Church, Gospel Spirituality, Jesus, Missional Living, Redeemer Church

Equipped to Shepherd from the Word

I don’t want this to be one of those “best kept secrets,” but one of the most exciting things happening in our church these days is an intense training that all our Neighborhood Group leaders and co-leaders are going through. If you are one of our small group leaders you are going to very early morning meetings or after-the-kids-go-down meetings on how to shepherd people from the Word. For the next 12 months they are going through the Association of Biblical Counselors’ “Equip to Counsel” training.

When we say they are shepherding from the Word, please don’t hear that we take a flippant small-minded “a Bible verse a day keeps the Devil away” approach. However, we understand the Bible as our ultimate authority, and where we turn during life’s most difficult seasons. It is amazing how practical it is for difficult marriages, the minefields of high school and college, as well as navigating problems at work. We not only want to quote Scriptures, but understand the broad redemptive theme of the Bible…the gospel. It is hard for a wife to withhold forgiveness when you go back to the forgiveness given her on the cross. It is hard for a someone to feel condemned when they know that Jesus died for their past sins.

Our church has a heart for our leaders to genuinely walk with the folks in their groups. We care less that our small group leaders are driven executives or impressive orators, we want them to be loving pastors. We want them to walk with people through those dark nights of the soul.

We understand that our leaders have been “given His revealed Word” and thus are to “convey His Word to others so that others may live well in the presence of God” (pg23 of the Leader’s Guide). I don’t know how you are struggling, but know that God’s Word is sufficient and relevant and it is where you can find abundant life. I don’t want to oversell it, I know our leaders are imperfect. However, they are a group that desires to truly love people with the gospel of grace. Learn more about our Neighborhood Groups by clicking HERE.

Church, Church Planting, Gospel Spirituality, Jesus, Redeemer Church

lessons I am learning from starting a new church

We moved our family back to Denton late last Summer to start Redeemer Church. Like any step of faith it has been scary at times, filled with ups and downs, yet we can conclude that it has been an amazing joy to be part of this new church. I praise God every day for the opportunity to be the pastor of Redeemer.

We are close to securing a location for our official launch on August 31st which has caused me to really get excited about the future, but also reflect on the past 10 months. I have learned countless lessons since we began gathering people last September. I certainly don’t have it all figured out, but here are a few of the lessons I am learning from starting a new church.

Redeemer Church is largely born through my walk with Jesus so my character and spiritual life are everything. This experience has only further solidified a deep conviction that character is what counts. We have all seen corrupt pastors, and I long never to be one. I firmly believe that churches who have leaders with suspect character are being built on sandy ground. Josh Yen and I constantly talk of the importance of our spiritual health. The new church can’t happen if I am not communing with Christ and loving my family well. I make daily mistakes in those areas and need a ton of gospel grace. This has forced me to be more humble and really live out our mantra of being “broken people who love broken people.” Planting Redeemer Church has caused me to love Jesus more than ever!

Planting Redeemer Church has highlighted the fact that I need to be a priest. That might be strange verbiage for some. One of the networks we are joining is the Acts29 Network. Within that network there is a culture of talking about the giftedness of pastors as being either a “prophet” (or insightful teacher/preacher), a “priest” (or a patient empathetic shepherd), or a “king” (a bold visionary leader). I have always felt that God created me in such a way that I was low in the “priest” department. But, if you are going to start a church you have to be a priest. One of my coaches keeps wisely telling me that most people will follow me if they know I love them. I have loved stripping things down and getting to genuinely just love our people. With joy, I can report that planting Redeemer Church has caused me to love people more than ever!

I have a twin passion for starting new churches. First, it is biblical. New Testament missionary work is exclusively people starting new churches. I don’t think that all missionary work should be just church planting, but it should be our primary way to reach and disciple the world. Second, is how effective it is at reaching the unreached. Many guys look at an area and think they should plant because there is not their brand of church in that area. At the end of the day I fear some guys are planting churches because they want their brand of evangelicalism as opposed to primarily wanting to reach the unreached. It is about reaching the lost not establishing your brand of evangelicalism. Please hear me, this is not a sellout to all things gimmicky. If you know me, you know that I have deep convictions. But, at the end of the day our people care that I am devoted to the Bible and the gospel, trying to walk faithfully with the Lord, and am striving to love them and their family. Convictions are vital, but our missionary conviction should be the ultimate driver of our efforts. Redeemer Church has caused me to love my city more than ever!

