Urban Church Planting | Lecture 7 : BC309-UCP-20260903

All right, good morning everyone. Uh welcome to the students who are joining us online. Let's pray and begin with our sessions today. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you once again Lord for this wonderful privilege to come together to sit and learn from your word. And Lord, even as we look at urban church planting and how to Lord plant churches, start new ministries. Lord, we pray that you will speak to our hearts. Give us new ideas, strategies, give us the wisdom. And we thank you for the leading and the anointing of your holy spirit upon us. We commit these lectures into your hands. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Right. Okay. So let's just do a quick review before we get into our next uh uh lecture with the next chapter. U so we firstly began with talking about the Holy Spirit is our leader. The Holy Spirit is the one who we are we must be dependent on. He builds we labor but the increase comes from God. Then we looked at what it means to be a church planter, right? It should be somebody who's you know self- sustaining and leadership eventually financially and also building good community. Chapter four we saw very important God's heart for cities right and we spend a lot of time here. If you want to get into ministry you must ask God for a heart for the city. When we say heart for the city simply means a passion a desire right a hunger for more of God. Now that doesn't come automatically right? Sometimes God puts that desire but we must feed it right say God uh give me a burning desire right if you look at scriptures uh in the old testament Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet what happened he had this burning anguish this burning desire for the people of Israel right Nehemiah he had this burning desire to rebuild the wall and that's how even you and I you know when we are called into ministry God may put a certain place a certain city um it's something that you cannot shake off right so God's heart for city is something that we must develop chapter 5 we looked at natural dynamics of uh of urban centers we so remember we spoke about this when you are going to plant a church or a ministry learn about the natural dynamics right so what are the people what is the economy demographics employment what kind of people culture, what language, what uh what are some of the barriers? Read about it, understand it. Right? And then we looked at spiritual dynamics, right? So we looked at Revelations chapter 2. We picked up four churches. church in Smyrna, church in Pergamos, church in church in Thotira and the church in Philadelphia where all of these churches even though they were doing well these were real churches during uh the first century during when John was writing this all of these churches were good churches but there was a spiritual attack in these churches right each place go the Lord Jesus says you're doing good you're doing a ministry but there is a problem within the church. So what does it teach us? That even when you and I plant churches, there are spiritual dynamics coming against us. Paul writes to the Corinthians, he says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. So the main battle for us is a spiritual battle more than the natural. Right? Winning one soul is also a spiritual battle. Right? So we must understand, hey, if I'm stepping into ministry, if I if God's calling me to do this, it's a battle. It's not easy. But this battle is an enjoyable battle. We learn, we grow, we build ourselves up, and God's promise is with us, right? So it's not a battle like, oh no, I have to still plant a church. The church still has to grow to 100 people, then it should become 500. How will I do it? No. The moment that is the mindset, you have to change that, right? Because you should be driven by desire, right? Okay, I'm doing something that's spiritual and eventually what I'm doing has spiritual value and spiritual rewards for me, right? So remember, don't get bogged down or don't get, you know, weary looking at, you know, I'm just starting now. When will the church grow? When will I be? When will I go travel the nation? When will this no no where you are? You start there, right? If it's small, start small. So, we looked at the example of Zechariah where you know they were going to rebuild the temple. Zechariah is telling the prophet uh the prophet Zecharias Zechariah he's telling Zerubbabel you rebuild it. But the people are saying, "Hey, Solomon's temple was so massive, so great and you know made of gold and it was so beautiful to look at. Massive temple. You're building one small temple here." And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. Listen, do not despise small beginnings. I know it's not as great as Solomon's temple which he built, but you're starting small. you build a re rebuild this temple and he gives him a promise. Zechariah 4:6 he says it's not by might it's not by power but it's by the Holy Spirit says the Lord right so never never despise those small beginnings that's the best part of the