New Churches Podcast | Season 1 | Episode 785

Pursuing Jesus

Tony Merida & David Platt

Episode 785

Host Tony Merida sits down with longtime friend, pastor, and author David Platt to discuss the fruitfulness of passionately pursuing Jesus amidst the difficulties of church planting today. Tune in discover how you can more effectively cultivate unity, conviction, and reliance on Jesus as you shepherd the people God has entrusted you with.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

  • How to categorize the primary, secondary, and tertiary convictions of the local church
  • Why a global Christian worldview is crucial for living life on mission
  • How a church’s compassion toward their community impacts the spread of the gospel locally
  • Ways to cultivate healthy conversation around the gospel, the church, justice, and race
  • Scriptural encouragement for the exhausted church planter

Helpful Resources:

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Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

I’ve seen so much division, discouragement, disconnect, and even despair in the church because we’ve been holding fast to not just an American dream, but holding back from the issues that the gospel requires us to press into. — David Platt

The last thing the nations need is the exportation of nominal, cultural American Christianity. I’m zealous to see people sent out from churches in our country go to the nations, but I want to make sure they’re taking the gospel and not an Americanized version of it. — David Platt

What’s led to a lot of the unhealthy things we’ve seen in the church is wielding God’s Word like it’s a weapon in a culture war instead of water for friends in a desert. — David Platt

When sitting down with a brother or sister who’s struggling in their leadership role, start with the promises of God. You’re not alone in this long line of history of those who’ve gone before you. — David Platt

These have been hard days. But if God is the goal, then these are great days. Don’t hold back from God; that’s the big picture. — David Platt

Published on November 09, 2023

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About the Podcast

New Churches Podcast

The New Churches podcast offers practical answers to your real ministry questions. We aren’t going to provide lofty pie-in-the-sky theories. Instead, we are going to help you in your real ministry context, with your real thoughts, questions, and issues.

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Meet the Authors

Tony Merida

Vice President, Planter Development Send Network

Tony Merida is the founding pastor of Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, N.C, and is the Vice President of Planter Development for Send Network. He also serves as a Board member for The Gospel Coalition. Tony has written several books including, The Christ-Centered Expositor, Love Your Church, and multiple volumes in the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series. He’s happily married to Kimberly, and they have five children.

More Resources from Tony

David Platt

David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical, a ministry that exists to equip Christians to be on mission. David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, and Don’t Hold Back. He is also the author of several volumes in the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.

Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Resources from David Platt and Radical can be found at radical.net.

More Resources from David
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