Acts 5 - Part 2

38Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." - Acts 5:38-39

Church planting is not the "easy road" as far as ministry work goes. Not by a long shot! In fact, there are some pretty dismal statistics about the number of church starts that fail compared to those that succeed. When my hubby first mentioned that he felt the Lord was putting church planting on his heart, I was sceptical (to say the least!). After all...we didn't know anything about starting a church from scratch! Wouldn't that require us to move and [gasp] try to find churches and individuals to sponsor us? I was pregnant at the time - just not the right timing, I thought.

But, weeks and months passed and Mike persistently kept bringing it up. We prayed for direction. Seeing him grow in conviction and resolve - I knew I was in trouble! Mike is very blessed with the gift of faith. He gets a direction from God and he is ready to immediately step out in faith and go and do whatever he is called to do. It's one of the gazillion things I love about him. I, however, am not so gifted in that area. I have the gift of organization. I see a task at hand and start coordinating all the little details needed to meet the goals. This church planting thing was WAY too overwhelming for my mind to take in!! Like the verses above, I was fighting against God. I remember fervently praying that if this was the road that the Lord wanted us to take, for Him to please give me that same calling and vision. And, to please give us some kind of inclination as to where to go from there.

It seemed that God's confirmations came one after the other. I went from finally accepting it, to having an insatiable passion for starting a new church. Those days were bathed in prayer for direction and vision. God began to lay the Morrisville community on our hearts and we couldn't shake it. He faithfully provided a launch team of incredible people who were willing to leave their home churches and take on this faith-adventure with us. Financial support came in. Meeting space was found. And, on April 16, 2006, we opened our doors for our first weekly services.

The Bridge is now approaching it's 2 year anniversary. We are having a celebration next week at church. Not to applaud us, but to celebrate with each other the work the the Lord is doing there. As part of the celebration, we've asked folks to email us their "Bridge Story" or how God has worked in their life as a result of The Bridge. Already, the stories bring such tears of joy!

I look around the people at The Bridge and it is so amazing to see the lives that have been changed. People who were far from God, who are now Christ-followers. People who had been scarred by churches in the past finding a church that loves and accepts them. The best way I can describe it is that I feel like I have front row tickets to watching an incredible work of God. "For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."