journey right then we lastly we chapter 7 we looked at uh how churches were planted in the book of acts right and how missions went out we saw Pentecost from Pentecost 2,000 people uh 3,000 people added to the church. Slowly there were even small groups and because of the persecution churches spread across across Samaria, Judea, Antioch. Many churches were planted and of course after that the great apostle Paul came in. He started his missionary journeys. First, second, third missionary journey. Eventually his fourth as well. And in all these places what did he do? He went, he preached the gospel. He understood the people. He understood the culture. He began to preach the gospel and churches were planted. Right? So it was not like the apostle Paul was doing some evangelistic work. Preach and go away. No, he made a mark. Meaning he he understood that hey even when I preach, even when I minister, when people become believers, they need to grow. So there needs to be a church that can help them mature in Christ. So all these places Galatia second missionary journey of course he went to the top tire cities Philippi Corinth Ephesus Thessalonica ans Corinth right all of these you know uh Ephesus all these places he went he was able to minister and plant churches now now we'll get into phase two of this course right any questions before Right everyone are okay you understood right just understand the natural dynamics there's a natural right we have to you know be very wise right u okay in the natural what I have to do as a leader if I'm planting a church there are things you have to get done right uh and but then there's also remember the main battle is a spiritual battle right uh so we need to learn to balance them out never come to a place of say no god will do everything I will just you know watch no God has given us the responsibility and then the spiritual again it's our responsibility but God is with us right so we need to balance that okay now let's get into the practical aspects on what it means to plant a church what are some of the practical things that we need to do Okay. Now, this is going to be relevant for cities, for towns. Most of you are from cities and towns. None of you are from, you know, interior villages, right? So, let's look at cities and towns. And we can uh, you know, apply the same model for both cities and towns. Now, church planting, how to get started. the moment or the the the time when you know that you're going to plant a church you may be one person right and God has put you directly got the vision from God I want to go one of you said Uttar Khan right was it Uttar Kand or uh Uttar Pradesh okay I want to go to Uttar Pradesh and I want to plant a church God has put that in your heart right it's deep in your heart it's a burning desire but now you're just doing something very small now there'll come a time 2 years maybe 3 years I don't know I'm just giving an example right so and that burning desire becomes more and more and more and you know that god is saying you're ready start it start the church what is some things that you may do right uh before that let's look at this example in Acts chapter 8, right? Philip went to Samaria, preached Christ, and a church was planted there. Now, think of this. Philip is in Jerusalem, okay? The church is big. 3,000 4,000 people, the church is growing. Samaria, uh, sorry, in in Antioch, the church is growing there as well. Now suddenly God tells Phillip, "Philip, you come out from here from Jerusalem and go to Samaria. I have a work for you there." Right? So he goes, Philip is known as the evangelist, right? In the New Testament. So he goes to Samaria and in Samaria, he preaches the gospel and God uses one individual to plant the church. Same thing happens in Acts 16 where Paul goes into uh Athens, right? He goes, he's alone, one person. He goes, he goes and goes and he goes to Aeropagus. He stands in front of everyone and he preaches the gospel. Towards the end, few of them become believers. Now, God may use one individual. However, more often than not, it is likely that God will use get people to tag along with you and form a team for you to start a church, right? It's called a church planting team. Now, look at the example. Paul, he had teams. First, who did he go with? First place in the journey. Paul and >> Barnabas and who joined him after some time John Mark when John Mark joined him but then he said oh this is too much I can't handle it he went home but Paul and Barnabas went as a team then Paul and Silas then Paul and Timothy Paul and Titus then Luke joins right and then there are other people who Paul has along the journey right so we see that wherever Paul went, he had a team of people as much as possible. The vision is his but there was a team of people. God, the Lord Jesus always works as a team. When Jesus started his ministry, what is the first thing he did? He went, he prayed, he came back, and he chose 12 disciples. What did he tell those disciples? Did he say, "Okay, do whatever I tell you to do." No. After some time of ministry, probably about a year, he says, "Now