Reflections on Church Planting – Part 7
This series of seven reflections were shared by Josh Cockayne at the Plant Course 2022, hosted at St George’s Leeds.
Presenting
Many weeks ago, we began our time together by thinking about Jesus’ words to the apostles shortly before his ascension, “will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).
As we have traced the narrative through its various twists and turns, we have seen the fulfilment of this vision as the church has expanded rapidly by the power of God. Acts finishes with Paul in Rome, with the church at the centre of world power. Luke closes his gospel saga with a short speech from Paul, which finishes with the words: “Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen” (28:28). These are the ends of the earth (or at least the world as the apostles knew it). Jesus’ vision has been fulfilled.
At the same time, we have been invited to reflect on our own vision and to examine where God might be sending us. As we prepare to cast our own vision this morning, we are aware that moving from vision to reality will not be easy. So, we’re going to finish, rather aptly, by asking how vision becomes reality.
First, we are often the answer to our prayers.
If we rewind back to Acts 25, Paul is in the midst of one of several court trials, attempting to defend himself. Paul’s uses a very similar defence in all of his previous court appearances: “I have not done anything wrong, but if I have, I will accept death”. In Acts 25, he adds a further line: “I appeal to Caesar!”. Luke tells us that “After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: ‘You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!’” (25.10-12).
What is the significance of these words, I appeal to Caesar? We know, from earlier sections in Acts, that Paul has plans to go to Rome (19:21), we also know that God has commissioned Paul to go and testify in Rome (23:11). It is notable that the fulfilment of this plan is not (at least not initially) a miraculous work of divine intervention, but a good piece of strategy. Paul knows his rights to be heard by Caesar himself, he knows that these words will buy him a ticket straight to Rome. As Tom Wright puts it:
“Sometimes, when we pray and wait for God to act, part of the answer is that God is indeed going to act, but that he will do so through our taking proper human responsibility for the matter.”
In each of our plans and presentations, we will no doubt have plans we have prayed and worked through in detail. We may be expectant for God to provide miraculously for these plans to come to fruition. But are we prepared to be the answer to our own prayers? Are we prepared to scheme and strategize so that our prayers are answered?
Second, we need vision to persevere when things are tough.
Paul’s journey from court to Rome would make for a great 6-part Netflix mini-series. After the dramatic announcement: “you will go to Caesar”, he is then imprisoned on a ship which struggles to make the journey to Rome, amidst the treacherous conditions at sea. After a storm which is so bad that they could not see the sun for many days, the centurions guarding the prisoners had given up hope. But Paul tells them that God has spoken to him and said:
‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. (27:25-26)’
Paul is so certain of the vision God has given him that nothing can take this from him. So much so, that even when the crew find themselves shipwrecked on the shores of Malta, Paul is confident that God will bring him to Rome just as he has promised. I wonder what Paul’s journey may have looked like if he had given in to defeatism about his situation—if you read through Acts 27-28, there are several points at which Paul should really have died. But what saved him was that the vision he had been entrusted with by God forced him to persevere in the midst of severe pressure.
We have taken quite a battering these past two years. It may be that even worse storms are coming. What are you holding onto? What is the vision that you have been entrusted with that when the waters rage, you will hold fast to what God has put in you heart? These 7 weeks have been invaluable to me as I think through where God might be leading us as a team. I am excited to see what will happen across Leeds (and beyond) in the coming months and years as we set sail into the storm to persevere with the visions that God has entrusted each one of us to lead his church in mission.
Joshua Cockayne
Joshua is the Team Leader at Holy Trinity Boar Lane: a Church with a midweek ministry to love and serve workers in the heart of the city. He is also an honorary lecturer in the School of Divinity at the University of St Andrews and a tutor at Westminster Theological College. He previously led the G2 Central church plant in York from 2016–2017.
