September 2, 2025 • 7 mins
Summary
In this episode, Dr. Jeffery D. Skinner discusses the essential foundations for church planting, emphasizing the importance of a strong foundation, vision, prayer, and community. He highlights that without a solid foundation, a church plant can become fragile, and the role of vision is crucial in guiding the church's mission. Dr. Skinner also stresses the significance of persistent prayer and the need for a supportive community in the church planting process.
Takeaways
A strong foundation is crucial for church planting.
Vision is the heartbeat of a church.
Prayer aligns us with God's work.
Church planting requires a supportive community.
Look for character over charisma in team members.
Crowds consume, but a core group carries the mission.
Persistent prayer is essential for success.
The presence of the Lord is vital in church planting.
Never underestimate the power of small beginnings.
Establishing a church is a divine mission.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/echoes-through-eternity-with-dr-jeffery-skinner--5523198/support.
Echoes Through Eternity Guiding church planters and pastors to plant seeds of prayer, holiness, and courage that outlast a lifetime. contact drjefferydskinner@protonmail.com
In this episode, Dr. Jeffery D. Skinner discusses the essential foundations for church planting, emphasizing the importance of a strong foundation, vision, prayer, and community. He highlights that without a solid foundation, a church plant can become fragile, and the role of vision is crucial in guiding the church's mission. Dr. Skinner also stresses the significance of persistent prayer and the need for a supportive community in the church planting process.
Takeaways
A strong foundation is crucial for church planting.
Vision is the heartbeat of a church.
Prayer aligns us with God's work.
Church planting requires a supportive community.
Look for character over charisma in team members.
Crowds consume, but a core group carries the mission.
Persistent prayer is essential for success.
The presence of the Lord is vital in church planting.
Never underestimate the power of small beginnings.
Establishing a church is a divine mission.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/echoes-through-eternity-with-dr-jeffery-skinner--5523198/support.
Echoes Through Eternity Guiding church planters and pastors to plant seeds of prayer, holiness, and courage that outlast a lifetime. contact drjefferydskinner@protonmail.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Marcus Aurelius said, what we do in life echoes through eternity.
What is your life echoing through eternity? Welcome to Echoes
through Eternity with doctor Jeffrey Skinner. Our mission is to inspire,
engage and encourage leaders from across the globe to plant
missional churches and be servant leaders. So join us and
(00:23):
hear the stories of servant leaders reverberating lives as God
echoes them through eternity. Brought to you by Missional Church
Planting and Leadership Development and Dynamic Church Planning International.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Welcome into Echoes through Eternity. I am your host, doctor
Jeffrey D. Skinner. What is God that going through your
life today? Well? This is episode two in our series
at first one hundred Days of the Church plant. If
episode one was about answering the call and counting the cost,
today is about what comes next, laying the foundations, because
(00:59):
without a strong foundation of church, plant becomes fragile. With it,
the storms may come, but the structure stands. In other words,
you're going to have trials you were Inevitably there will
be land mines that you will step on as you
plant your church. You can take the training that I
offer through DCPI from the Church Playing Essentials. Go to
(01:19):
DCPI dot us and you can see the latest training there.
You can take those trainings that we will review some
of the most common land mines, but you're going to
find your own. And so you know. The difference is though,
if you have a strong foundation, those land mines don't
blow you up. And so that's where our scriptural anchor
comes in a Psalm one. Unless the Lord builds a house,
(01:41):
the builders labor in vain, unless the Lord watches over
the city, the guards stand washing vane. This is not
just poetic with them, it's a warning and a promise.
We can tire labor, we can labor tirelessly, raise funds,
craft strategies and lounge gatherings. But if the Lord isn't
an the sinner is al wasted energy. The true foundation
(02:03):
is always scriptural before it is structural. I told you
guys yesterday that you are discerned where the Lord is
working and join him, not go somewhere and invite the
Lord to come. Les stop to say the Lord is everywhere,
but the presence of the Lord is working in certain cities,
working in certain spaces. Find those spaces, and that comes
(02:25):
through prayer. So the key here is vision. So the
role of vision for between ninety and eighteen reminds us.
Where there is no vision, the people perish. Vision in
the Kingdom is not just a catchy statement for a
website or brochure. Vision is a holy picture of what
God longs to do through his people. In those first
one hundred days, a planter's vision becomes a church's heartbeat.
(02:48):
Without clarity of vision, the people scatter into business again.
You can work tirelessly, but if you're not being productive
for the kingdom, if the Lord is not in what
you're doing, it'll fail. Without clarity of vision, they moved
together with purpose. I remember writing down the vision of
one of my church plants in just a single sentence,
to be a community where broken people find belonging, discover
(03:11):
Christ and live set lives. That's the test of vision.