you go out." He sent them two by two. Then there were 72. He says, "Okay, come. You all want to follow me." He sent them two by two. Go preach, teach, heal the sick, cleanse the leper, cast out demons. Freely you have receive, freely you give. So we see Jesus also followed this model of teams. Now the team can be two people, three people, five people, 10 people, whatever. Now let's look at even just last example and then we'll go on. The church in Jerusalem, Peter stands up, he preaches, 3,000 people came in. Immediately we see that there's a team. Peter and John, Acts chapter 5, I think they're going to the temple, right? And then later on we see by the time it's acts uh acts uh the council in Jerusalem and acts 15 there's already a whole committee for the church right so we see there was order and design so now when you are getting started it would be good to have a team of people now it's very important who you choose Right? Because if you are starting your ministry, it's your vision. It's what God has put in you. Now, a very important sign of a leader is to be able to communicate the vision to people and get them to catch that vision and to follow that vision. That's a sign of a great leader, right? For example, God puts a vision inside you, right? and you're burning with that vision. The sign of a great leader is when you get people to come into your ministry or your under your wings, you're able to get the other person to believe in your vision and to work towards that vision. So the person that you must have just a few qualities that person must have number one must have good healthy relationship with each other. There should be complete trust. There should be complete support and no competition. Why? Because what you're doing now initially is the foundation of your ministry. So don't be in a hurry to choose anybody you feel like. It's not like, okay, hey, you're my neighbor. Oh, I didn't know you. Okay, you're a believer. Yes, come, we'll start a church together. No. Right. Remember, it's your vision. It's something God has birthed inside of you. You have to nurture it. You have to protect it. You have to bring in the right people. Right? So, God will bring in people during this season. And it's very important for us to be people of prayer and discerning. Okay. Is this the person whom I can start with? Right? Is this the person whom with whom I can you know begin this ministry? Right? So it should be a healthy relationship. No competition. Right? It's not like okay the other person and you have some kind of competition with each other. No, it should be a healthy good relationship and you will know it right. You will know it. Now just because you know somebody for 20 years doesn't mean he's the right person should be very discerning. Okay I need to get it the right people in prayerfully choose the right team. Second very important you should be united theologically spiritually of one heart and one mind. Theologically you should be united. What happens when theologically we are not united? Imagine this. Okay. In your heart, you want to start a church. You want the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit to be released in the church. You want to see signs, wonders, miracles happening. Okay, that's burning in your heart. Now, you have somebody in your team, maybe another person, and he he also has a heart for ministry. But one problem, he doesn't believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He's very strong in the word, very prayerful, but he doesn't believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. What do you think will happen? He's a very good person, very good believer. He understands you. You know, you'll have you'll know each other for a long time, respect each other, you'll you'll, you know, trust each other completely. But the only thing is you believe in the gifts of the spirit. He doesn't believe in the gifts of the spirit. What do you think is going to happen? Tell me what what do you think is going to happen? You're good friends know each other for maybe 10 years. Both have a heart for ministry. Both want to plant a church. But theologically the understanding is different. Will it work out? Why? Why do you think it won't work out here? He doesn't believe. Imagine you're standing there and you're saying you're preaching or you're te or you know you're just preaching about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and your core team members saying I oh I don't believe this I don't believe in the gifts immediately in the spirit there's a division there is a there is no oneness there's no one heart one mind there you are preaching you are expecting the work of the holy spirit to touch people and minister to them change lives But here this other person who's your core team member, he's saying, I mean, I know the Holy Spirit is there. I know the Holy Spirit convicts people, but I'm not sure about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Immediately, there's a difference. There's a division. There's no one heart, one mind. Right? This happened. You remember when um