It has long been a goal of mine to be a church that plants churches.
One of the great joys of 2020 was seeing Currey Creek launch The Bridge Fellowship in such a joyful and healthy way. I have the opportunity to see Jared, the pastor of The Bridge, most weeks to catch up and hear what the Lord is doing. It is just awesome to see how God is using both churches in our community to bring glory to himself and by his grace to bless many people.
In Mark 4 Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God by using a parable that an agrarian culture could relate to. Jesus teaches that the kingdom grows and matures just like plants. First, someone must scatter or sow seed. Apart from seed, there can be no plant. The seed we sow is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the good news that although we sin and are separated from God, God has acted on our behalf and sent his Son to be our substitute in order to bring us to himself. The Bridge is sowing the seeds of the gospel in a different field than Currey Creek and together we will have a greater impact on the kingdom of God because we are sowing more seed in more fields!
The next part in the process of growth is maturation. Notice that Jesus explains that the plant is immature at first, then it bears fruit, and then the fruit ripens. What a great picture of what church growth should look like! The new church is growing and bearing fruit as it grows. If you have ever raised vegetables you know that even though you may have planted at the same time, not all the fruit is mature at the same time. The same is true with us spiritually and as churches. The point is not to mature at the same time but rather to reach maturity! Paul says in Ephesians 4:13, “…until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” The Bridge and Currey Creek are at different stages of growth but the goal for each is the same, the fullness of Christ! The last stage is harvest time. I had a friend in seminary that grew up in Dimmit, Texas. His family raised primarily cattle and wheat. My friend related to me that when the wheat was ready the focus, night and day, was to get the wheat in. It was all hands-on deck so to speak.
The point of planting and fruit development was harvesting mature fruit, or in this case seed. The same is true for churches. We plant the seed of the gospel, God brings it to life (we know not how), when new life springs up, we nurture it until it is mature and then at the right time there is a tremendous harvest! That is the plan for both The Bridge and Currey Creek.
I am so grateful the Lord is at work in both churches! I am grateful that we are a part of kingdom work! Remember to pray for Jared and his team as well as the members of The Bridge. Pray that we all might bear fruit to the glory of God and the advancement of the gospel.
With love and affection,
John Free | Senior Pastor