It's repeatable, is it portable, and is its spirit born?
The power of prayer. Vision sends the direction prayer tills
the soil. Church planters often feel the pressure to get
things moving. By nature, planters tend to be we tend
(03:32):
to be well just, We have a sense of purpose,
But we also have a sense of urgency about us.
We want it to happen yesterday. So you know again,
church planters feel that pressure to get things moving. We'll
secure a space, design a logo, build a launch team,
but before the first flyer is printed, the ground must
(03:53):
be prayed over, not once, not casually, but persistently. I
remember John Mike, we're talking about this particular piece of
land that he wanted for Skyland, Skyland, Skyland, sky Line Church.
That's easy for me to say, a skyline church in California,
and there was this one guy who owned it, but
(04:15):
he just was not willing and willing to sell it.
So he'd go out and the mall of the night.
I don't probably recommend this today, but go out in
the mole of the night and he would take off
his shoes because they felt like the Lord called him
to do this because it was holy ground. Eventually that
land belonged to the church. It began in prayer. That
land was prayed over, not just once. It wasn't casually,
(04:36):
but it was persistent. Wesley himself never separated prayer from mission.
Convenient grace teaches us that God has already at work
before we arrived. Prayer doesn't start the work. Prayer aligns
us with the work already being done by God. Walk
your neighborhoods, Pray over schools, Stand outside of local businesses
(04:57):
and bless them. Go to the parks, and asked God
to bring families, teenagers and seniors who need encounter him.
Prayer is not delay, is preparation, the gift of people.
The third foundation is people. Church planting is never a
solo act. It is not for lone rangers. Even the
lone ranger had tanto. Jesus himself didn't start his ministry alone.
(05:22):
He called disciples. Paul planted churches with teams. Every great
move of God was carried out on the shoulders of
ordinary people with extraordinary obedience. When Jesus came, he called
the ordinary. He didn't call the scribes in the Pharisees.
He didn't call those who hadn't all figured out. He
(05:42):
didn't call those who had a predisposed understanding of how
God was going to work and move. He called those
who were simply being faithful where God had placed them,
and were being fruitful where God placed them were, and
where God who planted them, they were bearing fruit. There
were they were sprouting and multiplying. There they called fishermen.
(06:04):
He called tax collectors, people that no one else would
have called are thought to call, because tax collectors were
the bane of people's existence. Yet Jesus called Matthew. So
in those first one hundred days, you'll feel tempted to
gather a crowd. Well, really need is a core. Crowds consume,
but core caring. So, in other words, these are people
(06:26):
that absolutely believe in your vision. The core will begin
to invite your crowd. They will again begin to reach
out and share the story, share the vision, share the
mission of your church plan. Look for people of character
before you look for people of charisma. A gifted musician
with no humility will fracture a team faster than you
(06:46):
can imagine. But a prayerful grandmother who believes in the
vision can anchor a movement. Never decide, despise the small circle.
God often build great things with little beginnings. So this
is episode two. I just want to close this eye
in prayer to day Lord. Unless you build this house,
our labors empty. We pray Father, that you give us
(07:09):
a clarity of vision, faithfulness and prayer and wisdom, and
people protect our families strengthen our souls. And may the
foundations we lay today be our strength. But of your
spirit be not of our strength, but of your strength.
Of your Spirit, establish your Church, Oh God, that we
may and it may echo through eternity,
Marcus Aurelius said, what we do in life echoes through eternity.
What is your life echoing through eternity? Welcome to Echoes
through Eternity with doctor Jeffrey Skinner. Our mission is to inspire,
engage and encourage leaders from across the globe to plant
missional churches and be servant leaders. So join us and
(00:23):
hear the stories of servant leaders reverberating lives as God
echoes them through eternity. Brought to you by Missional Church
Planting and Leadership Development and Dynamic Church Planning International.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Welcome into Echoes through Eternity. I am your host, doctor
Jeffrey D. Skinner. What is God that going through your
life today? Well? This is episode two in our series
at first one hundred Days of the Church plant. If
episode one was about answering the call and counting the cost,
today is about what comes next, laying the foundations, because
(00:59):
without a strong foundation of church, plant becomes fragile. With it,
the storms may come, but the structure stands. In other words,
you're going to have trials you were Inevitably there will
be land mines that you will step on as you
plant your church. You can take the training that I
offer through DCPI from the Church Playing Essentials. Go to
(01:19):
DCPI dot us and you can see the latest training there.
You can take those trainings that we will review some
of the most common land mines, but you're going to
find your own. And so you know. The difference is though,
if you have a strong foundation, those land mines don't
blow you up. And so that's where our scriptural anchor
comes in a Psalm one. Unless the Lord builds a house,
(01:41):
the builders labor in vain, unless the Lord watches over
the city, the guards stand washing vane. This is not
just poetic with them, it's a warning and a promise.