uh in the New Testament in the early church in the book of Acts by the time we came to Acts 15 there was division in the church the problem was some of them said let's go sorry not Acts 15 yes Acts 15 the council at Jerusalem right There was a problem, right? There was a problem in the church. Some of them said, "You need circumcision. The Gentiles have to get circumcised if they want to become believers." Now, Peter is saying, "The Gentiles also get circumcised." And Paul is saying, the apostle Paul is saying, "No, it's a work of the Holy Spirit. Why would you want to be, you know, circumcised? It's not the work of the flesh. So work of the Holy Spirit. So they had one big discussion council of Jerusalem. And the discussion because of that there was sharp disagreements between two pioneers in ministry. That's Peter and the apostle Paul. There was a disagreement. Peter Paul says I confronted Peter openly when he came and he didn't sit with us but he chose to sit with the Jews. He didn't sit with us. There was a sharp difference. But thank God right at that time somehow this whole situation didn't go uh you know it didn't become a bitter moment but what happened was in the council they said okay now we will also let the Gentiles be filled with the Holy Spirit right we we the ministry will go into the Gentiles as well and they don't need to be circumcised everything was resolved now if it was not resolved it would have been a very very difficult time in the church. It would have been a great hindrance to ministry. And thankfully the Lord Jesus also through the Holy Spirit spoke to Peter and you know the whole Cornelius event happened when Cornelius went even before he prayed for them the Holy Spirit fell on them. They began to speak in tongues. So now both of them have decided okay God has decided this we have we should not stop anything. Right? So theologically you should be of one mind one heart. at least the basic foundations. Example, if you go to our church website, you'll see there our our beliefs, right? And in our beliefs, we've written everything. Okay? We believe the father, son, and the holy spirit. We believe in trinity. We believe in the work of the holy spirit. We believe that the father, son, and the holy spirit have three different expressions. Um, and they are released through the church. We believe in the gifts of the spirit. We believe that Jesus rose again from the dead. and he's going to come back and we believe that as a church with everything our belief system is set right so all of us in the team not only in the pastoral team but as a church comm uh one of the things we do is during church membership we go through that our beliefs right and our ministries all that we do everything we go through it why because we want everyone to be of one heart and one mind. So very important during church planting, choose the right person. Don't be in a hurry to choose anybody that you feel like. It is very important that you choose the right person. Okay. Three, they are able to complement each other's gifts and skills. Very important again in a church planting team. Remember that we all have different gifts and talents. Right now you may be good at preaching. I may be good at administration, planning, ex planning and preparing. I may be good at that. Another person in the team may be good at you know coordinating. Another person may be good at pre at maybe preaching or prayer. So we all have different gifts. Another person may be good at music, worship. So that we all have different gifts. Very important is to complement each other in our gifts. Not compete. Compliment. Everyone say compliment. Right? Not compete. Say not compete. So we're not doing a competition here in the core team. We are a team. If I feel that, you know, hey, this person can preach better or minister better in this setting, I must be willing to give it to that other person. Say, hey, let him preach. He's going to I feel that he will do a better job here, right? Maybe it's an evangelistic crusade and you are more of a teacher. I say, okay, hey, I'm good at teaching. So, let me give him he's more of the evangelistic kind of preacher. He can do a better job here. And we are here backing you up, supporting you 100%. We are not looking at him and saying, "Oh man, now I have to learn how to be an evangelistic preacher so that next time opportunity comes, I should go." The moment we think that way, there's competition, right? We must be able to complement each other. And that's something we see uh of course now we are you know I know you're learning this in church ministry and administration uh where we we are different teams and we complement each other. Now how did this come about? It's not something that came about suddenly from the beginning days early days we always decided that we work as a team. So whether you go on the pullpit whether you're outside the pullpit doing something small we are a team. Right? It's not like okay only the pastors, worship leaders one team, volunteers are another team. No, no, no. We're all together a team working together. Now, especially