church planting

Shout, Sing, and Say – Psalm 66

/ Anthea Kotlan / 2 Comments

On any given Sunday, we witness miracles.

When God called my husband and me to church planting, we had to leave a thriving mid-sized church where we had served for decades. We left behind some of our closest friends and family members to launch into the unknown. Initially, we were sent to serve at a church plant well over an hour from our home. We battled traffic and tolls to invest in that community for a year, knowing that it would not be a long-term place for us to grow. During that year, we witnessed God moving redemptively, and we learned a great deal.

In 2022, we finally found our way back to a place we had only dreamed of: church planting in Conroe, Texas. The first time we attended a service in our newly borrowed space, we were stunned to discover that it would take us only fifteen minutes to drive home after we helped clean up and put everything away. This would be a first for us after serving for over twenty years in places and spaces far from where we lived.

This season of church planting allows us to depend very much on God’s provision. I hope I never grow weary of shouting, singing, and saying how good God has been to our little flock. We couldn’t do any of this without His generous hand!

SHOUT, SING, SAY


1Shout for joy to God, all the earth 2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!

3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.

4 All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah

(Psalm 66:1-4 ESV)

Shared praise and thanksgiving will multiply when I shout, sing, and speak about God’s marvelous deeds with others. The practice spurs our hearts to dig deep and remember the goodness of the Lord.

God commands us to shout and share because it does our hearts good in our community. We are designed to join our voices and share.

Who will you share with today?

MAKING A LIST

5 Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, 7 who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations—let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

(Psalm 66:5-7 ESV)

Do you ever try to go to the grocery store without a list? It seldom goes well. There is something about making a list that builds on itself. I write down butter and then remember we need milk. I write down apples and recall our low supply of peanut butter.

When I thank God for what He has done for me in specific ways, I recall more and more. I thank Him for my daughter’s new house and remember how God arranged a rental house for her and her family to live in while they searched for this new house in their new town.

I begin the list of thanks for 2023 and remember all God has done for our fledging church plant. The miracles of providing a soundboard, new folding chairs, a 22-foot storage trailer, a wonderful place to meet, talented people who lead worship, run sound, and create curriculum for children. I am so thankful for the teenagers who tirelessly volunteered and the many ministry partners along our journey.

What can you add to your list?

PRAISE HIM FOR THE GOOD AND THE DIFFICULT

8 Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard,

9 who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.

10 For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.

11 You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; 12 you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

(Psalm 66:8-11 ESV)

God calls us to give Him thanks and praise for the good and the difficult. Sometimes, it’s hard to understand why the soundboard died so abruptly. However, it did allow us to see His provision and the generosity of various people who all stepped in to replace it. Just when we began to struggle to store all our stuff each Sunday as we set up, a 22-foot trailer was given to us. Now, there was a small problem. Legal paperwork had to be filed and processed, which took some persistence from a tenacious church member. However, at the end of it all, we thanked God for this mind-blowing provision.

What do you praise God for?

MAKE OFFERINGS

13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you,

14 that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

(Psalm 66:13-15 ESV)

Burnt offerings are costly. Fulfilling vows made and promised when I was in trouble can be challenging. I would prefer to give out of what is left over. God calls for sacrifice, and burning the offerings helped His people see how He wished to consume what they had given Him. That likely helped them not drag it back the way I am sadly tempted to. God calls for me to give back to Him, something I will miss and want to keep. These kinds of offerings please Him most.

What can I offer?

SHARE TESTIMONIES AND CONFESSIONS


16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

17 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. 

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

19 But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

(Psalm 66:16-20 ESV)

Corporate testimonies and confession fuel the Holy Spirit to burn brightly in your fellowship. Confession of my sins is essential. Confession of my community’s sins is also required. As we join voices in sharing praise reports, we must also ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what we can confess as a community. Sharing testimonies of what God has done encourages everyone who participates. Sometimes, others see God working in our situation when we cannot. They spy a treasure of His goodness and report it to us. We all need reminders of His steadfast love.

What testimonies can I encourage others with?

PRAYER

Help me to shout, sing, and say your praises regularly. Remind me to list all You have done for me and my people. I will praise you for the good and difficult because it is all for your glory. Keep me in the habit of making costly offerings to you of my first fruits, not my leftovers. Help me to confess alone and together. Embolden me to be in the habit of sharing stories of your faithfulness in my life and the lives of others. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

What Does a Church’s Birthday Look Like? Psalm 68: 19-35

/ Anthea Kotlan / Leave a comment

In June of 2021, my husband, an Anglican priest, and I left a church where we had served for decades to answer the call to plant a church. Stepping out and into a new season felt like jumping onto a fast-moving train, not knowing the destination. We were leaving behind close friends and a supportive team with no idea where we were going.

