Church Planting (Page 9)
Help! I Want to Plant a Church But My Wife’s Not So Keen!
This has become something of an ‘issue’ for many men I have known in the last 5 years. I don’t know if it is because we work in a housing scheme or if the problem is more widespread. In my 13 years in the ministry I can say without doubt that one of the biggest causes of…
Do We Really Need Youth Ministry?
Our Children’s & Youth Ministry at Niddrie is currently going through somewhat of an overhaul. Working with teenagers on the scheme is brutal and slow work. The children’s ministries in general have lacked cohesion and so we are working hard at trying to bring everything together towards a united vision and purpose. The whole issue of whether youth…
The Christian & The War on Drugs (1)
I live in a scheme which is blighted by drugs. Children as young as 7 and 8 years old are smoking Cannabis regularly (I smoked my first joint at 12). Heroin is as easy to get as a pint of milk from the local store. Crack, Coke, E’s, LSD, you name it and it can be delivered to your doorstep in minutes. That’s just the illegal stuff. Prescription drugs are even…
10 Tips for New Church Planters
1. Make sure that your personal walk with Jesus is firing on all cylinders. Take the time each day to be with God in His Word, meditate on what the Spirit is saying to you and pray that He would fill you and keep you in step with His will for your life. 2. Remember that your family is your primary mission field. They must take priority, particularly when the children are…
Stop Trying To “Fix” People On Our Council Estates & Housing Schemes!
When you try your best, but you don’t succeed When you get what you want, but not what you need When you feel so tired, but you can’t sleep Stuck in reverse And the tears come streaming down your face When you lose something you can’t replace When you love someone, but it goes to…
Am I Really a Church Planter?
Because church planting seems to be “in” at the moment, there seems to be an endless supply of young men (and old) putting themselves forward as “planters”. Interestingly, very few feel “called” to housing schemes/council estates (although a few of us in the UK are seeing a slow but steady turn around in this). Perhaps the most popular…
Reaching The Unreached 2012: Getting Started & Keeping Going!
This is a conference for those working in inner city areas, council estates and housing schemes. Check out their website here. This is a preview of their conference this week where I will be speaking twice. Please pray for it and for the many faithful pastors, evangelists and gospel workers in the…
Building a Gospel Centred Community
by Andy Constable I am very privileged to work in an environment that is gospel focused. I came onto the Niddrie team 2 years ago and one of the reasons for doing so was because Mez’s vision was and is to bring the gospel to bear in his life, the life of the church and into the community of Niddrie. I haven’t had to build a gospel community because the building…
T4G Conference 2012: Missionary Pastors Grow Missionary Churches (7)
Speaker: David Platt Text: Revelation 5 Title: Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions Find the sermon online here. For those of you who have been following these posts, this is my final one. The more beady eyed among you will know that there were 9 main sessions at T4G but I only…
T4G Conference 2012: When We Feel Like Giving Up (6)
“The Temptation to Lose Heart” Speaker: CJ Mahaney Text: 2 Corinthians 4 Title: The Sustaining Power of the Gospel I always find CJ to be an immensely pastoral type speaker (with a tendency to wander off the beaten track from time to time!) and this message was no different. His basic…