when it comes to church planting and it's your initial phase, this is something that you have to u you know really emphasize within your team, right? How do I emphasize it? Say it, teach it to your team, preach it, show it in your actions. Right? Everyone with me? Right? So, it's your vision. Don't say, "You go and do street evangelism, I'll sit here." Right? I'm breathing and I'm praying under the fan and that other person is struggling. No, no, you should show it. You also step out. You also go, "Hey, we're a team. It's my it's our vision together. You are doing the hard work. I'll also do the hard work. and we'll pray together, minister together, step out together. Just because it's your vision doesn't mean you get to dictate to others and make others do the hard work and you do the easy work. No. Right. You're a team. Compliment each other's gift. Everyone with me? Right. Maybe there's somebody else who's good in planning administration. So, okay, let me give it to him. Right. Then all are committed to the common vision of the church plant. Now for example there are three of them right three of them right. Um now again before we go ahead there's no specific number for a ci would be between two to maybe 10 people. Right now it's okay to have 12 all of them. A good number would be 10 to 12 people in in your core team, right? Um but since you're starting off, you may not get 12 people, right? It's all right. If it's two or three people also, start with them. Okay? So, all are committed to the common vision of the church plant. Now, very important, you need to have the vision. You need to have put it on paper or on document and you need to as the pioneer as a visionary you need to communicate that vision to your core team members and that's why we do it even now right as a church always a reminder Sunday after Sunday after Sunday the vision is to be salt and light a voice to the nation and to the nations right That's the vision. That's the vision. Reiterate the vision again and again and again and again. The more you reiterate the vision, the more it goes inside you. It may be boring for the other person. Hey, how many times you're sharing the vision? Share it again. Sometimes along the journey, other things will come and distract you and you forget the vision. So what do we do? Keep sharing the vision. Keep sharing. This is the vision for the church, right? So um maybe you have to be prepared practically in the sense you should have a name for your ministry the vision already ready and when you get started you should be able to share that with your team. Lastly the leader of the church planning team is clearly identified and all other members support the leader. Here's the thing now. You're working as a team, but a team without a leader goes haywire. Yes or no? Right now, when you read the book of Acts, you see the Apostle Paul, he always had a team, but we knew he was the leader. How did he do that? That's the gift of leadership that God places in us as leaders, right? Leadership is a gift. It stands out. So it says here the leader of the church planting team is clearly identified. Why? If I as a leader don't behave like a leader, I will not be able to share the vision, you know, share the plans, strategies, missions, things that you need to do within the church. If I keep saying we are friends, we are working as a team. So let's do whatever we feel like it won't work. We need to have a leader, right? Look at it in the book of Acts as well, right? Oh, when the whole uh Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and Peter stood up as the leader. Why? Because before that Jesus looked at all 12 of them, but he said to Peter, "Peter, do you love me? then take care of my sheep. It was like a commission to Peter. Now Jesus could have said, "Hey, all 12 of you, I love you all so much. All of my best friends. Three and a half years, you'll have stuck with me except for Judas. Now he's gone. But you 11, I know you for three and a half years. All of you are leaders. All of you go and do what you have to do." He didn't say that. He commissioned Peter. He said, "Peter, you look after my sheep." So when you read the scriptures everywhere, you see that even though they worked as a team, we can see that Peter is identified as a leader. Peter and John are going to pray, Peter stood up and he he spoke. Wherever we see the ministry of Peter, we can see his leadership being portrayed there. But were they were they a team? Yes, they worked as a team. But you see that Peter's leadership stood out. Paul and Timothy, they were a good team. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, good team. But you could see the leadership of Paul standing out, right? Everywhere he went. Good example is Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas went looking for Paul, brought Paul and Paul eventually Paul is preaching more than Barnabas. It's a beautiful example, right? Barnabas didn't say, "Hey, uh, I am the one who chose you. I'm the one who brought you to Antioch. So, I'll be the main preacher. You be supporting preacher." No. Suddenly, we notice Paul comes in and there's less of Barnabas. There's more of Paul preaching. Barnabas understood that God has gifted him in that area. There's an anointing upon him. So, let me back him up. Right? Maybe he was standing for prayer for people. As he's preaching, uh Paul is preaching. Barnabas is standing. He's saying, "I'm ready to pray for people." They work together as a team, right? Barnabas didn't say, "I'm the one who found you, so I should be the leader." No, he understood. He saw the leadership in Paul. So the same way you are the leader, you are the visionary. Yes, you're building this sense of oneness, one heart, one mind, but there's also the aspect of leadership where you stand out, you make decisions, you emphasize why you're making those decisions and execute those decisions. Let me say this, leadership is presence before speech. Before God gave Adam a command, he gave him authority. Right? Leadership is presence before you before speech. Leadership is not about charisma. It's about character. Leadership is not about your voice. It's about your vision. Everyone with me? Right. So, you need to stand out as a leader. Just because you have a team, you're building the church with a team. Understand that hey the vision you are carrying it and you have to take it forward. So you will have to make decisions and strategize and plan and get people to enforce it. Now along the way what if the core team one of the members core team members say I'm not okay with this plan remember John John Mark he says I don't want to go to that place eventually Paul and Barnabas John Mark went away and Paul and Barnabas were left alone now what what will happen if something like this happens to you what if one of the team members says no I'm not going to continue with you it's okay You can't force someone to adapt and to walk with your vision. Leadership is influence. It's not taking control. It's influence. Okay? So, everyone with me? You're working as a team. You have three people. You may be good friends. you're doing ministry together, but you should stand out as a leader saying, "Okay, let's get this done." Don't worry about what they think. What if I make the if I speak and they think, "Hey, I'm the leader." Yes, you are the leader. It's God's vision that he's put to you inside you. And God will send the people. God put the vision into Nehemiah. And he didn't say, "I am the leader. I'm the leader." No, he just said this is a vision God has put in my heart. They followed the vision. That's it. They understood. Oh, this man is talking from a visionary as a visionary. He wants to rebuild the walls. He wants to get the gates repaired. I don't know about his credentials. I don't know if he's going to do it. I don't know how he's going to do it. But I think I'll follow him because I accept I I see something in him. Can you believe that? Read the book of Nehemiah. Four months, four to five months, he was in burden. And he goes and he tells the people of Israel, listen, we don't have money. We don't have people. We don't have resources. All I've got is permission from the king that we can build the walls and fix the gates. So all of a sudden, everyone is saying, "Okay, we'll help you. Let's do it." Why? Because the vision was convincing, right? And did he say okay we all working as a team so let's all no no no he came up with strategy he came up with ideas okay you have the east the west side of the wall those who finish work who'sever closest to the wall go build the wall go back home then you have another team right on top they are standing they are looking for enemies like if enemies are coming they will be get ready to alert us and we'll get ready for battle so the same people who are building the wall now suddenly should take weaponry and that he had the vision to do it. So as a leader don't throw away your vision or the call the the thing that God has put inside you just because people are not walking with you. Keep it going. God will send the people the right people in your team. Okay. Now how do I prepare from a distance? For example, you are here in Bangalore and God tells you, I want you to go to Uttar Pradesh and start a church and this is the place that you will go to and you have it in your heart. Okay, this is the place. No, how do I prepare? Don't pack up everything. God told me to go, I have to go take the next train and go there. No, how do I prepare for my distance? Right? A lot of preparation can happen well in advance from uh remotely right now. Listen, we have Google right we have the internet available. What can we do? Okay, I can say places in Uttar Pradesh in this city demographics start to work. What are the natural demographics of Uttar Pradesh? You read it. Okay, this is what okay there's persecution there is the culture of people this is what the culture is this is what the people do this is how uh then you lead the spiritual dynamics what are what are some of the churches that are what are they doing there how are they doing ministry is it all small groups or do they have church plans right now listen there are