The following sermon was recorded from Pastor Phil Henry's home on Dec. 26. Church was cancelled that day and this sermon had been planned to be delivered as part of that gathering. The sepia and ochre tones of the video are for those artistically inclined.
church planting, sermon, worship service in preaching Church planting is not an easy task. Redistributing Christians from one church service to another is fairly easy, however. All you need to do is get a better _ (band, preacher, kids ministry, theology, or whatever your consumer item of preference happens to be) and Christians will move.
That may sound harsh, but sadly, it isn’t too much of an exaggeration.
I started telling the story of Mercy Hill by talking about its first chapter, one that focused on “imagination” and “development.”
I ended my last essay asking you to “imagine the Church” as the redeemed people of God compelled by His goodness and grace to live sent lives and to bear their cross wherever He might lead them.
In the movie, Gladiator, when the Emperor Marcus asked the General, Maximus, to speak of the “dream that is Rome,” he did so in a whisper because anything more than that seemingly could destroy the dream itself.
In the case of the Church, it is founded on the lives and doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:20).