New Churches Podcast

Episode 749 Host Ed Stetzer meets with Tony Merida and Adam Muhtaseb to discuss the ins and outs of preaching within the church-planting context. Here’s how you can find your rhythm as a pastor, preacher, and planter. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why sincerity from the pulpit matters Tips for establishing your rhythms of preaching How to engage the unbelieving and disconnected The role of current events in our preaching Why your new church plant may need comfy seats! Helpful Resources: Adam’s Church Plant: Redemption City Church Baltimore 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): Cast vision or values at the beginning. Treat your beginning series as more of an onramp series for those who are not familiar with the Bible. Walk through it together. — Ed Stetzer Church is a family; it’s not just an event. — Adam Muhtaseb When we go to church, we assume lost people don’t want to hear the Bible, but we have found that when we preach verse by verse through the text, engage their questions, and preach Christ from the text, lost people keep coming. — Adam Muhtaseb You have to mingle with unbelievers during the week, and that will impact how you address them in the course of the sermon.  — Tony Merida When thinking about addressing unbelievers, one of the things we’re trying to do in Christ-centered preaching is show people the grand narrative. Most people coming in have no idea that the Bible is a unified book. — Adam Muhtaseb A certain power comes through a sincere preacher when there’s an alignment between their life and their preaching. No one expects you to be sinless, of course, but it’s important that they see a real trustworthiness. — Tony Merida The post The Seasons of Preaching for a Pastor appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 748 Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham meet with The Hub Urban Ministries’ Cassie Hammett to discuss how you can best assess the needs of the most vulnerable populations in your midst. From your church pews to the city streets, here’s how you can take trauma-informed care to the next level. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How to assess and invest in the needs of your city Tips for establishing relationships across sociocultural divides How you can extend Christlike compassion to the world How to redefine “vulnerability” as you know it Why relational equity matters Helpful Resources: Article: The Six Principles of Trauma-Informed Care eBook: Establish a Local 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): Trauma-informed care is engaging others as people as you’re engaging them with the gospel. It’s understanding that people have all kinds of past histories that they bring into the discipleship process. —Noah Oldham Anytime people gather on a Sunday for a service, that room is full of people who have a history of trauma. It’s not just vulnerable populations that experience trauma. —Cassie Hammett A lot of vulnerability exists even outside of material poverty. It is incredibly helpful to have a wider lens for who might be experiencing vulnerability. If your lens is dialed in too tightly, it could keep you from seeing the people who most need to be seen in your community. —Cassie Hammett  Jesus saw the multitudes and felt compassion. That word “see” there means “to see and understand, to identify with, and to perceive.” —Vance Pitman When you approach vulnerable populations from an asset-based perspective, you’re asking, “What do they already have? What can they contribute? What do they have to say about what’s happening in the city?” —Cassie Hammett To move the needle for the vulnerable requires far more people at the table than just that population. It requires trust at every level of your city. —Cassie Hammett What keeps tragic from becoming traumatic is our relationships. We all have tragedies, but when we have a relationship network around us, it keeps those tragedies from becoming traumatic. —Vance Pitman The post Trauma-Informed Care in Your Church: Assessment appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 747 What is the next generation looking for in discipleship relationships? Host Ed Stetzer chats with Shane Pruitt and Catherine Renfro on how we can effectively meet Gen Zs with the gospel of Jesus Christ and equip them to make disciples themselves. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How to address the challenges of Next Gen discipleship Why prayer is essential for effective evangelism Tips for bridging generational divides How you can model authentic discipleship Engaging the next generation with true gospel hope 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): With Gen Z, there’s an appreciation for boldness and conviction. Even if they don’t agree with what you’re saying, if they think you believe what you’re saying, there is an ear there. — Shane Pruitt College and high school students are over fluff and puff; they are looking for spirit and truth. — Shane Pruitt One of the best things we can do is help them remember that their whole purpose is to know Jesus, but also to make Him known. — Catherine Renfro It’s a game changer for students when we can help them see that God can not only use them to make an eternal difference in the lives of their friends, but that He will use them if they’re simply willing and available. — Catherine Renfro Students want to live with a purpose for a purpose, and they want to have influence. — Catherine Renfro The post Evangelizing the Next Generation appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 746 We talk about “mobilizing the church” but what do that really mean? Noah Oldham, Vance Pitman, and Matt Carter talk about unleashing the church to join in God’s mission. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How churches can partner to plant healthy multiplying churches Why mobilization requires intentionality and collaboration What “starting small” looks like The “dirty little secret” about mobilizing your church How to make excitement contagious  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 church doesn’t do missions. The church is born for the mission. As pastors and leaders, our job is to unleash the church for joining in the mission of God. —Vance Pitman Go find in the New Testament where a church did missions by itself. You won’t find it. There’s a there’s a power in coming together for the sake of mobilization. —Matt Carter You have to think about starting small in two areas. First of all, at the micro level, helping them begin to see themselves as a missionary. Then at the macro level, organizing events where you can mobilize the church. —Vance Pitman One of the most attractional things is a church that’s not just focusing on its own personal growth but on sending people. —Matt Carter The size of the church doesn’t determine the significance of the church. The size of the mission determines the significance of the church. The mission is big so you don’t have to be a big church to take this step. —Vance Pitman When I painted the picture clearly for the congregation and called them to it is when people were most likely to move. —Matt Carter I’ve never seen a church too mobilized. The church is community on mission. —Vance Pitman The post How to Mobilize Your Church appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 745 As our society tips toward majority non-Christian, the need for clearer calls to the gospel becomes paramount. Ed Stetzer, Shane Pruitt and Catherine Renfro talk about how to give an effective gospel presentation. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Different ways to invite people to Jesus without manipulating Four kinds of people hearing every sermon Important theological elements of a gospel presentation How to keep an invitation short and clear A “cheat code” for clear, concise invitations Helpful Resources: Shane Pruitt article Giving an Effective Gospel Invitation with Integrity 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): Sermons should be text driven and every text should be preached in the light of the gospel. And if the gospel is preached, then an opportunity to respond to the gospel should be given. —Shane Pruitt In giving an invitation, people need to know why they need to put their trust in Jesus and that God’s not made it complicated for us to be saved. —Catherine Renfro The cheat code for doing an invitation clearly and concisely is to be prepared. A lot of times communicators don’t prepare their invitations like they prepare the sermon. —Shane Pruitt If there’s confusion on the stage, there will be mass confusion in the seats and the last thing we want anybody to do is to respond in confusion. —Shane Pruitt At the end of the day, we want to make sure that those who respond to the gospel have an opportunity to talk with someone afterward. —Catherine Renfro As the leader, the shepherd of the church, your goal is to to create and cultivate a culture of evangelism. You don’t want to go, “OK, this is the one weekend a year we’re actually going to be evangelistic.” —Shane Pruitt If you proclaim the gospel, give an invitation and people respond but you don’t have a follow-up plan, we’re being bad stewards in that. —Shane Pruitt The post Giving an Effective Gospel Presentation appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 744 One way we build a sending culture in a church is preaching about “living sent.” Noah Oldham, Vance Pitman and Matt Carter talk about how to preach a theology of sending. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The biblical basis for “Sending Church” How a pastor can cultivate a culture of sending through his preaching How to help your people put “living sent” into action Systems you can put in place to make sure people can take next steps The enemy within and without 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 local church is not the ultimate goal; the ultimate goal is the kingdom of God being expanded and God birthing His local church. One of the ways we create that sending culture is through preaching. —Vance Pitman We always had next steps. It’s one thing to get everybody fired up from the pulpit. It’s another thing to have something they can hang their hat on. —Matt Carter We end every service telling our our church after we pray, “Go to love, serve and tell.” —Noah Oldham Preaching is not the dispensing of information. Preaching is a call to transformation. There has to be an opportunity for people to respond. We have to apply “living sent” for our people to begin to take those steps. —Vance Pitman There’s a pent-up desire in the body of Christ to engage in the mission of God, and I think it’s bottlenecked at the pastor because we’re not giving them the opportunity to do it. —Matt Carter You’ve got to be passionate about it yourself or your people are never going to follow you. It’s got to be something you believe in, deep down in the core of your being. —Matt Carter I would warn a pastor to be prepared. There will be opposition. There’s an enemy within and an enemy without. —Vance Pitman The post Preaching Theology of Sending appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 743 Time is our most precious commodity, and most bivocational leaders say they have trouble managing it. Ed Stetzer and Brad Brisco discuss practical ideas for managing your time. