Beachheads
Military invasions by sea require the establishment of beachheads. They are "a defended position on a beach taken from the enemy by landing forces, from which an attack can be launched." D-Day involved the establishment of beachheads for the invasion of Normandy. A beachhead is the very first thing you take from the enemy. They are the staging point for the rest of the invasion.
When we planted our first house church our planting coach, Todd Sovine said that we needed to establish three things from the beginning:
- Beachheads of prayer.
- Beachheads of relationship.
- Beachheads of discipleship.
Before anything else happened, we started praying, building relationships, and intentionally discipling one another. That was all we did at first. We didn't have services. We didn't advertise. We didn't plan events. We focussed on prayer, relationships, and discipleship.
Prayer
Instead of church services, we met to pray. We got together every week, had some coffee or a meal, and prayed. Sometimes prayer would lead to ideas, but we didn't try to make a lot of plans. We prayed about a lot of things, but we focussed on the things we still pray about now:
- Laborers for the Harvest (Luke 10:2)
- Holy Spirit power to witness (Acts 1:8)
- God to draw people to Jesus (John 6:44)
In addition to praying as a group, we prayed individually. When a few of us got together to hang out, we prayed. We set alarms to remind us to pray. We prayed for every person we knew who did not know Jesus. We kept a list of answers to prayer, and celebrated every work of God. We just kept praying.
Relationships
Instead of going to church services, we spent time with people. The guys got together with friends to go shooting. We had regular get togethers at Stubby's Pub. We knew that most Christians go to Church on Sunday mornings, so we didn't. We had breakfast at Ziggy's, an establishment that offers a dish called "breakfast nachos." Surely the favor of the Lord rests upon that place. We hung out at the park. We had a neighborhood cookout instead of church. I joined the Rotary Club. We had conversations at coffee houses. I became a regular at Starbucks. We lived in our city.
Beyond just being in the community, we kept up with people. We text each other and call to check in, not just with people in our church but with people connected to us. I do funerals and weddings for people who don't go to church. We stayed in touch and met needs as they came up. We loved people and let people see us loving Jesus (John 13:35).
Discipleship
Discipleship is what happens when people who follow Jesus spend time with other people. You are making a disciple when you love Jesus in front of people. You are making disciples when you share your story of trusting Jesus. You are making disciples when you explain the gospel to someone or when you walk someone through the basics of faith in Jesus. We equipped our leaders to make disciples by doing three things:
- Explaining the Gospel through an overview of Scripture. Good Seed is good for this.
- Walking new believers through their first steps in following Jesus. Follow is good for this.
- Letting the Holy Spirit lead them in ongoing discipleship.
There is only One Church Planter
Ultimately, God is the only agent in this equation that matters. God is the one who sends laborers for the harvest (Luke 10:2). The Spirit empowers us to witness (Acts 1:8). The Father is the one who draws the lost to Jesus (John 6:44).
The most important thing to remember is that it's all about Jesus.
