8th March 2016 Travis Snode

Tough to Start, Tougher to Finish – Day 8 of 31 Days of Prayer for Northwest Baptist Church Building Fund

Updates

Getting started is tough. Finishing is even tougher.

When it comes to the church, the job is really never done because the church is a living body that should always be growing. But when it comes to church-planting, there is a definite beginning and end.

A particular church plant comes to an end when that church is indigenous and essential grows from being “the plant” to being “the planter.” An indigenous church has been defined as the following:

• Self-supporting – capable of supporting itself without outside support
• Self-governing – capable of governing itself without outside control
• Self-propagating – capable of reproducing itself without outside help

Getting a new church-plant to the indigenous phase is a very challenging job. It means that the church must be more than just a crowd of people, but a group of people who are committed to Jesus, committed to His Word, committed to one another, and committed to carrying out Christ’s commands to reach their world with the gospel. It means they are prepared to take responsibility for their church, their pastor, and reaching their community and region with the gospel.

(Note: For more info on the indigenous principle, go here for the first of nine articles on this topic.  You can search the word “indigenous” to get the other eight articles.)

A permanent building for Northwest Baptist Church will help the church mature into a fully indigenous church in the following ways:

1. Reduce the amount of money that is spent each month on rent so that more can be given toward the pastor’s salary.
2. Possibly provide a place for the pastor to live, reducing the amount of money that the pastor needs to live on.
3. Help the church become a permanent part of the community, which will encourage commitment to and growth of the church.
4. Do away with the need for outside funding so that the church is self-supporting.
5. Allow the church to focus even more energy and resources on reaching out the community and surrounding areas with the gospel.

Thank you for taking extra time this month to pray with us for the church and the ministries there. God bless you for your faithfulness.

Building Fund Update
$75,000 Needed
$16,659 Donated
$58,341 Remaining

More information about the fund can be found here.