Church Planting Part 2 - Ian Mckellar

"Ian & Nola McKellar relocated from South Africa to Asia in 2002.
They went to help build up local churches that relate to the NCMI team.
In 2009 they started leading Church of Joy in Singapore. They have a passion to see God's Word and God's Spirit build the beloved community and bless the city."

FINDING GRACE

The planter needs to sort out his own motives for ministry. God will be doing some sifting and sorting in the leader’s heart at this time. Larry Crabb says, “We are all defensive, proud and threatened people.”   In other words our natural reaction to trouble is fight, or flight, or control. We need to recognize where we are fighting back because we are defensive. We need to recognize where we are manipulating and controlling to get what we want, and are not motivating for God’s glory because we are proud. And we need to recognize where we are running from the challenge to be strong and courageous because we are threatened.

If we can learn to understand our own inner motivation and not be blinded by being defensive, proud and threatened, it will be far easier for others to trust and follow us. Jesus said we could come to him and find rest and learn from him, because he was not defensive, proud and threatened, but was “gentle and humble in heart.” Matthew 11:29.

People can learn from those who are humble. It is difficult to follow a proud man, no matter how anointed he is. Gentle, or meek, does not mean weak; it is actually the fruit of power. W.E. Vine says the Greek word is “the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest;…..it is neither elated or cast down, simply because it is not occupied with self at all….It is an inwrought grace of the soul; and the exercises of it are first and chiefly towards God.”

When grace is extended it costs the giver dearly and if truly received, it changes the recipient to become more gracious. This is the kind of community God wants to build.

Paul tells how God extended grace to him in calling him and empowering him, and how this grace “was not without effect.” (1 Cor 15:10). Grace is designed to impact and change the heart.

Remember the account of the servant who was shown mercy and forgiven much in Matthew 18. Has was then not merciful, or gracious, to the servant who owed him a little. When the master heard what happened he threw the first servant- the one shown mercy- into prison.

He calls him a wicked servant and he says, “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” (Matt 18:33).

Grace is costly to the giver, free to the recipient, but it is designed to change the recipient’s heart and inspire him to be “eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14).

Grace teaches us. We are changed supernaturally with the help of the Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29), whom we unfortunately can “insult”, “miss” (Heb 12:15), or “forfeit” (Jonah 2:8).

When we come boldly to the throne of grace we receive mercy (Heb 4:16), and that mercy is designed to impact our hearts and change us. It helps us to become gracious to others; we want them to experience something of the comfort and beauty that we have experienced. Then when we are under pressure to act in a defensive, proud or threatened way we can “find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb 4:16). There is a supernatural enabling that helps us when we are weak; God’s riches at Christ’s expense, unmerited favor, supernatural help to the one who does not forfeit grace but surrenders to the Holy Spirit’s enabling partnership.

Grace does not put you in debt to the one who was merciful, or gracious, to you. It changes you so that you become like the one who was gracious, and you act in a gracious way to others who do not deserve your favor, mercy, forgiveness or generosity.

Amazing grace !

Church planting should be aiming to build a community of grace. Remember Acts 11 when Barnabus was sent to the new church plant in Antioch?

“When he arrived he saw evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts” (Acts 11:23).