Lessons from starting a new church

In September of 2018, my wife and I launched a new church in Central Orange County. In reality, it was far from just the two of us. We were fortunate to have an incredible team that believed in the vision as much as us.

The year leading up to that launch sunday was FULL. Full of dreams, insecurity, recruiting, fundraising, disappointment, training and managing what felt like a million different tensions.

I felt like someone gave me 10 different jigsaw puzzles to assemble simultaneously.

So many wins. So many situations that reintroduced me to myself. So much pain. So many dreams followed by loss and then God coaxing me out of the cave and encouraging me to dream again.

In the middle of all of this were SO MANY LESSONS. Way too many for one blog post.

So as we go into a new decade, I am committed to writing more. Not only to be helpful for those that are coming behind me but because it's therapeutic for me. So whether you're starting a new church, new business or you're just doing your best to live a life of significance, I hope this series of posts will be helpful to you.

May this decade be one full of courage in the midst of fear and hope in the midst of chaos.

When I think about what church planting has taught me, what rushes to the front is this idea of keeping the vision in front while navigating obstacles and attacks.

You know that game where you carry an egg on a spoon in your mouth? Then you run across a field against others doing the same thing without dropping it? Great.

Now imagine doing that while doing an obstacle course mud race. Oh yea. And people are shooting paint balls at you.

I know that's a bit melodramatic, but that is really how it felt.

There were times I wanted to give up. Other times, I wanted to find something to throw at the ones shooting back at me or at least loudly encourage them to go find a hobby instead of causing drama in my life. Still other times, I just wanted someone else to carry the egg for a bit so I could just sit down.

But in the middle of all that, if you don't keep the vision in  front, all you will see are the obstacles.

Sure there are haters. Sure there are people with their own issues. Sure, it gets tough.

But, that's not what I need to focus on. My primary, consuming focus needs to be WHY I'm doing what I'm doing. WHAT IS THE VISION?

For me, I wanted people to experience the life changing truth in Jesus. The hope. The purpose. The connection to God.

When I allowed myself to sit and soak in the WHY, all the pain and obstacles lost their vibrance. They didn't go away, but they faded to the background.

I felt hope and excitement rise back up again in me.

So how about you? Feeling hopeless? Feeling consumed by drama or pain?

What's your WHY?

What do you want to see God do in you? What do you want to see Him do through you? What do you want your legacy to be?

Focus on that. Write it down. Make it your screensaver. Put it on the lock screen of your phone.

Take 5 minutes every morning and pray about it. Ask God to lock it into your soul as you're going sleep.

Let it drive you to the next stage.

I'm rooting for you!

I'd love to hear from you. Comment below with what your WHY is.