Church, Redeemer Church

New Year Plans

I love the start of a new year because it brings so much hope. It also brings an opportunity to evaluate and make future plans. The best leaders have clarity of direction. The best leaders also carve out time to evaluate the health of their people.

The Bible has helpful teachings on making future plans. Naturally the Bible explains that people can make plans out of their flesh…their own selfish desires (2 Corinthians 1:17). God reserves the authority to frustrate our plans (Psalm 33:10). But the Bible also highlights human plans in a supportive light. Nehemiah’s plans to rebuild Jerusalem were honored. We also instructed to get advice when we make plans (Proverbs 15:22). Ultimately the Bible teaches us to devote our plans to Him, but also rely upon Him to fulfill our plans. This is the meaning of “commit” in Proverbs 16:3 (Commit your work to The Lord, and your plans will be established). The Bible encourages making plans that rest upon the soveriegnty of God. But our hope is not in our plans, and not just in God’s soveriegnty. Our hope is in his good soveriegnty. God rules over all things, is good himself, and even works good for us. Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Be encouraged, God has plans for your good!

Praying and thinking through 2014 is a thrilling exercise for me. This past Fall we have gathered a faithful group of friends to help us launch Redeemer Church in 2014. We have served together, deepened friendships, and studied the hallmarks of Jesus’ life and ministry. Each week new people joined our group and we ended up with twice the people we thought we would have at this point.

During the Spring of 2014 we will take our second step. In January and February we will hold some fun events, devote a week to prayer, hold a planning week, do a practice worship service, then launch a Sunday evening gathering on February 9th. The goal of these gatherings is to lay out the details of our vision for Redeemer Church. We won’t abandon our focus to be out in the community though. We already have two service projects planned for the Spring.

We have been seeking the wisdom of others. We have gauged our own hearts. We are encouraged knowing that Jesus loves Denton and Redeemer Church more than we ever could. We are seeking to devote our plans to Jesus and rest upon Him to “Grow us into a Church.”

Happy New Year

Micah

Church, Redeemer Church

Conference and Matching

Kristen and I had the opportunity to attend a church starters conference last week. I always love a conference that lets you see under the hood of another church. We were blessed to see how a great church reaches their neighbors, helps people grow in their spiritual lives, and starts new churches. We were also very encouraged to meet other church starters from all across the country. I learned so much from these faithful brothers and sisters who are giving their lives to share Jesus’ gospel. I was inspired by their commitment and took endless notes as they shared their stories.

It was also a blessing for Kristen and I to go through an assessment process. Pastors and their wives evaluated our marriage, finances, and ministry experience. It was a honor to receive their endorsement at the end of the week.

This endoresement opened up an exciting opportunity for our new church. This organization will match the funds we raise by the end of the year. I stink as a salesman, and don’t want to put any pressure on anyone, but in the past I have become a motivated donor when their is a matching option. After praying, if you feel led to support our new church, know that your gift will be doubled! If you feel led, visit RedeemerDenton.com/Support for more information.

Merry Christmas

Micah

Children, Church, Redeemer Church

Shepherds for Your Children

God has given children two institutions to shepherd their hearts, their home and their church. Understanding this truth has revolutionized how I parent my kids as well as understand my role as a pastor.

Many parents struggle living in the balance of the poles of church and home. Some parents rightly understand that they have the primary responsibility of raising up their children in the faith, but go so far as to believe they are their only shepherds. Some parents rightly try to get their children involved in church, but struggle with their role and responsibilities at home. Some of these parents can go so far as think that they don’t have much responsibility in fostering their children’s spiritual lives thinking it is the church’s job. A better understanding of the relationship between the home and church is needed.