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The difference between “bivocational” and “covocational” The danger of compartmentalizing Why managing expectations is crucial The importance of a theology of work How to find healthy life patterns Helpful Resources: 5 benefits of being bivo/covo 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 No. 1 challenge, every single time I ask a bivo/covo planter, always has to do with time management – managing multiple aspects of life. — Brad Brisco We definitely have to have a conversation if your approach to church is professional clergy centric. — Ed Stetzer I’ve seen people have two or three couples and two or three singles, all going together to plant a church. If you’re bivo or covo, you cannot plant as a Lone Ranger. — Brad Brisco There’s something in our culture that’s not healthy where we have to be the hero, we have to be the center. You can’t have a healthy long-term ministry like that. — Ed Stetzer Church planters tell me they feel guilty with the amount of time they spend at work because those are hours they can’t spend on the church plant. — Brad Brisco If you’re going to be bivocational, covocational, there are some jobs that are not good jobs for you. — Ed Stetzer You have to operate with a planner and a calendar. You need to manage expectations. Most leaders need to set some social media boundaries. — Brad Brisco The post Managing Your Time as a Bivocational Church Planter appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 742 What does it look like to connect with your community? Noah Oldham and Vance Pitman talk with Mark Lee about best practices for engaging your community as a new church planter. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The best place to start connecting with your community How to be seen as a partner, rather than a parasite What foreign missions can teach us about being a missionary The principle of living your life with your eyes open to God’s activity around you How to mentor your core team to reach out to the city Helpful Resources: The Externally Focused Quest The Art of Neighboring 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 begin to be viewed as partners in our communities and cities, we create relational bridges that allow the gospel to walk from our lives into the lives of those we’ve been called to serve. —Vance Pitman The way we connected with the community was that I just wanted to connect with my street, to just be the pastor of my street. Sometimes we can make it too complicated: Who do I need to reach out to? Where do I need to go? I just started where I lived. —Mark Lee The greatest church planting class I took in seminary was actually on foreign missions. It taught me about these principles of being a missionary. And one of those principles was finding a person of peace. —NoahOldham Find ways you can build relationships with the people in your life. For me, a lot of it had to do with what my kids were doing. The first 13 families I led to Christ, I led to Christ coaching Little League baseball and NFL flag football. —Vance Pitman Once we have followers, disciples and a core team, how do we mentor them to reach out to the city too? For my core team, I provided a framework: prayers, conversations, table fellowships and invitations. —Mark Lee When we started, we created what we called the Personal Touch Tip Sheet. It was 40 examples of how you could connect with someone. Like, for example, when somebody moves in on your street, bake some cookies or bread, make a meal, and take it to your neighbor. —Vance Pitman Keep being faithful and trust the Lord to build His Church. —NoahOldham The post Connecting to Your Community as a New Church Planter appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 741 You’ve heard about “having a multiplication mindset” but what is it and why does it matter? Ed Stetzer talks with Brad Brisco about what it looks like to have a multiplication mindset. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: What a multiplication mindset is and why it matters Four principles for cultivating a multiplication mindset How multiplication is about more than planting churches What it means to apprentice each other in multiplication The importance of stories and scorecards Helpful Resources: Download the new edition of Rethink Missional Essentials small group study guide The Missional Quest: Becoming a Church of the Long Run Next Door as It Is in Heaven Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways Woodward and White, The Church as Movement Alan Hirsch, The Permanent Revolution Website: 5Q Central Neil Cole, Primal Fire Peyton Jones, Church Zero 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 need to understand and remember that we’re a sent, missionary people. A multiplication mindset has to start with God’s redemptive purposes being central. — Brad Brisco If the first thing you stand up and say is, “Hey, we’ve got to plant another church, but you haven’t multiplied a disciple or a group or a ministry, it’s jarring to people. We have to get to the place where we’re thinking multiplication consistently. — Ed Stetzer It’s not just about multiplying churches. In fact, it  needs to start by multiplying disciples, leaders and groups. Church leaders need to be thinking about multiplying ourselves in mission or ministry. — Brad Brisco If the norm is not to live on mission, when I multiply the way people think about mission, that’s multiplication as well. — Ed Stetzer Paul says in Ephesians 4 that if all five of the gifts are not being exercised, the church will not reach maturity. In fact, he actually says the church will not experience the fullness of Christ. — Brad Brisco I can live sent and not multiply. I can think of myself as a missionary in my context, showing and sharing the love of Jesus, and still not multiply. — Ed Stetzer In creating a multiplication culture, we need to think about stories and scorecards. What stories are we celebrating? What are we measuring? How are we defining success? — Brad Brisco The post Principles for Multiplication appeared first on New Churches.

Discover the vital connection between evangelism and church planting. The conversation delves into effective community engagement and the importance of personal outreach. Learn about crafting an inviting environment that welcomes others and emphasizes relationship-building over mere service attendance. Insights on navigating complex biblical narratives and the need for relatable storytelling create a deeper understanding of faith. Overall, it’s a rich exploration of strategies to birth vibrant churches fueled by a heart for the lost.