The first stop on our brand-new journey was Katy, Texas, just over an hour from our home in Conroe. The Gathering (a church that will soon meet in Richmond) welcomed us with open arms, and we spent ten months there learning so much. The Lord blessed us there with time spent with my niece and nephew and their sweet families. My husband and I racked up many hours on the road praying, listening to podcasts, and talking during our 4-5 hour commute each week for services and small group meetings.

In God’s fantastic way, He surprised us one Sunday afternoon as we went to deliver a meal to a family who had just welcomed their third child. This sweet minister’s wife welcomed my husband and me into her home, and we sat and visited for a few minutes while the newborn slept, and her older kiddos watched a video in another room. Tucked into this conversation, we found a massive surprise. She and her husband had also been discerning a call to church planting. So not only were they praying about church planting, they both felt a clear call to Conroe and planned to move there soon.

We sensed a call to plant a church in Conroe ten years earlier. However, after receiving the initial message, the Lord closed that door and moved us into a different season of ministry in a neighboring area. It was a dream we had both released and almost forgotten about until that Sunday afternoon.

One week later, we sat in a restaurant and began to dream together about planting a church with this family in Conroe. Not only did we share a passion for planting, but we also shared a passion for Mexican food. Clearly, this is a vital sign of the ability to work together well! As we looked at a map of the area, we discovered we shared a passion for the same part of town.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit moves into a place or a situation, and suddenly everything changes. On the first Pentecost Sunday, the disciples must have also felt the shift from uncertainty and doubt to clarity and purpose. A fresh wave of the Holy Spirit gave them the ability to communicate the Gospel in new ways to build up those early church plants. The shared experience bonded them.

Years from now, we will say the same about our church planting adventure because it began with a divinely orchestrated visit with a fellow minister’s family. One Holy Spirit-inspired conversation led to a cascade of God’s provision even to this day. Some people call Pentecost the church’s birthday because that event led to the birth of so many churches all around the world. It is very exciting to witness this church’s birthday from a front-row seat.

Our fledgling church in Conroe has been meeting now as house churches for months, and we are looking to begin hosting preview services very soon. We now have an official name, All Saints Anglican. We even have a ministry partner, Compassion United, providing us with a Sunday morning meeting space. Only God could have done all this! Psalm 68 provides a great way to thank the Lord for all He is doing in this season. (We examined the first half of this Psalm last week on the blog.) https://antheakotlan.com/2022/06/01/what-happened-on-pentecost/

19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.  Selah 
20 Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death. 
21 But God will strike the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways. 
22 The Lord said, "I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, 
23 that you may strike your feet in their blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe." 
24 Your procession is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—  
25 the singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines: 
26 "Bless God in the great congregation, the Lord, O you who are of Israel's fountain!" 
27 There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead, the princes of Judah in their throng, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.  
(Psalm 68:19-27 ESV)

Verses 19, 20, 21, and 22 speak of God as the one who rescues and saves. He is also an advocate who will defend his people from their enemies. Finally, verses 25 and 26 underline the need to come together, share testimonies of God’s actions, and sing praises. God designed us for corporate worship, and we gain strength from being together in His presence. This truth spurs us on in our church planting journey.

From time to time, I miss out on attending in-person church services. These verses serve as a great reminder to me to prioritize gathering with fellow believers. Being able to participate in church online for medical reasons is one thing, but settling into the pattern of passive participation might cause me to miss out on being part of the body of Christ.  

28 Summon your power, O God, the power, O God, by which you have worked for us. 
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bear gifts to you. 
30 Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war. 
31 Nobles shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God. 
32 O kingdoms of the Earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, Selah 
33 to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. 
34 Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies. 
35 Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. 
Blessed be God! 
(Psalm 68:28-35 ESV)

Verses 31 and 32 prophesy about the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit reversed the Tower of Babel curse. Hearing the Gospel in each person’s mother tongue initiates a praise response. The final three verses of the Psalm continue the theme of praise. God’s power is acknowledged, as is the power He shares to give strength to His people.  

When the Holy Spirit fills God’s people, resurrection power flows forth. Vibrant growth and supernatural strength follow. Hopelessness and desperation depart as abundance flows forth. Holy Spirit continues His work even to this very day, and we have seen so much evidence of that in our church planting journey.

Prayer

Thank you, God, for Your supernatural power revealed at Pentecost and how you send fresh waves of the Holy Spirit to transform us every day. We long to be in step with Your Spirit.   Thank you for all you are doing to provide for our church plant. Guide All Saints Conroe to continue to seek You, Lord. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to draw near the Holy Spirit’s movements. In Jesus’ name, Amen.