Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E49 | Everyday Eurasia | Joshua Haun

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S1-E49 | Everyday Eurasia | Joshua Haun · Eurasia Region Podcast

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  Hello and welcome to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  Inspiring Faith for Every Day. Each day we are on a journey
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  with Jesus in our churches, our homes, our workplaces, and in so
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  many different places around the world.
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  Is it beautiful that no matter where we are, we can walk with
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  him every single day? Jesus is the one who connects us
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  all and stands at the very center of our lives day after
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  day. Through this podcast, you'll
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  hear voices from across the region sharing devotionals that
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  reminds us of God's presence in our everyday moments.
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  This week on the Everyday Eurasia podcast, we are grateful
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  to be joined by Tester Joshua Hum.
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  Joshua and his wife Katie have been serving for the past four
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  years as pastors and church planters with the Church of the
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  Nazarene in Sofia, Bulgaria. Throughout this week, Joshua
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  will be reflecting with us on the topic of church planting.
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  Why does church planting still matter?
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  With so many churches already around the world?
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  What makes this work so important today?
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  If we listen together this week, Joshua will help us explore
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  these questions and discover God's heart behind planting new
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  churches. Hello, my name is Joshua Hahn.
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  I'm serving as a church planter and pastor here in Sofia,
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  Bulgaria. And in our last episode, I
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  shared about how church planting is really at the heart of our
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  missional identity, story and tradition in the Church of the
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  Nazarene. In my first days of church
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  planting ministry, a mentor called my attention to a very
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  important question when he asked me, Joshua, are you being called
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  to plant any kind of church or are you being called to plant a
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  Nazarene church? I think this is such an
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  important question because faithful church identity,
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  culture and mission doesn't simply happen organically.
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  I believe it requires us to be intentional in our efforts.
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  Planting A Nazarene church, a Christian holiness and missional
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  church is the result of prayerful and intentional
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  planning and vision and obedience.
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  But I believe it's really worth every effort.
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  And I'm a Nazarene because I believe, I really believe in our
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  core values as the best evidence of a faithful church.
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  We know we've planted A Nazarene church when we have a church
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  that exemplifies the core values of the Church of the Nazarene.
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  We're a Christian Christ centered church, a holiness
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  church, and a missional church. Over the next few episodes, I
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  want to discuss the importance of each of these core values for
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  faithful church planting. After all, we want to be sure
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  that we measure success according to faithfulness and
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  not simply something like numerical growth.
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  So let's start with the foundation.
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  We have to be a Christian, a Christ centered people.
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  Now it may seem obvious to say that in order to be a Nazarene
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  church, we must be a Christian Church in everything we do.
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  So what do I really mean by this?
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  Well, I mean that whatever strategy, model, or platform we
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  use in order to start a church, if the ultimate goal is to see
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  people believe that Jesus is the Christ and have life in His
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  name, we must be unapologetically, passionately,
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  and obviously Christian. This is really an obedient
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  response to Scripture that we find in Colossians chapter 3
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  verses 15 through 17 quote. Let the peace of Christ rule in
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  your hearts, since as members of 1 body you were called to peace,
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  and be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell
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  among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with
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  all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the
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  Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
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  And whatever you do, whether in Word or deed, do it all in the
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  name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through
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  Him. End Quote.
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  Now let me be clear. I think we can be, and we should
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  be so incredibly diverse in the ways we go about starting
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  churches. I've seen faithful churches
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  started using cafes, dinner groups, game playing, passion
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  for music, language, and many other strategies and models as
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  diverse as the church planting contexts demand.
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  But whatever strategy or model we use, I really believe that we
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  must make sure that we communicate clearly, that we
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  plan and pray and act intentionally to be sure that
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  these activities are always Christ centered.
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  And from the very outset, the goal should be clear.
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  Christ centered community is the mission.
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  Why is this so important? Well, for a couple of reasons.
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  First, because the particular way in which we as Christians
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  play our games, eat our meals, play our music, do business, and
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  share all of life together should be a result of our faith
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  and relationship with Jesus Christ.
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  And our neighbors need to see this Christ centered way of
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  doing life. I also really believe we can do
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  damage to our church planting efforts and even to our witness
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  when we start any endeavor as a mere invitation to a shared
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  activity or an affinity group. Whether that be games, business,
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  coffee, meals, or compassion. If we start it without
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  communicating clearly and at the very beginning that the purpose
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  is to share our faith, to see people accept Christ as Lord and
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  create a people, a community and faith for his name, we do damage
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  to our witness. So we must passionately display
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  from the outset that we're a Christian people.
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  We're not just a coffee drinking, game playing, business
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  running, music playing people. We're Christ centered people.
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  And this we need to do because we must be upfront.
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  We must be authentic and transparent with people about
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  our mission and our passion. If we're not upfront about being
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  a Christ centered people, we may lose others as a result of
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  seeming disingenuous or fake, as if we're trying to trick people
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  into a shared affinity context so that we can trap them into
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  hearing the gospel. And it also makes it incredibly
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  difficult for us to figure out how we will transition later
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  from a mere affinity group to the living body of Christ,
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  especially considering the fact that these two things don't
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  always align because the church is more than just a shared
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  activity or an affinity group. It's the life of Christ, the
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  body of Jesus. And the other thing we do when
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  we keep Christ at the center is we keep ourselves from being the
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  center. And that's so important because
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  we cease to be the church if anything or any person besides
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  Christ is at the center of the life of the church.
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  But also, church plants are sustainable and reproducible
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  when we see that it is not the charisma or the skills or
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  personality of a single person or even a single specific shared
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  activity that is the source of the life and the health of the
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  church. Now listen, I'm not saying that
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  it's not good to have a passionate, charismatic, and
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  gifted person leading a church plant.
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  We need those women and those men, and God is calling that
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  person. But if the work and the health
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  and the life of the church, if it's identity is so centered on
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  an individual as to be indistinguishable from that
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  single person's efforts, charisma or personality, then
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  it's rarely reproducible because of the standard it sets for
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  prospective future church planters and leaders.
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  Will they have enough charisma? Will they have enough gifting?
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  However, being passionately and intentionally Christian, Christ
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  centered from the outset, means that we can say to that leader
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  who is being called to plant the 2nd or the 3rd or 4th church,
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  that the power that created and will continue to create the new
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  life of the church is Christ and Christ alone through the power
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  of the Holy Spirit. They'll believe this because
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  they'll have seen it. And this power, this presence is
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  always available to every believer and every new church.
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  It's not just the games, the coffee, the business, the model,
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  the strategy or compassion that bring the church to life.
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  It's Christ. It's the life and power of
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  Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit that is always
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  available for this church and the next and the next and the
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  next so we can answer the call with confidence.
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  It is Christ Church and Christ lives to be discovered.
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  I want to finish with a prayer based on a really powerful quote
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  from John Wesley as he expressed his desire for the mission of
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  God to result in new and authentic Christ centered spirit
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  empowered communities. Let's pray together.
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  Dear Jesus, we continue to dream and pray for a revival of
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  holiness in our day that moves forth in mission and creates
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  authentic communities in which each person can be unleashed
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  through the life of Christ and the empowerment of the Spirit to
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  fulfill God's creational intentions for the world.
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  We pray this in the name of Christ Jesus the Lord of the
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  Church, Amen. Thank you for listening to the
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  Everyday Eurasia podcast, Inspiring Fate for everyday.
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  For more Everyday Stories, subscribe on this podcast
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  newsletter Snapshots. For our newsletter and further
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  information about the Eurasia region, visit our website,
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  eurasiaregion.org.