Parents are to raise up their children in the Lord. Ephesians 6:4 says that fathers are to bring their children up in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord.” I would argue that God desires for parents, not the church, to be the primary shepherds of their children. But, pastors have the solemn and intimidating task of keeping watch over the souls in their church (Hebrews 13:17). These souls include the souls of the children in their church. I would argue that even though parents should be the primary shepherds of their children’s souls, they are not the exclusive shepherds.

Redeemer Church is striving to live within this balance. We are making our ministry to children a priority. The pastors of this church are heavily invested in the ministry to children. We are creating safe and fun environments for our kids, but we aren’t satisfied with just good childcare. We are working diligently to foster their faith through gospel-centered biblical lessons. We went so far as to bring in Josh Yen as our Associate Pastor largely based upon his successful experience ministering to children. We are also working to provide resources to help parents shepherd their kiddos. Finally, the pastors are striving to create a culture in our church where we encourage men to shepherd the hearts of their children.

All of these efforts drive toward our goal of seeing moms and dads pastor the little guys that God has brought into their lives. We know that the biggest influencers and heroes in the lives of your kids are you! Kids will model what their parents do not just want they say. Studies show that kid’s perception of their heavenly Father is largely based upon their experience with their earthly father. We know we will never be perfect, but will led our parents to shepherd the hearts of their kids as well as own our responsibility of being a church that ministers the gospel to children.

Redeemer Church

Introducing Josh Yen

I feel like we are in a season where God is masterfully putting the puzzle pieces together. Redeemer Church continues to take significant steps forward. I am learning to pray fervently, and have confidence that God is going to provide each leg of the journey. I have seen this happen numerous ways, but none more exciting than how he is bringing the right people at the right time.

Our prayer has been to engage people who have been disengaged with the church. To our joy, he is bringing those folks and they are finding a home with our community. I even had some friends approach me about baptism! I can’t believe we are three weeks into this thing and beginning to plan a baptism service…God is good! When we have needed key leaders in different roles, young men and women have stepped up. When we have needed a children’s teacher, God has brought a perfect leader for our kids. I could go on and on.

I am thrilled to also report that God has brought us Josh and Mallery Yen. Josh has already begun serving with me as our Associate Pastor. He is a graduate of Dallas Baptist University, a seminary student at Southern Seminary, and recently completed a residency program at The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas. He has served in a variety of roles in different types of churches. Josh is a godly man, loving husband and father, diligent servant, and a gifted leader. The more time I spend with Josh the more I like and love this brother.

Mallery has also served on staff at The Village Church. She has been serving in the children’s ministry for a number of years and has participated in its explosive growth. The Yen’s even met in the children’s ministry at The Village. When you get a chance you need to ask Mallery about how they met, she gives a pretty funny account of how it all happened! The Yen’s are the proud parents of 5-month-old Caleb.

Josh’s position is part of a larger vision to develop young leaders as well as plant churches in the Texoma region. The best way to understand Josh’s role is that he will be taking on numerous different projects as well as overseeing a broadening collection of ministry areas. His initial task has been to build a great children’s ministry. At our last Core Team Gathering he took time sharing the vision of the ministry to our parents. We put a high premium on ministry to children and it was a joy to see parents getting excited about where we are headed. Josh is a voice in all directional decisions, is assisting me in developing leaders and the teaching ministry of the church, and he is also beginning to oversee the outreach ministries of the church. Josh is also a good worship leader and will play a leading role in our worship services when we grow out of our home. As you can see the guy is gifted and he is diligently serving this new church.

Kristen and I are also inspired by their sacrificial commitment. As a new church we are scrupulously accounting for every expense. We were able to carve out some funds to help subsidize a salary for Josh, but he is sacrificially raising the majority of his salary. The inspiring part of the story is he turned down some salaried positions to join us?! God is truly good in bringing us the Yen’s. Feel free to drop them a note (josh@redeemerdenton.com) welcoming them to the team.

MicahCaswell.com

experiencing Jesus' grace

Category Archives: Redeemer Church