{"id":635,"date":"2019-08-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/4-keys-to-replanting-rural-churches\/"},"modified":"2020-06-21T21:47:40","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T01:47:40","slug":"4-keys-to-replanting-rural-churches","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/4-keys-to-replanting-rural-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"4 keys to replanting rural churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from the book\u00a0<\/em>Replanting Rural Churches\u00a0<\/em><\/a>and originally appeared at factsandtrends.net<\/em><\/p>\n

There are no-name places all over the nation. These are places the rest of the world has forgotten about (it\u2019s called “fly-over country” for a reason).<\/p>\n

But in these places are people serving God faithfully who want to see the Kingdom of God expand. Not to mention scores of people who need Jesus.<\/p>\n

People need Jesus in Nowhere, USA.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

According to the Southern Baptist Church Annual Church Profiles (ACP), there were 5,297,788 people gathered in Southern Baptist churches on any given Sunday in 2018.<\/p>\n

These folks gathered in 51,541 Southern Baptist churches and church-type missions. If you simply divide those numbers, it comes out to a little more than 102 people per church or church-type mission.<\/p>\n

But in actuality, when you account that some of those are megachurches, the weekly worship average attendance in a typical Southern Baptist church is closer to 65 people.<\/p>\n

Why does this matter? It matters because, with very few exceptions, in a rural setting, you\u2019ll be serving a normative-size church regardless of your denomination. In some cases, 250 people might rival the number of people who live in your community.<\/p>\n

In more extreme cases, like in Mayhill Baptist Church in Mayhill, New Mexico, the church will often run three times the population of the community in worship attendance.<\/p>\n

So forget going to Nowhere, USA, to make a name for yourself. Forget going to Nowhere, USA, to land on the conference circuit. I mean, you might as well forget going to Nowhere, USA, to grow a church into a megachurch.<\/p>\n

Instead, let\u2019s go to reclaim churches the world has all but forgotten about. God hasn\u2019t forgotten about these churches \u2014 and neither should you. Here are four keys to replanting rural churches.<\/p>\n

1. Preaching in a rural church<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Biblical preaching may not always be popular. In fact, it may even cause you to lose some folks. However, the point is to be faithful, and God will bless your efforts.<\/p>\n

Biblical preaching takes time, but it\u2019s absolutely necessary. After all, when Jesus said, \u201cFeed my sheep,\u201d it wasn\u2019t a suggestion \u2014\u00a0it was a command.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus doesn\u2019t expect you to hit a home run each Sunday; He expects you to preach the Word. Your people don\u2019t need you to be the next Dr. Adrian Rogers; they need (insert your name here) to preach the Word.<\/p>\n

Fads will come and go. Trends will shift by the seasons, but there\u2019s only one never-changing truth worth staking your church\u2019s future upon:\u00a0the Lord and His Word.<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Praying in a rural church<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the keys to revitalization in any context is prayer. You have no power to revitalize anything on your own, never mind the ability to see God\u2019s glory reclaimed in a church in the middle of nowhere.<\/p>\n

If you want to see God\u2019s kingdom expand in places the world has passed by and passed over, it\u2019ll require reliance on the supernatural provision of God.<\/p>\n

In a rural area, you\u2019re going to have to rely on God\u2019s provision for your family. There\u2019ll be some tough days for you. But there will be tough days for your people as well.<\/p>\n

And God promises to meet the needs of His people, though not necessarily on your or your people\u2019s timelines. Make no mistake, however, God will provide.<\/p>\n

3. Passion in a rural church<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What a privilege it is to pastor the bride of Christ! We who are called to this have been entrusted with Jesus\u2019 sheep.<\/p>\n

This means you might get dirty, and there\u2019ll be days you\u2019ll want to hang up the shepherd\u2019s staff and sell cars. But what a privilege!<\/p>\n

Take a moment right now to thank God for the church He\u2019s given you or the church He may one day give you. Consider what a great responsibility it is.<\/p>\n

Hebrews 12:2 says, \u201cFor the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the joy that lay before Him, Jesus endured the greatest agony imaginable. Let me be clear: you can handle a couple of bad days. Not only that, you can do so with a little pep in your step. Think about it: You preach the Word of God to the people of God in the house of God in which dwells the Spirit of God. I can\u2019t think of a better reason to have a little passion!<\/p>\n

4. Persevering in a rural church<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sometimes, we quit too soon. Jim-Bob got angry that the special music on Memorial Day didn\u2019t include the military service songs and you weren\u2019t wearing your American flag tie. Sue-Anne put you on blast on Facebook because you preached two minutes past noon.<\/p>\n

You reach for the rip-cord, and off you go; you\u2019re out of there. Don’t! Lay down your roots and persevere. There\u2019ll be some phenomenal days of ministry, there\u2019ll be days when you just can\u2019t seem to win, and there will be everything else in between.<\/p>\n

But if you aim to revitalize or replant a church, you need to realize you just signed up to climb Mt. Everest, backward, while carrying years of baggage on your back.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll slip, you\u2019ll fall, and you\u2019ll likely face an avalanche of criticism along the way, but there\u2019s something special about planting that flag on the top of the mountain because there\u2019s no way you can say, \u201cLook what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

No, that\u2019s a flag that says, \u201cLook what God did!\u201d<\/p>\n

When we quit too soon, we not only miss out on a potential blessing, we also move our church even farther back. Instead, play the long game.<\/p>\n

Decide from the beginning that, barring a clear call from the Lord, you\u2019ll be there indefinitely. Sign a blank check to the Lord for that church and tell Him, \u201cSpend me as You will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roaring back to life<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Pastor, it\u2019s not your job to build your church. It\u2019s Jesus\u2019 job, and there\u2019s no foundation other than Him.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ll put your fruitfulness on the altar \u2014 along with your desires to grow a platform or build a name for yourself \u2014 and follow Paul’s encouragement to Timothy to \u201cpreach the Word … with great patience,\u201d we believe Jesus will take care of the rest.<\/p>\n

And you just might see a rural church roar back to life.,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from the book\u00a0Replanting Rural Churches\u00a0and originally appeared at factsandtrends.net There …<\/p>\n

4 keys to replanting rural churches<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":636,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[],"topics":[53],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-635","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article","topics-replanting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n4 keys to replanting rural churches - 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