Mars Hill Church Planting Conference

Darrin Patrick
Session 1: “Overview: The Man, The Message, The Mission”

The Mission:

1 Timothy 4–Let no one look down on you because of your youth.

Usually God calls church planters to go back to where they are from.

Your call is mainly tested in your emotional life. You are going to have thoughts come through your heart and mind that will test your call that you cannot prepare for. All you have to rely on is that Jesus sent you to that city and that is enough.

The Message

“Is the Bible about you and what you must do or is it about Christ and what He has done?” Sinclair Furgason.
Scripture is objective and requires that it be communicated in an objective way because we are held accountable for it as pastors and it is our responsibility to make sure people understand personal ownership of it. It is outside of our experience and we must understand cultural experience. It is objective and subjective; it is meant to be experienced.

Preaching the Gospel is meant to reveal Jesus as the only solution for life. It is not meant to make people’s lives better but to expose sinful people to a loving Jesus. Colossians 2:6 “⁶So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, The same way we came into Christ is the same way we are to live in Him.

You must be able to preach the gospel at any point within the Scripture. How can you show the message of creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration within any portion of Scripture? This is something we must be able to do because people are reading the Scriptures and need direction on what it means and how to walk in it. You must also be able to explain the Scripture to protect from the “wolves and thieves who come in to steal the flock.” You must be able to rebuke and refute false ideologies that try to tear down the power of the Scriptures.

The Man:

God’s man is tough and tender.

You will see tremendous strain on your character and every character flaw will be exposed. You will see cracks in the foundation of your marriage that you didn’t know where there. You will see all of your idols that you thought you repented of come out in front of you. You will be betrayed by some of your closest friends. Be careful about building a church with some of your closest friends. Stress-related illnesses are a result of not trusting Jesus and trying to go in your own strength. You will gain and lose more weight than Oprah as you use food to deal with stress. The average church planter gains 15-20 lbs in the first year.

Conflicted relationships: don’t build your core group around your relationships as your ministry partner must be someone you can trust, but someone you can direct as well. You will have men and women who have been abused and neglected who need fathering and modeling.

Darrin Patrick wrote more on this topic in his new book pictured below:

Church Planter: The Man, the Message, the Mission