The Work of a Planter: Multiply

Our ministry is called neighbors to nations because that is our goal.  We believe that one biblically faithful church is a great thing, but we know that it is going to take many more than one to reach the lost for Christ.  We are committed at Norris Ferry to help believers develop into leaders and then, when the Lord wills, send them out to reach a new community.  It’s tough to lose some of your best folks, but the mission is worth the sadness as those who feel the call depart to take the light of Christ further into the darkness of a lost and dying world.  

I’m a seminary grad and my seminary’s “fight song” (I realize how dorky this must sound) was Soldier of Christ in Truth Arrayed by Basil Manley, Jr. (one of the all-time great names in SBC life).  It really encapsulates the mission of the Church and the unity that we have, even as we part ways for the sake of the Gospel:

Soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed,
A world in ruins needs your aid:
A world by sin destroyed and dead;
A world for which the Savior bled.

His Gospel to the lost proclaim,
Good news for all in Jesus’ Name;
Let light upon the darkness break
That sinners from their death may wake.

Morning and evening sow the seed,
God’s grace the effort shall succeed.
Seedtimes of tears have oft been found
With sheaves of joy and plenty crowned.

We meet to part, but part to meet
When earthly labors are complete,
To join in yet more blest employ,
In an eternal world of joy.

That’s it.  That’s our mission.  We invest in each other and strive to become more like Christ so that we may reflect who He is to the world.  We preach the Gospel.  We pour our lives into our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We support with sweat, money, and prayer those who seek to establish Gospel communities in places of need.  Ultimately, the work of a planter is incomplete if he is not teaching someone else how to do what he has done...and then working like crazy to support those whom he sends out.  Our prayer is that those we send out will send out more.  And the glory of the Lord will be spread as we faithfully proclaim the Truth.  And we know that as we send folks out, we aren’t losing brothers and sisters, but gaining new ones as they reach the lost for Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria