequently, he discipled other leaders to go on and do the same. How can just one person make a lasting difference in the kingdom? It's always astonished me how God could use just one person to have such an impact, and the Apostle Paul is one such person. Behind his legacy, though, stood another one, a person who, as far as I can tell, has had little mention in the realm of church planting, leadership conferences or just admiration in general, but one who helped kick-start Paul's entire ministry. That one is Ananias. So let's take a look at this one and how just one man made such a difference Ananias. What can we learn from someone with just a few verses to their name Thinly spread across Acts 9 and 22 are a few sentences about Ananias, a disciple in Damascus and a devout man according to the law, who had a good reputation with all the Jews living there.
Speaker 1:One day, the Lord gets in touch with Ananias, who readily responds with here I am Lord. Little did he know that the Lord was about to ask him to approach the arguably most dangerous man around most dangerous man around. Ananias is told to get up and go to Saul to lay hands on him in prayer so that he can miraculously regain his sight. And, understandably, ananias hesitates, just momentarily, explaining to God how dangerous Saul is. Nonetheless, god tells him to go once again and so, obediently and with immense courage, ananias follows God's instruction. He journeys to Saul, lays hands on him whilst referring to him as brother. He speaks truth and he ushers in the Holy Spirit and witnesses Jesus.
Speaker 1:Miraculously's easy to get caught up in the Sunday attendance numbers game, especially in a church plant or a revitalization project where there may be a pressure to quote or unquote succeed so to show that it works. Or perhaps we have funders who are applying pressure for more numbers to keep increasing. This can create an unhealthy motivation for leadership and growth, and it's one to be aware of if you find your thoughts occupied with this kind of striving. I've been there and it's not great. Of course, I care about more people coming to know Jesus and the church building up in strength. Numbers are a part of that, but not at the cost of the church's health or my own sense of integrity as a leader. Motive matters.
Speaker 1:This is not a dig at those who do fund us either. You know funding has freed us up in our context to create new roles and ministries which have been fruitful and helped kickstart mission again in our parish. The sentiment and heart of it is good. But if you take on funding, just know that cash comes at a cost and what can be perceived as a safety net financially has also the potential to become a shackle. So it's worth considering how your leadership style, your motives, your personality, your vision, your priorities for growth match the potential cost of receiving cash, because everything becomes impacted by it. One such cost is the focus on numbers as a metric for success.
Speaker 1:Again, I value church numerical growth. People who are funding us are there to support us. They want to champion us, after all, with numbers. You know an entire book of the Bible is called numbers, so we should have it as one strand to be measured and worked on. But there are also many books in the Bible named after just one person, many books of the Bible which focus on just one person at a time, and so the question is, the challenge I bring is are we willing to slow down and focus on just one person at a time? And this is where it can become costly when receiving cash and metrics for success, because one person at a time is slow and maybe it doesn't look like a big success from a funding perspective. I get that. So that's why I say it's just worth considering the cost of what pressure you choose to allow to come into your ministry.
Speaker 1:And the obvious concern I'm raising is, of course, that we don't become so consumed with overpowered metrics around numbers that we forget the ministry of the one. In my time here in our revitalisation project, our little project, it really has been about connecting with one person at a time and gradually taking slow steps with them, and I'm not great at that a lot of the time, but I watch my team at work and they're fantastic, and every now and then I get it right. But you know it might not look fancy or be on a platform in front of thousands, but the shepherd left the 99 to go for the one. The interruption of that individual sheep isn't extracurricular work for the shepherd. The work of going after the one is the work.
Speaker 1:Over and over again, we see Jesus focusing in on one person. Jesus focusing in on one person the woman at the well, zacchaeus. The woman who touched his robe is a key one to note, because Jesus was on his way to minister to one the dying daughter and went through a crowd to get to her. But in the midst of that pursuit of the one, in the midst of that, he paused in order to focus in again on another one. In the midst of all the other numbers around him, he literally went from one person to another, transforming one person's life at a time because he is compassionately curious about them. Back to Ananias. Back to Ananias.
Speaker 1:What if planting seeds in one life is the most impactful thing we can do? I believe Ananias modelled this incredibly. One man with only a few sentences to his name simply devoted his life to Jesus, chose to be obedient even though it would have been terrifying and simply went and prayed for one other person. That person went on to change the course of history, planting multiple churches and training others to do the same. And Ananias may not have been a church planter per se, but he had the courage and obedience to faithfully sow into Paul's life, even though it could have cost him his own. He may not have planted a church, but he planted a word of truth which took root in Paul.
Speaker 1:Are we obedient and curious enough to invest in the one? Are we willing to put the other metrics to one side to do that? That, to me, is what church planting is all about being willing to step out obediently and sow God's truth to one person at a time. That's something any one of us can do. Therefore, as I see it, in one sense, we can all plant, we can all revitalise. Ananias was curious enough to pursue Saul. Had he shut down the compassion and courage that came with his curiosity, we may never have seen God work in Saul the way we did. It simply took one person being curious enough to care to obediently get up and go and plant a seed of truth in another for history to be made, the history to be made.
Speaker 1:So, to wrap up, what does a ministry of the one look like in your context? How can you script in a ministry of the one metric within your success and failure timeline? How do we script in the ministry of the one into our strategies as we wrap up this episode. Here are some questions to also consider around what having a ministry of the one looks like where you are. So, number one what if we're all called to plant, as Ananias did? What would that involve? Number two what if we all responded to God with here I am Lord. What would church planting look like then? Number three who is God calling you to be curious about today? Number four who in your church or community is quietly being obedient to the Lord and just needs the opportunity to step up and go? Number five what are your metrics for success? Are they too heavily weighted to numerical growth versus individual growth?
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening. If you didn't know already, there's an Instagram account for this podcast, which is at churchplantchat, where you can keep up to date with what's happening on the podcast and other bits about planting, but you can also DM me on there if you ever wanted to chat or pray. I can also be contacted by email at churchplantchat at gmailcom. Show notes are in the description. I'd love to connect with you, so please don't hesitate to get in touch. Thank you for listening. I hope it's been helpful. See you next time.