some places in Uttar Pradesh where there's no persecution right churches are going on I mean there's no so you look out okay where is God calling me what are the dynamics of that PH all that preparation can happen here right and we'll talk about it in the next chapter in the survey phase then understand the city its natural and uh spiritual dynamics pray think through on the natural and spiritual dynamics write these down discuss with the team very very very important pray through the natural and uh and spiritual strategy ies, right? Write them down and share it with a team. Now, as a leader, this is your responsibility. Don't tell your team members, you go and see what's happening and come back. No, you need to be prepared. First understand what you're what you're planning to do, how you're going to do it, and then send your team or then you can go. Right? So, for example, let me just share this. Right? Um when we were in Mangalore we wanted to start a church in Derakati and you all have gone there right Dakati that's about 25 odd kilometers away from the city so I had to so what I did was I began to understand the natural dynamics first okay the reason these young people are not coming to church and I'm talking about 25 30 young people is Monday to Saturday they have college hard work right morning to evening college assignments uh and they want to rest Saturday again some assignments something so when I spoke to them they said pastor we really like to come to church but there are two problems one is Sunday is the only day we can get rest and sleep for extra time right two is even if we wake up the buses that come to the city there are Normally Monday to Friday the buses are about they'll have constantly right like like every 10 15 minutes there are buses but on Sundays it's only every 1 hour odd there are buses so sometimes what we have to catch a bus stop take another bus okay so almost it's three buses then I thought to myself hey this is not fair right I know it's too much to expect from them right Monday to Friday college Saturday assignment Sunday morning wake up come even in that they were So I kept it in prayer. I said, "God, what what what should we do? Do you do you think we should start a church?" So I kept it in prayer for couple of months, right? And then one day uh one person, one or two of them were always regular to church. They would come no matter what. So I spoke to the one of the guys. I said, "See what if we provide transport, right? like we'll arrange a TT uh maybe a 20seater and they'll come pick you up, bring you to church and then we'll the TT will drop you back. He said, "Okay, yeah, sure. Let me think about it. Let me just talk to everyone." And uh but then when I went back home, I realized, "Hey, even if there is a TT, they still have to get up and come. Now, what's the point of us spending so much money sending the TT and they don't get up. Some 10 people come in the TT. It's a waste of money, right?" So, I said immediately I remember I messaged him. So I said, you know, forget that TT flag plan cuz I was not uh you know, something in me said no. So I let it go. So I kept it in prayer. And then one day I asked this person. I just felt in my heart on it was a Sunday. I don't know was it a weekday or a Sunday. I asked this man, this young boy, I said, "See what if we start get a place that side and start an evening service cuz morning we'll do here 10:30. We'll start 5:00 p.m." He became very happy. He said, "Pastor, it's the best idea." That's what he said. He became very happy. Okay, pastor, it's the best idea. Morning, we'll get up our own time. we'll do all our chores, whatever chores 5:00 I'll guarantee you people will come to church right so I said okay I'll take you for your word but I want to speak to the youth right so I spoke to all of them got on a call I said see this is what we're planning to do right if we start a 5 p.m. service do you think you can come now we had about 25 odd youth right all northeast people from Kerala from different parts right they all said yeah 5 p.m. problem Sunday night instead of going to the parties and all that we'll come to church we don't go for parties and it's 5 minutes away if it's 5 10 minutes away we'll come walk and come no problem they all said okay now the main thing is solved they will come now now starts the preparation so I started to write down okay firstly we need to find a place Of course I got the approval from pastor shared discussed we spoke with pastor everything happened he said okay go ahead now first thing we need to get a good place now the place also shouldn't be some interior place where will the students go walking because you got like maybe 15 girls 15 guys young girls young guys right so I wanted to make sure we are on a main road in like you know there's some light around not inside right some uh narrow roads and dark place. No. So I said, "Okay." I just left it. I said, "Lord, we leave it in prayer." So there was one person in church uh and this person came up to me and he we were talking and I asked him, "Where do you stay?" He say, "I