We can tire labor, we can labor tirelessly, raise funds,
craft strategies and lounge gatherings. But if the Lord isn't
an the sinner is al wasted energy. The true foundation
(02:03):
is always scriptural before it is structural. I told you
guys yesterday that you are discerned where the Lord is
working and join him, not go somewhere and invite the
Lord to come. Les stop to say the Lord is everywhere,
but the presence of the Lord is working in certain cities,
working in certain spaces. Find those spaces, and that comes
(02:25):
through prayer. So the key here is vision. So the
role of vision for between ninety and eighteen reminds us.
Where there is no vision, the people perish. Vision in
the Kingdom is not just a catchy statement for a
website or brochure. Vision is a holy picture of what
God longs to do through his people. In those first
one hundred days, a planter's vision becomes a church's heartbeat.
(02:48):
Without clarity of vision, the people scatter into business again.
You can work tirelessly, but if you're not being productive
for the kingdom, if the Lord is not in what
you're doing, it'll fail. Without clarity of vision, they moved
together with purpose. I remember writing down the vision of
one of my church plants in just a single sentence,
to be a community where broken people find belonging, discover
(03:11):
Christ and live set lives. That's the test of vision.
It's repeatable, is it portable, and is its spirit born?
The power of prayer. Vision sends the direction prayer tills
the soil. Church planters often feel the pressure to get
things moving. By nature, planters tend to be we tend
(03:32):
to be well just, We have a sense of purpose,
But we also have a sense of urgency about us.
We want it to happen yesterday. So you know again,
church planters feel that pressure to get things moving. We'll
secure a space, design a logo, build a launch team,
but before the first flyer is printed, the ground must
(03:53):
be prayed over, not once, not casually, but persistently. I
remember John Mike, we're talking about this particular piece of
land that he wanted for Skyland, Skyland, Skyland, sky Line Church.
That's easy for me to say, a skyline church in California,
and there was this one guy who owned it, but
(04:15):
he just was not willing and willing to sell it.
So he'd go out and the mall of the night.
I don't probably recommend this today, but go out in
the mole of the night and he would take off
his shoes because they felt like the Lord called him
to do this because it was holy ground. Eventually that
land belonged to the church. It began in prayer. That
land was prayed over, not just once. It wasn't casually,
(04:36):
but it was persistent. Wesley himself never separated prayer from mission.
Convenient grace teaches us that God has already at work
before we arrived. Prayer doesn't start the work. Prayer aligns
us with the work already being done by God. Walk
your neighborhoods, Pray over schools, Stand outside of local businesses
(04:57):
and bless them. Go to the parks, and asked God
to bring families, teenagers and seniors who need encounter him.
Prayer is not delay, is preparation, the gift of people.
The third foundation is people. Church planting is never a
solo act. It is not for lone rangers. Even the
lone ranger had tanto. Jesus himself didn't start his ministry alone.
(05:22):
He called disciples. Paul planted churches with teams. Every great
move of God was carried out on the shoulders of
ordinary people with extraordinary obedience. When Jesus came, he called
the ordinary. He didn't call the scribes in the Pharisees.
He didn't call those who hadn't all figured out. He
(05:42):
didn't call those who had a predisposed understanding of how
God was going to work and move. He called those
who were simply being faithful where God had placed them,
and were being fruitful where God placed them were, and
where God who planted them, they were bearing fruit. There
were they were sprouting and multiplying. There they called fishermen.
(06:04):
He called tax collectors, people that no one else would
have called are thought to call, because tax collectors were
the bane of people's existence. Yet Jesus called Matthew. So
in those first one hundred days, you'll feel tempted to
gather a crowd. Well, really need is a core. Crowds consume,
but core caring. So, in other words, these are people
(06:26):
that absolutely believe in your vision. The core will begin
to invite your crowd. They will again begin to reach
out and share the story, share the vision, share the
mission of your church plan. Look for people of character
before you look for people of charisma. A gifted musician
with no humility will fracture a team faster than you
(06:46):
can imagine. But a prayerful grandmother who believes in the
vision can anchor a movement. Never decide, despise the small circle.
God often build great things with little beginnings. So this
is episode two. I just want to close this eye
in prayer to day Lord. Unless you build this house,
our labors empty. We pray Father, that you give us
(07:09):
a clarity of vision, faithfulness and prayer and wisdom, and
people protect our families strengthen our souls. And may the
foundations we lay today be our strength. But of your
spirit be not of our strength, but of your strength.
Of your Spirit, establish your Church, Oh God, that we
may and it may echo through eternity,
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