stay near this place." I said, "Where does it come?" He said, "Near derel." You stay near. I said I said to him, "See, we are looking for a hall all our youth." So I explained the whole thing. He said, "Pastor, don't worry. We have plenty of places in Delhi." So I said, "You do one thing. you search for a place in a week he came back and he said this is the hall and thing but we did our own research we saw some places just too interior we said no and finally after a lot of outreaches lot of reaching out to people um you know doing all the things in the natural prayer walks we did there we found a beautiful place and this place was right opposite the college for the students Right? So what what am I trying to say? These are things that even when you understand you do things in order. Right? Okay. Just because God told you don't just immediately do it. See so what some of the things we did first we spoke to the people. We told them if we do an evening service will you come? Imagine I do an evening service and say hey I thought morning you can't get up. I did a evening service. They'll say, "Pastor, evening we're preparing for Monday, ready for the next week, so we can't come." Then what? Everything's gone. Always check with them, right? Okay. Is this something that will work? Right? Uh and plan it out that way. So the first Sunday we had some 35 youth. First Sunday of Deaka, first Sunday. And I believe that if not for co that church the youth church would have grown to 100 within 6 to 7 months right opposite the college and these 20 25 of our youth they all came they brought their friends also and came first Sunday 35 odd people and I didn't do anything you know they came they they only arranged the chair they only came with laptop put the projector everything was set up they I didn't have to train anyone because they've already been trained in the main chairs. They came, they set it up, they then after church they only removed the chair, started sweeping, mopping, they clo clean the toilet. I think a pastor ready for next Sunday. Beautiful. It was just beautiful. And it's so beautiful to have a church like that. You know, I didn't say anything to them. Sir you give us one key Saturday 3:00 we'll come clean everything so that 5:00 next Sunday I came 5:00 you know you everything is and span and these girls have gone and bought full perfume and all that you know the room fresheners and all I said okay ready for service beautiful sometimes when you you just need the right people in your team and you need the right leading from God will you know when when it's God's no God will bring the people of course what was discouraging was the church had to stop because of co but now it's still going on what happened was the students brought those younger their juniors the juniors start bring their juniors and they're all coming now but what was started it didn't stop that means it's gods right it's still going on the church is going on well young people are being ministered to right so think your strategies write them down right I can't tell you how much I wrote down okay we'll start here I wrote down plans for the whole year of 2020 actually for I said okay we'll have worship evening every month then we'll have youth meetings this time everything I wrote down but sad was you know co hit and we had to close up but it's okay right you planned you did your part right so pray over these things together listen to what the holy spirit speaks in advance. Remember, the Holy Spirit already knows what to do. So, listen to the Holy Spirit, right? Being sensitive. He'll tell you, "Okay, you do this, do this, do this." Right? Um, and the owner of our I just digress a little bit. The owner of that Dela Kar church was so such a good person. He was a Muslim, right? The moment I said it's for church, he said, "I will give it only to you." And I said, "See, there are girls. I can't send the girls outside to use the common toilet. Don't worry, sir. We will build a common restroom for you." So, inside the church, it was just an empty hall. He got workers and he said, "Build a restroom inside with a wash basin, everything, proper restroom. So then all of us can use it." Like we don't have to go out and use the common one. Everything was done so well. He know it's God. Right? So very important. Pray over these things when you want to start your church. Right? Pray. Ask God for discernment. Ask God for the right people to come in and you know especially when you want to take up a new place. Be very very discerning. Don't be in a hurry. Keep it in prayer. Write down what God ministers to your heart and keep it in prayer. Okay. Then very important, develop a contact list. If you already know people in that city or you have friends you know in that city, reach out to them. They may be able to provide you with additional information. They may be able to recommend places to you. They may connect with a few senior pastors in that city. Uh they may provide support in terms of logistics. Okay, we'll stop here. Take a break. Come back and I'll share a few thoughts here. Right. Okay.